Chege, Faith
Harris, Rhiannon
Stevens, Kelley
April 15, 2011
Mr. LeDuc Period 4
Theodore “Ted” Tanner
Lieutenant Colonel Theodore J. Tanner, also known as Ted
Tanner, was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. By the time he was three years old, his parents had a divorce; he says this had a huge impact on his life and the “broken family” is what drove his decision to join the Air Force. He was then raised by his mother who worked as a dentist.
Ted’s high school life was not so different from other children at that age. He attended a small public high school that was intended for boys only. Despite the fact it was a public school good grades were necessary and no trouble makers were wanted. Ted graduated in 1940 and following his graduation was the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Immediately after graduation, he and friends immediately went to the Air Force. After becoming an aviation cadet, he was sent home for a couple of years, where he spent his time working at a local shipyard in Long Beach, California.
After waiting the orders then came through, and Ted was sent to Hells Half Acre, Arkansas. One of the things Ted mentioned about the differences of Arkansas was the fact that everything was segregated and it was something that he was unfamiliar with. Ted was a “lonely kid” which led him to choose the single engine planes. His background with plane maintenance helped him with learning how to fly the jet. Ted then went to Sarasota, Florida for training on how to fly P-40 jets. (Jets famous for shark mouths painted on their mouths.) During his time in Florida, there were rumors going around of single engine flyers dying. Ted volunteered to travel to Salinas,
California where they were ready to go out to sea for single engine dive bombers. While in
California two other pilots got infected with STDs, which opened up a spot for him. The second

war started in Australia all the way to the surrounding islands of New Guinea. Their main purpose while in New Guinea was to destroy Japanese housing, food supplies and shipping. Also during leave, Ted was then introduced to a new kind of jet, a more improved, faster one, the
A20. It was a twin engine jet that was intended for single flyers. After looking at pictures taken by other Air Force personnel, he developed an interest in photography. He had an idea to reinvent the placement of the camera on the jets. After his idea became successful, he received a bronze medal for his accomplishments. The living conditions for the soldiers were not very glamorous or sanitary for that matter. They lived in tents that were stationed in the mud, in areas that were mosquito infested. This led to him and many others getting malaria. But he had no time to rest and fully recuperate, and went back to combat as soon as possible. Because of the poor living conditions, the men would try and find new ways to improve their living situations. They would fly to the mainland Australia, buy food and “booze”, and then trade all that for lumber.
With the lumber, they could then elevate their beds and no longer have to sleep on the muddy grounds. Also while in Australia, during leave, they would go to the beach and hang with the
“Aussie” girls. In total Ted flew 72 missions and in total received nine medals for what he did and for where he was stationed. He also received a DFC award, which stands for Distinguished
Flying Class. During his time in New Guinea, he had the opportunity to look at the natives. He described them as the ugliest people he had ever seen. Their barbaric ways of life didn’t fascinate him, but instead were repulsing to him. After spending time in New Guinea, Ted and the rest of the Air Force proceeded to Lady Gulf in the Philippines. One of their missions there was to rescue some Americans that were captured during the Baton Death March. They broke into the prisons and liberated the remaining Americans. One possible life changing event, happened when Ted was on mission and a 40mm shell went through the door of the jet and into the tank,

but did not explode. He faced death, but he overcame it. After he landed, is when they fished out the shell and then buried it. Ted was going to name his jet “Portland Rose”, but he never got around to it due to the bomb shell going through his jet, and practically destroying it. During combat, Ted was never the playful type, but there was one memorable event he spoke about. He saw one of the guys tanning outside naked and decided to take a picture for black mail. For entertainment, Ted and his companions would sit around the radio and listen to whatever was on.
And on a few occasions, they were fortunate enough to go and watch a USO show. The others occupied themselves with gambling, but Ted never really participated. As for close friendships that were made, one of the guys was one who came from a rich family. And during the war, he always received packages with little goods in them that he would share. In the service, it was hard for any one to keep in contact with their families, mostly because when they received the letters, they were two to three months old. Regardless of that, it was still a blessing to receive anything from back home. Two of his memorable events included, his opportunity to go and train as a pilot. The whole process of getting chosen for training and his decision to join the war effort impacted the person he is today. Another great opportunity was flying the P-40 and A-20 jets. Everything including living through combat and having memories embedded in his brain was part of the whole experience. Even though he went through some unfortunate situations, he still considered himself privileged to have to have the opportunities he had. Upon returning, he was anxious to continue his life. Ted then got married to a “strawberry blonde” and they had four children together. Unfortunately, his wife has Schizophrenia and passed it on to two of his children. Things were looking down and only continued to fall. His wife then decided she no longer wanted to be a mother, and left Ted. Despite all the unfortunate events, after a few years
Ted met a nice “gal” who couldn’t have children, but fell in love with his. Ted’s granddaughter

(his oldest daughter’s child) got into drugs and was admitted to rehab. “… Stay the hell away from it...” is the advice Ted gave us. Now Ted resides in Costa Mesa, Orange County and participates in the King High Remembers every year.