Introduction This collection of short tales from the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II and Johnston Island is my embroidery on stories that my uncle Hollis Estill—”Shorty”—regaled me with when he was home on leave in the late 40s and 50s. Most of the accounts are from the CBI during World War II. The last of the stories covers Shorty’s tour in the Pacific on Johnston Island/Atoll. Johnston Island/Atoll was at the center of the U.S. nuclear testing program in the Pacific. Shorty joined the Army Air Corps a few years out of high school and was stationed in India during World War II. Following the war, Shorty reenlisted and served for 12 years in what became the U.S. Air Force. During those twelve years, he spent time in the U.S., at Johnston Atoll, and the Philippines. My recollections of the tales are imperfect—60+ years does that—but the cores of…
