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Source: Odessa American, TexasNov.self storage 10--Raymond Viverette may be grounded, but his memories remain up in the air.That's because the 91-year-old Odessa resident spent his military career as a flying instructor and flying airplanes over islands in the Pacific after World War II mapping areas like Okinawa and Northern China.A native of Union, Miss., a town Viverette said had a population of 2,500 while he was growing up. Viverette graduated from Union High School and then attended classes at Mississippi State College before being drafted in 1943.As a member of the United States Army Air Corps -- the forerunner of the United States Air Force before its creation in 1947 -- Viverette said he applied for flight school and was accepted.Going to basic training, then to Minter Field, Bakersfield, Calif., Viverette was eventually accepted into an advance training dealing with twin-engine airplanes and was stationed at Marfa Army Airfield in Marfa.Then on Dec. 23, 1943, Viverette said he graduated as a second lieutenant and then taught advanced two-engine pilot courses until 1945."For the year 1945, I was in various pilot pools," Viverette said. "There was an excess of pilots because the war was over ... so we went from one place to another for a year."During that time, Viverette was sent to Okinawa on missions that ranged from mapping purposes to weather and photo reconnaissance."We would take a weather observer in a B-29 and we would go out and circle the typhoon with this observer and we could plot the speed and the direction of the typhoon," Viverette said, adding he flew five of those specific missions. "Some days we'd fly 10 hours a day."Viverette left active service in 1947 and he went back to Mississippi State College to finish his degree at the insistence of his parents. He eventually graduated with a major in petroleum geology and a minor in physics.During that time, Viverette also took time to finally marry his fiance Ruby, whom he proposed to before leaving for military service. She was attending Mississippi College for Women and worked as a stewardess for Delta Airlines during that time, Viverette said.After their marriage, Viverette accepted a job with a service company called Lane-Wells in Odessa, which he said eventually went on to become Baker Hughes."At that time, we rented half of a duplex on an unpaved street," Viverette said. "And the sand would blow in on the window seals and my wife thought it was the worst thing in the world to have to clean sand out of the window sills."Viverette said he and his wife had two children, Susan and Charles, and lived between Odessa and Midland for several years until he opened up his own business, Tracer Survey's Inc., and bought a piece of land that is now part of Quail Run in east Odessa.Charles and his wife Connie both live in Odessa while Susan has since moved to North Carolina. Ruby, Viverette said, has been diagnosed with dementia and is currently living at Buena Vida Nursing and Rehabilitation in Odessa. He said he makes it a point to have either lunch or dinner with her every day."She's been a good partner迷利倉" he said.South Plains Honor FlightAs a birthday present this year, Viverette said his children helped get him on the list to take part in the South Plains Honor Flight that departed from Lubbock on Oct. 15.With a mission to "promote public awareness and support for ... U.S. military service members and veterans," the Honor Flight also flies veterans out of the West Texas area to visit and tour the World War II memorial, other war memorials, and the monuments in Washington, D.C.Taking his son Charles, the two took several pictures while in Washington; from stops at the National World War II memorial to the Washington Monument."Well, let me put it like this: This was probably the best and most enjoyable trip I've had in a long time," Viverette said.Charles said his father was reluctant at first to go, saying his father didn't believe he deserved to go because he never saw any combat time.However, once he met up with other veterans, Charles said his father had a good time listening and sharing stories with others who made the trip."One of the guys was talking about their experience in the fact they were the first ones shipped overseas after the war," Charles Viverette said. "One of the veterans said that he had actually shipped (overseas) to go and for the planned invasion of Japan."Connie Viverette said after the trip, she had the photos printed out and made Raymond a scrap book of the trip; an item that Raymond said he is very proud of."I wanted him to have that because he goes to the airport (Odessa-Schlemeyer Field) every Saturday because he used to have a plane and a hangar out there," Connie Viverette said. "So he and some other guys meet out there on Saturday mornings and have coffee and just talk about whatever. I wanted him to have that to take out there and show."For Raymond Viverette, he said one of the most memorable and haunting stops during the trip was the Smithsonian Institution.Inside the museum, Viverette said, was the Enola Gay, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber that dropped the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima."We went to the Smithsonian and as we walked into the aircraft part of it, I saw the Enola Gay," he recalled before pausing for a minute. "And see, since I flew B-29s and I've flown over Hiroshima and seen it from the air, you can't imagine what an empty gut feeling you get looking at Hiroshima, and there was the plane that dropped the bomb."For Charles, he said the one of the most rewarding things was seeing the men and women in Lubbock meeting the veterans at the airport as they returned from their trip."There was one big fireman who was there and it was kind of neat because ... he had his helmet and he was having all these guys sign his helmet," Charles said. "And he was telling them, as they were signing his helmet, he was telling them that they were his heroes."--Contact Nathaniel Miller on twitter at @OAgovernment, on Facebook at OA Nathaniel Miller or call 432-333-7769Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Odessa American (Odessa, Texas) Visit the Odessa American (Odessa, Texas) at .oaoa.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