AUSTIN — Today, Texas Land Commissioner and Veterans Land Board (VLB) Chairwoman Dawn Buckingham, M.D., is proud to introduce the next installment of the series highlighting the VLB's Voices of Veterans oral history program. This week, we highlight the service of Colonel Jack Oliver who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps and U.S. Air Force.
Oliver was born on his family’s farm in Belton, Texas, on September 21, 1924. His great-grandfather served in the Civil War, and his brother served in the Navy during World War II. His father joined the Army, served in the reserve and National Guard, and was Commander of a company in the Civilian Conservation Corps. Oliver experienced the Great Depression, and while his father was away, he drove the family tractor on the farm as a young teenager.
Oliver attended Texas A&M University, which he said helped prepare him for joining the military.
“You walked in the door, and it was not easy. I never encountered anything in the military that I hadn’t already went through, been through at Texas A&M. It just was something else there. It took me a while to understand and thank the Lord for having gone to A&M. So, I was very, very glad that happened to me.”
Oliver was determined to become a pilot but was encouraged to go into navigation, as he had an education in math and science from Texas A&M University. He ended up going to Bombardier Navigation School in San Angelo, Texas. After his group was moved to Charleston, South Carolina, Oliver met his wife while eating lunch at a delicatessen. They met on the first of January 1944 and were married by the 30th in a whirlwind courtship. The two were married by a minister in his own home shortly before Oliver headed off to war. Oliver proudly proclaimed that they've been married for 66 years. He then joked that “it may never last.”
After a short honeymoon in New York City, Oliver left to serve in South America. He then went to Africa. On his first mission, Oliver had to serve as a navigator with a different pilot and crew because their navigator had been killed.
“I had to fly my first five missions as a navigator with a guy I didn’t know. I didn’t know any of them. Later, I found out just how important the navigator was because if something happened to that bomber, lost the engine, lost people, or had trouble, it was hard enough for the pilot to fly that airplane. Old B-24s everybody knows about B-24s; it’s difficult. So, the navigator had to be prepared to get him home. That’s just how serious it was. I found that out first mission right away. We got shot up real bad. I flew 50 missions.”
Oliver was injured while covering flights for a fellow navigator. The plane he was in was shot at, and he took shrapnel to the face, wounding his eyes. He was sent home after his injury as he had completed his obligated number of missions.
When asked about any fears he may have had while flying combat missions, Oliver remarked on his and others’ lack of fear when flying.
“We had a mission to do, and we were up there to do it. By that time, we were cohesive and very close. It hadn’t been two or three months, but we were really close. I don’t ever remember being afraid. I was afraid for a friend of mine, maybe in the neighboring airplane, that got shot up, and I’m seeing it get shot up, and I know he’s going down and not going to make it home. You know, I would worry about him. Isn’t that weird? I never worried about myself or my crew."
Oliver said the forces eventually felt they would win the war, but the beginning was tough.
“When we first got there, man, it was so rough. The first six months we were there, we lost 50 airplanes and 500 men. That’s an entire outfit, 100% turnover in six months. It was rough, but we could see it changing."
After the war, Oliver went to pilot training in 1947. He remembered being excited to fly the P-80 Shooting Star, the first jet fighter used operationally by the U.S. Army Air Force. Leading aces in Korea flew these jets.
Oliver became a Regular Army Officer and made a career out of his service. He experienced the transition from the Army Air Corps to the Air Force, serving for a total of 30 years. During this time, he also finished his education at the University of Maryland, earning a degree in astronomy.
“Old man asked me what are you gonna take? I said astronomy. He thought I was crazy. I’d been a celestial navigator and had that background in math and science at A&M, which paid off. So, I got a degree in astronomy and went right into the space programs.”
Oliver participated in the Lockheed Skunk Works project with legendary aeronautical and systems engineer Kelly Johnson at Vandenburg Air Force Base. He also helped launch information-gathering satellites into space. He rose to the rank of colonel before retiring and became the Chief of Staff for the Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles, which he admitted was pretty impressive for a “little old country boy from Belton, Texas.”
In addition to the farm that had been in his family since the 1870s, Oliver bought farmland from the Texas Veterans Land Board in 1952 and 1953, which he eventually sold.
“Over the years, we learned to love the farm over there and praise the Lord for the Veterans Land Board. We never had stocks and bonds. Ours was four-legged cows and a farm. Over the years, we put our money into the farm and cattle there and fenced the place in.”
When asked what he would like to say to anyone listening to his interview in the future, Oliver replied:
“I want to thank all of my friends that I flew with all these years, even up to a couple of years ago when I had to give it up because of health, but I loved flying. I never had anybody in World War II or the wars since let me down for anything. I just love the military.”
To listen to Colonel Jack Oliver tell his story, click the button below:
RELATED: Voices of Veterans: Col. William Gregory Shares His Story of Service in the U.S. Air Force and Army Air Corps
RELATED: Commissioner Buckingham Continues Series on General Land Office’s Voices of Veterans Oral History Program
Voices of Veterans is a state agency's first Veteran oral history program. It records the stories of Texas Veterans through their time in service and after returning home from combat.
The VLB records interviews with Veterans over the phone or in person. Their interviews are then permanently archived in the Office of Veterans Records at the GLO, where they join the historical documents of other Texas heroes such as Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and William Barret Travis.
Veterans' interviews are also available to researchers, historians, genealogists, and the public. These precious records inspire future generations and remind us of our Veterans' sacrifices.
To listen to the over 500 archived stories of Veterans documented through the GLO's Voices of Veterans oral history program, click the button below: