I got an e-mail today from Bob Mower. He went on leave with Dad twice. They had Combat Crew Leave in Paris, February 21-22, 1945, and seven days of Rest Leave at the Martinez in Cannes from March 6-13, 1945. If you look up the history of the Hotel Martinez on the web, you'll find it was used as a headquarters by the Army Air Corp. The owners created the Cannes Film Festival and it remains the headquarters of that event.

I returned from my conference in Vancouver, BC, and found the 362nd Fighter Group Association Summer Newsletter awaiting me. I'll be copying it to share with all the family members. The newsletter announces a "Pig Pickin'" BBQ in Goldsboro, NC at the end of October. If I can, I'm going to try and be there.

 

As you are aware, military service records of our Presidential candidates are in the news. For comment, I'll simply summarize Dad's citations. Checking the timeline, Dad was named in a unit citation for action at the harbor at Brest, France that took place while he was flying training missions in a P-51 in England. He was named in a citation for a plasma drop mission during which he was one of the pilots dropping supplies to the stranded infantry unit. Finally, he was not named in the citation that was issued in recognition of a mission he flew two days before he was shot down. That is, if he was listed as being in the unit on the date the citation was issued, he was listed and recognized. One final comment, no soldier nominated himself for any recognition other than by his own conduct.