Trunnell, Lee (1922-1994)

https://reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/stc:8563#/kaltura_audio

Biographical Information: Lee Trunnell was born on July 10, 1922 and grew up in Monticello, Minnesota. He was 19 when America entered the war and served as an aircraft mechanic in the Pacific theater. He worked in an aircraft factory in San Diego, CA as a riveter prior to joining the Air Corps. Rather than complete pilot training, he studied aircraft armament and traveled across the United States preparing planes and training crews in gunnery maintenance. He was trained as a B-29 mechanic and sent to Guam in late 1943 where he spent the remainder of the war. After World War II, he owned and operated Lee's Appliance from 1949 to 1969. He continued to work in the heating and plumbing fields until the late 1980s when he retired. In 1946, he married Marvel Miller and had four children: Pat, Mike, Renee, and Denise. he died on November 15, 1994 and is buried in the Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Transcript Summary: Trunnell discussed his experience as a member of the Army Air Corps as an aircraft mechanic. In his interview, Tunnell described his training and preparation for his duties as a soldier in Guam. From 1942 to 1943, Trunnell repaired and maintained the armament on multiple aircraft as well as trained future mechanics and gunners. He traveled extensively across the southern United States, including California, Colorado, Texas, Kentucky, Florida, Georgia, and Nebraska. After being trained on the overall maintenance of B-29 bombers, he was sent to Guam. Trunnell recounts experiences and thoughts on homesickness, rebuilding Guam, the roles of African-Americans and women in the war effort, and the Japanese POWs he encountered from late 1943 until the war’s end. Trunnell told how he was part of the crew that prepared the Enola Gay for its flight over Hiroshima to drop the first atomic bomb as well as the effect on the maintenance crews when crewman or planes did not return to base.

Interview by Dick Westveer