THOMASVILLE — When Howard Emerson died in March it was too early to plant the garden that had been a part of his life for years.

The annual garden was a mechanism he used to cope with boredom and loneliness after the end of another New Hampshire winter, said Emerson’s son Joe, a Thomas County resident since 2005.

When Howard Emerson died, Joe gained possession of photos and documents of his father in the uniforms he wore in the U.S. Navy. Howard Emerson initially served as a bomber crew pilot in World War II before becoming one of the first non-commissioned officers to earn his wings toward the close of the war.

He flew 89 combat missions in a PV-1 bomber before a serious wound sent him home in 1944.

Like many of his generation, Howard Emerson volunteered for military service as the clouds of war gathered in the United States, Emerson said.

“He joined Oct. 8, 1941, two months before Pearl Harbor,” Joe Emerson said. “He knew it (war) was coming. They all knew it was coming. His story is not necessarily atypical.”

Much of Howard Emerson’s life was similar to those of the 16 million Americans who served in uniform to fight around the globe, Joe Emerson said. Unlike many in what has become known as the Greatest Generation, his father became certified in 40 types of aircraft, including helicopters, and flew Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy.

But their stories, particularly their early lives, were more alike than different, he said.

“They grew up during the Depression.” Emerson said. “They ate sandwiches of bread and lard. Then World War II happened and they had to go over and get shot at. They came home and built the greatest economy in the world. Now they’re dying so fast.”

After Joe Emerson’s first wife died, he and his father became closer. His mother Bunny also had died, and his father would encourage him during telephone conversations. Joe Emerson also had been in the Navy, working as an air crewman on anti-submarine missions during the Cold War.

Howard Emerson had been reluctant to discuss his war days with his son prior to their wives’ deaths, Joe Emerson said.

“Because we both had background in the Navy, we’d naturally talk on the phone for hours,” Joe Emerson said. “Particularly after we both lost our wives, he opened up. We’d talk about gardening, we’d talk about sports, we’d talk about the military. That was the thing for me, because we always used to say ‘just make it through the winter.’”

During Howard Emerson’s wartime years, he was a gunner on a bomber in the Mediterranean Ocean theater. Because of shortage of crew members the number of missions required before earning a trip home for leave continuously was raised, Joe Emerson said.

His father earned his wings in 1945, after being one of 44 enlisted men selected for training, but it was too late to return to wartime action. During his 25 years in uniform, he flew Air Force One and Marine One helicopters to the two presidents’ vacation compounds in Rhode Island, and received a silver presidential medal from Eisenhower, Emerson said.

Howard Emerson was fortunate to survive in the Mediterranean theater, said Bill Oldson, a Florida State University history professor who is preserving documents, photos and other items from World War II veterans. Oldson oversees the university’s Institute on World War II and the Human Experience.

“The attrition rate in the Mediterranean was quite bad,” he said. “In late summer, early fall of ’44 more than 400 planes were lost. It’s extraordinary.”

The project also includes about 1,100 interviews with veterans and about 4,500 individuals’ collections, including some that have been retrieved from garbage cans or found in garages by family members after the death of a World War II veteran. About 90 percent of the information is in the form of letters and diaries.

“On one end we have a two-day pass to Paris,” Oldson said. “On the other end we have a Holocaust collection that runs to 7,000 items. I have one of the limited-issue books that was in Hitler’s library. I feel like I need to get an exorcist to expel the demons.

“We get a lot of stuff that somebody found in a dump or a flea market. You never know what you’re going to get.”

Oldson said he is working at somewhat of an advantage because estimates are that there are about 400,000 living World War II veterans in Florida. He is looking to get more documents, photos and other personal items as well as to get more interviews.

The numbers of war veterans are dropping dramatically, with estimates that 1,000 to 1,500 die each day, Oldson said. For example, some military group reunions that 10 years ago would include up to six busloads of people have now dwindled to half a bus.

“The next thing we do is, we not only preserve it, we get it in students’ and researchers’ hands,” he said.