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Joseph Harry Carver
By Chip Rosenthal
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Joseph Harry Carver was born in the Foster Building in 1920, Joe graduated in 1938 from Clifton Springs High School. then attended Hobart College for one year. He transferred to Fenn College in Cleveland, Ohio for about a year and a half. One evening, several friends were sitting together talking. One of the group said that they ought to go to Canada, as "they wanted flyers up there". After some excited discussion, they all agreed to meet in Hamilton, Ontario in the next couple of days. Joe went home and told his Mother that he was leaving to join the Canadian Air Force. His mother thought this was a wonderful idea. That was 1941. This being 2006, Mr. Joe Carver started flying 65 years ago this year, just prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Joe arrived in Hamilton and waited for a day. He was the only one of the group to show up! He went ahead and joined alone. (Years later he found one of those friends and asked him what happened. The friend said he'd gotten to thinking about it, and joined the submarine service instead.) But Joe was content. He had always dreamed of flying, and he was starting his training on the Gypsy Tiger Moth. The training lasted a year.
Joe recalls that on the day of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, 200 American cadet pilots left Canada to return to the U.S. to enlist. The Canadian government was quite displeased that they had spent so much money training these pilots who then left to go home. Mr. Carver said that he'd been told later that after the war, the U.S. paid an amount of "restitution" to the Canadian Government to offset that cost. It had even been said that if these young men did not return to the U.S. to enlist, they would lose their citizenship. Carver returned with the others, and was sent to Turner Field in Georgia for three weeks of training. He trained on the B-25 Bomber.
Upon graduation from flight training, the group was told they were going to be sent over seas, but were kept in the dark about where they would be sent until they reached England. It was at this time that Joe's "claim to fame" happened. Then high school senior, Ralph Adams, recalls the event, and claims to have known immediately who was responsible. Joe and his crew of five were in the B-25 and headed for England. He "buzzed" Clifton Springs from about 100 feet off the ground. Town opinion was "mixed" about the event. Joe's father wrote in a letter, that "half the town is for you and half the town is against you. I advise you to never do that again!"
Joe's next stop, following England, was Northwest Africa, where the invasion had just begun. He flew from New Foundland to Greenland, Iceland, through to England, and then to Casablanca, where he joined his outfit.
On the way to Casablanca, pilot Joe was a little surprised and concerned when his new navigator told him that he had no idea where they were. Joe asked what they should do. The navigator told him the only thing he could think of was to 'turn left, find Portugal, then follow the coast to Casablanca." Fortunately, the navigator turned out to be right.
After only about three missions, Joe was badly burned when the pilots' tent caught on fire (while they were in it). Joe thought he would be discharged from the service following three months in the hospital due to his injuries.. However, he was sent to Randolph's, where he trained in the mobile unit, ending up doing a great deal of traveling. (Before his career was over, Joe had literally traveled "around the world".) Carver was then sent to Alaska as a reserve officer for two and a half years, supplying the Aleution Chain during the Korean War. At this time, he was also doing more training exercises. A friend from Washington called and gave Joe a "heads' up" that he was being assigned to Viet Nam. Joe spent a year there (prior to the declaration of war between north and South Viet Nam).
Joe Carver retired from the Air Force in 1964 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. His last job, prior to retirement, was work on the ICBM missiles
He then took a job with General Dynamics in Rochester, as a quality Control supervisor, monitoring the accessory systems for F-111 Fighter Jets. After five years, (when General Dynamics moved from New York) he left and became the County Environmental Coordinator.. After ten years Joe finally retired for good (in 1980).
