1942, Maxwell Field, Alabama

Maxwell, Apr. 1942. Dad sent these pictures to his mom and wrote on the back of all of them. His bunk is the lower one in the background. This notation is so like Dad. He really loved to do sewing repair on things that didn't make it to the sewing machine. I can't tell you how many suitcase/purse parts that he has put back together for me with a strong needle, dental floss and a pair of pliers. So here is, sewing stripes on someone else's uniform. And how totally like him to be doing kind things for other people.

(Me, sewing Nick Arabrinko's stripes and stars.)

He makes a notation about his moccasins--see them under the bed? Uh, oh, Ralph. You misspelled "moccasins." Ten points off! Alert Regis!

And this is another theme that continued through his life. He always had moccasin slippers. And when I was 8 or 9, while we were living in Castle Heights, he sewed me the swellest pair of moccasins you ever saw. He even did a beaded design of a thunderbird on each one. I think I have a picture of me wearing them somewhere.
some history and information on Maxwell Field/Air Force Base follows. The Davitt family returned to Montgomery two more times.
In 1918, the U.S. Government purchased the Wright Brothers flying field for a military depot, and on November 8, 1922 the field was officially named in honor of 2nd Lt William C. Maxwell, a native of Atmore, AL, who lost his life in an aircraft accident during WWI. The mission of the base changed in 1931 when the Air Corps Tactical School was moved to Maxwell from Langley Field, VA. During WWII, this school was moved to Orlando, FL and Maxwell became the Eastern Headquarters for flying training. In 1942, the Southeast Army/Air Forces training center was established at Maxwell,making it the largest pre-flight training school in the nation. At this school, thousands of American and Foreign students learned the fundamentals that helped to achieve victory for the allies. In rapid succession, Maxwell Field was used as an Officer Candidate School, an Advanced Flying Training School, a B-24 Navigation School and a B-29 Transition School.