Never Give Up

While my father was still very young, he obviously had a "never give up" attitude already.  The Army Air Corps recruitment officer had already told him he didn't qualify because he didn't weigh enough.  Determined to be a P-38 pilot, Daddy ate like he had never eaten before.  He was naturally slender, as his father before him. Gaining weight at his age was harder than it seemed.
Part of the fascinating items in my father's scrapbook are the documents that were saved noting his attempt at both the Army Air Corps and the Navy Officer candidate school.  It was like he started sort of a campaign and even had at least 3 recommendation letters sent by various influential people in the city.

Beginning in the Spring of 1943, these letters were written and provided to my father to send to the Air Corps, in hopes he could get to that P-38!  The first one is undated, so I am deeming it the "first" letter of recommendation.

First Letter of Recommendation
(Click Here For Full Size)

What I love about these letters is just how much the written word has changed in 70 years.  A "high type" might mean something much, well...less than stellar these days.  While, being his son, I am somewhat less than a neutral observer or researcher in this part of his history.  But, I do think it was pretty cool that he and my grandparents were seen as good people...but of course, I already knew that.

The news "over there" began to take a turn in 1942 and 1943.  After the initial shock wave of the Nazi push from 1939 to 1942, and the attack on Pearl Harbor and other key islands in the Pacific in 1941 and 1942, the Allies began to push back.  By April 1943, Russian forces were putting up quite a battle and the British were making progress in Tunisia.  Of course, there was a long, long way to go in the war, and not all people in Europe or the islands in the Pacific Ocean were experiencing any relief.  However, the Allies as a whole also would "never give up" until there was absolute victory over the Axis powers.