Background Information on my dad by Bonnie Killar.
BACKGROUND INFO - This is my Dad's story - in his own words…as written in My Life by E.M. King…he worked on this for years …his last piece of information was written after June 14, 2001, the day my Mom died…he didn't write anything more about his life after that…he died March 5, 2012.
I think his story was meant for his family but I don't think he would mind us sharing it with others. My Dad, Edward. M. (Bud) King, was a great story teller, I think he inherited that trait from his Mom, Mary Agnes Tippman King (Mrs. Peter J. King). I am glad he actually wrote this information down for us to keep.
My dad graduated from Immaculate Conception High School in 1940. His family lived at 1211 Race Street, Connellsville. His family consisted of (father) Peter J., (mother) Mary Agnes and (sister) Madelyn.
This is how his life in the Army is chronicled…in his own words….
I now started an entirely
different part of my life some good and some bad. We (the group I was with)
were scheduled to be sworn in on the 11th of November 1942 (also Armistice Day
- a day celebrated because it was the end of the first world war,) Because some
of my friends were going to be sworn in on the 10th and I wanted to stay with
them I had my date changed to the 10th. After being sworn in we were told we
had two weeks to get things straightened out at home because we would be
leaving for the induction center on the 24th of November. On the 10th of
November after being sworn in at the State Armory in Greensburg I came home to
find out my Grandmother had passed away, a rough time for my mother. I
made a mistake when I asked to be sworn in on the 10th instead of the 11th
because the ones who were sworn in on the 11th got to stay home for an extra
week because of Thanksgiving. The army got started on me right off the
bat because I got K P on Thanksgiving and what a load of dishes I had to do! I
guess they figured I might as well get my basic training started early. Well after
spending about a week at Camp New Cumberland getting my shots which were very
painful especially the ones that they gave us in the flesh in back of our
shoulders. This is the camp where we got the shots, our clothes, shoes and two
duffel bags (a large canvas bag to carry all of the equipment in). A lot
of the fellows were friends of mine before we went into the service and one of
them was a fellow named Bill Butler who lived down the street from where I did.
He was as strong as a horse. Another fellow named Ray Cuneo, was so small he
couldn’t carry his bags to the train when we were shipping out so Bill Butler
carried his two bags and also Ray’s two. I think we walked at least a half mile
to the train. Bill Butler was an older fellow, he didn’t last very long in the
Army but he was a person who everyone liked. The group that went to New
Cumberland was split up and sent to different camps. Me and about 15 or 20
others went to Camp Barkley, Texas an Infantry training center. When we learned
we were being sent to Texas we figured we were going to an Air Force Base but
later we found out where we were going. I think everyone was a little angry
because I think everyone wanted to go into the Air Corps because it was an
easier life than the infantry. As time passed and the guys got acquainted with
one another. We were really like brothers or even closer because we were
together 24 hours a day, eating, sleeping and training. We joined the 90th
Infantry Division which was already activated but not up to full strength.
The 90th was the Texas and Oklahoma National Guard in peace time so our
shoulder patch was a large green square patch with a red T set over a red O for
Texas Oklahoma. Our outfit was made up of three regiments the 357th, the 358th
and 359th and I assigned to the 357th Co. B. The training was rough and some of
the things we had to do were a problem for me because the running part showed
up my breathing trouble. I didn’t tell them at the induction center that I was
an asthmatic because I didn’t want to be classified as a 4F (unfit for active
duty). What we had to do was what they called run and walk. We had to run for
10 minutes then walk for 10 minutes. I could do it but I had a harder
time than most others but you had to keep pushing as long as you could. We also
had Close Order Drill and that was marching to commands with rifles in
different positions on command. Twice a week we had to go to the rifle range
where we used the M1 rifle on targets 100 yards in front of us. Other times we
had to crawl under fire which meant we had to crawl on our bellies while a
machine gun was firing over our heads. This showed us how a bullet sounds as it
passes you and that sound makes a loud noise (sharp crack) as when the gun is
fired. We were told if we raised our head 6 inches we would get a bullet
through the head, so we kept our heads down. One of the things we were taught
was how to kill people by any means available. There were many ways which
weren’t the greatest things to teach a group of peaceful men who had just left
their peaceful homes and families. Texas has very goofy weather. A person could
be warm enough to be outside in an undershirt and 10 minutes later you would be
cold with an overcoat on. A short time after we finished basic training (about
6 weeks) we left for maneuvers in Louisiana but shortly before we left some new
fellows joined our outfit. One in particular ended up a very close friend
of mine he was a Sioux Indian from South Dakota by the name of Jim Quiver.
