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The War Years

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The War Years 1941 - 1945 George Northsea: The War Years by Steven Northsea April 28, 2015 George Northsea - The War Years 1941-42 George is listed in the 1941 East High Yearbook as Class of 1941 and his picture and the "senior" comments about him are below: We do know that he was living with his parents at 1223 15th Ave in Rockford, Illinois in 1941. The Rockford, Illinois city directory for 1941 lists him there and his occupation as a laborer. The Rockford City Directory of 1942 lists George at the same address and his occupation is now "Electrician." George says in a journal written in 1990, "I completed high school in January of 1942 (actually 1941), but graduation ceremony wasn't until June. In the meantime I went to Los Angeles, California. I tried a couple of times getting a job as I was only 17 years old. I finally went to work for Van De Camp restaurant and drive-in as a bus boy. 6 days a week, $20.00 a week and two meals a day. The waitresses pitched in each week from their tips for the bus boys. That was another 3 or 4 dollars a week. I was fortunate to find a garage apartment a few blocks from work - $3 a week. I spent about $1.00 on laundry and $2.00 on cigarettes. I saved money." (italics mine) "The first part of May, I quit my job to go back to Rockford (Illinois) for graduation. I hitch hiked 2000 miles in 4 days. I arrived at my family's house at 4:00 AM one morning. On my trip my meals consisted 2 George Northsea - The War Years of Hot Cakes and coffee 15¢. When I awakened my mother she was happy to see me and fixed a huge breakfast for me.After graduation I went to work for a pie company delivering pies - $18.00 a week. Living at home I was able to save more money a bought my first car - 1932 Ford V8." "When WW II broke out, I wanted to enlist but my father would not sign the papers. I was working as an industrial apprentice electrician. I never had to sign up for the draft* but when it was getting close our father signed the papers so I could go into the US Army Air Corp. This was in December of 1942, but I was not called in until Feb of 1943." *We know however, that George did register for the draft as we have a copy of his draft card which says he registered on the 29th of June 1942. George went to Camp Grant, Illinois where he received the Identification Card pictured on the next page on December 12 of 1942. Elizabeth, his wife to be, had a picture taken of herself talking on the phone with him. Elizabeth on the Phone With George in December of 1942 When He Was at Camp Grant. 3 George Northsea - The War Years Camp Grant was a U.S. Army facility located in the southern outskirts of Rockford, Illinois named in honor of General Ulysses S. Grant. Camp Grant, which at one point consisted of over 18,000 acres, was in operation from 1917 to the late 1940s George's Identification Card George actually enlisted in the Army Air Corps Enlisted Reserves. "The creation of a backlog of duly qualified applicants for aviation cadet training had been a paramount objective of the Air Corps since September 1940, when the Selective Service Act became law. The operation of the draft, plus the increased recruiting activity of the Navy and of industry, had put the Air Corps in a position where it feared serious competition for the type of young men that met its high physical and mental standards. The most practical way to insure against the loss of this potential aviation cadet personnel was to enlist qualified candidates in a reserve aviation cadet grade and place them on inactive status until such time as they would be called to active duty to fill training school quotas. Two attempts were made in the prewar period to obtain permission for the creation of such a grade in an enlisted reserve corps, but in each instance the request was disapproved. The opposition came principally from the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-1, who argued that the Air Corps would lay itself open to a charge of fostering a method of draft evasion, and from TAG, who argued that procurement was proceeding at a satisfactory rate and that the creation of such a grade would require long study within the War Department and the establishment of appropriate administrative machinery in each corps area. The fact that as late as 17 September 1941 the Air Corps had not yet appointed as aviation cadets a total of 6,500 qualified candidates who were on its list of eligibles undoubtedly militated against the proposal to create an additional personnel pool. Within two months, however, after the enlarged training facilities for the 30,000-pilot training program had become available, the qualified candidates were being absorbed in the training classes at a rate faster than recruiting officials could replenish the supply, 4 George Northsea - The War Years a fact which prompted the decision to abandon the long-standing college requirement. After Pearl Harbor, when the stops were all pulled on recruiting, the number of men who applied and were accepted for aircrew training was so great that the Air Corps could not accommodate them, even at its expanded training centers. But training rates at the same time were being raised much higher, and the very confusion which attended current efforts to recruit and "store" the thousands of men who would be needed strengthened the argument for an enlisted reserve. Consequently, the request was made for the third time, and this time successfully. The Air Corps' contention that an arrangement of this nature was required in order to control the flow into training no longer needed to be argued, and approval was given to establish the Air Corps Enlisted Reserve (ACER) as of April 1942. The recently reinstituted quota system was promptly abandoned and aviation cadet examining boards were expected to recruit enough men to insure a constant pool of 54,000 qualified applicants. Until mid-December 1942 all civilian applicants who could qualify for aviation cadet training were enlisted in the ACER pending a call to active duty. The plan was sufficiently flexible to appeal to men both in and out of school or college. To those between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six who could pass the physical and mental examinations for aviation cadet training, three courses of action were now open. Each applicant who qualified could elect:1) to enlist for active duty as a private in the Army Air Corps (unassigned), earmarked for aviation cadet appointment and training as facilities became available; 2) to enlist in the ACER and remain at his civilian job until called to active duty, at which time he would receive appointment to aviation cadet status; or 3) if enrolled full time in an accredited college , enlist as a private in the ACER and continue in college until graduation or withdrawal, but with the understanding that the deferment could be terminated at any time by the Secretary of War. ( from -http ://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/VI/AAF-VI-15.html "The Army Air Forces in World War II"). George chose option 2 as in his own words, " I was working as an industrial apprentice electrician." He and hundreds others were put on hold as indicated by this December article Liz pasted in her scrapbook. George's cousin Earl G Northsea was also on the waiting list. (last paragraph) 5 George Northsea - The War Years We know that George sent Elizabeth a birthday card to express his sentiments on December 22, 1942. 6 George Northsea - The War Years And on December25th of 1942 the young couple exchanged sentimental Christmas cards. Liz to George Christmas 1942 George to Liz Christmas 1942 Interestingly enough Elizabeth also put a floor plan to a house in Rolling Green (suburb of Rockford) on this page in the scrapbook. It is labeled "Our House in Rolling Green." 7 George Northsea - The War Years 1943 But the wait was not long as indicated by the above February 10, 1943 article. On February 16th there was a going away party for George and Elizabeth saved the napkin pictured below. George must have left on February 18 as Elizabeth saved this matchbook from Henrici's Restaurant on the main floor of the Merchandise Mart in Chicago and labeled it George leaving. 8 George Northsea - The War Years Soon after they separated, George wrote Liz a short letter. In her scrap book she calls it "First Word from George after he left - February 18, 1943. "Dear Liz, It's 8:30 and we are still in Chicago. It will take about another hour before we will be able to leave here. Maybe longer. We won't be able to write until we get there so I had better write to you I thought. They just fed us a good supper. There is about 500 guys here. We may get a sleeper so it won't be so bad going down there. Call up my folks and say hello. Tell them I'll write when I get down there. Already I miss you. Say hello to everyone. Give some of my love to my mother and keep some yourself. Love, George" George wanted to be a pilot and says in the above quoted journal that he was "assigned to Chennault Field for evaluation and medical tests.
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