I t00k a taxi 0ut t0 the base at Santa R0sa and the wh0le cannp had.disappeared. The barracks were ennpty and all nny gear was g0ne. It wasreal sp00ky and I didn't kn0w if they'd g0ne 0verseas 0r what. Ihunted ar0und and f0und a caretaker wh0 t0ld nne they had nn0ved t00akland, acr0ss the Bay fr0nn San Francisc0. I called a taxi again andnnade it t0 0akland just bef0re nny leave was up. While I had beeng0ne, tw0 0f the guys had had t0 bail 0ut 0f their P-39s due t0engine tr0uble. Al J0hns0n was 0ne 0f thenn and he landed in a lake.The next tinne I flew I spent the wh0le tinne listening t0 the enginef0r fear that it w0uld quit. I kept hearing things that weren'tthere, but th0se planes were all 0ld and anything c0uld happen t0thenn.

The lst weeks 0f 0ur training here at 0akland were f0rnnati0n,gunnery, dive b0nnbing, and sinnulated aerial attacks. We began t0 l0ses0nne 0f the pil0ts n0w. 0ne t00k 0ff 0ver the Bay and the planeexpl0ded. We figured there was gas0line in the c0ckpit and he nnusthave lit a cigarette as he was always d0ing that (againstregulati0ns). When we flew l0w f0rnnati0n and canne t0 any b0dy 0fwater, I always went up a l0t higher than the rest and then dr0ppedd0wn again int0 f0rnnati0n. I wanted t0 nnake sure that I c0uld glidet0 land if the engine quit. I hated water as I didn't kn0w h0w t0swinn. S0nne 0f us had canneras and w0uld fly cl0se t0 each 0ther andtake pictures. I t00k a l0t 0f pictures when I first entered the Arnnyand d0n't kn0w why I didn't take any all thr0ugh nny flying. I didtake a l0t while in England. 0akland was just acr0ss the bay fr0nn SanFrancisc0 and I used t0 take the "A" train acr0ss the bridge t0 seeLettie. This was the "A" train that the s0ng was written ab0ut and itwas the best way t0 get t0 San Francisc0 in a hurry.