textbullingtonharoldjames1943.html

North High School Wall of Honor
Harold James Bullington
Class of June, 1943

Research done by Claradell Shedd, class of 1953.

Harold James Bullington

Harold graduated from North High in the June, 1943 class. His next of kin was shown as Mr. C. C. Bullington, 6th and Howard Drive, Des Moines, IA. Harold enlisted in the US Army Air Corps at the Federal Building in downtown Des Moines on January 12, 1944. His service number was 17 181 583.

Harold James Bullington

Year	x	Rank/Event	x	Status

June, 1943	x	Graduated	x	Graduated from North High School
date	x	Employed	x	At Ordnance Plant (Saylor Township, RR#4, Saylorville)
January 15, 1944	x	Enlisted/ US Army Air Corps	x	Enlisted at Federal Building in downtown Des Moines..
date	x	Basic Training	x	Basic Training at Jefferson Barracks, MO.
date	x	Training	x	73rd College Training Detachment; Aviation Cadet Program; Rockhurst College, Kansas City, MO. There was a big "washout" with the class being divided.
date	x	Training	x	Training at *Keesler Field; Biloxi, MS. Aviation and mechanics training.
date	x	Training	x	Sent to Willow Run, MI to work on the B-24 Liberator. Worked on engines, etc.
1944	x	Training	x	Harlingen Air Force Base, TX (Rio Grande Valley) to work on B-24's. They then decided there were enough B-24's in England. They selected 50 students to remain at Harlingen AFB for B-29 gunnery school. There were 5 officers and 45 enlisted men. I was among them. They tested systems on various classes, were debriefed, and then changed class curriculums accordingly.
1944	x	Stationed	x	**Lincoln Air Force Base, NE. Made up crews for B-29's. 2nd Air Force.
May 8, 1945	x	Stationed	x	Troop train to ***MacDill Air Force Base, FL (Tampa). When we arrived in Tampa, the city was going crazy..VE Day! Worked on B-29's.
May 9, 1946	x	Enroute/ Discharged/ Cpl.	x	Drove from Florida to Atlanta, GA to Fort McPherson, GA. Discharged at Fort McPherson, GA.
date	x	Enroute	x	"Rocket" train to Atlanta, Chicago, and then to Des Moines.
Sept. 1945- 1946	x	Schooling	x	Iowa State College, Ames, IA
1946-2001	x	Employment	x	Architectural firm of Keffer and Jones, Des Moines, IA. (architectural and engineering) Was there 54 years and 20 days!
June 24, 1952	x	Family	x	Married Clarice Christian.
May, 2001	x	Retired	x	From Keffer and Jones.
2001-Present	x	Civilian	x	Architectural consulting firm, Harold Bullington, LLC.
September 9, 2017	x	Deceased	x	At Arbor Springs Senior Care, West Des Moines, IA.

*Keesler Air Force Base; Biloxi, MS
Keesler Air Force Base (IATA: BIX, ICAO: KBIX, FAA LID: BIX) is a United States Air Force base located in Biloxi, a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. In early January 1941, Biloxi city officials assembled a formal offer to invite the United States Army to build a base to support the World War II training buildup. The War Department activated Army Air Corps Station No. 8, Aviation Mechanics School, Biloxi, Mississippi, on 12 June 1941. On August 25, 1941, the base was dedicated as Keesler Army Airfield, in honor of 2d Lt Samuel Reeves Keesler, Jr., a Mississippi native and distinguished aerial gunner, killed in action in France during the First World War.

During 1943, the soldiers in training included pre-aviation cadets, radio operators, aviation technicians, bombardiers, and aviation mechanics.

**Lincoln Air Force Base, NE
The 616th Flying Training Group provided flying training instruction to aircrews of B-17 Flying Fortresses, Consolidated B-24 Liberators and Boeing B-29 Superfortresses.

On 15 April 1944, the airfield was transferred to Second Air Force, initially providing B-25 Mitchell medium bomber replacement training (10th Bombardment Squadron). It also was a testing center for the new P-80 Shooting Star jet fighter (29th, 31st, 52d Fighter Squadrons) during April and May, with the squadrons moving to Muroc AAF California.

***MacDill Air Force Base, FL
MacDill Air Force Base (AFB) (IATA: MCF, ICAO: KMCF, FAA LID: MCF) is a United States Air Force base located approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of Tampa, Florida.

In the summer of 1942 the 21st Bombardment Group (Medium) was activated and served at MacDill as the OTU for Martin B-26 Marauder training. As well as the main training unit, the group flew antisubmarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico. It disbanded on 10 October 1943.


Enlisted at Federal Bldg in Des Moines	Boot Training at Jefferson Barracks, MO


B-24	B-29

Harold James Bullington Cpl Squadron A, 326th Army Air Forces Base Unit; 15rd Air Force US Army Air Corps

References

(1) The World War II Army Enlistment Records contain information on more than nine million indivdual enlistments. These records can be found online at http://www.archives.gov/.

(2) The comprehensive list of names from North High's 1893-2018 graduation classes are from Claradell Shedd's North Des Moines High School website. The names of North High School graduates can be found online at: http://www.ndmhs.com/. Harold James Bullington's 1943 class page is: http://www.ndmhs.com/pages/yearclass1943(2008.65).html.

11/21/10: Lives in IA. Died in West Des Moines, IA; 09/09/17.

Music: "Wind Beneath My Wings"