Oral History Interview with George W. Peterson, April 6, 2009 All Tracks

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George W. Peterson. Peterson was born on a farm near Hermitage, Missouri on 20 November 1918 and was drafted into the Army in 1941. After basic training at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas he went to Fort Riley and was assigned to the mechanized cavalry, training with armored cars and jeeps. Next, Peterson went to Norfolk, Virginia to work in a Ground Observer Corps Filter Center where aircraft and submarine contacts were plotted. After three months he went to Richmond, Virginia as a supervisor over civilian volunteers. After making application, he was accepted into the Army Air Corps cadet training program. He went to Kessler Field, Mississippi for training and took college preparatory classes prior to being sent to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for ten weeks. In early 1943 he went to Thunderbird Field, Arizona for preflight training. Peterson trained in various planes at several bases and received his wings at Marfa, Texas. He then went to Albuquerque, New Mexico for training in B-24s before being selected for B-29 bomber training at McCook, Nebraska. Upon completion, his crew picked up a new B-29. They flew to Guam and were assigned to the 331st Bomb Group, 356th Bomb Squadron. Peterson and crew flew fourteen missions during the war and upon returning from their last bombing mission they were notified Japan had surrendered. He remembers landing on Iwo Jima twice following bombing missions over Japan. His crew also flew two missions over prisoner of war camps to drop food and supplies after the war ended. Peterson returned to the United States in November 1945 and was discharged in December.

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