35. A Flying Teenager
Bruce Carr’s daring streak manifested early on, and he began flying in 1939, when he was just fifteen. In 1942, at age eighteen, he joined the USAAF’s Flying Cadet Training Program. He had the good fortune to get assigned to the same flight instructor who had taught him how to fly in 1939.
Carr’s prior experience in the cockpit got him sent to Spence Airfield in Georgia, for an accelerated pilot training program flying P-40 Warhawk fighters. After 240 hours in the air, he graduated as a flight officer in late August, 1943, and was sent for more specialized training.