After he and the others finished basic training they were sent to
Louisiana to join the rest of us. At home Jim had a wife and a
number of children and he would tell me stories about living on the reservation
in the Bad Lands of South Dakota and ask me to visit him after the war was over.
I agreed and told him I would. During maneuvers quite a few things happened
that I remember as being funny and also serious. One night while we were on a
break another friend of mine named Jim Yancy asked me to go to a little town in
Louisiana named Leesville with him so I told him I would. We got a pass
and left camp and on the way he told me he wasn’t coming back and I said you
can’t do that because you’ll get court martialed but he said I don’t care I’m
going home and he lived in Texas. No matter how much I asked him to come
back he refused and I even walked him to the train station coaxing him to
return. Finally I gave up and I started back to camp and I had to hitch a
ride because there was no transportation back. Finally an army truck stopped and
I climbed in the back and since it was full of soldiers I said hi fellows not
knowing who they were until an auto drove up behind the truck with lights on
and all I could see was Lieutenant bars, Captain bars and Major Gold Leaves and
some Colonels. You never say hi fellows to the officers, but when I did say
that I did get a few grunts and that’s all I did get. When I did get out of the
truck everything was pitch black except for a few smoldering fires and many,
many tents that all looked alike so I stumbled in the darkness and fell
headfirst into a six by six garbage pit luckily with no garbage in it yet. When
I got out I went strolling amid the tents but since they were all alike I
couldn’t tell which was mine so I picked up a smoldering log and waved it
around in the hopes it would light so I could find my tent. Since I was waving
it around sparks were shooting off and one lit on a tent and a soldier stuck
his head out and said what the hell are you doing trying to burn the whole camp
down. So I laid the log down and started to try to find my tent without the aid
of a light and finally a voice said what the hell are you doing out there
Smokey (that was a nickname someone hung on me shortly after I got into the
service). I said boy am I glad to see you Kermit (Hodge). If you hadn't
seen me I would have been walking around all night looking for home. We
maneuvered in Louisiana for about a month then headed back to Camp Barkley and
stayed there until September of 1943 and then on to the California Desert for a
three month stay maneuvering again this time in the heat against the 79th
Division in mock battles and the side winder snakes. They were rattle
snakes that crawled sideways which was odd to watch and there were gila
monsters and tarantula spiders. After bedding down one night with my
shelter half (half of a tent, when you used it as a tent you had to get someone
else and put the two shelter half’s together to make a tent) on the sand.
Then you had one blanket to sleep on and one to cover with. When I got
up the next morning and rolled my equipment up I found I had a bed buddy that I
kept warm all night. It was a large tarantula spider under my shelter
half. This is some of the things we had to put up with and we did, and
didn’t think too much about it. In the latter part of December we boarded a
train and were told we were going to Fort Dix, New Jersey for a while. The
train ride was nice and some time to shoot the breeze with your compartment
friends. I used to tell the different guys from the western states how odd it
seemed to me that we would go for miles without seeing a house and after seeing
one we would go for miles again until we saw another house. On our way to Fort
Dix one of the western state fellows said I see what you meant when you remarked
about the houses being so far apart in the west. He also said while we
were passing through Pennsylvania, it seemed to him as though Pennsylvania was
like one large city separated by tunnels. We arrived at Fort Dix shortly before
the Christmas holidays so the ones who lived in the east were given weekend
passes and this included me but I had a little difficulty in moving around
since I had athlete’s foot which I acquired in the hot climate of the desert.
I couldn’t wear anything on that foot but a rubber boot so that is how I
traveled on the train getting home but it was worth the effort to get home. We
were at Fort Dix until March so I did get to go home a few times to see my
Father, Mother and also my Sister since she was stationed in Washington D. C.
and could also get home on weekends. She was in the Wave’s. My family and
relatives were the only ones to see since all our friends were in the service
and were never lucky enough to get home together. After spending some time in
Fort Dix we were notified that we were moving in a short time and the ones who
lived close could get a weekend pass to say goodbye to our families
because we would be going overseas before long and would be gone for a good
while. So I was one of the lucky ones who could visit my family for the
last time for a year or two. When we left Fort Dix we went to Camp Kilmer also
in New Jersey and it was what is called a staging area (a camp used just before
boarding a ship). We were there only a few days then headed for New York and
boarded the Dominion Monarch the largest diesel powered ship afloat.
During peace time it was a luxury liner with swimming pool and all the
conveniences to make a sea voyage complete, but we couldn’t use any of them
because there were so many of us (15,000). Also because it was so cold in the
North Atlantic in March and we could see pieces of ice floating around the
ship. We set sail on the 24th of March 1944 and landed in Liverpool England on
the 7th of April. The trip was long and very cold to be on deck. We were
in a convoy so there were many ships all around our ship, and the ship in front
of us was an aircraft carrier and it was a very large ship, also. The weather
was very rough which meant the waves were high and as the aircraft carrier
would rise and fall on the waves the propeller would come out of the water.
