A Father's Legacy

Near the end of Mart, Vol. 5, I touched on the subject of how things were changed in the rural areas as a result of the War. I had previously written a short essay concerning certain aspects of those times and I thought I would interject that material at the beginning of this volume. This has little to do with the book of questions you assigned to me but I find the subject to be timely and I will take the liberty to share it with you.

During the War years of WWII just about everything was either rationed or taxed. Many items previously regarded as essential were now non-existent so far as the general public was concerned. Automobiles were not being manufactured and tires were either rationed or non-existent.... Many people drove older automobiles but when the tires wore out they just had to park them.

It became common in the early years to purchase an old car that had fair tires on it just for the tires, but this became unlikely when the older vehicles were no longer available, thereafter when your tires wore down pretty thin you may wait awhile for a chance to have your old tires retreaded, this may get you down the road for a while. Some of the more enterprising citizens, especially the young men that were entering military service, saw an opportunity to pick up some cash by putting their car on blocks - and selling the tires.

So lets say you had a pretty fair car to start with and you could afford to pay 9 prices for a junker just for the tires. What then did you do for fuel? (gasoline was rationed and you were lucky to qualify for ration stamps enough to get you to work and back). Get a bicycle if the stores could find one to sell you. How about riding a bus or a street car or train or how about walking.

Now lets assume you managed to have a car that was road worthy and you somehow managed to save up enough gasoline to make a short trip on the highway (Maybe to Marietta and back). Did you remember that the maximum speed limit was 35 miles per hour? (this was to conserve fuel and wear on tires).

You made it to Marietta and you remembered that you needed some baby powder or maybe you wanted to buy a fountain pen and some perfume.... well that’s OK but can you afford to pay the 20% luxury tax. If you just wanted to forget it and go to the movies be prepared to pay an entertainment tax.

Hey, did you see the windup clock in the store window? That store owner must have pulled some strings in order to have a clock in stock.... Anyway he can’t overcharge you because the OPA has caused the ceiling price to be embossed into the metal on the back of the clock.... This accomplished two things, it kept inflation down by setting a maximum price and it reduced the likelihood of profiteering by the merchant.

When you got back to Ardmore, it just occurred to you that you should buy some coffee, sugar and other items before you go home. Oh, don’t tell me you left your ration stamps at home... Well anyway its been a good day so maybe its time to go home and listen to the radio or play your new record on your Victrola.

***

Although World War II had been going on for several years in Europe, the United States actually became involved in the shooting part when the Japanese bombed Pear Harbor (in Hawaii) on Dec. 7th.,1941. By Dec. 8th. (Which was Monday) the United States had declared War on Japan and also Germany.

I apologize if I have relayed this little thought somewhere else in these writings but this seems to be an appropriate place to tell this incident that occurred on the afternoon of Sunday, Dec. 7^th 1941 - The day Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. I was a student at the American Academy of Art in Chicago and my roommate at the time was a fellow student from Greenriver, Wyoming.

Don Hamm had a job as ticket taker at the RKO Movie Theatre and had gotten acquainted with a young man that was ticket taker at Orchestra Hall. They soon worked out an arrangement where they would swap tickets with each other. That particular Sunday afternoon, Don an I went to Orchestra Hall to attend a concert but in order to use the tickets we had to take a route through the basement where the members of the orchestra were preparing for the performance. A radio was playing right along with the usual noise you would expect to hear in such an environment when the program being played on the radio was interrupted by the following announcement - ‘We interrupt this program to announce that Pearl Harbor has just been bombed by the Japanese Air Force’ further information would follow as details are received.

This was the shot heard around the World in my lifetime and everyone in the pit became speechless from the shock of hearing the news. What did it mean? What do we do now? Do we go to War? If we go to War, do we join the allies in Europe and fight Japan by ourselves at the same time? If we join in the fight against Germany & Italy will the other allied Nations help us in our struggle against Japan? There seemed to be no end to the many questions that came to mind. However, some confident soul in the assembly spokeup and said "Why we will whip them little yellow bastards in six months".

Needless to say it took thousands of American lives and many years before that "six months" was repeated several times over and the Japanese were subdued. I am not sure at what time in the war that it became officially designated as World War Two but we now know that the designated time frame involved the years 1939-1945.

