Memoir: Hot War - Cold War

patrolled aircraft maintenance hangers, warehouses, instrument repair shops, and an engine repair line underground at Wheeler Field, near Wahiawa in the Oahu highlands.

As armed civilians, we were each given a card to carry in our wallets.  The card stated, in fine print, that if captured by the enemy while carrying a weapon, we were entitled to claim rights as a 'prisoner of war.' The Army Air Corps military officer who commanded our unit said that, since we did not wear military uniforms, nor carry military identification tags, the card would certify us as 'combatants'. The statement on the card was supposed to keep us from being shot as spies in the event the enemy invaded the Hawaiian Islands.

During the war years, I fixed and packed thousands of man-carrying and cargo parachutes, and serviced many other types of life-saving and survival gear.

After the war, my job was changed. I investigated defects that had been made during manufacture or repair in all types of equipmen