THE B-29 SUPERFORTRESS IN THE CBI THEATER OF WORLD WAR II

In tribute to 1st Sgt. Herschel A. Meredith (794th BS/468th BG/58th BW) and to the men who flew and maintained the B-29 Superfortress during World War II.

Herschel A. Meredith was born in Northeastern New Mexico, February 23, 1920.

Meredith graduated from high school in Roswell, New Mexico (June of 1939) and then enrolled at Bethany College, Oklahoma, during the fall of the same year.

As the war raged in Europe, Herschel Meredith enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps in September of 1941.

The following account is from Herschel A. Merediths personal papers written a few months before his passing.


"My first ten months were spent at Sheppard Field, Wichita Falls, Texas. After basic training, I had many duties but most of them related to the Headquarters Unit. In July of 1942, I was sent to Atlantic City, New Jersey, and there I became Base Personnel Sergeant Major. This was followed by short assignments at Salt Lake City, Utah, and Tucson, Arizona. From Tucson, I went to Salina, Kansas, as a First Sergeant of a new group that was learning to fly the then new B-29. After a few months training, we picked up new planes and headed across the Atlantic for Africa. From a base in Africa, we then flew to Cairo, Egypt, and on to India, where we were based about 70-miles southwest of Calcutta. After five months in India, I was sent to China where our forward unit was based. From this base, we were the first Americans to bomb Japan, except for the Doolittle raid, which occurred in 1942. The next April, we returned to India and prepared to go to the South Pacific. We went to Guam first and later to Okinawa. All this time we were regularly bombing Japan. As a unit, we received Six Battle Stars and the Distinguished Unit Citation. Our squadron had about 60% dead causalities.

I returned to the West Coast - where I was discharged on November 11, 1945. I had saved most of my money while overseas and my dream of going through optometry school began to look like a real possibility. With the money I saved and the G.I. Bill, I could finally go to school and not have to work for financial support.

Starting in January of 1946, I attended the University of the Pacific, Stockton, California, for three semesters. I then applied for and was admitted to Pacific University School of Optometry in September of 1947. After three years there, including two summer sessions, I received my Doctorate in Optometry in June of 1950.

During the summer of 1947, I met my wife Maxine, and were married the following November. She served as secretary to the vice-president of the university and I did what odd jobs time would permit.

Following graduation and qualification by the State Board of Optometry, we opened an Optometric office in Dunsmuir, California, and have been in practice there for the last thirty-three years. It has been a most rewarding experience.

In 1957, I became involved in doing a survey to determine whether or not there was a need and sufficient justification for a Community College in Siskiyou County. In 1958, the people voted to form the college and I was appointed as one of five trustees to administer the district. We determined early that we would build slowly, on a pay as you go basis, and by 1975 we built a college capable of handling eleven hundred students and it was debt free. I served as Chairman of the Board from 1962 until I went off the board in 1981. I feel very proud of this achievement. Not many men get such an opportunity and have the joy of building a college where there was none before.

As I write this in June of 1983, Maxine and I are looking forward to retirement in September. We plan to travel some and sit back and relax a lot. Life has been hard at times but good in many ways. We anticipate tomorrows sunrise and are glad to be alive. We have raised three wonderful children and have seen them started on their adult life and careers. We love god and feel his presence in our lives daily. We are proud of our Meredith heritage for the Merediths are made of great stuff!"

Herschel A. Meredith