Rough War by Walt Shiel

Shortly after arriving at his squadron’s base at Teok, Assam,  in the CBI Theater, Paul found himself sitting alert and waiting for his first real combat mission. In his diary on 7 Dec 1943, he wrote:

Today I am on alert again, and it is two years ago today that Pearl Harbor was attacked. Sure is a difference now in my status, for two years ago today I was a civilian sitting in “Claire and Ethel’s” drinking beer and playing cards when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Now I am in Upper Assam – the wettest spot on Earth – waiting for an alert to fight in the sky. I certainly hope and pray we shall not have to witness another infamous anniversary while engaged in war.

He did log his first combat sortie four days later, flying over The Hump to Japanese bases, but they found nothing to attack other than one steam locomotive. He wrote:

We expected fighter opposition, as we went deep into their territory, but the whole trip – over 3 hours – was entirely uneventful. I’d sure hate to have to bail out in that country which we flew over. Nothing but jungle and mountains. Sure would be a tough proposition to walk out, for not only does it offer topographical obstacles, but Jap bases are everywhere.

In honor of those young men and women who served in combat theaters around the world following the “day that will live in infamy” let us all honor Pearl Harbor Day today. And, while we’re giving thanks for their sacrifices in defense of our liberties, don’t forget to say a prayer for our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines serving in equally difficult and remote areas today to protect this great land that God has continued to see fit to preserve.

We must never resist the impulse to indolence and complacency, for that is a sure route to loss of our hard-won freedoms.

“It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt.”
John Philpot Curran
Speech upon the Right of Election (1790)

Paul with P-40 during in-theater training in India