Request for Memories of the

Army Air Force / World War II

Greetings! Perhaps you can help...

I am writing a biography of my father, John E. "Jack" Voisin, now deceased, for purposes of family history and genealogy. He served in the Army Air Forces during World War II. Some may have called it the Army Air Corps.

I hope to make contact with any veterans who were classmates in the same training programs as my father. Or, if not in the same class, perhaps those who where at those air fields at about the same time as my father.

I am interested in hearing about your memories and recollections of the training programs, the air fields, the cadets, and generally what life was like.

If you are a veteran who knew my father, or a relative of someone who may have known him, please contact Mike Voisin at: MikeVoisin@iSeeAncestors.com. I may have old photographs and letters that interest you as well.

Places and Dates

The table below summarizes the Army Air Fields (AAF), Army Air Force Base Units (AAFBU), Basic Training Centers (BTC), and Detachments to which my father was assigned. If you were there, I would appreciate any stories you can tell.

Place Unit Start End Activity
Detroit, MI   8-2-1943 8-2-1943 Entered Service
Miami Beach, FL 414th Training Group, BTC #4 8-4-1943 Sept. 1943 Basic training
Clinton, SC 39th College Training Detachment 10-3-1943 2-26-1944 Presbyterian College
Miami Beach, FL   2-27-1944 3-13-1944 Classification processing
Sumter, SC   3-21-1944 ? Air Crew Training Detachment
Santa Ana, CA Squadron 25, Flight B
Squadron 7, Section I
Squadron 35, Section M
Squadron 3, Section H
4-21-1944 Sept. 1944 Preflight navigation
Also an extra in the movie Winged Victory, 1944
Kingman, AZ   10-2-1944 11-16-1944 Aerial gunnery school
San Marcos, TX 2536th AAFBU Squadron I 11-18-1944 4-7-1945 Navigation school
Carlsbad, NM 3009th AAFBU Squadron N
2619th AAFBU Squadron B
5-1-1945 6-7-1945 Bombardier school
Yuma, AZ 3036th AAFBU Squadron H 6-10-1945 11-11-1945 Radar bombardment
Fort Wayne, IN   11-15-1945 11-18-1945 Discharge
Selfridge Field, MI Tenth Air Force 1946 1957[?] Officer's Reserve Corps

Clinton, South Carolina

The following people were my father's classmates from the 39th College Training Detachment (CTD), Class E-1, Squadron C, at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina (February 1944):

Daniel O. Elliott (Indiana) Paul H. Smith (Colorado) Peter J. Tomasino (New York)
Gordon G. Everett (Michigan) Jack Spaar (Minnesota) Joe J. Trecker (Iowa)
John Graves (New York) Conrad Stanley (Missouri) Paul R. Tudor (Oklahoma)
Willis P. Harvey (Michigan) Sam "Greek" Stathakis (Arkansas) Amon P. Turpen (Tennessee)
Laurence Johnson (Virginia) Robert Steimel (Iowa) Richard E. Vanden Heuvel (Wisconsin)
Melvin L. Keas (Colorado) Hubert S. Stock (California) Alton L. Varnado (Mississippi)
George Krajnovich (Illinois) Amos G. Stock (Colorado) George P. Vasen (Illinois)
Lee A. Magruder (Kentucky) Fred E. Stockinger (New Jersey) Frank J. Verego (Illinois)
Francis J. Sherman (Kansas) Myles B. Stokes (Texas) Albert Versnik (Wisconsin)
Earl E. "Bud" Sherman (Kentucky) Robert Storch (Minnesota) Kenneth Violett (Oklahoma)
James E. Silz (Ohio) Charlie Stultz (Indiana) Elmer T. Vitiense (Wisconsin)
James L. Smith (Colorado) Nevin M. Summers (Florida) Richard E. Voigt (Florida)
Leroy E. Smith (North Carolina) David B. Thorpe (Florida)  

San Marcos Army Air Field

The following people were my father's classmates from Class 45-10N-F, Aircraft Observers (Aerial Navigators), at the San Marcos Army Air Field in San Marcos, Texas (April 1945):

Robert K. Borman (Illinois) Howard M. Kirkpatrick (Texas) John J. Shaughnessy (New York)
William M. Bowen (Illinois) Sidney "Sid" Klein (New York) Francis J. Sherman (Missouri)
William E. Breidenbach (Illinois) Carl A. Klinzing, Jr. (Pennsylvania) John Sisko, Jr. (Connecticut)
Roger W. Brickey (Indiana) Elias Laham (Massachusetts) Charles J. Smeal (Pennsylvania)
Charles M. Carter (Tennessee) John L. Marshall [formerly Maruszczak] (Illinois) Robert S. Smith (Connecticut)
Dewey G. Cooper Joseph H. Masterson, Jr. (Massachusetts) Leroy "Roy" Sommer (Michigan)
Stanley W. "Stan" Davis (Massachusetts) Heyward McLeod (South Carolina) Verl S. Southwell (Michigan)
Raymond J. "Ray" Delopst (Wisconsin) Lawrence I. Mourey (Oregon) Frederick L. "Fritz" Stead (Ohio)
Clayton O. Douglass Dennis J. O'Connell (Massachusetts) Arthur F. Stipp, Jr. (Illinois)
Ralph H. Duncan (Missouri) James H. "Jim" Perry (New York) William J. Swift, Jr. (North Dakota)
Arthur J. Elson (Connecticut) Nicholas J. Pizzella (Massachusetts) Glenn M. Walters (Michigan)
Richard Ennis (Michigan) Robert P. Saunders, Jr. (Virginia) Dean R. White (Minnesota)
John R. Grove (Illinois) John J. Sellman (Michigan) Joseph R. Williams (New York)
William A. Howard (Pennsylvania) Edwin "Ed" Shapiro (New York)  

Contact: Mike Voisin

Revised: March 28, 2022
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