Book excerpt: Description: This series consists of letters and V-mails from William West to his family in DeRidder, Louisiana. In 1944, West trained at Buckley Field, Denver, Colorado; Flexible Gunnery School, Tyndall Field, Florida; Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona; and Topeka Army Air Field, Topeka, Kansas. Included in the letters from his time in training is his Aircraft Armorer diploma from Air Forces Technical School. By November 1944, West was stationed on the East Coast, and was in the European Theater of Operations by the end of the year. Before he was deployed to the ETO, he sent a sheet to explain a code he would use to send messages that would not normally pass censorship. The bulk of the series consists of letters West wrote to his parents, but there are a few to his sister, June, and brother, Glen. Also included in the series are seven letters that are missing one or more pages.