Licensing

Becoming a pilot

And then I had to make a decision. I had to make a decision on whether I was going to stay in school and then wait to be drafted, or would I want to join the War Training Service—WTS. And this War Training Service was a program set up by the US government to obtain pilots—they needed pilots very badly—they were weeping for people who had knowledge of flying, and so I thought, well if I’m going into War Training Service that’s fine, that’s better than being drafted and not knowing where I’m going to go. And so I joined the War Training Service—I had to resign from college and I went to Bendix Field, South Bend and went into acrobatic flying. And then I got through this acrobatic flying—when I get into acrobatic flying, that’s when I knew I had a…I had to have a talent because I shot to the top of that group right away.