FOREWORD

Bill - he was born in Palco, Kansas, August 5, 1921, the fourth child born to Gracia Ann (Scott) & James Henry Callison. His siblings were Bob, Helen, & Jim. Nan & Betty were born later. He attended one year of school in Palco, & the family _ by this time with 6 children - moved to Eastern Washington in 1927. He completed elementary school & Palouse High, before enrolling at WSC for 2 years (1939-1941), majoring in Physics.

In the Fall of 1941, with some friends, he drove to California - to San Francisco - at that time. He & his friends wanted to get good jobs, save their money, & attend California schools. He did find a job, and was working. Then circumstances changed their plans.

After Pearl Harbor was attacked & the U.S. entered the war, Bill and friends had decisions to make. The rule became: Go to school full time, or be drafted. Whether pragmatic over his choices or not (which branch of the service to enter), he obviously preferred life in the Air Corps as a pilot. That he loved adventure, always, & chose "life in the fast lane" is a good bet.

Eventually finding his birth certificate (after much searching), he took his physical & enlisted in the Air Corps. He trained at several locations in California as well as in Arizona, Kentucky, Florida, & South Carolina. His training continued wherever he was sent.

Bill visited home on leave once or twice before his flight abroad. One of his last Christmas gifts, 1943, was a diary, in which Mother Callison had marked family occasions with her favorite poetry. Thus the diary came about - January to August, 1944.

Whatever else he did or failed to do, Bill had always somewhere to go, people to see, & a restless craving for activity. He disliked wasting time, & acing "out of character." But his spirit - what kept him going - was stubborn determination. He would, as the British say, "carry on."