LIVING THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. Donald E. Wilson

voice sang the newest favorite of a world falling apart, Irving Berlin’s hit, God Bless America.Then she sang the nostalgic other hit that was especially meaningful to the British citizens undergoing the nightly bombing blitz,When the Lights go On Again All Over the World. Somehow those few nostalgic moments at the beginning of each school day went a long way in preparing us for events that were about to shake our idyllic world. Years later when I took my Samford students for study in England, I retrieved my Kate Smith and Edward R. Murrow memories, and the teacher who introduced me to them from my memory. Kate Smith’s songs and comments became very much a part of our class on-site learning experiences.

      To Louisville

      In November of that last year of peace, my dad left the insurance business and obtained a new job in Louisville, Kentucky, selling retread tires, a big business in 1940. He had no idea that in December of 1941, that business would collapse along with any other businesses producing rubber products for the civilian population. While he was locating a place in Louisville for us to move, we said good-by to my idyllic world and while my parents were getting settled in our new home, Doris and I moved to my grand-parents farm in Corbin Kentucky.

      For the next three months, Doris and I, along with my aunt Loretta, attended a truly country school, very primitive without running water or other conveniences of city life. And yet I probably gained more education in my brief time in that country school as in any comparable time of my life. It was a real character building experience. I also experienced what life must have been like in the previous century. For the only time in my life I rubbed shoulders with real Appalachia children, most of whom were very poor, but truly represented the “salt of the earth.”

      We had one room in the little school house, with a pot belly stove in the middle. Doris who was in the fourth grade was on one side of the room, and I and my fifth grade class were on the other. A young teacher not long out of college taught all subjects between the two classes. I really don’t know how she did it. I might add that in those days the school curriculum was designed to teach students the three R’S of reading, writing, and arithmetic, plus geography, and history; just a basic core program, but one that did give us an education in the essentials. Discipline was part of every child’s experience, and self-esteem was only a word in the dictionary. In other words, we learned what we needed to succeed.

      We had no lunch room, and everyone brought a home-made lunch. I still remember the excitement of discovering what was in my bag. My grandmother usually gave me a biscuit with country ham and or cold chicken and fruit. In those days we had no dietary guide lines passed down from Washington. Following the brief time in the country school we moved back to Shelbyville, where we remained for about six weeks, until November 1, 1941, at which time we moved to Louisville, and settled on Sutcliffe Avenue, located a mile from the Ohio River, called the West End. Then a month and seven days later, on December 7^th, our world changed, as did that of every American. Some seven thousand miles away Japan launched a surprise attack on American forces at Pearl Harbor.

      We had just finished Sunday dinner and sat down to listen to Dr. Charles Fuller and the Old Fashioned Revival Hour, one of dad’s favorites. The program was suddenly interrupted with the terrible news. Dad quickly educated me on the geography of the Pacific, especially the location of Hawaii, and the significance of the events there. Pearl Harbor and the long war that followed, not only ushered in a different America, but for me personally planted seeds of a future life that would be dedicated to the service of my country.

      Alleen and Camp Taylor

      On the opposite side of Louisville, nine year old Alleen Watson, was enjoying her childhood in a quaint unincorporated section of Jefferson County named Camp Taylor, on land formerly belonging to the U.S. Army. She remembers hearing of the attack from the local paper boy barking out the headline: Pearl Harbor Bombed. Like me, she knew nothing about that far off place, and certainly had no comprehension as to the meaning of what the events meant.

      Camp Taylor is one of Kentucky’s most unique historical sites. During World War One, it housed army troops for training and deployment to the war in Europe. It was one of the Army’s largest training camps, and at one time home for 125,000 men. Among its distinguished guests was F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of the classic novel of the depression years:The Great Gatsby. He even included a reference to Camp Taylor in his narrative.

      But, perhaps the army post was best remembered as the site of the worst influenza outbreak in United States history. In 1917, hundreds of men died and thousands more were infected. This was later attributed to the very close living conditions of camp life making it very easy for the virus to spread.

      When the camp closed shortly after the war, the buildings and land were parceled off and sold to veterans and citizens who had been displaced by the depression. Among the latter, Alleen’s father Jim, as he was called, had begun his career in the early thirties’ assisting his father in various plastering and artistic sculpturing of ornate projects around Louisville, including the beautiful ceilings of the historic Brown Hotel, the Lowes (later changed to Palace) and Rialto theaters in downtown Louisville, among other buildings (see chapter 1 ). While the theaters, like many others in the post war years, no longer serve as movie houses, they do house many other downtown cultural events, and the ornate ceilings of the buildings, including the Brown and several other old buildings still survive and add an historic glimpse of the grandeur that was old Louisville.

      I must comment on one of the stories that is part of the lore surrounding the Lowes and Alleen’s Grandfather. In the center of the ceiling of the theater’s entrance hall he sculptured out an image of his head, surrounded by images of many of Louisville’s legendary personalities, a real artistic masterpiece that provides a permanent memorial to the man who had such an important role in creating one of the true show places of Louisville and indeed the south. The sculptured image like those of many other famous American figures is well preserved and bears a remarkable image of her grandfather. The ceiling itself is one of the most unique ceilings in the country.

      One of the ironies of the family background relating directly to Alleen and me was revealed in an experience I had about eight years before we met. As a 14 year old high school student I went to work in my first job in Louisville's first theater candy stand, located in the Lowe’s theater lobby. I remember admiring everything unique in that theater, and especially the ornate ceiling. I had no idea then that over my head was the image of the man who was the grandfather of the girl I would eventually marry. Life sometimes has strange and interesting twists. In 2012, Alleen and I toured the theater that has been completely restored to its early grandeur and is now renamed the Palace, and there beneath the stairwell images adorning the ceiling was that candy stand (no longer selling candy), and in its center Alleen's grandfather's image. Suddenly, my mind flashed back to 1945, and droves of Fort Knox servicemen on leave from nearby Fort Knox, descending the stairwell; many stopping to purchase one the very few choices of candy available.

      Before Alleen’s parents were married, her Dad built and furnished a house on Springdale Drive, a short distance from Camp Taylor. There, in 1932, Alleen was born as the second child in a family of five; three daughters and two sons. Robert (Bobby), was the oldest, followed by Alleen, then Edna, Chester, and Sharon. Alleen has few memories of her Springdale home except that it was a happy existence, with a simple life devoid of many of the difficulties lurking on the near horizon.

      Such was the situation by the 1930s, as the depression reached its peak, leaving no employment for men such as her dad, who were engrossed in what had been a profitable building industry. As is often true during severe economic down turns, as that industry collapses, so did the rest of the economy. Alleen’s dad was not only unemployed, but lost everything, including his home. Then, when the structures and land of Camp Taylor, the defunct army post, became available, he scraped together the $100.00 to buy what Alleen describes as a shack constructed of tar paper and wood. It was located on Taylor Avenue in the center of the former camp and formerly had been the camp post office. It had four walls, a roof, and little else. He literally rebuilt the house with his own hands, adding a full basement, two bed rooms, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and bath; an amazing example of his perseverance and determination. The little house not only served his