Four small paper documents chart one man's path through World War II: a Selective Service registration from Bakersfield, California in June 1942; enlistment as a Naval Reserve V-5 aviation cadet that same year; certification of passing Naval Aviation swimming tests at Corpus Christi, Texas; and finally a wartime tobacco ration card identifying him as a First Lieutenant stationed at Quantico, Virginia. Together these humble artifacts, preserved by the McAleer family, trace the transformation of a young Californian civilian into a commissioned military aviator during the nation's greatest mobilization. Project: 218156