Carl was trained as an aircraft mechanic, and assigned to jeep carriers in the South Pacific. As the war dragged on the Brewster Buffaloes and Wildcats were replaced with Hellcats and Corsairs on the big carriers, and the older planes ended up on the CVEs. Eventually, fewer of them came back, and there were fewer planes to fix. The Navy put him in a net on the front of the boat, crewing a .38 gun mount. That is what he did until the war ended.
He was being treated for skin cancer on his head, and I gave him a lift to the doctor in the winter, he was trying to hang on to his driving privileges as long as he could, and would ask for help when it was prudent. The doctor, probably about thirty, asked him if he had ever been sunburned. “ Just for four years, during the war”.
That ended that conversation.
He was a great guy. Came to my family holiday celebrations after I figured out he was completely alone in this world. He was 97 when he died.
Best,
Ted
