I was born in a little town in Central California called Denair near Modesto.

My ambition while in high school was to become a Fighter Pilot with the Army Air Corps (now the USAF. They required two years of college 1944 to qualify so I entered Modesto Junior College for that purpose.

After 1 1/2 years of college the AAC dropped the entrance requirement to high school diploma only, so I became immediately eligible.  

 After taking my entrance examinations at Castle AFB at Merced California in Oct 1942, I had to wait until Feb 1943 to be called in. I graduated from Cadets in Feb 1944 as a Fighter Pilot fulfilling my high school dreams.

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