During the War I served in The United State Army Air Corps (later to be known as the Air Force) and was serving under Army regulations. I enlisted on Sept. 13, 1942 and was discharged (after the war and at the convenience of the Government) on Feb. 11, 1946 . I immediately enlisted in the Reserves and as fate would have it my enlistment ran out just before they started calling up the Reserves to enter into the conflict in Korea ("Police Action" ) which was this Nations first involvement in a United Nations effort as I remember it. I did not serve in Korea.

***

The WW II years probably found our nation more thoroughly united than at any time in modern times (and this is not intended to set The World War I aside), but to point out that as a nation we were involved in a War on two fronts and on two separate continents...... And it seemed that the people felt that this was truly a war for our very survival.

You saw flags flying everywhere, citizens met every troop train at every town along its route where the train was likely to make a stop. They offered hot coffee, hot chocolate, fruit, cakes and many other welcome gifts to the soldiers until the train pulled away. It would be safe to assume that these people all had loved-ones somehere in service.

One time I was on a bus traveling to somewhere, not especially on an official assignment but going somewhere. Buses usually were very crowded and passengers filled every seat and standing room was indeed very hard to come by.... this particular trip had been long and the passengers all seemed to be about as tired as I was... They were practically asleep on their feet.

You know what, some young soldier suddenly caught the attention of the passengers in the bus when he began to sing in a magnificent baritone voice the popular Irvin Berlin song "GOD BLESS AMERICA". Every passenger in the Bus including the bus driver joined in and sang along together with much enthuasim.... I think you could have heard the singing for a half mile. Believe me, it was if it had been staged on a movie set. But the spirit was high and very real. It was an inspiration and a wonderful experience for me and perhaps for us all. Today, God still blesses America but sometimes I wonder why.

***

Last Sunday was Easter Sunday (April 12, 1998) and I remembered this material that I actually wrote around Thanksgiving time last year. The time that this relates to deals with an experience I had while a student at the American Academy of Art in Chicago.

This was my second and final year in Chicago and World War Two was in full swing. It was a known fact that I would soon be in Military Service as were all able bodied young men in my age bracket. During my first year in Chicago I had lived at the YMCA at 836 South Wabash Ave. but had also shared a small apartment with my class mate Don Hamm who haled from GreenRiver, Wyoming.

Don had gone home for Christmas but wrote to me and asked that I send his trunk home to him since he was enlisting in the Air Corps and would not be returning to Chicago. Shortly thereafter I was approached and invited to join a group of young students that were in possession of a studio apartment on the Near North Side… The address was known as the Gold Coast area and located on Huron Street. This was north of the Chicago River and outside of the ‘Loop’ area which was named that because the Elevated (the L) trains came in there and made a large loop to service the heart of downtown. Also this meant that we would be away from the notorious noise from not only the elevated trains but also the noise of the traffic policeman’s whistle, the grinding noise of the largest Street Cars I have ever seen anywhere and just plain NOISE.

I was already acquainted with one of the young men, and therefore gladly accepted the invitation. This apartment had been held for many years by a group of various student types because when one or two would leave, another one or two would be invited to join the group. In fact I think even the senior member that had been in residence there at this time had been there less than two or three years.

Although I do not remember the full names of all the five other members I do remember Bishop Nash who worked as an elevator operator at night and had finished art school. Bishop was just waiting to be called into service as was another former art student by the name of Oscar Sons. Oscar loved Glenn Miller's arrangement of "Moonlight Serenade" and played the record on our borrowed windup box, pretty often.

Then there was a Music major by the name of Hall Overton. I had a particular fondness for a classical music piece entitled "Hall of The Mountain King" and Hall would favor me by doing his rendition of the tune by humming it to me. Another member was a young newspaper reporter that worked for the Chicago Tribune, I can only remember his last name was Brown and he was a typical Yankee, card carrying certified ‘Know IT all, that sometime drank like a fish.

Another member of this group was a young man from Oklahoma City by the name of Jack Mack Roberts. Jack Mack had once broken both collar bones and somehow they failed to mend properly, so he demonstrated how he could take his shirt off without unbuttoning it or for that matter he could leave it buttoned and put it back on. He could place his right shoulder blade in front of his chest until it touched his left shoulder blade which met it half way.

I still have a little black cigarette ash tray that has 8 compartments in it, designed that way so any one or each of the holes could extinguish a lighted cigarette by simply inserting it. For some reason when I would put a cigarette in it I mashed the butt into the hole - This would infuriate Jack and I would get a lecture from him regularly. One time I put a glass of milk down on the end table without noticing that I had actually placed it on a book that was laying there and this time I got a scolding from Brown who put the offense in the same category as desecrating the Flag. I still remember those experiences and appreciate their concern for my well being.

