Returning Home: Hiroshima Reconsidered in the Life of Gil Niceley

The story of Returning Home tells of the experiences I had leaving college and volunteering for service in WWII. I had no idea of how it would be...the change from college student to private in the infantry. When I enlisted the monthly pay was $17 per month and after finishing basic training was raised to $21 per month. Smaller amounts, at that time, would purchase more goods than a considerable higher wage now. I can remember when you could fill up your gas tank for two dollars. That won't even purchase one gallon now. So, we see...all things don't remain constant
but, change as time evolves and we have new and different wants in our lives. I transferred from the infantry to air corps and a cadet program. I was washed out, along with several of my friends ... as there were not enough airplanes for us to fly. So we were offered other choices. I chose electronic gunnery and went to school at Lowery Field at Denver, Colorado. Finishing my schooling and placed in an Air Force pool, I was one of 135 chosen to be in an air crew in a newly formed group called the 509th Composite Group and the 393rd Bomb Squadron. This is the story of my crew, the Straight Flush (our plane)...and the dropping of the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan.