Interview conducted by Eileen Hurst. Francis “Jim” Vail enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in September of 1942. He was living in Stafford Springs, CT at the time, and applied to be a pilot. Although, he failed the eye test, he wanted to remain in the Air Corps, because it seemed more “exciting” than the infantry. Vail’s basic training was in Atlantic City, NJ, just off of the boardwalk. He stayed in the Dennis Hotel, which was next to where the Miss America pageant was staged, and the men in basic training were able to see the entire show from their hotel. From basic training, Vail was sent to the Long Island Institute of Technology to learn airplane mechanics, and lived in an apartment building while going to school. The 16 week program was taught by civilians, and the men in the program lived as civilians for the most part, as they only had one hour a day where instruction was given by the army. Vail was then stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base, NM just after it was built, where he remained for nine months working in the airplane hangar. While stationed there the movie premier for “Bombardier” was held, as it had been filmed primarily on the base, and all of the soldiers were invited to attend. From there, Vail received his orders to go overseas, and shipped out of New Jersey in a convoy of over 100, 000 soldiers. They were sent to Bizerte, Africa to await their orders, and after two weeks, Vail was transferred to Bari, Italy to work as a mechanic at the air field as …
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God Bless all US veterans