But in early January 1943, the 41-year-old Gable, a star even among stars, walked onto Fort George Wright in Spokane as a common soldier, ready to train as an aerial gunner alongside teenagers before heading overseas to fight in World War II.
Gable’s arrival at Fort George Wright would have been a topic of discussion among everyone on base, regardless of rank. The men he trained with during the few weeks he spent in Spokane undoubtedly told stories for the rest of their lives about meeting the Hollywood legend.
But there’s relatively little documented evidence of Gable’s time in Spokane, and his training has, to some extent, been shrouded in mystery.
Photos donated to Fairchild Air Force Base by the son of a man who trained Gable in aerial gunnery have helped remove some of that mystery.
Rebekah Horton, the 92nd Air Refueling Wing’s historian, said she had never seen two of the three Clark Gable photos that Craig Willan donated in June 2021. One of the images shows gunnery sergeant Merrill “Bill” Willan, Craig Willan’s father, next to Gable as the movie star trains in a turret. The other image shows the two men standing side by side holding shotguns.