When we were on deck, we could see it spinning. The roughest part of the trip
was when we took a shower out on the deck in the open with water they pumped
out of the ocean which was freezing. The wind was blowing very hard and the
soap we were issued wouldn’t make a lather because of the salt water.
The North Atlantic is a very rough place to be in March and I swore I
wouldn’t take another bath if I were on that ship for another 6 months. That is
what we enlisted men had to put up with while the officers were in the heated
ship taking hot showers. That’s because they were Officers and Gentlemen and we
were just foot soldiers. But we did live through it all and landed in
Liverpool on the 7th of April. It was night or early morning when we docked and
I remember looking out a porthole at the Bobbies (British Police Officers)
walking around on the dock wearing their odd hats similar to the kind the
Keystone Cops wear. It must have been night because I don’t remember
debarking in the dark. So we must have stayed on the ship until daylight then
exiting the ship and went to a tent camp by truck that was already set up for
us close to a little town named Kiddymister. It was close to a larger city named
Stokes on Trent, famous because it was the home of William Shakespeare. At this
time of the year the weather in England is damp and rainy also chilly. Living
in a tent wasn’t the best way to live but there wasn’t anything we could do but
put up with it. As I recall the training we got at this time was mostly
forced walking, miles and miles over the rolling English countryside which was
really beautiful. Everything is green the year round, I guess because of the
damp weather. Well we stayed in this camp for about a month then moved to a
little town named Chepsto in Wales. This town had a horse racing track and
that’s where our home would be for about another month. Our bunks were in the
stable which were cleaned and ready for us to move into and our chow hall was
in the large grandstand that held the people when racing was going on. I think
horse racing was put on hold while the war was being fought. This was the place
we were when we heard the sounds of war for the first time. We
could hear the bombs from German airplanes exploding and the flashes in
the night taking place in Cardiff Wales, a few miles from where we were.
Cardiff would be the sailing port we would be leaving in a few days to cross
the English Channel. The 90th Division was made up of three regiments the
357th, 358th and the 359th regiments and the latter regiment (359th would go
ashore in France on D Day) and the rest of us would follow sailing on the
U.S.S. Excelsior on D+2 and going ashore in the morning on D+2. Since the
359th were in the invasion they really had it rougher than the rest of us. But
even for us it wasn’t easy, there was shelling still going on when we landed
and we had to debark the Excelsior by climbing down the rope netting into LCI
boats (Landing Craft Infantry) a smaller flat bottom boat with a flat door that
dropped down when we reached shore to let the soldiers unload in a hurry. As
the men unloaded, the boat got lighter and began to drift away from shore so
the last men were in the water up to there necks with all there equipment
strapped to there backs and this was full field packs (tents, blankets, coats
and gas masks) ammunition belt full of clips of ammunition plus a heavy rifle
slung over our shoulders. While we were unloading from the Excelsior an American
fighter plane trailing smoke went straight down into the channel behind us, but
we could see the pilot eject so he was alright and most likely picked up by one
of the ships which were many, in the area. During the night before we landed
the different Chaplains led the soldiers in prayer. I hadn’t written much
lately but during this time I would think of what to write and I decided to
skip the ugly things. There were many that a person doesn’t even want to
remember but they did happen. One of the things was the constant odor of dead
bodies. Not American - it was the duty of the Quartermaster Corps to take
care of the bodies and they did a good job with the American soldiers first and
then the German bodies. These German boys don’t want to be there
shooting at us anymore than we wanted to be there trying to kill them. But
that’s what we were trained to do and we had to do it. That’s what war is and
the person that said WAR IS HELL knew what he was talking about. He had to be
there to know that. If we could have had the pleasure of getting Hitler, Himler
or some of the other henchmen in our sights and pulled the trigger everyone on
earth would have been better off - even his own soldiers. For all we knew as
Americans and mixed nationalities, we could have been shooting at our own
relatives. It wasn’t known at that time about the plight the people of the
Jewish Faith in Germany were going through and the atrocities that were
happening in the Death Camps. This had to be happening at the hands of the
higher German Officials and I don’t think the German people themselves or their
soldier boys knew what was happening in those camps. I think the majority
of the German people are just as humane as we are. There are things I remember
and those are things a person will never forget as long as they live. There was
one incident that took place and it caused me to lose respect for a lieutenant
that I always liked as a leader. We were not under fire at the time and when
three men in German uniforms came down the road with their hands behind their
heads which was a sign that they wanted to surrender to us. He tried to talk to
them but couldn’t understand the language they were speaking. So he
determined two of them were Germans and the other was Polish, He said to us fellows
while looking directly at me, we will take the Polish Soldier back to
Headquarters for interrogation and while still looking directly at me said does
any of you guys want to take the Germans over in the field and shoot them
(which was in violation of the Geneva Convention) and since he was looking at
me I said no not me. But one other fellow that I knew said sure I will.
