29 May 1941: Aviation Cadet, Advanced Pilot Class 41-D, Brooks Field, Texas.

Subsequently assigned to the 11th Bomb Squadron at Northam, Western Australia; detached from the 7th Bombardment Group. Then reassigned to the 19 Bombardment Group (H), at Camp Royal Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia as a B-17E Flying Fortress bomber pilot; flying combat missions in New Guinea and the Philippines.

LT. ROBERT R. RANKIN; Eugene, Oregon Flier Wins Silver Star

Lt. Robert R. Rankin of Eugene was among 38 officers and men of the U. S. Army Air Corps who were awarded the Silver Star for "gallantry in action" against the enemy in the southwest Pacific area; it was announced Monday by general headquarters of the south Pacific area, according to an Associated Press dispatch.

Lt. Rankin is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Rankin of 383 West Broadway. News of the award was first announced by a news broadcaster early in September but this the first official announcement of the citation. Lt. Rankin's parents have received several letters from him since they first heard the broadcast but he has not mentioned the award. The 23-year old flyer, promoted to first lieutenant July 31, was a University of Oregon student for two years. While there he was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He has been flying with the American Army Air Forces in Australia since last spring.

Wedding: before an altar adorned with pink and yellow gladioli, Miss Billie Jean Vickers of Alamogordo, New Mexico, and Captain Robert Rolla Rankin, of the Alamogordo Base Training squadron, Army Air Forces, exchanged wedding vows at the base chapel, Saturday, August 19th.

Attending Captain Rankin, as best man, was Captain Byron R. Work. Miss Martha Jeanne Nealy was maid of honor. Mrs. Rankin is the daughter of Mr. John A. Vickers of 1429 Vermont Ave., Alamogordo. Captain Rankin is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Rankin, Roseburg. Following the ceremony the wedding supper was held with the bride and groom cutting the large three-tier wedding cake. The cake was topped with a miniature bride and groom. The couple left on the honeymoon which took them through Salt Lake City.

Robert R Rankin