We were entertained at dinner parties by
all the friends I had before entering the service. I bought a used
Chevrolet coupe with the back pay that I received so we had
transportation.
During these first few weeks at home I began to realize what three
and a half years in service had cost me in terms of my position in
life. Here I was at 29 with no job, a little money and a car. All the
friends who had escaped being drafted, some legally and some not, had
really prospered. Most had made a lot of money working in defense
jobs, had new cars and homes of their own. After giving up three and
a half years of your life for your country, the reasons others didn't
go and their prosperity was always on one's mind. I wouldn't have
done it any other way, however, as the good times had in the service
far outweighed the bad and those memories will always be with me. I
was lucky to have had the chance to fly those airplanes and make so
many wonderful friends not to mention the exciting experiences.
In August 1945 we drove to Atlantic City where we stayed in a large
hotel taken over by the Air Force. It was right on the boardwalk and
included the Atlantic City Convention Hall. I'd never seen a room so
large, approximately the size of a football field, on the first floor
of the hotel. The beauty pageant was held there the first week we
were at the hotel. We watched the parades on the boardwalk in front
of the hotel and saw all the contestants.
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