The interview ended with this statement; "It was a long time ago and it was only yesterday"
Joseph Harry Carver
At one time, the "buzz about town" referred to a stunt pulled by Clifton Native Joe Carver. Born Joseph Harry Carver in the Foster Building in 1920, Joe graduated from C.S. High School, then attended Hobart College for one year. He transferred to Brown College in Cleveland, Ohio for about a year and a half. One evening, several friends were sitting together talking. One of the group said that they ought to go to Canada, as "they wanted flyers up there". After some excited discussion, they all agreed to meet in Hamilton, Ontario in the next couple of days. Joe went home and told his Mother that he was leaving to join the Canadian Air Force. His mother thought this was a wonderful idea. That was 1941. This being 2006, Mr. Joe Carver started flying 65 years ago this year, just prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Joe arrived in Hamilton and waited for a day. He was the only one of the group to show up! He went ahead and joined alone. (Years later he found one of those friends and asked him what happened. The friend said he'd gotten to thinking about it, and joined the submarine service instead.) But Joe was content. He had always dreamed of flying, and he was starting his training on the Gypsy Tiger Moth. The training lasted a year. Joe recalls that on the day of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, 200 American cadet pilots left Canada to return to the U.S. to enlist. The Canadian government was quite displeased that they had spent so much money training these pilots who then left to go home. Mr. Carver said that he'd been told later that after the war, the U.S. paid an amount of "restitution" to the Canadian Government to offset that cost. It had even been said that if these young men did not return to the U.S. to enlist, they would lose their citizenship. Carver returned with the others, and was sent to Turner Field in Georgia for three weeks of training. He trained on the B-25 Bomber.
Upon graduation from flight training, the group was told they were going to be sent over seas, but were kept in the dark about where they would be sent until they reached England. It was at this time that Joe's "claim to fame" happened. Then high school senior, Ralph Adams, recalls the event, and claims to have known immediately who was responsible. Joe and his crew of five were in the B-25 and headed for England. He "buzzed" Clifton Springs from about 100 feet off the ground. Town opinion was "mixed" about the event. Joe's father wrote in a letter, that "half the town is for you and half the town is against you. I advise you to never do that again!"
Joe's next stop, following England, was Northwest Africa, where the invasion had just begun. He flew from New Foundland to Greenland, Iceland, through to England, and then to Casablanca, where he joined his outfit. He was just getting settled in with his group and was sitting in a tent with the other pilots. They were heating the tent by creating a drip system with aviation gas. When it got hot, they turned off the stove. They were all talking, and another of their buddies entered the tent with a can of gasoline. No one was paying any attention to him. Joe noticed him just as he approached the stove. He started to holler "Look… The next thing that happened was the tent exploding. The gas can got thrown, and it hit Carver on his knees. He ran out of the tent, and remembering that he was supposed to roll on the ground, did so, but it didn't put out the flames. However, the friend who had thrown the gas can followed Joe outside, and caught up with him. He managed to beat out the flames on Joe's legs with his hands.
Joe thought he was to be discharged from the service following three months in the hospital due to his injuries. He began planning things out, got married, and set up a job as a test pilot for Northrup. However, he was sent to Randolph's, where he trained in the mobile unit, ending up doing a great deal of traveling. (Before his career was over, Joe had literally traveled "around the world".) Carver was then sent to Alaska as a reserve officer for two and a half years, supplying the Allution Chain during the Korean War. At this time, he was also doing more training excersizes. A friend from Washington called and gave Joe a "heads' up" that he was being assigned to Viet Nam. Joe spent a year there prior to the declaration of war between north and South Viet Nam.
Joseph Harry Carver retired from the Air Force in 1964 after working on the Atlas ICBM's, with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He then took a job with General Dynamics in Rochester as a quality Control expert monitoring the systems for F-11 Fighter Jets. After five years there, he became the County Coordinator for Ontario County. Ten years later, Joe finally retired for good in 1980.
Add ins: graduated 1938 from CS.
Ended interview with quote "It was a long time ago and it was only yesterday"
Anecdote: On the way to Casablanca, pilot Joe was a little surprised and concerned when his new navigator told him that he had no idea where they were. Joe asked what they should do. The navigator told him the only thing he could think of was to 'turn left, find Portugal, then follow the coast to Casablanca." Fortunately, the navigator turned out to be right.
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