CALIFORNIA -- A congressman from San Diego is sponsoring a bill that would honor the service of a group of civilians that tangled with the enemy during World War II. Soon after the bombs fell on Pearl Harbor, the newly-formed Civil Air Patrol was called into action. Civilian pilots – men and women – were asked to patrol the shoreline of Southern California and the rest of the U.S. coast because of a shortage of personnel and planes. “They were the eyes in the skies looking for telltale signs of U-boats,” said Karl Zingheim, a historian with the Midway Museum. In all, about 60,000 private citizens signed up for the Civil Air Patrol. They volunteered their own planes as well. Among those who answered the call was Milton Auerbach, a civilian employee for the Navy. Find out more about Auerbach and other civilians like him who served their country during World War II, and learn how Rep. Bob Filner and other congressmen and women are signing up to honor them.
