The music stopped and the words, “The Japanese are bombing Pearl Harbor,” totally changed our lives.   It was December 7, 1941. This book is the memoirs of the lives of Raymond and Gladys Crawford, their three sons, Raymond Jr., George and Fred and Raymond Jr.’s wife, Emagene Kimbrell Crawford over the period from December 7, 1941 through December, 1945.  The story of my courtship of Jeannette Kizer is an important part of my memoirs of the war years.

            Raymond was a pilot in the Army Air Corps on Pearl Harbor Day.   George and Fred followed in his footsteps and also became pilots.   All three brothers were flying in combat at the same time in 1944.   Mother and Father received two MIA telegrams.  

            In the 1970’s, Raymond Jr. felt strongly that our children needed to know the answer to the question, “Father, what did you do during WW II?”, so he insisted that each brother write his own memoir.   It was painful to recall the war experiences, but Raymond prevailed and each brother wrote his personal memoir of his WW II experiences for his children, nephews and nieces.

            In 2005, I, George, the only surviving brother, decided to combine the three unpublished books.   This book, Three Crawford Brothers. The WW II Memoirs of Three Pilots, Raymond, George and Fred, combines the three individual books into one continuous chronological account.   In order for the reader to identify each author, Raymond’s book is in Ariel type, Fred’s book is in Courier New type, and my (George’s) book is in Times New Roman.

            The book contains a wealth of pictures, letters, orders, souvenir material and newspaper clippings which I scanned into the text.   The letters and orders typed in are in the type deemed suitable for that material.

            In 2005, I persuaded the bombardier on our B-24 crew, William (Bill) M. Neil, to add his memories of our many shared adventures.  Bill Neil’s writings are in Century Gothic type.  Bill played a very important role in my life during the time we flew together.

            This is the story of the Three Crawford Brothers and the friends who shared their pilot training and combat experiences  during WW II. 

George Wolf Crawford
Co- pilot- Ray Morel Crew, 513th Squadron

http://www.52726.authorworld.com