My son asked me "What is the War Department?"

Not too long ago, I was going through my father's war memorabilia and found his World War II I.D. Card. I showed it to my oldest son, who is ex-military, and he was astonished. First, he wanted to know what the War Department was, and second, his grandfather held the rank of Major at the young age of 25. I had to remind him that over 8 million men and women served in the armed forces at that time, which means more opportunity for rank.

By the way, the War Department became the Department of Defense after the war on August 10, 1949.

May 1944 in Sardinia

Photo of members of the 414th in Sardinia during May 1944.
Left to Right:
Patten (navigator for John Patterson), Loveland, Berkowitz, Murphy, Penn, Ryan



Please contact me, if you can provide additional information about the members of the 414th.

Living Quarters

In WWII these tents were probably considered luxury accomodations. This is my father, Lt. Col. John E. Patterson, beside his tent.

Romance in WWII

These photos of Lt. John E. Patterson, United States Army Air Corp. and Ruth Evelyn Cornell, soon to be Mrs. Patterson, reflect the romance of the time period. John and Ruth were married earlier than they planned because his orders to ship out were moved up.