Gail Halvorsen in 1948. (U.S. Army Photo)

‘I came in over the field, and there were those kids in that open space. I wiggled the wings, and they just blew up—I can still see their arms’

Do you recall spotting your first plane?
Oh yeah. I was raised during the Depression on a small farm in northern Utah. The war started, and we were sending training planes—AT-6 Texans, painted yellow—to Canada from California and Salt Lake City. They’d come up flying over the farm, and I was enthralled.

Subscribe Today

• Did you enjoy our article?
• Read more in Military History magazine
• Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!!
 

How did a farm boy become a pilot?
The government was trying to build the pilot base for the looming war and offered a non-college pilot training program at a ground school in Ogden. I competed with about 150 other people, and they gave 10 flight-training scholarships. I got my license in September 1941.

How did your folks react?
My first cross country, learning to fly in ’41, I came up over the farm. Dad was down in the sugar beets with two horses, pulling the cultivator, and Mother was in the garden. I thought, Boy, I’ll show ’em I can fly this airplane! So I circled a few times, gunning the engine. They didn’t even stop. So I climbed up another 1,000 feet or two, then cut off the power and did a two-turn spin over the farm.

I came back that night, and my dad met me at the door. “You’re through. You’re grounded.” I asked, “Why?” He said, “Well, your mom just about had a heart attack. She knew it must be you after circling a few times, and she started watching. She’s not feeling well yet.” I said, “Oh no, hey, I won’t do that again!” And so the next time over the farm, I just circled and wiggled the wings.

Then you joined the Army Air Corps?
Well, I didn’t get the scholarship with that in mind. I just wanted to fly. But as soon as Pearl Harbor hit, that was what I wanted to do. I was accepted into training in May 1942.

Were you hoping to fly fighters?
Oh yeah. That was where all the glamour and excitement was. Then one day at training school, they posted a notice: THOSE WANTING TO TRAIN WITH THE ROYAL AIR FORCE, CHECK INSIDE. And I thought, Heck, that sounds great! RAF. These are the heroes of the world. They had training bases in the United States and sent me and my buddies to Miami, Okla. But when we came back in June 1944, they had all the fighter pilots they needed, so they transitioned us to transport pilots. We flew supplies to bases up and down South America.

Where did you wind up?
In 1944 they needed transport pilots to fly The Hump from India to support the Chinese. We got as far as Brazil, the jumping-off point to cross the South Atlantic, and they changed our orders.

Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to