by James Rada Colleges Take to the Skies When World War II started in 1939, the United States had roughly 38,000 trained pilots. It wasn’t enough to fight a war. Men were willing to join the Air Corps, but there weren’t enough instructors to train them all. Often, the men waiting to become pilots were…

by Priscilla Rall Donald Kuhn From the Mountains of Appalachia to the Mountains of India and Burma The late Donald Eugene Kuhn traveled with the Army Air Corps to places most of us merely dream of. Born in 1921 to Ernest Rexfore “Rex” and Goldie Wolf Kuhn, he was one of 10 children, growing up…

by Priscilla Rall Military Intelligence Service at Camp Ritchie When WWII began, it was apparent that the United States did not have plans to train intelligence gatherers, which would be vital for our armed forces. One intelligence organization that was soon formed was the Military Intelligence Service (MIS), and it took over Camp Ritchie from…

by Jim Houck, Jr. 1ST LIEUTENANT GEORGE WARREN BAKER, U.S. ARMY AIR CORPS Born on April 5, 1921, just north of Thurmont at Franklinville, to Roy and Blanche Baker, was a boy they named George. George had three brothers and two sisters: Raymond, Donald, and Leroy, and Ruth and Helen (nicknamed Tootie). In 1940, at…