George was a year or two older than I was and much more settled. He was married and his wife went along whenever we were transferred, which was fine as she interfered with our training in no way.
Both of the Jewetts were from Ames, Iowa. Jewett proved to be a good pilot and a very dependable man for every task that was assigned to him. He had the respect of each man and was obeyed without question. The first bombardier assigned to our crew in Boise, was a brand new second lieutenant named Charlie Rogers. Rogers was a throw-back if there ever was one.
He was cocky, arrogant, disrespectful and totally incompetent. This one didn't believe in following orders or in being on time to formations. Rogers boasted that he came from a long life of deserters and that he was going to desert too. Rogers remained an on-paper member of our crew for approximately three weeks. Anyway, by this time I had quite enough and knew full well that this odd ball did not fit in with the superior crew that had been selected so I had him relieved from further duty with us.
He protested frantically, but all to no avail. We never heard of him further. The next, and permanent, bombardier was a man from Whistler, Alabama. This man, Quitman Caldwell Hurdle, seemed to fit right in and although he was a few years older than the rest of us, the crew seemed to like him so he went on through phase training and into combat with us.
With the exception of Anderson, the crew was virtually complete. Our navigator was a fellow named Earl F Bassett. Bassett was from Rhode Island and was eager to satisfy. He was always on time so he stayed and went to combat with us. Also, his wife, like Jewett's, never interfered, not that I ever heard of anyway. I was 21 years old, excel lent health, four years of college, single and unemployed.
