"1939 Civilian pilot training program.
"1941 Volunteered 1 Dec. for Army Air Corps pilot training.
"1942 Called up in March to Maxwell AFB for pre-flight training as a pilot.
"1943 Graduated from pilot training on Feb 16, 1943, Class 43-B. Volunteered for overseas duty and landed in Hawaii for fighter pilot training in the P-40. Arrived in March of '43 and departed in Aug '43 for the sw Pacific...but in the meantime had one engine failure and landed dead stick at our base --- had been at 12,000 when engine failed, and about 4 miles from home base.
"Arrived at training base for further training in the P-40, then in Sept/Oct ferried a P-40 from Townsville, Australia, to Port Moresby, New Guniea, and joined the 35th Fighter Squadron of the 8th Fighter Group.
"Promoted to 1st Lt. in November, '43.
"1944 I was in the 35th until 1 Dec., '44, having flown 144 combat missions in the P-40 & P-38, and destroying three Japanese Zero fighters in aerial combat."
[Records credit one kill on Nov 9, '43 & two kills on Dec 27, '43. GCW]
"I then left the Halmahera Islands for Kingman, AZ. I was selected to fly the "Pinball" RP-63 target plane, heavily armored in metal and glass. Frangible bullets were fired at it and when they hit, the nose of the P-63 lit up with each hit. The Pinball pilots made high side passes, coming down to a stern position on the bombers (B-17s). We made ourselves as easy to hit as possible, but I was never hit, not once, in several flights against the the B-17s. My tour at Kingman lasted from about Jan. '45 to May '45. I was then ordered to Bartow, Florida, to instruct newly graduated 2nd Lts. in combat tactics for the P-51.
"(to be continued)"
[NOTE: The late Col. Weaver tried very hard to participate in this webpage. He called me on the phone, wrote a formal letter, sent photographs, and viewed the webpage through a daughter's computer and almost certainly with her help. But he was failing quickly. I copied and returned the photographs but did not receive an acknowledgment that they had returned to him safely. The items above were scribbled in longhand on various pieces and scraps of paper that he bulk mailed to me. I had attended my mother through Alzheimer's and recognized the problem, and stage, immediately. He tried to write us about his career, but the last I received is printed above...I knew in my heart when I read the words "to be continued" that this was all I would ever see. GCW] Obituary link