Mr. Brooks often told the story about the time he was a passenger on a C-47 aircraft delivering barbed wire to the front when one of the planes engines went out. After they dumped cargo to conserve weight, he made his way to the cockpit and told the pilot and co-pilot that since they were the only two with parachutes, if they were going to jump that he would grab onto one of them.
"We made it though," he said. "We had a big laugh."
Despite not being in combat, he said he sometimes faced enemy bombs as the Japanese would attack Owen island where he was stationed. He said he learned to tell the difference between approaching Japanese, American and German planes.
"We'd be running like crazy, trying to hide."
He was discharged from the Army in August 1945 as a private first class.
Truly one of the Greatest Generation and with the added problem of overcoming racism and segregation.
--GreGen
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