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-189-

was at ten different locations in ten States.

One of these places was at the Collins Radio Factory, Cedar Rapids, Iowa where I met Helen Marie Waite on January 4, 1944. and married her 45 days later in Warner Robins AFB, Macon, Georgia. We were together for the next 22 days before I went to Newport News, VA to embark on overseas duty, and she went to Chicago for the duration of the war to wait for my return.

In the next 14 months, proceeding eastwardly, I sailed the Atlantic on a Liberty Ship to Casablanca, French Morocco; stayed there most of a month before flying across all of North Africa, landing first in Tunis then in Cairo, in Abadan, Persia (now Iran), then in Karachi, India before landing at the ultimate location of Kharagpur, India, 70 miles SW of Calcutta.

Here I worked with radar and navigational equipment aboard B29's that flew off to bomb enemy targets in Burma, China, and Japan. I also visited exotic locations such as Calcutta, New Delhi, Agra, and Ranikhet in the Himalayas.

After 10 months based in Kharagpur, all the ground crew sailed from Howrah, India, across the river from Calcutta, for 45 days on the Pacific before debarking at Tinian Island in the Marianas. The sailing took us south from embarkation point around the southern end of Australia with a stop off at Melbourne; then proceeded northwardly to Manus Island in the Admiralties before debarking at Tinian.

After a month in Tinian, some of it spent in guard watch at the fence which separated us from where the Enola Gay took off to atom bomb Japan, I was "tapped" to expeditiously proceed eastwardly, in flying boats and transport planes to Honolulu, and then to Muroc AFB NE of Los Angeles where I taught airborne B29 crews emergency radar techniques. Helen joined me here for the final six months of the war when we returned to Chicago, thus me completing a trip around the world in 14 months.

Arriving on a Thursday I went out job seeking on Friday and was hired as a Chief Engineer (successively of two radio loudspeaker manufacturing plants).

Dad and I went into business as RCM Radio Company on February 16, 1944. Eight days later oldest son, Gary Lee Freeman was born. And in the following year, son number two Donald Raymond Freeman was born in Chicago on August 28, 1947.

From 1946 to 1955 I continued to be in business with Dad. During this period I continued my college education at Wright Junior College, Schurz Junior College, Roosevelt University. Then I took employment as a Group Leader at the Martin Company, Baltimore for a year. Then proceeded to work as a Service Engineer on the Atlas ICBM Program for Convair/Astronautics, San Diego for six months before moving to Denver to work on the Titan ICBM program for a half year.


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© 2009 Raymond M Freeman