American civilians who were on the home front during World War II would each have different stories to tell. With most, almost certainly their stories would not be as dramatic as the stories of many of those who lived in the battle zones of Europe and the Far East. Despite the difference, there would be many moving stories to tell of Americans who lost loved ones or received them home wounded or tarnished in some way by the war. Our parents welcomed us home untarnished, but changed by our experiences. Our stories range from the intense action of combat flying that Don experienced to the more ordinary action of flight training that both of us went through. We hope that the older reader will find in this book some things familiar to their experiences, and to those who were not living during this period in our history, may they find some of the limited history in this book to be of interest to them.