Artificial Intelligence Helped Consolidate Multiple Blog Posts Into a Coherent Story

This past week I have attended the Texas Institute of Genealogy Research (TIGR), held virtually via Zoom. I'm taking the AI course coordinated by Nicole Dyer and her co-instructors Angela McGhie, Diana Elder, Mark Thompson, Steve Little, Jan Joyce, Alice Childs, Mark Humphries, and Katherine Schober. It has been an action-packed class, with lots of hands-on practice using many pre-written prompts, as well as our own, in several different AI platforms: ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, AI Studio, and Gemini. I have practiced many different uses. I want to share one of those in this post.

In the past, I wrote nine blog posts about my husband's father, George Joseph Gorrell, who was an Army Air Corps mechanic during WWII in England. In one exercise where we were to learn about our writing style and create a writing style guide, I used a project in ChatGPT, uploading the nine Word documents. The AI analyzed the writing and said: 

"The style is ideal for a family history blog: warm, approachable, detail-rich, and designed to preserve legacy. It’s anchored in a first-person perspective that invites readers into the historical lives of ancestors while encouraging curiosity about the broader context."

I decided to ask the AI to create an outline of George's life from the nine blog posts. They had been written over several months as I discovered different documents, and were not in any way chronological but rather thematic. The AI did a great job of creating an outline.

I then asked the AI to create the biography using the outline and the statements from the blog posts. It did a great job. My voice and tone were kept. It would have taken me much longer to read through and edit these pieces to create one complete story. 

George J. Gorrell’s Military Life During World War II

Before World War II began, George Joseph Gorrell was already laying the foundation for his future service by pursuing specialized training in aviation mechanics. In 1940, he left his hometown of Webb City, Missouri, and traveled to Glendale, California, where he enrolled at the Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute of Aeronautics. There he completed a 1920-hour course and received a diploma as a Master Aviation Mechanic on 11 July 1941.[1] 

Following his graduation, George secured employment at the Sacramento Air Depot, later known as McClellan Field, in North Highlands, California. His initial assignment was in the landing gear shop where he repaired shock struts, wheels, and brakes. He later noted that the first aircraft he worked on was a Boeing two-engine bomber, the B-10.[2]  On 25 May 1942, he completed an additional course in Hydraulics, further refining his technical expertise.[3] By March 1943, George had also completed job instructor training.[4]

George lived in Sacramento, first at the YMCA downtown and then at a boarding house near the old Governor’s Mansion. He took the bus to work, bowled on 7th Street, and developed black and white film in a darkroom. Eventually, a fellow church member, Mrs. Annie G. Hardin, invited him to live at her home—a relationship that would remain meaningful long after the war.[5] 

When the call for volunteers for overseas service came, George signed up. Since the service was not to be in the tropics, he felt it was suitable. On 27 July 1943, at the age of twenty-eight, George was inducted into the U.S. Army Air Forces in San Francisco, California.[6] 

His journey began at the Presidio in San Francisco, followed by travel by train through Los Angeles and El Paso, Texas. From there, he continued to Camp Miles Standish in Massachusetts and then to New York, where he boarded the Queen Elizabeth. His ship arrived in Greenock, Scotland, on 25 August 1943, where George observed the landscape and the naval escort as they passed through a chain of opened mines.[7]  On 26 August, he was ferried to a train in Greenock and eventually arrived at a camp near Warrington, England, which would be identified as the Burtonwood Air Depot.[8] 

Burtonwood was a major supply and maintenance base used by the 8th and 9th Air Forces and known as Base Air Depot (BAD) #1. At its height, the base housed nearly fifteen thousand personnel.[9] George served there as an airplane hydraulics mechanic with the 8th Air Force and the 913th Air Engineering Squadron.[10] His responsibilities included inspecting and repairing landing gear, wheel brakes, wing flaps, bomb-bay doors, and gun chargers.[11]

He rarely detailed his work in his diary, focusing instead on personal activities, trips, and movies. However, he did record that he worked night shifts, often for 8 to 11 hours. He mentioned specific aircraft such as the P-47, P-38, B-17, and B-25.[12] On 17 June 1944, George fell from a P-47 and broke a rib, which continued to bother him into July.[13]

