When Al was a boy, he always wanted to be a pilot. Al's dream finally came true in late 1943. He got the chance to train as a pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force for the purpose of fighting the Germans in the Second World War. His training took place at No. 7 Elementary Flying Training School in Windsor, Ontario. Unfortunately, the air force discharged Al because it had too many pilots and the war was coming to an end. In 1944, Al had a decision to make: go home, join the army, or train as an air gunner. Al did not want to go home because he did not want to be called up to the army. Some people in Al's flight group chose to go home but were drafted into the army, while some men went directly into the army. Al never wanted to fight on land; he only ever wanted to stay in the air.
In the fall of 1944, Al travelled to Mont-Joli, Quebec, near the St. Lawrence River, to train as an air gunner. He trained at RCAF Station Mont-Joli, which opened in 1942 as a bombing and gunnery school. As an air gunner, Al was responsible not only for targeting and shooting enemy planes but also for scanning the skies for German aircraft. In Al's plane, there were two air gunners: one in the mid-upper portion of the aircraft and another in the rear. Al also had special flying gear. It was brown and came with a parachute, helmet, goggles, and a mask to help him breathe. Even though Al's role was not to pilot the plane, he was still able to fly, which was what he loved.
The plane Al flew in was small and had only guns. The large planes had both guns and bombs. Al was trained to use a gun called the M2 Browning. The belts were ten to fifteen feet long and could hold two hundred or three hundred bullets. The bullets were three inches long. Training involved a plane flying around with a target behind it and Al shooting at the target while it was moving.
The war with Germany ended in 1945, and Al was discharged from the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was only nineteen years old. Soon after, when Al was in his mid-twenties, he met and married Doreen. Al eventually became an accountant. Although his training days were over, Al still dreamed of flying. In his late thirties or early forties, Al bought a seaplane. Finally, Al became his own pilot.