Married June 3, 1944
United States Army 11-4-1941 to 2-26-1946
Donald enlisted in the U.S. Army on November 4, 1941. He was sent for his basic training to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, a training installation located in the Missouri Ozarks. After basic he attended Officer Cadet Training School in Fort Benning, Georgia. He was sent to the Presidio, San Francisco where he trained for the Military Police. Daddy always told the story of transporting prisoners of war to California’s Death Valley. It was there that during a USO performance he danced with Ann Southern, an American actress who worked on stage, radio, film, and television. In 1943 he was transferred to Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland. Located on Aberdeen Proving Ground, Edgewood Arsenal had been the site for chemical warfare research and development since WWI. Daddy was assigned to the Army Technical Command, Munitions Division, and spent the next three years testing chemical and armed weapons.
Donald enlisted in the U.S. Army on November 4, 1941. He was sent for his basic training to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, a training installation located in the Missouri Ozarks. After basic he attended Officer Cadet Training School in Fort Benning, Georgia. He was sent to the Presidio, San Francisco where he trained for the Military Police. Daddy always told the story of transporting prisoners of war to California’s Death Valley. It was there that during a USO performance he danced with Ann Southern, an American actress who worked on stage, radio, film, and television. In 1943 he was transferred to Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland. Located on Aberdeen Proving Ground, Edgewood Arsenal had been the site for chemical warfare research and development since WWI. Daddy was assigned to the Army Technical Command, Munitions Division, and spent the next three years testing chemical and armed weapons.
For what it's worth, Mother was a beautiful, talented woman. She was raised as a city girl in Maryland, took voice lessons, was a beauty queen, and graduated high school at 16. Then she met a handsome, intelligent man, married him and moved to Missouri to be a farmer's wife. To go from a comparatively modern lifestyle with indoor plumbing, electricity, and public transportation to a rural existence without those conveniences must have been difficult. I'm sure it was her strong will that pushed her forward. She was always a good cook, but didn't like to clean house. She was an exceptional seamstress and made everyone's clothes early in our childhood. Of course, it was good to have three girls that could hand down dresses when they were outgrown. For many years she taught sewing for the local 4-H club. Mom also participated in the Farm Club, PTA, Women's Methodist Society and Grange events - and got us kids involved as well. She became an avid bridge player, and sang in the Methodist Church choir and the Brookfield Community Choir. Once we were all in school, she took a secretarial course at the Marceline High School, got a job taking the US Census in 1960, then went to work at the Brookfield Federal Savings and Loan. Mother always had an opinion and would tell you what it was whether you wanted to hear or not. She cussed like a sailor, smoked and enjoyed having a drink - to say the least. In 2004 she had her first episode of a blockage in her arteries and quit smoking on doctor's advice. In 2008 she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and her response was, "Well, hell! I'm might as well have not quit."