Carl's service in World War II

I have quite a few documents detailing Carl's time in the military, which is fortunate, because his journey from recruit to captain seems quite unlikely for a high school graduate with no special skills. He enlisted in January, 1942 (waiting to be drafted, he explained, meant that he wouldn't get to choose where he went) as a private. He loved planes, so he chose the Army Air Forces, aware that he couldn't be a pilot, but hoping to be made a tail gunner. He somehow skipped the rank of private entirely and rapidly made his way up to Staff Sergeant, then enrolled in Officer Candidate School. He was discharged a captain in January, 1946. Quotes from various documents follow-- all caps are original.

I have a document entitled, Honorable Discharge from the Army of the United States, certifying that Carl W. Kraft, Staff Sergeant, is "hereby HONORABLY DISCHARGED from the military service of the UNITED STATES... to accept Commission as Second Lieutenant in Army of United States. When enlisted he was 24 11/12 years of age and by occupation a Clerk. He had Brown eyes, Black hair, Ruddy complexion, and was 5 feet 10 1/2 inches in height. Given under my hand at Miama Beach, Florida this 27th day of October, one thousand nine hundred and forty-two."

Carl seems to have gone to the Army Air Forces Technical Training Command in Miami Beach, Florida for Officer Candidate School. He gave me a sort of yearbook for his time there, which begins with these words, scribed by Lieutenant General H.H. Arnold: "As members of the United States Armed Forces, you do not have to be told of the magnitude and importance of the task that lies before you.

"At every base, station, and training field of the United States Army Air Forces, you are preparing yourselves for the great test of arms which will prove that the forces of democracy can destroy the evil power of the totalitarian nations."

Carl's photo is on a page for Squadron 22:

The next document is a DIPLOMA for the Army Air Forces Officer Candidate School, certifying that "Carl Wilkerson Kraft has satisfactorily completed the course prescribed the the Army Air Forces and Given at Officer Candidate School, Miami Beach, Florida... Given on this Twenty-Eight day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and forty-two."

Carl was then apparently assigned to Santa Ana Army Air Base in Santa Ana, California, and became an Instructor of Air Recognition. He is listed in a sort of yearbook there, under "Training and Operations":

The next document reads: "Army of the United States CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE. This is to certify that Carl W. Kraft Capt Bakersfield Calif honorably served in active Federal Service in the Army of the United States from 19 January 1942 to 21 January 1946."

This is the top of his certificate of service, which has been placed into a photo album with a photo of Carl and other officers. Carl is second from the left. The back of the photo is labeled Santa Ana Army Air Base Class Dec. 1942.

The final document is difficult to read, with very fancy typography, but the top reads THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and states that "resposing special trust and confidence in the patriotism, valor, fidelity and abilities of Carl Wilkerson Kraft, I do appoint him Captain, Air Corps in the Army of the United States.... He will enter upon active duty under this commission only when specifically ordered to such active duty by competent authority. Done at the City of Washington, this ninth day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and forty-seven." I would guess this placed him into the reserves.

Transportation

Carl: A lot of times, to get around, you rode a ferry. You had no bridges; if you went from Norfolk to Portsmouth, or Berkeley, or Newport News, you took a ferry. If you were going west on the Chesapeake and Ohio, which went out of Newport News, you took the ferry boat. They had a fast ferry--steamer, actually, but it was a ferry. Everywhere you went-- if you were going to New York, you took the ferry over to Cape Charles. You traveled by steamboat to these places. You had the Baltimore line-- two lines going to Baltimore-- the Washington line, a Philadelphia line, a New York line, a Boston line, a Charleston and Savannah line-- there were no bridges.

Ellen: When did they start building bridges? Was that one of the things the WPA did in the thirties?

Carl: They actually got into the first bridges during the Roosevelt administration, during the Depression. The Military Highway was built almost entirely by WPA workers. (Note that the Wikipedia link indicates Military Highway was built in 1943 due to the military buildup during World War II. Carl may be conflating two different roads here.) It put a lot of men to work. The Post Office building in downtown Norfolk, that was built by the WPA. I worked there for twenty years, before I went to Portsmouth.

