Oral History Interview with Hal Javitt, September 26, 2005

Transcript of an oral interview with Hal Javitt. Javitt enlisted in the Army Air Force in the latter half of 1942 when he was in a junior college because he didn't want to be drafted. He had basic training at a hotel in Miami Beach and then entered aviation cadet training (pre-flight) at Maxwell Field, Alabama. He started primary flight school in Bennettsville, South Carolina and then went to basic flight training at Shaw Field, South Carolina. He was selected for fighters and went to single-engine school in Florida where he got his wings and was commissioned a second lieutenant. He then went to a transition school and received training in the P-40 aircraft. From there he went to Bartow, Florida and learned to fly P-51 Mustangs and went through advanced training there. Eight of them left from Miami Beach (36th Street airport) in a Douglas C-54 transport and made their way to Karachi, India. He was assigned to the 311th Fighter Group in Chengdu, China, arriving there via Army Air Force transport. Javitt flew misions that interrupted the Japanese supply lines. After about 26 missions, he transferred to the 5th Fighter Group which was part of the Chinese American Composite Wing (CACW) stationed in Kweilin. He was part of the 26th Fighter squadron. Ultimately they had to evacuate Kweilin because the Japanese were moving in a southernly direction having overrrun other military bases farther north. His fighter group found their way to Chinkiang and spent the rest of the war there. This was the base where the Japanese military surrendered (for China). The P-51s he flew all had Chinese Air Force Markings on them. Javitt wanted to continue flying so he stayed in the Active Reserve and his outfit was the very first reserve outfit in the country to be activated when the Korean War broke out