It was1945, the end of World War Two, before any demobilization and all military personnel were required to wear the uniform at all times. Lieutenant Colonel John G. Foster, former 8th Photo Squadron Commander in New Guinea, was now commanding the 39th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron stationed at March Field near Riverside, California. The 39th was grouped with three fighter squadrons to form the 412th Fighter Group, commanded by Col. Tex Hill, all in training to receive the first P-80 jet aircraft.

Lt. Col. Foster selected four other former 8th Photo pilots to join him in the 39th. Sqdn. They were Captains Clark Sykes, John Kneeskern, Harold Moffat and 1st Lt. Cecil Rigsby. While we were waiting for the P-80 we were flying P-51s and when possible spending our weekends in Hollywood. Charlie Foy’s Night Club in North Hollywood was our favorite hangout. It was a small club but it had live music, a stage and two floor shows nightly. Movie stars would be there occasionally. In fact the MC would start every floor show with a song that included these words: “There are movie stars here every night, not tonight, most every night, and when Joe Frisco (the regular comic) learns to write you can have his autograph.”

One Saturday night Kneeskern, Moffat and I were sitting at the last table in Charlie Foys having drinks. Captain Ronald Reagan, in summer uniform and wearing cavalry boots, came in with his wife Jane Wyman. Jane Wyman was a huge movie star at that time. She is a small woman but has a perfect figure. She was wearing a pale colored suit, a small hat, makeup and ravishingly beautiful. Reagan looked our way but escorted his wife to a front table next to the stage.

After a few minutes Reagan came back to our table, introduced himself, took the fourth chair and we ordered a new round of drinks. The first thing I noticed about his uniform was the Quartermaster Corps insignia. I knew that his reserve commission was in the Cavalry but just assumed that the Quartermaster Corps was in charge of making Hollywood’s military training films. When he learned that we were all photo reconnaissance pilots from the same squadron flying combat tours in the P-38 ( F-5), Southwest Pacific, he asked a torrent of questions about the war. He wanted to know every detail, and as I recall, we didn’t have many opportunities to ask him any questions. When we told him we were in training to fly the new jet aircraft, that set off another series of questions.

After more than 20-minutes, I began to think about Jane Wyman, sitting alone at their front table. Surely, she didn’t agree with her husband having a drink and mixing with the boys for such a long time. Suddenly, the house lights went dark and the MC started the floor show. The first thing he did was introduce Jane Wyman to the audience. When she stood up there was a huge spotlight on her and the audience applauded. Ronald Reagan did not bolt for his table but remained with us for another five minutes and never said anything about his wife. Finally, he got up shook hands with all of us and departed.

Ronald Reagan was very friendly and obviously enjoyed being with a bunch of pilots and talking about a serious subject like the war in the Pacific. We all felt flattered by his attention but I thought his behavior toward Jane Wyman was not right. I didn’t hear any loud screams from his table but I’m sure he must have had to sleep on the couch that night. These movie stars are temperamental you know. They were not divorced for a couple of years but it seemed to me that their marriage was in trouble as early as 1945.

 Cecil H. Rigsby
Former 8th Photo pilot