He was called up in September 1941,trained as a mechanic and assigned to the 20th FG which moved around in the USA for the next nine months. In August 1943 the entire group boarded the 'Queen Elizabeth' and headed for the ETO - officers 20 or 30 to a stateroom which normally held one couple and the men housed below deck for a 24 shift and on deck for the next 24. Based at Kings Cliff 'one of the poorest airfields in England...facilities were practically non-existent and mud was plentiful' the group later converted from the P-38 to P-51s. There he had witnessed the death of a sergeant killed while riding his bicycle on the perimeter track when a P-38 ran into him from behind. He sailed home in September 1945, was discharged a month later and then worked as a tool setter with Caterpillar Co. until his retirement in 1982.