Page 15
Tensions, spreading in Europe in the late 1930s,
erupted into World War II on Lay’s thirtieth birth-
day. Shortly thereafter, he returned to military
service at his own request and served as a flight
instructor at Chino, California.
A book he had written a few years earlier, which
had since become a bestseller, introduced him to
a fellow writer, Col. Ira Eaker, then the command-
er of the Air Corps Information Division. Eaker ar-
ranged for Lay’s transfer to the staff of the U.S.
Army Air Corps in Washington, where he was
promoted to the rank of captain and worked in
the PR section of General Henry H. Arnold, com-
mander of the US Army Air Force.
When Ira Eaker became a general in 1942 and
was entrusted with building the 8th AF, he took
Bernie Lay with him to work as historian and
unit documentation commander. The status be-
tween Lay and Hollywood, with whom he had
entered into a partnership a few years earlier,
also changed. He now commanded Hollywood
directors who worked on film reports from the
battlefield. He thus saw with his own eyes the
Flying Cadet Bernie Lay during basic training (1932-1933). The aircraft
in the background is a Douglas BT-2 from the Army Air Corps Primary
Flying School, Randolph Field, TX. Lay completed his training
on February 28, 1933. (Photo: OMPF)
2nd Lt. Bernie Lay, after completing his
flight training, served in the 20th BS
at Langley Field. (Photo: Dennis Duffy)
Curtiss B-2 Condor
HISTORY
INFO Eduard
15
August 2024