Bob Barker's early life
Bob Barker was born in Darrington, Washington, in 1923, but he was living with his mother, Matilda, and his stepfather, Louis Valandra, in Springfield, Missouri, when he enlisted.
His father, Byron, died in 1929 from complications of injuries he had endured through his line of work as a power line foreman.
After finishing high school in Springfield, Bob received a basketball scholarship to Drury College but dropped out to join the U.S. Navy in 1943.
He reported to William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, for his initial ground school and then began his pre-basic flight training at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.
Bob continued on to the University of Georgia for Preflight School; the Naval Air Station (NAS) Millington outside of Memphis, Tennessee, to fly a N2S Stearman trainer; and then reported to NAS Beeville in Texas to fly a Vultee SNV Valiant, according to avgeekery.com.
