Flight Patterns: A Life in Aviation in the Age of the Propeller

By James H. Lotzgesell Jr.

This book is a memoir by James H. Lotzgesell. It is principally about his time as an airplane pilot in the U.S. Navy. "Jimmy" graduated from his hometown high school in Sequim, Washington -- located on the northern coast of the Olympic Peninsula -- in 1938. His father was a third generation farmer. His mother was from Missouri and had been a school teacher in the Sequim school system when his father met her. Though neither had been to college themselves, having high hopes for their only son, his parents had encouraged him to do so. Thus, it was, that when WWII started for the U.S. on December 7, 1941, Jimmy was a Junior at the University of Washington in Seattle. Though his parents had not been to help him much on money, as this was toward the end of the Depression, his mother had contacts in Seattle who had been to help him to find jobs paying decent wages for a student. As the first anniversary of the war approached Jim was working at the Washington State Liquor Control Board. He had also pledged at a Fraternity and was serving tables and doing dishes there to pay his way As he was also in NROTC, as a future Marine, he was stretched very thinly for time as well. Even though he was now a Senior, soon to graduate, he was chafing rather badly at being merely a student while others of his age were fighting the Germans in North Africa and the Japanese in the South Pacific. Of course, his girlfriend, Patty, the daughter of a Seattle car dealer, was less enthusiastic about this desire to enter the war. As December, 1942 began he found himself talking to a Navy recruiter about going to Navy Flight School. Events followed quickly -- he was soon train-bound south to California headed for that destination. Having wanted to be a Naval Aviator since childhood, he was actually pleased with himself, rather than feeling the expected trepidation. As it is for all young people wanting to be military or naval pilots, the flight training sequence proved to be daunting. However, by the time the next December rolled around, Jimmy was wearing the golden wings of a U.S. Navy pilot on the breast of an officer's uniform, for he was also a brand new Ensign. His path to direct participation in the war was more circuitous. Though he had been trained to fly single-engine float planes off battleships and cruisers, his first actual assignment was in a Utility Squadron towing targets and ferrying aircraft for the war over and from San Diego. Soon afterwards, though, he was transferred out to Pearl Harbor to, alas, perform the same tasks. It wasn't until mid-1943 that he was finally transferred to the heavy cruiser, U.S.S. Chester, operating in the cold waters of the Aleutians. The book further covers his subsequent assignment to another ship, the U.S.S. Nashville, operating further south in the conquest of the South Pacific. Eventually, this led to direct involvement in the invasion of the Phillippines and to being the target of a woefullly successful Kamikaze attack. After the war, he married Shirley, who he had met just next door to Sequim in Port Angeles during the war. Afterwards, they decided to stay in the Navy, as he loved his work flying. Further assignments, the arrival of children, health problems -- including weathering the terrible post-war polio epidemics, followed his war years. At the conclusion of his twenty-one years career in the Navy, he continued in retirement to contribute to the community. This is a great tale of a challenging and fulfilling life, which is equally entertaining to read.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1701797925
• ISBN13: 9781701797925
• Release Date: November 2019
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 313 Pages
• Weight: 1.19 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.7" x 6.0"