William J. Maynes, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Winston P. Erickson, June 19, 2000: Saving the legacy tape no. 42

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William J. Maynes June 19 20 BIL: Yes. They were big planes and carried a good supply of fu 1. WIN: So how long did you stay in navigation school? BIL: I can't remember exactly. It could have been about two months. The class included both regular, and celestial, navigation and recognition of planes and ships. I was on the island six months waiting for pre-flight to open up. I was always looking for something to keep me busy. I went over to the bean company and they hired me again to help thrash and bag beans. I was put in charge of the marines on guard duty during one of the shifts. We all carried loaded automatic pistols while on duty. When we came off duty we had to unload the pistols during the changing of the guard. One time, during the changing of the guard, one of the marines pulled the trigger to make sure the barrel was empty before he released the magazine. It really got the attention of everybody within hearing distance. It was fortunate that he had the pistol pointed towards the ceiling before he pulled the trigger, or one of the other marines could have been wounded or killed. When the time arrived for us to enter pre-flight, we were sent by train to the Wooster College at Wooster, Ohio, for refresher courses in math, physics, English, and communications. There were other classes, but I don't recall the subjects. We arrived at Wooster November 17, 1944. We were given weekly tests to determine whether we had to stay sixteen weeks, or twenty-four weeks, before going to the University of Georgia .. During the first eight weeks I received very good grades in all the subjects except math. They always included a problem on ratios on the test. I couldn't recall of ever having 25