Ellen: Did you ever work for the WPA?

Carl (thinks about it): Somewhere along the line... I went to work for the railroad (first). That was my first really permanent job. I did work some for the WPA, office-type work... Anyway, one of the things that's most different today was the fact that you went nowhere across water except by ferry.

Ellen: Tell me about your first car.

Carl (with sardonic amusement): Oh, my first car was a wonder.... a real dog, I think it was an Essex. I think I paid $35 for it. It had holes in the floor; you could reach down and push yourself along. Holes in the floor where your feet were. That was a real dog. 

But the second car I got was fantastic. It was a straight-eight sportscar. Pierce-Arrow, which was the American equivalent of Rolls Royce. That was a real fine car. I got that from-- a young "blade," as we used to call them, and he got married, and his wife insisted he settle down and buy a normal car. So he bought a Buick, or something like that, probably, and sold that car to me for something like $75. Which doesn't sound as cheap as it would be today, because you could buy a new Ford or Chevrolet for $700.

After the war, when I bought my old Chevrolet, I wanted to buy it-- I had a good buy. That was a '48, the last remaining prewar car. It was nothing in the world but a '41, '42-- they discontinued (cars) entirely during the war, made tanks and that sort of thing. When they went back into the business in '47, after the war-- it took them a couple of years to tool up and get going-- they didn't have a new car. They still made the prewar car until about '49, and the first postwar Chevrolets that came out were 1949s. I had a '48, brand new. Well, practically. Guy I worked with bought it, then shortly afterward the '49s came out, and he had to have a new car. So he sold me that thing for a reasonable-- something like $200. Almost brand new. I had that car for a long time, right up till after we were married. (This site suggests Carl's dates are accurate, saying, "In 1949, Chevrolet presented its first all new models since the end of World War II.")

Ellen: What happened to the Pierce-Arrow? Did you sell it when you went to the war?

Carl: I went into the service, and I left that car with somebody I knew, told them to take care of it. They thought I was gone, of course; I mean, when you went in the service-- and he had it a while, and when he got a chance, he sold it up the river. He sold it to somebody who knew the value of it, and he completely restored it, and it was a showcar after the war, at sportscar shows. I mean, it was a showpiece! It had a trunk, and under the second seat was a hole, like that (holds hands a couple of feet apart)-- that was for your golf clubs. It had wire wheels, something like twenty-two inches. Straight-eight. The two spare wheels were in wells on either side-- you've seen pictures, it was the standard sports car of the day. Got about six miles to the gallon (laughs). Beautiful car.

The great warrior of California

Carl: Did I tell you about my combat duty in California? No, I'm not joking. I got to ride in blimps to survey the Pacific coast for Japanese submarines. I got the little ribbon for combat duty (points to left side of chest to indicate where the ribbon was to go). All I did was sit in a blimp and drink good coffee. Still, if things had gone differently I suppose my blimp might have been shot down. If the Japanese hadn't miscalculated at Pearl Harbor-- they thought all our aircraft carriers were there, you know. If they'd destroyed the whole fleet, things might have been very different. And then at Midway, six months later-- if we hadn't been successful there, who knows what might have happened? But as it was, combat duty for me was just drinking coffee. 

I don't know if I ever told you about the demerit I got at OCS. You had to be very careful-- if you got too many demerits, out you went. Well, reveille sounded, I think it was at six. Taps was at nine, and you went to bed then. But when reveille sounded (mimes playing a bugle and sings reveille quite loudly, oblivious to the fact that we're sitting in Ruby Tuesday), you had maybe ten minutes to get up and ready for inspection. I tried to get myself together every morning, but-- you know. Ten minutes. You were bound to forget something.

So one day I went out there, and they said, "Garter inspection!" (mimes pulling up pants leg) You know what garters are? I don't guess you would. Men used to use them to hold up their socks. Well, I was fine otherwise, but I'd left off my garters. So I got a demerit. The first and last time there was ever a garter inspection! But it was the only demerit I ever got.