November 16, 1939 – The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports on Paul Shaw and W. L. Guthrie teaming up with the SUI College of Engineering and the Civilian Aeronautics Authority (CAA) to offer pilot training at the Iowa City Airport.

The CAA was a U.S. government-sponsored organization that focused on training new pilots across the country. Europe, you see, was already at war, and many U.S. leaders – including President Franklin Roosevelt – knew that it would be in America’s best interests if we began training young men to be pilots – just in case.

So, when World War II broke out in December 1941, the United States Navy immediately contacted Shaw to help lead one of the most important aspects of the war effort in the Pacific – training qualified pilots. Over a three-year period (1942-1944), 2,500 Navy pilots were trained here – with most joining the war effort in the Pacific, helping America win the war.

READ MORE HERE…

Did you know? is an Our Iowa Heritage blog series that offers you a little bit of Iowa trivia from a large selection of stories on our website. Subscribe to this FREE blog and you’ll get a new email from us daily. Click to learn more.

Click here to go on to the next date…