Addendum to Previous Letter

ADDENDUM TO LETTER.
I met Arval in January, 1943, at our first base, in Cut Bank, Montana. He was a pilot in our 429th Bomb Squadron, of the 2nd Bomb Group (B-17’s). I was the bombardier on Ken Spinning’s crew (Skippy). Arval piloted “Redbird” (their bombardier’s nickname).
Arval was a very skilled pilot, and his crew really respected him. They all called him “Skipper’. Normally, I flew with the same crew. At first, my pilot was Ken Spinning. Later, Ken took over a new crew, ant their pilot became Ken’s co-pilot. Doug MacCarter, our co-pilot, then took over our crew, as pilot. After about my 25th mission, I occasionally, started flying as the “Lead” bombardier for either our Squadron, or the whole Group. Consequently, I started flying with other pilots, and their crews. Yet, I never flew with Arval.
Arval was a little older than I was . He graduated from The University of Utah before entering the Army Air Corps. He, also, had completed his two years of Missionary work for the Mormon Church. He and Julia were married on July 18, 1942 - before he went overseas.
Arval finished flying his 50 missions shortly after I did. Upon returning to the States, he returned to his old stomping grounds - Salt Lake city. He was a professor at the University of Utah - teaching German. He also volunteered at the Family History Library, and was a genealogy consultant, interpreting German -genealogy records.
On one of our first annual trips to Salt Lake City, I remembered Arval being from there. So, I looked him up in the phone book, and gave him a call. About every year after that, I would either call him, or visit him, when we were in Salt Lake. This is when I first met Julia. On one occasion, he came down to the Inn at Temple Square, where we were staying, and we did a lot of reminiscing. Both Arval and Julia are very nice people, and two of my favorite friends. I feel very fortunate that our paths crossed in this life.