Barry Loudermilk: “After the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Americans from across the Nation were driven by a sudden…”

“After the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Americans from across the Nation were driven by a sudden sense of patriotism, and they sought ways that they could serve their country. One such patriotic American was young Alex Mills of Concord, North Carolina. Although Alex desperately wanted to serve his nation, at only 13 years old, he was too young to join the ranks of thousands of young men and women who were shipping off overseas. Determined to not allow his youth to stand between him and doing something significant, young Alex searched for a way that he could help his country. Now, learning of a newly organized outfit created to patrol the coastline and borders of our homeland, Alex quickly enlisted in the Civil Air Patrol. Throughout World War II, the Civil Air Patrol pilots flew hundreds of patrol missions searching for enemy submarines operating along our coastline. Throughout the war, the Civil Air Patrol spotted numerous German U-boats, and after the planes were fitted with bombs, the Civil Air Patrol crews were credited with sinking at least two enemy submarines. Recognizing the value of this volunteer force of civilians, Congress acted to make the Civil Air Patrol the official auxiliary of the United States Air Force. Forty-one years after first joining the Civil Air Patrol, Alex Mills was appointed as the chaplain of Civil Air Patrol's Rome Composite Squadron at the Richard B. Russell Airfield in Rome, Georgia.…”