My purpose for this book is to tell the story of a young man's journey though World War 2 in the Army Air Corps. Orvin T. Lemke, my dad, wasn't a fighter pilot or an infantry hero. He never saw combat but still it is the story of an ordinary guy who left his home, job and sweetheart to fulfill his duty to his country in the time of war. When he left home, he didn't know where he would end up or what he would be doing, or even if he would ever see home or his love again, but yet like so many others, he went. He went with a sense of adventure and a purpose, to save our great country from the evils of the enemies overseas. As you will see he had great respect for the men who flew those planes, those paratroopers who jumped out of them into the fire and those who fought hand to hand with the enemy on the front lines. But he also took pride in the job he was trained for, as an armorer. He knew the importance of his job to maintain the armament and load the bombs on a plane. And he knew the importance of all those soldiers who never actually saw combat, the clerks, the cooks, mechanics and the other ground crew for without them those planes couldn't fly.
These pages are filled with stories and excerpts from the over 1000 letters that my father wrote to my mother. Because he wrote her nearly every day and sometimes more than once, it gives us an interesting look in the daily life of an American G.I. The spelling and grammar are his, that of a man who grew up on the "wrong side" of town during the Great Depression. He had to leave high school to help support his family and spent time working with the Civilian Conservation Corp during the Depression. His technical school training as a machinist likely influenced his being assigned to be trained as an armorer. These letters have been edited because some parts are just too personal to share and also to avoid much repetition. If I had a dollar for every time he told his sweetheart he loved her, I'd be very rich. It's rare he wrote a letter on just one page, three or four pages both sides is more usual. Many of the letters from overseas were written on V-mails, so were pretty short. Not all of the letters are included as well, there's just too many.
The photographs I have included were taken by my dad or his friends. He was no great photographer, but he endeavored to document his journey in order to show his future kids "what their old man did in the war".