James Hogan didn't even know how to drive a car when the Army made him an aircraft mechanic in the early days of World War II.
A recent graduate of Marquette High School in downtown Yakima, Hogan didn't mind the steep learning curve. To him, repairing bombers seemed like a relatively safe way to ride out the war and get his college education paid for. That's why he enlisted right after graduation.
"I knew that within 10 days I'd be in the Army, and I decided I didn't want to be an infantryman because I'd get killed," the 84-year-old said in an interview at his Yakima home.
He was sent to Europe shortly after basic training and, despite not seeing combat himself, played a key role in the war effort as a crew chief for A-20 bombers in the Army's Ninth Air Forces. He'd get them ready to fly, and he'd fix them up when they returned.
"We lost a couple of aircraft," Hogan said. "The Germans were very proficient in shooting. We also had a lot of our aircraft come back shot up."
That notwithstanding, the life of an aircraft mechanic crew chief was a relatively cushy job, he said. He was well fed, was never shot at and got a chance to catch up on sleep while pilots flew bombing runs in his aircraft.
"It was a cupcake going overseas -- all these beautiful English women whose men were (away)," Hogan said. "Some of the guys were more than happy to tend to their needs."
Whether he took advantage of such hospitality himself, Hogan isn't about to say. Nor will he go into much detail about the nightlife in London or Paris, although he allows that both were "great."
"I'm not going to confess to anything," he said with a laugh.
The days, by contrast, were all business. The man who couldn't drive had become proficient at repairing planes, and his skills were tested regularly.
"Everyone was working to win the war," Hogan said, returning to a serious tone. "There were no games being played."
The Army got what it wanted out of him: a capable mechanic. And he got what he wanted out of them, parlaying his GI Bill tuition into four years at Gonzaga University, where he earned a law degree.
"I could have been drafted and wound up in the infantry, but I volunteered," Hogan said. "I wanted to go to college, and it worked for me."
* Pat Muir can be reached at 577-7693 or pmuir@yakimaherald.com.
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