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JOHN EDWARD RANES : 1942 - 1944 ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT DIARY AND SERVICE RECORD OF ONE YOUNG IOWA MAN'S DECORATED BUT UP AND DOWN CAREER AS AN AIR GUNNER AND BOMBER

32mo - over 4" - 5" tall. On offer is a super, original 1942 - 1944 manuscript relic of American World War II induction, training and combat handwritten by John Edward Ranes [b. April 9th 1924] from Perry Iowa. Using a 'My Life in the Service' diary very full between the dates he writes and we find a very typical 'boy-next-door' American man who proves to be an interesting diarist who is not afraid to be self effacing: he notes his pay grades unfailingly: Pvt./S.Sgt/Pvt./Sgt. which varied based on training. At one point he is shipped to Florida and rated basic engineer so he was reduced from Staff Sgt. to Private 7th grade for example. From induction in Iowa we find he is mostly Stateside for training but he ships over to England and flies bomber combat missions over Germany. At one point his bomber crashes during landing and he says he jumped out and ran like mad. Ranes writes rather detailed entries from enlistment August 13th 1942 to the War's end including his periodic physical record measuring height and weight at different times in his service; his buddies; Officers he met; civilians he met +++. Once he is in the combat arena the entries are sporadic but still detailed when he writes. He proudly states awards: Aerial Gunner Combat Crew wings, good conduct medal, bronze star for western Europe Air offensive, ETO ribbon, Air Medal for European operations. Besides all of his personal information and Service record there are approx. 60+ pp of handwritten diary material from Nov 11, 1942 to Oct 21, 1944. The book proper is worn but overall G+.. Book Condition: Very Good

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