Well, you probably wonder by now how we got along together and how we paid our rent. We had a coffee can that we each put our part of the rent money into every week and Oscar was our treasurer. We always paid on time but sometimes Oscar had to jump Brown out for taking money from the can and putting an IOU in its place. Each one of us came from very distant places and although most of us got to go home at Christmas time it was not possible to go home for every Holiday, besides we couldn’t afford it.

As stated before the apartment was a studio apartment and was comfortable with all accommodations including a kitchen fully equipped with dishes and utensils. Now in order to make a long story longer (just kidding), I will get to the point which in this case is "A day of Thanksgiving" although it was Easter.

We all chipped in and bought enough food to cook a proper and complete "Easter" dinner and each thanked the Lord for the many blessings he had bestowed upon us, I was never sure whether my roommates were Christians or not but I knew we were all gentiles and none were atheist. These were tough times and our Nation was at War. We realized that soon we must mature and face the facts of life. It was not long before our room mates, each in his own time, had to check out and as time went by, Bishop Nash and I were the only ones left.

We could not afford the rent, so we had to end an era by giving up the long held apartment by moving out. Through the years many of the former renters had left items behind and we had to dispose of those many items. I don’t remember how we got rid of them all but maybe we took them to a hock shop or gave them to a junk shop. Some of the small objects were kept as mementos, one of which was the little black ash tray that I mentioned earlier.

By August that year (1942) not one of those young men remained in Chicago and I never knew what became of them. It is not likely that after these 50 plus years that I will ever know what the future held for them. In just a flash of memory I came to recall another Easter time that was a day of Thanksgiving, commemorating the resurrection from the grave of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…..Amen

***

For some reason, known only to God, I have always been obsessed with a desire to lend a helping hand or as you say ‘help people’. My Dad would ask me why I had gotten involved with a problem that did not concern me directly. I could only answer him by stating that I could not explain the reason why, but that I saw a chance to be of assistance to someone that seemed to need help - I felt compelled to do so.

Today I am still inclined to do so. Perhaps the most opportune time in my life to put this manner into fruition to its fullest was during the period of time I spent as a member of the Oklahoma State Senate. Previously, I had felt satisfaction in assisting people when I became a Pharmacist. Later, I felt good about serving as a member of the Springdale School Board for many years. It was always a comforting feeling when I learned that by my efforts I had been successful in bringing about a favorable conclusion to someone’s problem(s).

This was more evident to me when I was in the legislature because as I gained experience and respect in that position the end result was forthcoming more quickly. Many times I would receive assistance from my colleagues when a problem was more than I could handle alone and it was not uncommon to be called on when my colleagues needed my help.

It can get a little burdensome when you are attempting to represent 65 thousand people of a 3 or 4 county area. After 18 years in that August body I came away feeling that I had done my share. Actually I was burned out and before long it seems I paid the price.

The Lord never left me to stand alone and I shall always remember how he revealed to me that he had come to help me carry the burden when at that time it seemed I had approached the threshold of leaving this physical life.

***

The faces presently carved on Mt. Rushmore traditionally have been the men of great prominence in the field of political leadership. I would suppose that in order to stay within the bounds of that theme I should choose a political leader that I feel fits that category. In that case I vote for Harry S. Truman.

President Truman was not regarded as a great & charismatic President when he first became President of the United States. Mr. Truman became President at the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, probably the most flamboyant of all Presidents in the history of the United States.

Truman became President at a most critical time in the history of our century, a time that the end of WW-2 must end in favor of the allies or it would surely result in the total collapse of civilization as we knew it. Germany had accepted unconditional surrender to the allies on May 8^th. 1945 and ironically President Roosevelt had died suddenly only a short time before [April 12, 1945] and did not get to experience this victory that he had such an important part in achieving.

Now Vice President Harry S. Truman became the thirty-third President of the United States after a simple ceremony. With the defeat of Germany now accomplished it left a most formable opponent still standing strong - that being Japan. The war with Japan had the potential of lasting many more years because even though the allies had driven the Japanese forces from every Pacific Island they had occupied. The allied losses were staggering and in final talley it was anticipated that the allies would lose an astronomical number of troops before the Japanese would be defeated and their homeland occupied.