Despite the intense workload, George found time for rest and recreation. He visited locations such as Wales, Scotland, and London, usually staying at American Red Cross facilities.[14] He also corresponded regularly with family, particularly his sisters Ada May, Bertha, and Clare, using both regular and V-Mail services.[15]

Throughout his time at Burtonwood, George steadily rose in rank:

• Private First Class on 21 January 1944

• Corporal on 4 May 1944

• Sergeant in November 1945

• Staff Sergeant on 12 December 1945[16]

On 7 April 1944, George expressed frustration with management and morale in the hangar, noting that efficiency was down to 60%. Yet, he remained focused on his work, even earning a one-day pass for designing a bungee stretcher that improved the installation process of landing gear on C-47 aircraft.[17]

As the war in Europe drew to a close, George’s work at Burtonwood tapered off. On 3 August 1945, his work area, AD4, was cleared for the first time, and by 25 August, it had closed down.[18] Shortly afterward, on 4 September 1945, he was transferred to the Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, 401st, and reassigned to Germany.[19]

George described the journey to Germany in a letter to his sister Bertha, dated 17 September 1945. He traveled from Montescourt, France, to Ansbach, Germany, in crowded “40 and 8” boxcars over bomb-damaged railroads. The trip took 72 hours and passed through towns like Nancy, Rastatt, and Nuremberg. He described trading soap and cigarettes for food and observed the devastation of German infrastructure.[20] 

In Germany, George was housed in former Nazi flying officer quarters. He continued mechanical duties at a nearby airfield. He remained there until February 1946.[21]

George was discharged from the U.S. Army Air Forces on 11 March 1946.[22] He returned to Sacramento, resumed civilian life, and remained in contact with the people who had shaped his wartime years. Among the many treasures from his military service are his diary, letters, and contact-sheet photographs he developed himself.[23] 

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1. Week 16-Air-George Gorrell-Army Air Corps England. Also Week27-Solo-George J Gorrell Heads West to Mechanic School. Also 52-52 Wks-21-Military-Geo Gorrell.
2. Week 27-Solo-George J Gorrell Heads West to Mechanic School.
3. Week 16-Air-George Gorrell-Army Air Corps England.
4. Week 19-Service-Geo J Gorrell's WWII Service at Burtonwood Air Depot.
5. Week 27-Solo-George J Gorrell Heads West to Mechanic School. Also Week34-Newest Discovery.
6. Week 19-Service-Geo J Gorrell's WWII Service at Burtonwood Air Depot. Also Week16-Air-George Gorrell-Army Air Corps England.. Also 52-52Wks-21-Military-Geo Gorrell.
7. Blog Post-US Army Air Corps Base - England - G J Gorrell Served.
8. Blog Post-US Army Air Corps Base - England - G J Gorrell Served.
9. Week 19-Service-Geo J Gorrell's WWII Service at Burtonwood Air Depot.
10. Week 19-Service-Geo J Gorrell's WWII Service at Burtonwood Air Depot. Week16-Air-George Gorrell-Army Air Corps England. 52-52Wks-21-Military-Geo Gorrell.
11. Week 19-Service-Geo J Gorrell's WWII Service at Burtonwood Air Depot.
12. Week 19-Service-Geo J Gorrell's WWII Service at Burtonwood Air Depot.
13. Week 19-Service-Geo J Gorrell's WWII Service at Burtonwood Air Depot.
14. Week 19-Service-Geo J Gorrell's WWII Service at Burtonwood Air Depot.
15. Letters Home-Using V-Mail.
16. Week 19-Service-Geo J Gorrell's WWII Service at Burtonwood Air Depot. Week16-Air-George Gorrell-Army Air Corps England.
17. Week 19-Service-Geo J Gorrell's WWII Service at Burtonwood Air Depot. 52-52Wks-21-Military-Geo Gorrell.
18. Week 19-Service-Geo J Gorrell's WWII Service at Burtonwood Air Depot. 
19. Week 19-Service-Geo J Gorrell's WWII Service at Burtonwood Air Depot. Week16-Air-George Gorrell-Army Air Corps England.
20. Week 28-George Gorrell's Letter Talks of Trip to Germany.
21. Week 16-Air-George Gorrell--Army Air Corps England.
22. Week 16-Air-George Gorrell--Army Air Corps England.
23. Week 16-Air-George Gorrell--Army Air Corps England. 52-52Wks-21-Military-Geo Gorrell. Letters Home-Using V-Mail.

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