Jerome YellinYellinJeromeNJWorld War, 1939-1945Army Air Forces/Corps78th Fighter SquadronCaptainIwo Jima; Pacific TheaterNoVeteran"And the sights and the sounds and the smells of that day are with me to this day." (Video interview, 11:27)Jerome Yellin’s career as a fighter pilot got off to a rocky start, when he flunked the physical exam due to 20-30 vision in one eye. Not to be deterred, he obtained a copy of the eye chart from his mother, who worked for the draft board, and passed the test on his second try. Flying with the 78th Fighter Squadron, he took part in the Battle of Iwo Jima and escorted B-29s on bombing runs over Tokyo. Over the course of his time in combat, he lost 16 members of his squadron. On August 13, 1945, he completed his 19th mission over Japan, and arrived back to Iwo Jima to find out the war had been over for three hours. In his oral history interview, he speaks candidly about the sights and smells of war, and about how he overcame Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) through Transcendental Meditation.Jerome Yellin at time of interviewVE-DayDeciding to enlist in the Army Air Corps; passion for aviation; initially flunking the eye test; memorizing eye chart and eventually passing.Flunking another eye test; was assigned to a transport unit; petitioning to become a fighter pilot.Memorable mission; bailing out; spending nine hours in a life raft until he was picked up.Memories of the battle of Iwo Jima; bombing of Tokyo; smell of death.Losing 16 of his comrades; flying the last mission of World War II.Thoughts on the necessity of World War II and the Greatest Generation.Generational differences between then and now; valuing comrades lives’ over his own.Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congresshttps://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.95409/DLC-AFC2022-10-27loc.natlib.afc2001001.95409