Duane and Marian Applequist, World War II
Duane was born in Jamestown, NY, the older of two boys. He worked for a year after graduating from Jamestown High School. Because of his interest in flying in high school, he enrolled in the University of Cincinnati majoring in Aeronautical Engineering. In the fall of 1942 he volunteered for the Army Air Corps, and in March, 1943, he and a number of fellow classmates got their orders. Right in the middle of drafting class, they leaped up, gathered up their drafting tools and left.
His basic training began as an Army Air Corps Cadet at San Antonio, TX in April 1943. In June he began primary flight school in Cimmaron, OK. His training was on a single wing Fairchild trainer, the PT-19. From there, he went to basic flight school in Garden City, KS .He later returned to San Antonio where he took advanced training with twin engines at Brooksfield. In January, 1944, he received his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U. S. Army Air Corps.
Then he received orders to go to Randolph Field in San Antonio to become a flight instructor. Randolph Field was then known as the West Point of the Air. Duane was then transferred to Lubbock Texas Air Base where he taught advanced instrument flying from February to October 1944.
Marian Swan, who had three sisters and two brothers, was born in the same hospital as Duane, only ten days later where their mothers shared the same room. She also graduated from Jamestown High School. She then began to work in an office in the Art Metal Company where they built tail sections for bombers.
Marian and Duane, who knew each other through church fellowship and school were married September 9th, 1944 in Jamestown. Marian then traveled with Duane until she returned in July 1945 to Jamestown for the birth of their first child, Barbara, in September.
As a married Army Air Corps Lieutenant, Duane had to find housing wherever he could. In Roswell it was in an old hotel which had been partitioned into many small apartments. They had to enter theirs through the bathroom. Another time in Albuquerque, they were fortunate. They “house-sat” the home of a minister who was temporarily away. The minister and his wife left all their household furnishings. Part of the time they played host to the minister’s handicapped brother who had no hands. They admired the adaptations he had learned that allowed him to eat and perform other functions, including playing the piano.
In October, 1944, Duane volunteered for B-29 duty. He began training as a flight engineer and third pilot. At Amarillo, TX, and at Denver, CO, he received extensive training with multi-engined planes. He then went to Roswell, New Mexico for three months where they practiced flying B-29 bombers with a three-man crew. . In early 1945, he was transferred to B-29 training at Albuquerque. The full crew of eleven included six officers and five enlisted men. The enlisted men served as gunners with one of them as the radio operator.
The B-29s were the biggest bombers that were made during World War II. Its four engines with a combined horse power of 8,800 could propel the plane at a maximum speed of 375 miles/hr. The normal speed was 200 –250. It was fully pressurized with a ceiling of 32,000 feet. The plane was 99 feet long with a wing span of 142 feet. It had a maximum range of 3250 miles and could handle 14 – 16 hours of flying time. It even had hot food cabinets. Computers controlled the guns in the five turrets. The B-29 was a formidable offensive and defensive weapon.
(To be concluded next week.)
– Percy