(leslie) wrote

The late Boxcar Willie started on B-36s and was flying C-5s when he
decided to become a full-time entertainer, per:

http://www.boxcarwillie.com/biography/

Read that biography very carefully with attention to dates and ages.
Although it states that "he became a pilot" I doubt that he was an
Air Force pilot, more likely, he was a Flight Engineer. Notice that
no mention of rank is made which after 26 years on active duty would
have put him in the range of a colonel, something that would certainly
have been mentioned if he had been a commisioned officer/pilot.
The bio mentions the hard times after he was "discharged"...26 years
gets one maybe 65% of their pay and one is retired, not discharged.
Altogether, not a very good attempt at crafty biography writing.

Bob Moore