Oral History Interview with Edward L. Silar, August 11, 2000

2024-10-21T16:28:52-05:00

Interview with Edward L. Silar, a business executive and Army Air Forces veteran, concerning his experiences as a pilot trainee in the United States during World War II. Life in Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, during the Great Depression; the decision of the twin Silar brothers to enter the Aviation Cadet Program, 1942; basic training, Miami Beach, Florida, 1943; Air Crew Student Training, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky, 1943; Aviation Cadet Classification Center, Nashville, Tennessee,1943; pre-flight training, Maxwell Field, Alabama, 1943; primary flight training, Southern Aviation School, Camden, South Carolina, 1943; basic flight training, Sumter, South Carolina, 1943; advanced flight training, Seymour, Indiana, 1943-44; comments about going through all phases of flight training with his twin brother, Ted; B-17 transitional training, Sebring, Florida, 1944; B-24 transitional training, Smyrna, Tennessee, 1944; assignment as a co-pilot instructor, Laredo, Texas, 1944-45; his various accounts of flying with his twin brother; forming of his permanent B-17 crew, Plant Park, Florida, 1945; his brother Ted's marriage at Smyrna; mustering out of the service on December 15, 1945, and enrollment at Centre College with his brother, 1946; law school at Vanderbilt University with his brother, 1949; enlistment in the Air National Guard; Ted's death as a result of a P-47 crash on March 28, 1949. Appendix consists of photocopies of several newspapers (four leaves).

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Oral History Interview with Edward L. Silar, August 11, 2000