But just as he was about to take them our Company Commander, a Captain
Cason said what is going on here so the lieutenant told him what was going to
happen and the Captain said to him there will be none of that in my command
take all three of them back to headquarters. So the men in German
uniforms had their lives spared by a good humane soldier worthy of the rank of
Captain. There are probably more incidents like this that don’t end as well.
Another incident that happened to another fellow and myself that was a
little scary. We were entering a field that was surrounded by hedge rows. The
field was about one hundred yards square and just as we entered in the lower
right corner a shell exploded in the upper left corner diagonally across the
field from us and immediately we both hit the ground as we knew. I was
laying against a hedge and he was laying across or next to my legs but close to
me. In a matter of minutes a second shell exploded directly in line from the
first shell to where we were laying and in a couple of minutes another one
exploded again in line toward us. This happened about six or eight times each
one getting closer to us. While this was going on I knew he had a large two way
radio strapped to his back. I asked him if it was turned on and he said yes. So
I told him to turn it off because they might be picking up a signal from it,
although I doubted that, but we did what we could. We knew the safest thing was
to stay where we were because of flying shrapnel and the closer to the ground
we could get was the safest place to stay. When the second to last one exploded
I felt the next one was going to be mighty close so I told him to be as flat on
the ground and face down in the dirt. When the next one hit he said I’m
hit, so I said how bad and he said a piece of shrapnel through my hand so I
said keep as flat as you can and as soon as the shelling stops I’ll fix your
hand. Finally I got a chance to put sulfa in the wound and bandage his hand and
we separated. Him going to the hospital and me moving on. Since we were
held down by the shelling I had to catch up with the rest of our outfit. While
trying to catch up I had to cross a road that had a 5 foot bank on each side
and on one side was an American Soldier lying dead. As I crossed the road I
heard the crack of a bullet pass over my head and I hit and lay flat against
the bank and every few minutes the crack sounded again and I could see dust and
small stones fly up directly about 3 feet from me in the road so I knew someone
knew where I was but couldn’t see me. After one shot I jumped up over the bank
and ran bent over close to the ground across the field and just as I got to my outfit
there was shelling going on so I jumped into a slit trench (a hole that’s dug
in the ground just long enough for a person to lay flat in) and a shell hit a
limb of a tree just above me and parts of the tree and large limbs were falling
around me. I was lucky enough that none of them lit on me although the burst of
the shell lifted me out of the trench. From this time on there were more
incidents, losing friends through wounding or worse. This is about the way war
is.
Another time I was sent out to try to locate a patrol that was sent out
earlier. This was also a little tricky and I had to crawl through a gully on my
stomach because it happened at night in enemy territory when you couldn’t see
your hand in front of your face. Just a short time before, this land was
occupied by the Germans and we didn’t know whether some were still there or not
so the scary part was when you did see or hear someone you didn’t know whether
it was German soldiers or your own men. In either case if you made a noise a
trigger happy soldier could shoot and ask questions later, but finally I did
hear an English speaking voice and made my presence known while still under
cover and it was the men I was looking for. While crawling on my stomach I lost
my knife which was fastened to my belt. The next day one of the fellows from my
company said I think this belongs to you and it was my knife. It was made for
me by my Uncle Gene.
Sometime after this my asthma started bothering me. I think it was
caused by smoke and in a short time I was sent back to England to a hospital.
Still later I was sent to work in a Postal Unit. After this I spent different
times in hospitals and in one the doctor asked me how the hell you got into the
service in the first place. So I explained that I had asthma since I was eleven
years old but as I grew older it seemed to leave me, which was great, but being
in Europe maybe the different climate had an effect on it. While I was in
England I was first stationed in Exeter in Devonshire with a small American
Postal Unit and we were housed in an English Army Barracks, while there in a
short time I was hit with a bad asthma attack and to make things worse there
was no U.S. Army medical facility nearby. So they had to rush me to a U.S.
