Training

Wayne received a letter on February 18, 1943, from the M. A. Cadet Headquarters that he would be called to active duty on March 7. On March 1, his folks dropped him off at the train station in Springfield, MA, and he headed to the U.S. Army Air Forces Classification Center in Nashville, Tennessee. On the way he passed through Ft. Devens, the famous Hoosac Tunnel, Dayton, and Louisville, KY. When he arrived, he was assigned his barracks, received his uniform and extra clothing and started his training program which consisted of marching (he was designated Number 1 in Platoon 2), lectures, drills, inspections, fitness and of course - kitchen patrol (K.P.) duty. On March 27, the same day his first child Terry Jean was born, he was notified he was shipping out to his next training base, Maxwell Field in Alabama.

Traveling by train, he arrived at Maxwell Field at 0800 on April 4. Training consisted of classes (math, maps, charts and code), fitness, and marching. There was also the occasional distinguished visitor at the base reviewing the troops in training, most notably Lord Halifax (London Ambassador to the U.S.) and President Roosevelt during Wayne's time there. The fitness training was a priority and the routines were geared toward strengthening the muscles pilots would need to fly a plane. On May 22, he received word from his commanding officer he would be heading to Primary Training and departed for Camden, SC, on May 31.

He arrived at Camden Field on June 1 and received his helmet, goggles, and leather jacket, and two days later he had his first flight with an instructor.

For the next two months, Wayne learned how to perform a variety of maneuvers and was evaluated through multiple check rides. Several cadets and instructors were either injured or killed during training flights at Camden, incidents that would have shut everything down today but had no effect on the pace of training back then as pilots were needed for the war effort. Wayne completed his Primary Training on July 28 and moved to Shaw Field on July 30 for his next phase of training.

Wayne had his first solo flight in a BT training aircraft on August 3, taking off and landing it by himself at Shaw Field. Over the next 2 month he would build up flight time in the cockpit flying solo and through check rides with instructors. He also flew several cross country flights that were several hours and hundreds of miles each, and his instructor put him down for a medium bomber. During his time at Shaw Field another instructor and a few cadets were killed due to aerial mishaps, but training continued without delay. Wayne graduated October 1 and was transferred to George Field, Illinois, for Advanced Flight Training.

On October 8, Wayne flew a twin-engine aircraft for the first time. From October to November, he completed multiple cross-country flights using only instruments as well as at night. Training also included an excursion to Selman Field in Monroe, Louisianna, for high altitude training. On one of his training flights, they were forced to make a belly landing due to trouble with the wheels but fortunately no one was hurt. On December 5, Wayne graduated with the 43-K class of aviation cadets and received his wings and officer commission at a ceremony at the Lawrenceville Illinois High School. He then took the train home to New Hampshire, arriving at 6:40 am on December 7.

He spent a week at home before boarding a train to New York City with his wife Rita stopping in Greenfield, MA, along the way to say hello to folks at the Production Machine Company and a few friends. They arrived in New York City on December 13 and spent the next 3 days seeing the sites and visiting with Rita's sister and husband, Mr and Mrs Arthur Launay. They went shopping, roller-skating and to the movies and dined at the Brass Rail. On December 16, Wayne got his reservation ticket at Penn Station and then he and Rita boarded the train to his next assignment at Avon Park, FL. Due to an error in reading the timetables for the train Wayne arrived over a day late, though he was still able to check in at the Post and get processed. He received a couple of 3-day passes so they went to Miami and Palm Beach where they took in the sites and night clubs before returning to Avon Park. Rita then headed home to New Hampshire to collect their daughter Terry and they would both return to Avon Park a week later to stay with Wayne until he was called to combat duty.

On December 28, the crews were selected, and Wayne met his pilot and crew mates for the first time (Wayne was assigned as the co-pilot for the crew). They spent the next few months practicing and training at the bombing range while waiting for word to deploy. Those orders finally came on March 25, 1944. In a few days they would be heading to their new base to join the 100th Bomb Group at Thorpe Abbotts, UK.