[Photograph of the 54th Basic Flying Training Group at WAAF]

Photograph of the 54th Basic Flying Training Group at Waco Army Air Field. Adjutant 1st Lt. Byrens, Commanding Officer Major Bair, and P. T. Instructor Mickey Manojack stand on the left side of the front row. The photographer stands "somewhere in left rear."
Date: April 15, 1944
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History

[Dave Koenig Posing Outside of Barracks]

Photograph of Dave Koenig, identified as "Dave Koenig (Pin Up Boy)," posing outside of barracks at the Waco Army Air Field. He poses shirtless on a sidewalk that runs along rows of identical, light-colored buildings.
Date: April 15, 1944
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History

[Blood Donors at Waco Army Air Field]

Photograph of a large group of men posing together outside of a Red Cross blood donation site at the Waco Army Airfield. Handwriting on the back of the photograph notes that only 30 of the men pictured could give blood. Mr. V. J. Jacox, Red Cross Field Director, poses in the center.
Date: April 4, 1944
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History

[Photograph of Commanding Officer and Adjutant #3]

Photograph of Adjutant Lieutenant Byrens and Commanding Officer Major Baird posing together in uniform. Both men stand with their hands behind their backs and look toward the photographer.
Date: April 12, 1944
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History

[Photograph of Dave Koenig in the WAAF Garden]

Photograph of Dave Koenig standing in front of a star-shaped flower garden taken from the back door of the barracks in the Waco Army Air Field.
Date: April 1944
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History

[Photograph of Commanding Officer and Adjutant #2]

Photograph of Commanding Officer Major Baird and Adjutant 1st Lieutenant Byrens posing in the Waco Army Airfield. Both men are in uniform, including hats. A two-story building is visible in the background.
Date: April 15, 1944
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History

[54th Day Room]

Photograph of airmen in the Waco Army Air Field relaxing on the grass near several buildings. Most lay on towels together, wearing trousers. A note is written on the back of the photograph.
Date: April 3, 1944
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from Captain Merrill Smith to his wife - April 29, 1943] (open access)

[Letter from Captain Merrill Smith to his wife - April 29, 1943]

Letter from Captain Merril Smith to his wife discussing how Bill Ledbetter has been, asking about their daughter, and telling her that he loves her.
Date: April 29, 1943
Creator: Smith, Merrill
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 30, 1943] (open access)

[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 30, 1943]

Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his parents Clara and John T. Willis, Sr. on April 30, 1943. He laments missing the opening of fishing season for the first time in years, and asks his parents to send him film and a camera.
Date: April 30, 1943
Creator: Willis, John Todd, Jr.
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 30, 1944] (open access)

[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 30, 1944]

Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his parents Clara and John T. Willis, Sr. on April 30, 1944. He thanks them for boxes of food they sent him, and commends his outfit's EM Club, which he went to with his friend Wilbur Crawford recently. He mentions that it's getting warmer where he's stationed, and asks his parents to hold on to the catalogs he's been sending them.
Date: April 30, 1944
Creator: Willis, John Todd, Jr.
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 22, 1944] (open access)

[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 22, 1944]

Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his parents Clara and John T. Willis, Sr. on April 22, 1944. This letter is marked Letter 2 of 2. He went to a U.S.O. show with Wilbur Crawford and Harmon Gilbreath the other night, and he tells his parents that it's up to them whether or not they sell their house, although if they decide to build a new one he wishes he could be there to help out.
Date: April 22, 1944
Creator: Willis, John Todd, Jr.
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 5, 1943] (open access)

[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 5, 1943]

Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his parents Clara and John T. Willis, Sr. on April 5, 1943. He reports getting promoted and acquiring a mattress. His company had their tents floored, and he tells what he did for his day off in honor of the first year anniversary of the formation of his battalion. He also straightens out money matters.
Date: April 5, 1943
Creator: Willis, John Todd, Jr.
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to John T. Willis, Sr., April 10, 1943] (open access)

[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to John T. Willis, Sr., April 10, 1943]

Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to John T. Willis, Sr. on April 10, 1943. He asks after the farm and the fishing in Waco.
Date: April 10, 1943
Creator: Willis, John Todd, Jr.
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 30, 1944] (open access)

[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 30, 1944]

Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his parents Clara and John T. Willis, Sr. on April 30, 1944. He summarizes a few letters he's received from friends, asks after what his parents have decided about selling their house, and mentions a camping trip he and Wilbur Crawford are planning to go on after the war is over.
Date: April 30, 1944
Creator: Willis, John Todd, Jr.
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 22, 1944] (open access)

[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 22, 1944]

Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his parents Clara and John T. Willis, Sr. on April 22, 1944. This letter is marked Letter 1 of 2. He went to an Texas A&M meeting for Muster Day and saw some men he knew from home. He guesses most of the men from his graduating class are in the Pacific. He briefly mentions seeing Vesuvius erupt, as well as spending time with his friend Harmon Gilbreath and Wilbur Crawford.
Date: April 22, 1944
Creator: Willis, John Todd, Jr.
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 1, 1944] (open access)

[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 1, 1944]

Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his parents Clara and John T. Willis, Sr. on April 1, 1944. He recently ran in to some people he was connected to from home while spending time at the Red Cross with Wilbur Crawford.
Date: April 1, 1944
Creator: Willis, John Todd, Jr.
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 27, 1943] (open access)

[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 27, 1943]

Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his parents Clara and John T. Willis, Sr. on April 27, 1943. He sends an order that will allow them to send him film. He discusses the food, how he made himself a footlocker, and a radio his company bought.
Date: April 27, 1943
Creator: Willis, John Todd, Jr.
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 19, 1943] (open access)

[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 19, 1943]

Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his parents Clara and John T. Willis, Sr. on April 19, 1943. He details an "American dinner" he and his friends had in town.
Date: April 19, 1943
Creator: Willis, John Todd, Jr.
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 25, 1943] (open access)

[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 25, 1943]

Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his parents Clara and John T. Willis, Sr. on April 25, 1943. He tells them about his trip to Africa, focusing on a stop in Bermuda.
Date: April 25, 1943
Creator: Willis, John Todd, Jr.
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 23, 1944] (open access)

[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 23, 1944]

Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his parents Clara and John T. Willis, Sr. on April 23, 1944. He wishes he could meet a girl, Jean Wood, mentioned in one of his parents' letters. He says he went looking for a place to go fishing in Italy, and wishes the Red Cross or Special Services could fix up a boat to take the soldiers fishing.
Date: April 23, 1944
Creator: Willis, John Todd, Jr.
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 6, 1944] (open access)

[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 6, 1944]

Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his parents Clara and John T. Willis, Sr. on April 6, 1944. He had a get together with Wilbur Crawford and some soldiers from his outfit, and he comments on the weather.
Date: April 6, 1944
Creator: Willis, John Todd, Jr.
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 17, 1943] (open access)

[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 17, 1943]

Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his parents Clara and John T. Willis, Sr. on April 17, 1943. He tells them how his friends are doing, and mentions seeing a swarm of grasshoppers.
Date: April 17, 1943
Creator: Willis, John Todd, Jr.
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 16, 1944] (open access)

[Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his Parents, April 16, 1944]

Letter from John Todd Willis, Jr. to his parents Clara and John T. Willis, Sr. on April 16, 1944. He went to visit Wilbur Crawford and brought him newspapers from Waco, and he and his friend Harmon Gilbreath ordered swim suits from the service so they can go swimming soon, since it's warming up.
Date: April 16, 1944
Creator: Willis, John Todd, Jr.
Object Type: Letter
System: The Portal to Texas History