Seabee Base (a Naval Engineering Unit) located just outside of Exeter where a
Naval Doctor gave an injection of Adrenalin and in a short time I was ok and
went back to our unit in the truck that took me to the hospital. There were
three other men sent along with me to this Postal Unit which already had about
five or six men and a Captain in charge and we all we all got along real well
together and we stayed together until the war ended but in different locations
in England and again back to France. While in Exeter we made friends with the
people there and learned some things about the area. One of which was that this
was the home or at least where Charles Dickens wrote some of his stories. One
of which was The Pickwick Papers and in this story he mentioned about a fat boy
who got stuck in Parliament Street. This street was a very narrow one and so
narrow that a person going through it could touch the walls with both arms
extended part way. I used to walk through it at different times. The
walls I mentioned were the walls of buildings located on each side of the
street and it did have a street sign located at the entrance. I really don’t
remember how I found out but there was a place called The Civic Center or Civic
Hall or the Auditorium that had dances every night for soldiers both English
and American. One evening I went in just for something to do and while standing
I started talking to some girls. They were all English girls who lived in
Exeter. I became friends with them and would meet them on different occasions
to dance and just talk. There was one that I seemed to enjoy talking and
dancing with more than the others so eventually she was the only one I seemed
to be with most of the time. I did walk her home most of the time when we met
and because it was also the way I walked to get to the place I was stationed.
It was Topsham Barracks and it was a great distance from the dance hall
and I did enjoy her company. I’m sure the feeling was mutual because we did
seem to enjoy each other’s company. Her name was Maureen Andrews.
We (the other fellows and I) dealt with a lot of other soldiers who would come
into our Post Office to pick up the mail for their outfit. The Quartermaster
men, especially, would bring different foods for us and a lot of the time it
would be hot dogs, Hamburg, and often large roasts which was appreciated.
However, the roasts were something we had no way of cooking since we just had a
small hot plate to work with. Since I was the only one who had an English
friend I would take the roasts and give them to my friend Maureen. Since the
English people were so strictly rationed when it came to food, it made a real
treat for them. She and I would just walk and talk at times about everything
and nothing important just talk. I remember one time we were walking around
a large lake with large swans swimming around. I said who does this lake and
swans belong to and she said the King. So I reasoned that in England everything
that exists and doesn’t belong to an individual or city belongs to the King.
I guess the King or Queen whoever is ruling at the time doesn’t know how
much they really do own. I think at that time King George the something was
reigning and owning almost everything.
As time passed and things changed it was time for our Postal Unit to be moved.
In a way I was ready even though I did feel bad about leaving because of
the friends I had made there. They were people I would always remember. In a
case like this you feel as though you’ll never see them again because of
the distance. We were moved to a different area of England. This time to
Birmingham, another nice place and it was while we were here that the war in
Europe ended. While here we were stationed just a few miles outside of
Birmingham and we would go into the city at night and either go to the Red
Cross Club or to one of the local Pubs (a place where the local people gather
to have a beer, play darts or just talk). It was at this Pub (The Golden Eagle)
while I was with some of my army friends that I saw a pretty English girl and I
said to one of the friends I sure would like to meet her. One of them said go
on over and get into the conversation she was having with some other fellows
but I was a little hesitant about butting in, so I didn’t go. But the next
night after a few beers I did get up enough nerve to start talking to her and
we became close friends and the guy that coaxed me to go to talk to her said
Smokey, you sure have good taste in picking a girl because she is the prettiest
and the classiest girl I’ve seen since I left the States. Well we became close
enough that I had a pleasant steady job of walking her part way home every
night and the reason I said part way is because she said her parents didn’t
care much for Yanks. This is the feeling most older people of England feel and
maybe they have a right to feel that way because of the influx of the American
Troops all over their small country, even though our being there was a
necessity. At this time the war was over and this girl’s name was Evelyn
McAlenden and she had a friend named Pat O’Grady and we would meet at times and
Pat had an American friend named Chuck. I never did find out what his last name
was so it was just Chuck. Before I got to know Evelyn very well I ask her if
she was married because from what I heard some of the girls over there had
husband’s away in the service and she said no she wasn’t married. So that was
fine with me but Chuck said they were both married but with her the answer was
no. So being the trusty soul that I was, I believed her and since I knew we wouldn’t
be there very long I ask her for her address so I could write to her. And she
gave it to me. So that told me that since her parents didn’t like Yanks they
wouldn’t approve of one writing to her if she was married. And some time later
we were informed that we were to cross the English Channel and be stationed at
Rheum’s, France and while there I did write to her and my letters were answered
and even after I got back to the States I kept writing. All of my letters were
answered. But when our unit was Stationed in Rheum’s I was taken out to work in
the Postal Unit in the School where peace was signed. And the rest of my outfit
was sent to another location, a camp that had an arch built over the entrance
with ON TO TOKYO written on it. So if the Pacific war hadn't ended that’s
where we were going. After I spent about a month in that school I returned to
my outfit. It was at this camp that a funny incident happened to me. We
lived in tents in this camp and a fellow that was in the African Campaign brought
a monkey back with him and in this camp he had it tied on a rope that was
about ten feet long. The rope was attached to one of his tent poles and
one day when I came out of the mess tent he was in a squatting position next to
his tent holding the monkey on his thigh and petting it across its head and you
could tell the monkey (Sad Sack) was really enjoying it. While he was petting
it, the soldier said to us fellows do you want me to make him real mad. All of
us said yes. So while petting the monkey he shoved the monkey’s head down hard
and the monkey jumped up and down while chattering like crazy which was funny
to see. The next day a good friend of mine (John Delaney) and me came out of
the mess tent and no one was there only Sad Sack still tied to the tent pole.
