secretary of war, stillp son, who was a family friend, suggested get some seasoning before you go into the war. you ll be a better office. he enlisted immediately and became one of the youngest aviators in the pacific theater. at the time, i believe he was the youngest aviator maybe that s up for debate? we used to say he was the youngest and then we found some guy that was four days younger. so now we say second youngest. he was really, really young. yes. with that youth, like so many of his generation, the greatest generation, he had to deal with unbelievable mind bending pressure, tragedy and just raw war. and he had loss. terrible loss and tremendous responsibility. i think it s important, he s only 19, 20 years s during thi period. a bomber, a three-person crew. 1944, he was shot down over the