After being drafted on August 12 of 1941, PVT Mears was sent to Fort Dix, New Jersey for initial processing. From here he was sent to Camp Wheeler in Macon, Georgia, and assigned to I Company, 118th Infantry Regiment, 30th Division. He was then sent to Fort Jackson in South Carolina, where in February of 1942 he requested a transfer to the Army Air Corps. He appeared before an examination board on 6 March, and was subsequently selected and sent West to begin flight training. His first station was in Chico, California, where he remained enlisted under an Army Air Corps designation while awaiting flight school assignment.
Fort Jackson and Camp Wheeler Photos
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Enlisted ID Cards
30th Division Patch
Chico, California Photographs
 |
 |
 |