THE PILOT: O.C. kEMP
From Boy...
Simple Times
Omer C. Kemp ("O.C.") is a typical San Diego boy. He loves cars and sports and girls (though he's largely tongue-tied around them). What he doesn't love is school, and his "D" grades prove it. He seems destined to be a blue-collar worker like his father, but doesn't mind that at all.
He also has a physical handicap: as a kid, while chasing a thrown football into a shrub, a twig pierced his eardrum, deafening him for life in his left ear and leaving him with debilitating tinnitus.
It is a secret he will keep his entire time in the armed forces during WWII--and from everyone, even those closest to him on his crew.
... To Cadet...
Flight Training
O.C. starts out in the Army infantry, but when he learns they are being trained to storm the beaches of France, he starts looking into options. He's told it's impossible to transfer to the Army Air Force, but somehow, through luck (and some fervent prayers), he miraculously finds himself taking the aviation cadet exam, which he passes by just three points.
From there it's on to ground school, where studying comes hard as he breaks his brain over physics, principles of flight, navigation, meteorology, engineering--all subjects that tax him to this limit.
And he has to do it while being constantly hazed by the upper classmen in his dorm.
But flying makes it all worthwhile. He writes home after his first airplane ride: "I think this is something I can do."
... To Captain
Pilot in Command
He isn't really ready for this. Ground school was tough, flying was fun, but commanding is terrifying for this quiet, shy, young man.
"I kept my mouth shut," he said, "and everyone thought I was wise. I fooled 'em all."
But he overcomes his fears when he realizes that he's responsible for the men under his command, whose jobs he must know as well as his own.
But his natural inclination toward hard work ingratiates him with his enlisted crewmen and his calm, open demeanor in the cockpit instills confidence in his fellow officers.
