A Special Note to Veterans

Some of you may know that my father was a fighter pilot in WWII, part of The Pioneer Mustangs: the first fighter group to fly the P51 Mustang fighter plane. Luckily, not long before Dad died (1998), he recorded his memories of his wartime experiences, and they are a great treasure to his children and grandchildren.

I feel very strongly that veterans should record their personal experiences and impressions of the war - whether it was WWII or the Korean or Vietnamese conflict.

Someone else will tell the story of the soldiers, sailors and airmen who fought those wars. Someone who was never there.

Someone who will apply their own interpretations to your motives and actions, with which you may not agree.

So get those tape recorders out & start talking, fellas! Ladies, too! Let's hear how it really was!

Record or write your memories, your impressions, and your experiences. Give this precious gift to your children and grandchildren, and please consider sharing a copy with one of these military historical collections. If you don't think your family is interested, you might be surprised. Just get those stories written down, or recorded, and pass them along.

If you choose to share your part of history with historians of today and of the future, you can be sure that they will be very grateful that you did!

Gene Ryan wrote to me about a wonderful project, a history of the 319th Bomb Group in the Pacific. I asked him if it would be OK to announce it in this newsletter. I'm pleased to say that he's said "Yes," so here it is. I'm very proud of their efforts and I hope that you'll drop Gene a line.

Friends, 319th people, and others with WWII interest,

NEW! NEW! NEW! "THE HISTORY OF THE 319TH BOMB GROUP IN THE PACIFIC:
A PICTORIAL STORY".

This pictorial history is on a CD/ROM. It tell the whole story in
pictures and personal accounts, logs and official orders. Included
are over 300 never before published photographs. The story tells of
the trip that begins in Columbia, SC, continues across the Country,
across the Ocean (both in the air and by boat), to Okinawa where
combat against the Japanese begins. Life on Okinawa is described,
including living conditions (both food and shelter), and the
destruction caused by the great typhoon of October 9, 1945. There
are combat mission reports and target photos, the surrender of the
Japanese on Ie Shima is covered, as well as the Groups redeployment
to the Philippines and the final deactivation. The story ends with
tales of those who went directly home, and those that spent time in
Japan or Korea before going home.

The price of the CD/ROM is $12, including mailing. It works on Windows
95/98/NT, 2000 and can be viewed with any Web browser. It is a great
gift for the children and grandchildren. If you don't have a computer,
not to worry the kids will know how to run it. Please send your check
to Gene P. Ryan, PO Box 2044, Oretech Br., Klamath Falls, OR, 97601.
Questions: (530) 398-4152 generyan@cot.net