BUT, The United States had a secret weapon that could stop the war and the only thing holding up its use was an order from the President of the United States --- Harry Truman. No doubt, President Truman anguished over the decision, but he rationalized that if he failed to give the order to drop the Atomic Bomb there would be many more deaths in the long run. It was acknowledged that the Bomb could kill 70 or 80 thousand Japanese citizens in a brief moment but it had to be understood that if not utilized there would be countless thousands more losses on both sides.

Truman knew that other major Nations, some of which were not entirely our friends, had used espionage & sophisticated means of spying to discover our plans for the development of such a weapon. He was not sure that the Japanese themselves did not have an atomic bomb but he presumed they would have used it in a heartbeat if they had it. A great man made a great decision and the awesome weapon was deployed—and on September 2, 1945 the Japanese signed an unconditional surrender. So after 3 years, eight months and 22 days since Pearl Harbor, World War Two came to a sudden end.

President Truman proved to be a very noble administrator and soon their was no doubt that he was in charge. He fired the untouchable and extremely popular General. Douglas McArthur because of the Generals’ insubordination to a direct order from the President himself, the Commander and Chief of the United States Military Forces. President Truman had a sign on his desk in the Oval Office that stated very precisely that "THE BUCK STOPS HERE".

So my answer to your question is: I Would have the likeness of President Harry S. Truman carved on Mount. Rushmore. Maybe he wasn’t the greatest of Presidents but he sure was no piker.

***

I can’t answer these questions because I just don’t know. I can only say that I hope I am not much different from either one - To me they were a perfect match and wonderful parents.

***

I have no regrets for most things I did or did not do in my life and certainly there is no one thing that I would change. My parents taught me right from wrong and were my roll models. From an academic stand point, I regret not having applied myself to school work during my formative years. I had excellent teachers and the school system was among the best anywhere. Frankly, I just did not study - period, and what I learned must have been through osmosis because I absorbed and adsorbed just enough to graduate from high school. I can assure you that at a later period of my life I paid dearly for that neglect, and today I still feel its effects. I would like to have done that differently and the reason why should be obvious to you by just following the rambling manner in which I write.

***

This date is May 15, 1998 as I continue this effort.

When I attended Junior high school [Junior high was made up of classes from 7th. through the 9^th] the boys were required to study mechanical drawing as well as woodworking. We were assigned certain projects to compete under the guidance of our shop teacher, Mr.R.H.London (otherwise known as Rat Head - under the breath). The mechanical arts drawings were not especially keepers and were usually discarded since it was mostly regarded as a learning project.

Woodworking was different because they gave us assignments that, if done well enough, could be used at home. I can only remember two woodworking projects that are extant to this day. One is a miniature grandfather clock build to accommodate a pocket watch. You could buy an Ingersall pocket watch for a $1.00 back then although you had to remove it daily to wind it up. Now days the watch would likely be a quarts-battery-driven watch and could run a very long time.

The other project still extant is a magazine stand that I made for my mother and on its underneath bottom it has scored into the wood the message that it is made for "Mother"…. I think the date is also embossed thereon.

Other projects long gone would be a Porcupine shaped kitchen match holder. It had little holes drilled into both of its side, at a downward slope, to place the individual matches into. The kitchen match was very commonly used back then because there were still wood cooking stoves being used in many homes and also the ordinary kitchen range did not have a pilot light flame to light the individual burners. This holder stood on a wooden base and when the eyes etc... were painted on the porcupine it looked pretty good.

During my time there was no such thing as a Vocational Technical school available anywhere in our system that would enable you to extend your practical knowledge in the various fields. The girls were not offered the shop subjects that the boys were required to take but instead they were given Home Economics, which I am told was quite extensive.

I don’t remember a girl ever entering the shop courses that the boys took but I do remember hearing that sometimes a boy would enroll in the Home Economics classes offered for the girls. Today I know of no similar barrier to exist in any field.

***

I had a special attraction for anything creative and it seems that creative drawing was my choice of expression. Even as a very young child my Mother would carry along a tablet & pencil just to keep me entertained while in church. When I started school in the first grade I excelled in clay modeling and coloring of pictures in the coloring books. I had learned the elements of the color wheel even before I knew what it was called. I was not satisfied to fill in colors of figures that had been previously drawn by someone else, so I drew my own figures and colored them according to my own taste.As the years went by I seemed to choose drawing over any other subject the school offered and as a result I became deficient in the basic subjects I needed to learn.

