War Can Be Fun If You Don't Get Killed
or
Nil Carborundum Illegitimi
by
Lyman Wood Jeffreys
Page 1 Page 2
On September 14, 1942 I enlisted at the Board of Trade Building in Chicago as Navy Aviation Cadet (AVCAD) V-5 USNR
Me at Work
I went to the Board of Trade with Alfred Klein, who was the instigator and had lived on Franklin Rd. in Glencoe just down the street from me, but at this time he lived in Evanston. Someone else whose name I can't recall and did not know well also went along. The Navy did not take them.
There was a physical exam to check that you were alive and could see very well. The written exam contained a lot of questions about physics which was easy if you could remember high school physics.
I reported for active duty December 7, 1942 at the Board of Trade Building and was sent to Lake Forest College for civilian pilot training (CPT) with ground school at Lake Forest and flight training in Piper cubs at Palwaukee Airport. There was snow on the ground and at times the cubs were on skis. This made quite a racket when the field became icy. There was no formal runway.
We had breakfast and dinner at the college dining hall along with the students who were mostly girls by this time. Lunch was at the old Wheeling Hotel which served family style and was a mile or two from the airport.
Ground school was held at Lake Forest with subjects like mathematics, physics, navigation, code and others.
We were given green wool uniforms that included a short overcoat and black high top shoes that had been made at Leavenworth prison. I think there was a hat. Probably a garrison cap. The uniforms were Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) issue. CCC had been a depression "make work" project that no longer existed.
Since there was little or no Navy Supervision, the uniforms were used in bits and pieces. Hardly ever together. They were turned in when CPT ended, except I found the shoes in the attic many years later. I no longer have them.
A bus took us back and forth from Lake Forest to Palwaukee and to lunch in Wheeling. Had 22 hour dual & 14 hour solo time. I soloed on February 15, 1943 in a cub J3 which had a 65 hp Franklin air-cooled engine. Some that I flew had 50 hp Lycom engines. A few times I flew Aeroncas (sometimes referred to as airknockers) which had the 65 hp engines and looked like the cub. Willis Clark was my instructor. I saw him once after the war. The others in the class were:
Walter John Baron
Jules James Furest
William Wallace (Happy Jack) Birchman
Lewis Palmer Sale, Jr.
Edgar Leslie Brooks
John Don Samuelson
Robert Parker Coefin
Gustave Benjamin (Gus)Schurmeier
Edmund Russell Dawson
They were mostly from the North Shore. One was from Park Ridge. Happy, I believe, was from Chicago.
Cub on Skis; the First Plane I Flew
Palwaukee Airport, Wheeling, Illinois
Happy Jack was away from his room at Lake Forrest college one day. When he returned with his family that evening and said, "This is where I live", as he threw open the door to his room, the floor was clean! See the photo. I wonder what ever happened to Happy Jack? The college had been giving us maid service to clean and make beds until an officer from the Navy came by one day and put a stop to that.
Happy Jack's Room
While in Glencoe I bought a 1935 black Ford coupe for $65, which I sold to George Gear when I went to Iowa City. The fenders were in the rumble seat and George and I put them back on in about one hour. Everything bolted together back then. It had mechanical brakes that I could not get adjusted to pull together well.
I played golf at NAS Glenview with Sale, and I believe Coefin in the summer of 1946 after I was out of active duty with the Navy. Saw Baron at Jacksonville as I was departing the Navy. He was painting his car, a 1935 Ford, like the one I had. He was in the BOQ parking lot with a brush and can of black paint. I never saw any of them again. This was also the last time that I played golf.
I went home to Glencoe from March 27, 1943 until I was sent to Iowa City by train May 5, 1943 for pre-flight training until July 25, 1943 where I was in Battalion 25, room 118.
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