So I picked him up and had him on my thigh like his owner did the day before
and I was petting him the same way. I asked John if he wanted to see me make
the monkey mad and he said yes. So I shoved the monkey’s head down like
the owner did the day before and that monkey was all over me biting me from
head to toe. It was hard for me to stand up from the squatting position with
the monkey biting me like he was, so eventually I did stand up and at this time
he was up on my chest. I took my two hands and put them between him and
my chest and shoved him away as hard as I could. He flew clear out to the end
of the rope, hit the ground and just like a spring he was all over me
again. So I finally walked backward until the rope pulled him off then John and
me went to the infirmary to get me all patched up. I later did pet Sad Sack but
never made him mad again. I don’t think he weighed more than three pounds but I
would never want two of them mad at me at the same time. I think they would
kill a person. Shortly after this incident John Delaney turned thirty eight and
that meant he could go home because at that age the army feels a person is
obsolete. I sure wish I was obsolete again in a few years I’ll be
obsolete backwards. Some time later I was in the hospital again with asthma and
the doctor told me if I wasn’t so close to going home on points he would send
me home then. That didn’t bother me because I was willing to wait until it was
my turn. While we were still in Rheum’s we got the chance to go to Paris and
see the sights which was great. During the winter I did get to visit
Switzerland which was beautiful and I would really like to get a chance to
visit all of Europe again.
It was getting close to the time to head back to the States after two years being
away and everyone was anxious. At this time we were at a transit camp and the
food was not too great. Again we were living in tents which were heated by pot
belly stoves and we stayed warm until the fire got low at night. Then
some kind soul would get out from under the blankets and put some coal on the
smoldering fire. The food was something else, we had to walk from our tent
about one hundred yards to the mess tent and since this was the first I ate
here I had them put stew (I guess that’s what it was) in my mess kit along with
other goodies. Then I had to walk back to the tent and by the time I got there,
there was one half inch of lard on top of the stew. From then on I lived on
rice with sugar and milk on it. I was so skinny coming back on the boat a
fellow I didn’t know asked me if I was a prisoner of war. I think I
weighed one hundred forty pounds. When it was time to leave, we either went by
train or by truck to LeHavre, France where we boarded the U.S.S Wheaten Victory
and set sail on the 15th of January 1946. Our destination is New York on the
25th of January 1946. When we were in mid ocean we hit very rough seas and I
mean rough. The ship was a Victory ship for carrying troops and on this ship
there were 1500 men and I think 1450 were sea sick and one of them was me.
I don’t think I ate anything for four days. Every time I felt hungry and
would go to the mess hall, as soon as I smelled food I got sick all over. The
Victory Ships were small and in rough seas the front of the ship would come up
out of the water and when it came down and hit the water it sounded as though
the whole ship was breaking in half. They said if the ship lists to 30
degrees it won’t straighten up again. So a lot of fellows would have some kind
of a weight on a string hung from their bunks and tried to guess how close in
their judgment was 30 degrees. My bunk was right below the galley and at one
time all the pots and pans came flying off of their racks and it sounded as
though the ship was breaking up. Eventually the rough water was a thing of the
past and we sailed on toward our final destination, the Statue of Liberty and
the city of New York. When we did dock we had to go through a final
inspection to make sure we didn’t bring anything into the country that we weren’t
supposed to. After that we were taken by train to Camp Kilmer for a day
or two and then on to Indiantown Gap for our final records checked. We were
kept here for a day or two and then given our discharge papers after being
asked if we wanted to reenlist. Very few men wanted that, so we all left for
home in all the four corners of the good old U. S. of A. My Mother,
Father and my Uncle Gene who drove my parents to the Greensburg Station met me
and we all hugged and kissed and were glad to be reunited again. We were on our
way back to Connellsville, PA - a place I had missed very much for two years.
