Special Collections and Archives recently received a book filled with invaluable first-hand accounts of life as a fighter pilot during World War II.
Bob Harwell, Auburn alum, came by Ralph Brown Draughon July 21 to present the library with his father’s diary and book, “Combat Missions: First Lieutenant Robert L. Harwell,” which chronicles his father’s 66 missions as a B-26 pilot and co-pilot for the U.S. Air Force.
Copies of Robert’s book have been placed at Maxwell Air Force base in Montgomery and the U.S. Air Force base in Colorado Springs.
“This kind of detail is nearly impossible to find,” said Greg Schmidt, Special Collections librarian and archivist.
The book begins with Robert’s first mission June 13, 1944. Robert discussed each mission in detail, and the book includes maps and outlines of how the mission was supposed to be carried out.
While still serving in the military, Robert decided to go back to school in Auburn June 1947.
Robert graduated in 1948, when the University was still Alabama Polytechnic Institute.
He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture education and later got a master’s degree from the University of Alabama. He worked as an agricultural educaton teacher and then for the Alabama State Department of Education for a total of 37 years.
Robert’s diary discusses his daily life from the major battles to some of the most important days of his life outside of the war. Most of his days talk about loafing around and watching films like “Gone With the Wind.”
“One entry talks about him asking my mother to marry him,” Bob said. “And she said ‘yes.’”
Some days were simple. Robert simply noted getting cake or riding a horse. Others had much more action.
Robert won the Distinguished Flying Cross, one of the highest honors given in the Air Force. He was awarded the honor for manually cranking down the landing gear to the B-26 he was in while the plane was being shot down. He was wounded during these actions, but managed to get the plane landed safely.
“The B-26 was a hard plane to fly,” Bob said. “They were made quickly. One was even nicknamed the widow maker.”
Robert spent many years compiling his diary and documents he found to complete to the book, which was printed in 2009. He only made a few copies and sold just one to a friend for five dollars just so he could say he sold a book.
Special Collections didn’t hesitate to take the donation because of the book’s subject and historical significance to the school and the country.
“When we were told about it, we were very interested in having it so we accepted,” Schmidt said. “We do get a lot of offers, and a lot of times we have to turn them down.”
Schmidt said the library has an extensive collection of aviation books and artifacts.
“We have collecting areas that we focus on,” Schmidt said. “Aviation is an area we collect and of course anything that has to do with Auburn people. I would hope that we would eventually have a circulating copy.”
Robert’s book will more than likely go to the collection that contains semirare books that can’t be circulated. Students can look at the book and make copies of it, but it can’t leave the collection library.
Bonnie MacEwan, dean of libraries, came down to Special Collections to greet Bob and talk with him about his father and the books he donated. She talked about the importance of Special Collections and importance to the library.
“Special Collections is an absolutely vital part of our library, as part of our research program,” MacEwan said. “Our collections are unique. It’s a place where the heritage of our country and of the history of our University is held. It’s a part of what makes us different from every other library in the country.”
MacEwan said the library is currently working towards digitizing the resources so anyone can find them online. The hope is that students will find collections on the web and use them in their studies.
“Do the research, and come to Special Collections, and look at the original,” MacEwan said.
No comments:
Post a Comment