Artifact Friday: USAAC uniforms

The Army Air Corps during World War 2 found many different types of personalities, strong-willed people, and people willing to fight for freedom in the extreme. Harold and Phyllis Caskey were two of these people, and they found love and commitment within it.

Phyllis Caskey grew up in Minden, Iowa, and decided she would be a nurse one day. After high school, she attended Jennie Edmundson School of Nursing. She graduated in 1943 and joined the Army Air Corps as a nurse in the same year. Phyllis was stationed at base hospitals, where she treated the wounded or helped do mandatory vaccinations and physical examinations.

While in the Army Air Corps, she met her future husband, Harold “Cass” Caskey. Harold Caskey, also an Iowa native, joined the Army Air Corps in 1942. Harold trained as a pilot and flew B-17s and B-24s in the European theater. Though it is unclear how Phyllis and Harold met, they found each other while serving in the Army Air Corps. Eventually, they married and moved back to Iowa together.

Later in life, they moved to Bella Vista, Arkansas, where they spent the rest of their lives together. The story of Phyllis and Harold is shown here at the Arkansas Air and Military Museum, where both of their uniforms are on display. Both of their service within the Army Air Corps is one of commemoration, and the love they found within it is a story to remember for the ages.

Come by our museum to see the story of Phyllis and Harold and their service to the Army Air Corps.