My sister, Madelyn, who was a Wave in the Navy was still in the service but
ready to be discharged in a few weeks. Before being discharged, she was
to be married to a fellow who was still in the Marines and they were to be
married in the Navy Chapel in Washington D. C. where they were both stationed.
My sister chose me to be her best man and a Wave friend of hers was chosen to
be her bridesmaid so when the time came, my Mother, Dad and myself went to
Washington for the ceremony and it was very nice. After a while they were
discharged and my Mother, Dad and myself left for home and the married couple
followed us to Connellsville and stayed a few days. Then they left for their
home in St. Louis where he had spent his life.
Since things were getting back to normal as a civilian I had to go back to
where I worked before entering the service in order to get my job as machinist
apprentice, and found the job was waiting for me. I only stayed there for a few
months because the money wasn’t the way it should have been. After the war
people were making good money and I thought I should have been making a little
more than I did before I left for the service. I worked several jobs,
but was never really satisfied with making a career out of any of them.
In March 1947, I went to St. Louis and stayed with my sister and her husband
while looking for work. For about a week or two I didn’t have any luck but on
Sunday the 16th of March 1947 something happened that changed my life forever
and gave me the feeling that fate has a lot to do with a person’s life. On this
particular Sunday my sister, her husband and their little infant son and me
were just sitting in the living room talking, when in walked her husband’s aunt
and uncle with a friend that had never been there before. Neither my sister nor
her husband had met him before so he was a complete stranger to the three of
us. After the introduction we just sat around and talked. In the course of the
conversation the stranger asked me what I was doing in St. Louis since he found
out I was from Pennsylvania. I told him I was there looking for work and
I told him that so far I had no luck. He then asked me if I had used any
of my GI Bill for education and I said no since I had never thought of going to
school. He then told me that he taught a course in refrigeration in a well
known trade school which is now known as a College in St. Louis. He asked
if I cared to look the school over and he would be glad to show me around the
next day. I did go and met him and he did show me the refrigeration area
and described the different subjects that were part of the course which
impressed me. I was also very impressed with the school building itself.
It was a large stone structure with the name The David Rankin Jr. School
of Mechanical Trades engraved in the stone above the entrance. Written
below the name was To Show The Dignity Of Labor. After entering the
school to the right and left were two marble staircases leading to the main
lobby where the offices were located on the right and some classrooms on the
left and the rest of the class rooms were on the second floor. The shop work
areas were located to the rear of the first floor. Also, as you entered the
front door if you walked straight back a short distance there was a opening the
size of a door in a marble wall and through the opening you could see a large
mechanical room with large machines which I assumed were to make the compressed
air used in the different shops. I don’t know whether they taught a power house
course or if it was just used for the school equipment but if you enjoy just
looking at large machinery in operation as I do, it was very interesting. After
getting a good picture of the whole operation I decided to sign up that day and
in a way I was lucky because a new class was starting that day, so it was kind
of a fast move. There wasn’t much teaching that day because of the signing up
and getting the proper tools which were issued to us. The school offered both a
day and evening course’s and I chose the day course because I had plenty of
time on my hands. Some of the subjects we had to take along with the
refrigeration itself was drafting, electricity, physics, mathematics and business.
Of all the other subjects I liked drafting best but it was all interesting and
I was satisfied that fate worked for me in meeting this instructor named Woody
Absher. I’ll never forget a remark one of the instructors made and,
it went as follows… you fellows picked a good trade to follow -
you’ll always have plenty of work to keep you busy if you do your work
well. Then he added, you will never get rich but you should make a decent
wage - but you’ll regret the day you ever heard of a refrigeration trade
- especially in the summer when you’ve worked hard all day and you’ve come home
for your evening meal and after you wash up and have eaten you have to go back
out to start over again. The school was an endowed institution by the
millionaire David Rankin Jr. and it was a very strict non-profit institution,
they told us from the beginning if we didn’t make our grades we would be asked
to leave. At that time, after the war quite a few schools started up just to
get some of the fellows who would be going to school through the GI Bill.
