Bert Corona - World War II

World War II

Several months after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Corona volunteered in the Army Air Corps and resigned from his position with the union. He underwent basic training at Buckley Field in Colorado. During this training, he witnessed discriminatory treatment of Mexican-American and Jewish enlistees. He underwent officer training in Cedar City, Utah, where he and the other cadets were not welcomed by the mostly-Mormon local population. The locals resented the displacement of the students of Southern Utah State College, the campus of which was taken over by the military. But they were even more concerned that the soldiers would "corrupt" their daughters. These fears were allayed after a town meeting, and led to warmer relations between the townspeople and the soldiers.

After a year of training in Cedar City, Corona was sent to the Army Air Base in Santa Ana, California for flight training. Corona was promoted to wing adjutant and had numerous clerical responsibilities. At the time, he worked a sixteen-hour day, half of which was spent in training, the other half in the office. In Santa Ana, he underwent a psychiatric evaluation designed to identify homosexuals and political "deviants." He was labeled "probably patriotic," which was "most often applied to individuals from minority groups whose patriotism was considered questionable because of past grievances against the United States."

Shortly after the evaluation, Corona was questioned by a group of officers about his political ideology and union activities. He was asked his opinion about the books Mission to Moscow by Joseph E. Davies and One World by Wendell Wilkie. Shortly thereafter, he was subject to another round of interrogation, this one lasting even longer. While he was never informed of the results of these rounds of questioning, he received an order removing him from his squadron and the Air Corps.

Following his dismissal from the Air Corps, Corona was sent to Torney Army General Hospital in Palm Springs, California, where he was assigned mailroom duty. He was transferred to the surgical unit where he served as a surgical assistant. While in Palm Springs, he helped to organize soldiers' fora, which were held every Friday night at the home of the movie producer Joseph Schenck. The fora discussed issues of racism, religious discrimination, and red-baiting.

Corona transferred to the Rainbow Division and received combat training in Oklahoma. The Rainbow Division, however, did not enjoy a good reputation at the time, and Corona transferred to Fort Benning for paratrooper training. He was also trained as a demolition specialist.

Just prior to his unit's being deployed overseas, Corona requested a pass to go to Atlanta for the weekend. According to Corona, "a trick was pulled on me to ensure that I would either get kicked out of the paratroopers or miss the opportunity to go with my division to see combat." Disembarking, he was approached by two military police officers, who requested to see his pass. Finding that it only allowed him to go to Columbus, they locked him in the federal prison in Atlanta's Fort McDonald. He was not permitted to contact his commanding officer, and was held incommunicado for over a month. He became friendly with a guard who had been a union member in Chicago who plotted to provide him access to a telephone. His unit having shipped out, he was unable to reach his commanding officer. While a prisoner, he got to know other soldiers who had been jailed for being conscientious objectors who were able to smuggle letters out for him upon being discharged. The letters, which were addressed to his wife and Harry Bridges, resulted in his release. Corona was able to have the AWOL removed from his record, but never received payment for the forty-five days he was incarcerated.

Just when it seemed unlikely that Corona would be able to serve overseas, his colonel received a request for people for the Signal Corps. He was sent to Camp Crowder in Neosho, Missouri for training, and was set to see duty in the Pacific. However, while in Neoshe, he ran into Jaime Del Amo, who had served the Franco regime as Spanish consul in Los Angeles. Del Amo identified Corona as a "subversive" who had participated in the Spanish-speaking People's Congress, and Corona was sent to the processing center at Camp McClellan in Northern California, where he remained until the end of the war. According to Corona, "I entered the service as a buck private, and I left as one. I paid the price of having been involved in progressive causes and was one of those stigmatized and red-baited because of my involvement."