1945 Tentmates

Tentmates in 1945 China

 

 

Cadet Jepsen 1943

Flight Officer Bruce Fleming Jepsen 1944

USAAF CBI Christmas card

Bruce wrote descriptions of his best buddies and tentmates while in China. Bruce's favorite buddy was Paul Crawford who called me a few years ago and told me a funny story about their time together. I don't want to get into detail about that story here but let's just say there was a lot of drinking. It was such a great honor for me to be able to talk with him about my Uncle. I felt I could have spent hours and hours chatting with him.

When he called me he introduced himself as Bruce's tentmate. In all my research and writing I have learned that the word, tentmate holds more meaning than I realized the first time I read it in Bruce's letters and the first time I heard Paul Crawford say it. The word tentmate is not to be taken lightly here. To these pilots of the 14th Army Air Force, it meant so many things. It meant friend and brother. 

They were buddies, as Bruce referred to them. They were together in close quarters night and day, sharing their food packages from families back in the states. They were family. They would fight in

the skies together side by side.Bruce and his fellow tentmates were flying a lot of missions while in China. They were working hard and were sometimes weary, but I can tell you that Bruce was having the time of his life there. He loved the Chinese people and most especially loved his tentmates. I believe these photos were taken by Bruce or a buddy with Bruce's camera. As you have seen in previous posts, Bruce was a talented photographer. He sent the negatives home and wrote that he intended to share copies with his buddies.

Bruce F Jepson beside the P51

L to R-Unknown, Bruce, Sweeney, and Lt Bauman (also from Nebraska

Bruce Fleming Jepson

Possibly some of the negatives were  given by my grandmother, Edwina to Bruce's buddies who contacted her after the war. I'm still scanning more photos and have some saved on different computers so I'm still figuring out how to be more organized! Finding things can be a challenge, but the originals are safely archived. I use 100% rag paper in an archive safe sleeve. They are carefully attached to the paper using a tiny piece of 100% rag tape which is easily removable. If I want to display in a wall frame I will make a copy for that purpose. These are photos that should never be exposed to sunlight. For the copy, I still use rag paper, rag backing, and glass with UV protection.

Photos with Paul Crawford are coming soon. Check out his interview with the Veteran's History Project here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd-iSp24644

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