1943

Enlisted men wash their mess kits in cans of scalding water at the Kurmitola Army Air Base in India in 1943. In the CBI during WWII. Image courtesy of Tony Strotman.

Enlisted men who have been fortunate enough to receive mail from home take time out to read their letters. Kurmitola Army Air Base, India, 1943. In the CBI during WWII. Image courtesy of Tony Strotman.

During WWII, T/Sgt. Douglas V. Radney of Mineola, Texas, poses by his turret position on top of his plane at an air base somewhere in China. January 1943. (Douglas Radney was an Engineer-Gunner; Doolittle Tokyo Raid crew #2) Mr. Radney passed away in 1994. A biography can be found here. Image courtesy of Tony Strotman.

A crew of the 11th Bomb Squadron, 341st Bomb Group poses beside their North American B-25 "Obliterators Excuse Please" at an airfield somewhere in China, February 2, 1943. They are (l-r): S/Sgt Pat N. Boudreaux, Port Arthur, Texas, Radio-Gunner S/Sgt Karl H. May, Yakima, Washington, Engineer-Gunner Lt. Charles H. Dearth, Sidney, Ohio, Navigator Lt. Mason O. Brown, Calwell, Idaho, Co-Pilot...

A crew of the 11th Bomb Squadron, 341st Bomb Group poses beside their North American B-25 "Little Joe III" at an airfield somewhere in China, February 2, 1943. They are: Capt. Joseph L. Skeldon, Toledo, Ohio, Pilot Lt. Robert D. Hippert, Cincinnati, Ohio, Navigator T/Sgt. Maurice A. Paynter, Kingston, West Virginia, Bombardier S/Sgt. Norton G. Stubblefield, Dallas, Texas, Engineer-Gunner T/Sgt...

Sgt. William R. Zieman of Chicago, Illinois chalks up the 121st mission on the North American B-25 "Old 59" at an airbase somewhere in China during WWII. 341st Bomb Group, 491st Bomb Squadron. Image courtesy of Tony Strotman.

S/Sgt. Ed Toy of Chicago, Illinois, repairs instruments of Curtiss P-40s at an aircraft factory somewhere in China during WWII. The factory was fitted to rebuild P-40s for the American Volunteer Group (AVG) and the Chinese continued the same operations for the U.S. Air Force. January 1, 1943. Photo by 7th Photo Tech. Sqdn, provided courtesy of Tony Strotman.

Top, from left: Col. C. D. Vincent, Lt. Col. John Allison, and Col. Bruce K. Holloway. In foreground, Lt. Col. R. Baumgardner at left and unidentified man at right. China, 1943, during WWII. "Zero Club."

Master Sergeant Walter D. Zielinski helps a Chinese mechanic attach a cluster of bombs to a fighter plane of the CACW.

Group photo of enlisted combat aircrew members (flight engineers, radio operators, gunners) of the 491st Bomb Squadron at Chakulia Air Base, India, in the summer of 1943. (Information provided by Tony Strotman)