This is My Great Uncle Don.(middle) He turned 94 today. He joined the Marine Corps in ww2 and got his aircraft mechanics license(A&E). He originally trained to work on SNB's and PV-1's. He even got to see the wooden mock up of the Lockheed Constellation! But when he got out of training and stationed at Cherry Point, they had switched to PBJ Mitchells. My Uncle got to do a lot of back seat flying on the PBJ's. They would go out and practise straffing off the coast and many times the bullits would ricochet off the water and come back and go through the wings! Another time a PBJ was taxiing out for take off with a bomb bay fuel tank installed. The plane all of a sudden blew up and my uncle had to use a dust pan and broom to sweep up body parts. They never really figured what happened, but my uncle figured someone on the crew was smoking. Another time my uncle on duty watched a F4U Corsair take off for training. He said the plane just got the wheels off the ground and did a complete snap roll and crashed inverted-Pilot killed instantly! My Uncle only served stateside. After the war he got his pilots license learning in a PT-23 and then part owning a PA-15 Vagabond. He didn't stay into flying very long. After a breif career being an aircraft mechanic at a small local airport my Uncle Don worked a factory job until retirement. I once asked him what got him into aviation? He said growing up in Vermont he once saw a flight of P-26's dog fighting in the middle of winter. He said those guys flying aerobatics in an open cockpit, in the dead of winter were a pretty brave bunch! Happy Birthday Uncle Don!
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From the photo, I would have never guessed he is 94. 84 maybe.