I got my orders to report to Hamilton Field in California with a tenday delay enroute. Naturally all the fighter pilots were split up nowas we were cut down to squadron size and sent to different basesaround the U.S. A lot of my friends, however were assigned to thesame place. Al Johnson, a gigantic Swede from St. Paul Minnesota, wasgoing to Hamilton and the last thing I exclaimed to him was " I'll meetyou in Cheyenne, Wyoming and we'll go the rest of the way together.We always were to report to the 380th squadron of the 363rd fighter group. Agroup consisted of three squadrons and I still know all the fellowsin the other squadrons although we didn't fly together.

Now for my first visit home in fifteen months! The parents of B. Bellof Bell Aircraft in Buffalo, had come to his graduation and I rodehome with them. He was the one whom almost crashed with me as apassenger back in training. He and I took turns driving and they tookme all the way to Canandaigua. I was driving on a divided highwaysomewhere in So. Carolina when I was stopped for doing 35 in a 30 mphzone. I was taken before a judge and fined $10. Those rich Bell'sdidn't offer to pay it. It really made me mad to get fined for only 5mph over the speed limit as I hadn't been home in a year and a half.