They weren't concerned whether the boys got an education or not, as long
as they got the government money. Since this was an endowed school the
cost to get a good education was just what it cost to put you through and is
still that way today. Beside the endowment, money comes in from many
large corporations and the school boasts an almost one hundred percent
placement after graduation. Well after a few days the students begin to know
each other and we had a good bunch of guys to work and study with. We did
continue on with school and most all of us did get good grades because I think
we were all interested in the trade we chose. I don’t know how the other
fellows chose to be involved in this type of work but for me I’ll have to give
the credit to fate. Usually all of us students in this field came to school in
clean work clothes the same kind we would be wearing on the job when we would
be working on the refrigeration systems in stores or in homes where you have to
look your best while working. When we did graduate we all went our separate
ways doubting we would be seeing each other again but in my case I did see some
of them later when I would make trips to St. Louis to see my sister. When I did
finish school my parents came to St. Louis for a visit with my sister and when
we did leave for Connellsville we did travel by train because my parents both
had passes on the railroad which meant they traveled free of charge since my
father was retired from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. I was now at home and
thought I would take a little vacation before starting out to look for a job in
my newly acquired trade. When I was ready to go to work some of my friends told
me to go talk to a certain man that was in this business and had a few men
working for him. One morning I went to see him and he was setting at his desk
with his crew of men standing around so I introduced myself to him and said I
had just graduated from a school in St. Louis and I would like to work in his
business starting at the bottom. When I finished talking, he looked at me and
said you G. D. guys out of school don’t know anything and every one I’ve hired
so far has been trouble and while he was still yelling I walked out the door,
telling myself I don’t need you and I’ll go into business for myself even
though it’ll take time but I’m single with no dependents so I’ll show you I can
make it without you. So I did start and with the help of a few friends I did
get a few customers and they seemed to be satisfied with my work so I was on my
way. I did learn about another man who was in this business so I decided
to go see him and after talking for a while we seemed to hit it off pretty well
and he made me an offer and I accepted and we worked well together. One
thing I liked about him was he had a sense of humor and we laughed and talked
together while we worked together. After about a year he decided to move to
Florida so I bought what equipment he had and I took the business over and then
I realized after a while what our instructor in school meant when he said we
would regret ever hearing about this business because you never get time for
yourself to do the things young men do in the summer. About the time you
plan to do something the phone rings and you have to go out on a service call
which is bad especially when you have a date waiting for you to show up and
this happens quite often. This fellow I worked for had a pretty good business
so when he moved to Florida the work kept me hopping one of the customers was a
well known company by the name of Meadow Gold Ice Cream Company and the
territory in this area was quite large (about 70 miles in diameter) so one or
two of those jobs in one day kept me on the go. I wasn’t married at the time so
when I had to go on one of these jobs either my dad or mother would go along
just for the ride or to get away from the house for a while and to keep me
company. I didn’t complain because I usually enjoyed the conversations since
they were retired and had nothing to do but enjoy retired life. After a few
years of this kind of living - working during the day and running around at
night with my friends when I did happen to be free, I did happen to meet a girl
whose name was Margaret Gebadlo who was introduced to me by a friend who told me
about her and said she was a well liked person whom he knew through working in
the same jewelry store he did. He did know I saw her before because I did work
on the air conditioner in that store and he didn’t know it but I had noticed
her when I did work there. Later we did date a few times and eventually she
changed jobs and went to work at Anchor Hocking Glass Corporation in the in the
shipping office. I also did their air conditioning work so I would see her
there too. Still later she invited me to go to a company dance party with her
so I agreed to go and she was the prettiest girl there. I can still see her in
my mind today. She wore a very pretty yellow dress with a square cut
neckline and a gold necklace that made the dress and her something to be proud
of. We did have a very nice time. At certain times I would call Marg and
make a date with her and we would go to a movie or to a night club or just a
place to eat or just to ride around. I did start to take her out to teach her
how to drive but I think one of her brothers finished teaching her. In
time we began to date regularly and that went on for a good while. In the
meantime she had gotten to know my family and I had already known her family
from picking her up when we would go out on a date. Once when my sister Madelyn
was visiting from St. Louis with her husband the four of us went out to a club
and had a real nice evening and when it ended and Madelyn and myself were alone
she said to me don’t let Marg get away from you she’s to nice to lose. So
I guess that started me thinking and the following Christmas I gave her a ring,
along with a stupid proposal, everyone still kids me about that. I guess
I wasn’t very romantic - all I said when I gave her the ring was
“you know what this means” and she answered I sure hope so after three years. I
guess it wasn’t too romantic but I think if you listened to all the proposals
of marriage in the world you’d probably hear a lot more stupid than mine or
just as stupid. I doubt if too many men get down on their knee’s and say
will you marry me honey because I love you. I think most guys realize the
if the girl put up with us for such a log time they must know we love them.
Especially if they have a Mother and Sister that don’t want “that girl” to get
away. We finally did get married the following May. (May 1954).
Edward M. (Bud) King and Margaret C. King owned and operated King Appliance
Commercial Air Conditioning and Refrigeration - Sales and Service. They
ran the business out of their home on the Southside of Connellsville. He
loved the area - and loved growing up and living in Connellsville.