By the time I reached High School I had drawn about everything from comic strips with titles such as ‘Bud The Flying Fool’ and ‘The Great Boliver’. I drew pictures of creatures that did not exist but since they demonstrated such outlandish imagination the Art teacher would display them on the bulletin board in his class. I got the reputation as an illustrator for fairy tale stories. Frankly my desire was to accomplish more sophisticated work and therefore determined to become an illustrator for magazine stories.

In those days magazine illustration was very highly used instead of today’s choice of photography. I drew pictures on everything, so one moonlit night I got a paint brush and painted a huge profile, on the tennis court over on B street NW. My style was so well known that I may as well have signed my name because all the tennis players in that neighborhood called my attention to it. Although I suppose you could call it a form of vandalizing I was not chastised because they seemed to think it was pretty neat. I suppose the paint soon wore off and all was well.

Somehow I managed to graduate from High School and since my parents realized my love of Art determined that I should pursue a career in that field.

During the following summer season I was again working on the farm with my brother-in-law, Dewitt and my sister Ruthelle. My Mother & Daddy decided they would like to make a trip to Alabama, their State of origin, and since Dewitt’s family also originated in Alabama it was decided that they would invite Dewitt & Ruthelle to accompany them on the trip. That idea was fine so it was decided that ole Ern. could stay home and run the farm for a week.

That was a pretty good challenge for me but I relished the opportunity. When they returned from the trip Pop confronted me with the question "have you decided on the school you will attend". Well by now it was September and the school I had chosen was enrolling students at that moment.My answer was given as The American Academy of Art in Chicago and about three days later I was on my way to enroll - Sept. 13, 1940. (Refer to Mart Vol. 3, Mart Vol. 4 & Mart Vol. 5 for other references to this subject.)

I had an opportunity to put my art training to use after I had finished art school and shortly after entering the Air Corps in 1942. After enlisting in the Air Force I was given a "temporary" assignment to Perrin Field Texas where I was scheduled to do my basic training. I had hardly been in basic training four weeks when I was abruptly pulled out and attached to the line where there was a critical need for a squadron painter. The truth is I was not a painter as such, but that did not seem to matter to them because I suppose they felt that I could use a brush with paint on it any way.

What was meant by the term line was the designation of the classified area where critical mechanical maintenance was preformed on the airplanes. Apparently the powers-that-be had run a security check on me after they had seen my skill classification. I reported immediately to the line chief (an enlisted man with a master sergeant rank) for assignment. I worked in this slot for a brief time before they merged our squadron with another and pretty well eliminated our unit.

Actually this was near the time that I was transferred to the Special Services Department - It was there that I actually entered into the duties of a squadron Artist. I liked that position very well and was assigned to that Department for about two years until I volunteered for Armorer Gunnery School at Lowery Field - Denver, Colorado.

***

I enjoyed visiting with my Mother and there were very few occasions that she did not have some interesting topic to discuss. It was a constant learning process when you were with her. My Mother was not nearly as strict as my Dad and you could talk about subjects that were not mentioned in his presence. It was always entertaining to sit in the car on Main Street with Mama on a busy Saturday night. She always said it was more entertaining to watch the people go by than to see a good movie.

I enjoyed listening to her make up stories about the people that walked by. The stories were not especially true and they were not especially bad but they were very entertaining - Much like hearing a story that came from a book. Her imagination was great and a pleasure to follow. Many of the people she had become acquainted with just by observing them through the weeks so extensively, she pretty well knew them and their friends as well and their relatives, just by their association. Even so, she also really knew many of them personally and they knew her also.

Often times a friendly gesture was exchanged between them as they went on their way or stopped and visited with her. You could learn many things by just conversing with her. I have told you before about the Bible Scholar she was but she also was very knowledgeable about scientific, medical, political, historical and many other timely topics of the day.

My Mother was born and reared into young girlhood in the State of Alabama - She always regarded herself as a southern girl and she loved Alabama very much. Her Grandfather had been a Confederate Soldier, enlisting in service early during the Civil War and later her Grandfather, Robert Allen, was captured in a battle at Knoxville, Tenn. and later died as a prisoner of War in an encampment at Rock Island, Ill. He is buried at the Confederate Cemetery at that location.

My Mother was always a pleasure to be with. I loved my Mother very much and my life has been enriched tremendously by her wonderful charm and wit - Not to mention her deep abiding love for her family.

***

I consider myself very tender hearted and I am probably my own worst enemy if I attempt to be tough minded.

SHE SHARED HER LIFE WITH ME"