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Mr. Misenhimer: Now was this the first flying you did? Mr. Schurmeier: Oh the first flying we did was at Palwaukee. Mr. Misenhimer: What did you fly there? Mr. Schurmeier: Well we flew with whatever they had running, most of it was either a Taylor Craft or a Cub. They were kind of hard pressed for getting parts because the war was going on of course. And so whatever they could get running on the thing, why we flew. They were all real light planes, there wasn't anything any bigger than a Taylor Craft or one of those Piper Cubs. Mr. Misenhimer: Did you solo there? Mr. Schurmeier: Oh yeah, I soloed and then we had about a month after that before we got transferred someplace else, so I did some additional flying at the time and got my private license. But when the Navy finished with you, you didn't have enough cross country flying to qualify for a license, so I made a deal, worked for the airport for some. And then got enough flying hours to get a private ticket. I've never used it since, but (laughter).... Mr. Misenhimer:
That was at Palwaukee, right? Mr. Schurmeier: Yeah. That's just west of Chicago. Mr. Misenhimer: Then when you got to Iowa City what did you do there?
The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Ben Schurmeier. Schurmeier joined the Navy in early 1942. He served as a B-24 pilot with Photographic Squadron 1 (VD-1). Beginning in the spring of 1944 they traveled to their base at the Naval Air Station on Guam. They completed patrol and photo reconnaissance missions around the Pacific Islands, including Truk, Okinawa, Iwo Jima and Japan. Finley was discharged around October of 1945.
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