By Brandon Fey
Northeast Times
By November 1942, the United States had inevitably become a major participant in the Second World War. It was during this month that Congress approved the lowering of the minimum draft age to 18 years. This crucial decision would call upon millions of young men to join in the service of their country. One such man was West Philadelphia native Albert Teplitsky — a resident of Delaware Valley Veterans Home — whose service would carry him to new heights.
Teplitsky was enrolled in his final year of vocational school in 1943, knowing he would inevitably be drafted upon graduation. He recalls that he and his classmates accepted their imminent call to service as an inevitable reality of their time and did not give it much thought otherwise. After being sworn in in July, he was given three weeks to organize his domestic affairs before being called in August to the New Cumberland Army Reception Center near Harrisburg. Teplitsky scored high on written aptitude tests and was asked if he was interested in flying. “I thought, ‘Why not?’ ” he said.
For basic training, Teplitsky was sent to the Overseas Replacement Depot in Greensboro, North Carolina, and then to Keesler Army Airfield in Mississippi. While stationed there, he recalled having heard prominent radio broadcaster Walter Winchell tell parents that if they happened to have one son at Guadalcanal (site of the infamous Pacific Theater offensive) and another at Keesler Airfield, they ought to have felt sorry for the latter. While at the airfield, Teplitsky remembers the commanding colonel’s wife requiring all soldiers to wear a full uniform including long sleeves and a tie when going into the town.
From Kessler Airfield, Teplitsky then went to Willow Run Michigan, where he learned general mechanics. He first applied these skills to aircraft when he next underwent gunnery training at Harlingen Army Airfield in Texas, where he learned techniques for shooting down enemy planes from a larger aircraft in the air. Teplitsky trained to be a top turret gunner, as this was the station for the mechanic on a plane. This position would later account for the loss of most of his hearing.
After having undergone training in Texas, Teplitsky went to an airfield in Lincoln County, Nevada, where he was formed into a flight crew. While in Lincoln, he took a side job helping local turkey farmers. Reflecting on this experience, Teplitsky recalled, “Turkeys are the dumbest birds you ever saw.” He explained that they did not seem to understand the concept of being led, but instead had to be pushed from behind in their pens.
Teplitksy completed crew training at Mountain Home Army Airfield in Idaho. From there, he proceeded to his point of embarkation in Southern California. By then, he was surprised by how many places he had been sent since having begun his training. “You would notice how much of the country I had been through by that time,” he said.
From California, he went to Helena, Montana where his crew was matched to their plane, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain, which they first flew to the island of Shemya, the second to last of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. “The island was one big airstrip,” Teplitsky recalled. “No other planes, no grass, no animals and no other people. When we got there, we were it.” They were to be prepared to ferry airmen back to mainland Alaska in the event that a bomber crew had to make an emergency landing on the island.
Despite their boredom, Teplistky’s officers decided that they were to take their plane from Shemya to Anchorage on a “whiskey run.” The flight to Anchorage took about seven hours. Once the crew collected their liquid provisions, the return trip was to take about 13 hours as they would be flying against the winds that had carried them the first way. One of Teplitsky’s duties was to monitor the amount of gasoline being consumed and switch between different fuel tanks.
On the return flight, Teplitsky noticed that one of the plane’s four engines was leaking. The pilot turned it off per his suggestion, and the crew flew with only three engines to Cold Bay, along the Aleutian Islands where they landed. As the plane’s mechanic, Teplitsky tended to the issue, adjusting the lubrication system in the engine and adding a few gallons of fresh oil that got them back in the air.
During the remainder of the war, Teplitsky’s crew was tasked with ferrying returned soldiers from the west coast and back to other parts of the mainland. Before he left Alaska, Teplitsky had to train the other airmen stationed on the island to maintain their aircraft as he had been the only mechanic stationed there. In these later months, Teplitsky had flown over most of the United States, and parts of Canada.
In 1946, Teplitsky completed his service at the age of 21. Upon his return to Philadelphia, he worked as a printer for Old English Printing, making labels for whiskey bottles. He then worked for the Smith-Edwards printing company for a period before accepting an offer to work as a planner back at Old English. Teplitsky retired at age 62, working a few part-time jobs and spending time with his daughters. He moved into the Delaware Valley Veterans Home in 2015 per his eldest daughter’s suggestion.
Teplitsky’s most cherished memories are of his marriage. Following his time in the service, he met his wife, Edith, at a social gathering he attended with his brother. Teplitsky remembers feeling an immediate connection when he first laid eyes on his future wife. “I saw this girl across the room,” he said, “and I said, ‘I’m going to marry her,’ and I did.” Teplitsky and his wife, who was known by her nickname “Yudie,” were engaged after their second date. They were happily married for 63 and a half years, together raising two daughters until Edith’s passing in 2013.
Albert Teplitsky will reach the age of 100 on Jan. 30. He continues to embody a pronounced sense of dedication and humility that have guided him both as an airman and as a husband and father. His life of service to both his country and his family acts as an inspiration to others who are called to service and sacrifice for a greater cause. ••
