Collection Title: Austin Winn Papers
Series Number: MS10-45
Processed and Cataloged by: Processed by Dieter C. Ullrich on June 18, 2010.
Date Listed: June 18, 2010
Date Span: 1943
Size of Collection: 0.50 linear feet.
Number of Boxes: 1 oversized box; 120 items.
Type of Material: Correspondence.
Condition of Material: Good.
Arrangement: Chronological arrangement.
Biographical / Historical Information: Austin Winn was a soldier in the United States Army Aviation Cadet Flight Training Program in 1943. From January to March, Private Winn was stationed at the Armed Forces Basic Training Center in Miami Beach, Florida. From the end of March until early July, he was a member of the 96th College Training Detachment at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. On July 7, Winn was assigned to the Santa Ana Army Air Base in Santa Ana, California for further training. In early October, he was transferred to Eagle Field at Dos Palos, California and by the middle of December he was sent to the Polaris Flight Academy at Lancaster, California where he remained until the end of the year. Lieutenant Winn would later fly thirty-thee combat missions over Japan as a pilot of a B-29 Superfortress. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his exemplary service during the war.
Scope and Content: Collection consists of over 120 photocopied letters by Austin Winn to his parents at Henning, Tennessee from January 31 to December 29, 1943. His first letters are written from the Armed Forces Basic Training Center at Miami Beach, Florida and describe his introduction and transition into military life. While at military bases in Wisconsin and California, he vividly describes his aviation training and daily activities. Included in the collection are songs the cadets sang while in training, official correspondence and memos issued by the Army Air Force and newspaper clippings of his retirement.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Winn, Austin, 1923-
Soldiers – Tennessee – Henning – Correspondence.
World War, 1939-1945 – Personal narratives, American.
Basic training (Military education) – Florida – Miami Beach.
Flight training – Wisconsin – Oshkosh.
Flight training – California – Santa Ana.
Flight training – California – Dos Palos.
Flight training – California – Lancaster.
United States. Army – Aviation.
