The wartime letters of

Austin H. Winn

Cherry, Lauderdale County, Tennessee · 1943–1945

Austin’s own words stay in the boxed letters, spelled as he wrote them. All added explanation is in green notes labeled Historical note. Home is the community of Cherry. Route 2, Henning is only the rural mail route on the envelopes.

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Chapters

Chapter 1 Leaving Home January–March 1943 · train south, Miami Beach, emergency leave, orders to Oshkosh
Chapter 2 College in a Dairy Town April–June 1943 · 96th College Training Detachment, Oshkosh, first hours in the air
Chapter 3 Classification July–September 1943 · troop train west, Santa Ana, classified pilot, preflight
Chapter 4 Eagle Field October 1943 · Dos Palos, Ryan PT-22, first solo
Chapter 5 Sixty Hours November 1943 · Eagle Field, check rides, primary graduation
Chapter 6 The Vultee December 1943 · War Eagle Field, Lancaster, BT-13 basic
Chapter 7 Under the Hood January 1944 · War Eagle Field, night flying, the Link trainer
Chapter 8 Two Engines February–April 1944 · Marfa, AT-17, wings and bars
Chapter 9 Twenty Tons May–June 1944 · Roswell, B-17 transition
Chapter 10 The Pool July 1944 · Lincoln routing pool, Alamogordo crew school
Chapter 11 The Superfortress August 1944 · Alamogordo, B-29 crew training
Chapter 12 The Nineteenth September–October 1944 · Great Bend, 19th Bomb Group
Chapter 13 Somewhere in Cuba November–December 1944 · overwater training, leave papers
Chapter 14 Orders South January 1945 · Great Bend, Caribbean overwater work, orders toward staging
Chapter 15 Kearney Staging early February 1945 · Kearney, Nebraska, California embarkation
Chapter 16 The Marianas mid-February–March 1945 · Guam arrival, early combat missions
Chapter 17 Spring Missions April–May 1945 · Iwo emergency field, V-E Day, City of Charlottesville
Chapter 18 Guam North Field June–July 1945 · continued ops, Handwerker–City of Memphis distinction, Air Medal
Chapter 19 War's End August–September 1945 · atomic-bomb news, surrender, waiting, ATC home
Chapter 20 Homeward October 1945 · San Francisco, Camp Chaffee, Tucson note