LIVING THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. Donald E. Wilson

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       For our children: Kelly, Doug, and Kerri,

       who shared our many experiences of Air Force Life

      

       And for all family’s who share our air Air Force memories

       And, in memory of our parents,

       especially our fathers and their foundation for our lives

      Preface

      In writing this book, I am unlocking memories of four lives that spanned monumental events of the Twentieth century, from the assassination of President McKinley, through the roaring 20’s, the great depression and three wars. My overall objective in telling our story is fourfold.

      First, to be sure that our past is recorded not only for our family today but for generations to come. In researching history of the men who fought in World War Two, I found countless examples of incomplete stories of events in their lives, sometimes because they were too painful to relate, but in other instances due to their neglect in recording them. Consequently, many stories that are the thread in the fabric of American history will never be told.

      Second, to encourage every reader to take the time to record their own past. While they may not realize it today, as they go through their busy lives and think that what they have done is not worth recording, I can assure them that such is not the case. For example, while we know that many members of our families made major contributions to the society and history in which they lived, when our dad’s passed on, there were so many questions Alleen and I never took the time to ask, and many experiences that were never recorded.

      It is our hope as you read of the lives in this book, and especially those of our fathers, you will not make our mistakes. We are living in very complex times with historical events coming at us at a much more rapid rate than in the last century, and in far too much detail to be reconstructed in years to come.

      Thirdly, to provide the reader with some grasp as to the unique lives and unusual sacrifices that thousands of military families yesterday and today have endured, and in the process tell them our story.

      Many comments germane to the historical coverage throughout this story were extracted from my personal research and lecture notes accumulated over 30 plus years, and from the varied personal experiences Alleen and I lived. It is my hope that the reader will find in this book not only the story of our lives, but an understanding of the key historical events of the past half century

      For the personal comments on James Watson, I am grateful to have the memories of Alleen, her sisters Sharon Hedrick, Edna Snodgrass and brother Chester Watson. For personal comments on my father’s personal life I relied heavily on my sisters Linda Porter and Doris Walling, and in particular on Linda’s article, “My Walk with Charlie.”

      I am especially grateful to the University of Louisville Professor James Holmberg, “Archives and Records Center" for his oral interviews of James A. Watson, Jr. in 1987, nine years before his death.

      For information on my father’s years at Transylvania College, I appreciate the assistance of the college librarian, B.J. Gooch and his associates in providing information from the 1929 Crimson,the college yearbook, specifically on Dad.

      Finally, but certainly not least, I am forever grateful to Alleen without whom this story would never have been told. Her recollection of every phase of our Air Force life was crucial to the unraveling of history. Not only did I treasure Alleen’s input to the book as a primary source for the final manuscript, but also as a skilled proof reader. Her uncanny ability to detect errors in content and writing and provide me with many invaluable suggestions, went a long way in making this book possible.

      Donald E. Wilson

      Introduction

      Every life reaches a transition point; a time when we turn a corner and head in a direction that has no turning around. Such was my case on that hot day in June 1954, when I boarded the American airlines flight in route to San Francisco California. Walking out to the plane brought back memories of so many men who had followed the same route during World War Two and Korean conflicts, telling loved ones tearful good buy’s, as they headed for unknown destinations.

      Now, though the Korean War hostilities had ended a few months earlier, I was sharing some of the same emotions as I headed for uncertainties that awaited me in my first Air Force duty station as a brand new Second Lieutenant. Of course Alleen was there to see me off along with our families, and while I was not going to war, as far as I knew, I was going to the Far East, still unsettled after an uneasy truce in Korea that seemed shaky at best.

      Since Alleen and I had been married only nine months, the prospect of undergoing our first separation of at least a year’s duration was especially painful. I had just finished a three month accompanied tour in Air Transportation School at Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado. We remember those three months and the small combination living room, roll away bed and kitchen apartment, a few blocks from the Colorado capital, an exciting time for newly weds, and separation did not sit well with either of us.

      Of course our families were part of the farewell party, and were sharing some of the same concerns of thousands of other families in two previous wars. While I did not know it at the time, my family’s life would change dramatically during the next year, when a near fatal automobile accident changed my mother forever.

      When I arrived in California, I caught a bus to Parks Air Force Base, about 25 miles from San Francisco, California. After two weeks of processing, we boarded a Trans-Ocean airliner destined for Japan; a long and trying ordeal. At that time Jet transports were not yet a part of transcontinental transportation, and the World War Two vintage C-54 reciprocating engine transports needed three grueling days and two mid-pacific stops in route to Japan.

      On the trip across the vast Pacific, we had two types of scenery, clouds and oceans. Hawaii was our first refueling stop, and the long flight stretched the plane’s fuel to the maximum. The half-way point to Hawaii, was referred to as the “point of no return,” and that meant no turning back. The vast shark infested waters below took on a rather ominous appearance, reminding me of the movie, The High and Mighty,with John Wayne. So, a two hour stop on that Pacific paradise, along with the opportunity to take a shower, was more than welcome.

      While I had heard of Hawaii for much of my life I never dreamed of going there. That two hours lay over only made me wish I would never leave. I only wished then that Alleen could have been with me, and in a card I sent her from the terminal I promised that some day I would bring her there. Little did I know then that eight years later, the Air Force would send me, Alleen, and our two children, for a three year assignment to Hickam Air Force Base, and we would live in officer’s quarters about two blocks from where I was at that moment. I did visit the terminal flower shop before we re-boarded, and sent her a beautiful Orchid lei that she could wear to her sister Edna’s wedding the following day.

      All too soon, we boarded our plane and headed for the next refueling stop, the legendary Wake Island, the place where a hand full of Marines held off the Japanese forces in the opening days of World War Two. The island was only a small dot in the Pacific, with no trees and only a lonely air terminal and refueling station, and the remains of some an old rusting Japanese landing craft. You could see the Pacific from any spot on the treeless island: not exactly my vision of a tropical paradise. I cannot imagine what it must have been like in those dark days of 1942 to be assigned to the last remnant of a vanishing perimeter as the Japanese gained near complete control of the South Pacific. Our three day journey ended a day later as we landed at our destination, Tokyo Japan.

      The trip gave me plenty of time to reflect on my life; where I came from, Alleen’s entrance into my world, and my decision with her blessing to serve my country. That reflection provides the before and after of the story I tell in the following pages.

      The story of two lives entwined in forty years of American history is