Veterans Day 2014

I have posted previous Veterans Day tributes here so this year I am posting a picture of the 354 Service Squadron that my dad was in in WWII.

My dad had picked up this photo at one of the reunions he went to, he said he did not remember it being taken, or where or when it was taken. Captain Maloy was a spit and polish captain so that is why all were in uniform and ties. For a group that serviced B-17 and B-24 bombers keeping spit and polished was a lot of work. They started out at Geiger AFB and had basic training in Ephrata, Washington, then on to England, and spent most of the war in North Africa before going to Italy. After the surrender in Europe they were put on a ship heading to Japan, and were in the Panama Canal when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. They headed to San Francisco and before they got there the second bomb had been dropped and Japan surrendered. So at San Francisco they asked the men if they wanted to stay in the army or go home. They all went home. As of last count 5 or 6 of the men are still alive.