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| Jack and two buddies, Hamilton Field |
Hamilton Field was familiar
territory. Jack had passed it many times driving from Santa Rosa to San
Francisco. It wasn’t home, but he lived there now, returning as often as
possible to Alice at their home in Santa Rosa. [1]
Attitude
Jack enjoyed knowing
everyone around him, and he made friends easily among the other recruits.
Usually cocky and full of self-confidence, in this new environment his
insecurities surfaced. The Army was all about authority and following
instructions from superiors. Jack had already had a run-in with 2nd
Lt. George Brown about married man’s passes. He confided opinions about
superiors to his diary, but sometimes he acted on them, too.
 |
| Hamilton Field hangar with P-40s, 1941[2] |
Our C.O. was a 90-day wonder, 2nd Lt.
Hilton. Everything he knew came out of a
book and not from practical experience.
After lunch when we were going to a show, I was told by
buck-ass Private White to take the piece of candy out of my mouth, and I told
him off. Later I told Rockie [Sgt. Rockhill] about it and he said that he would
take care of White.
A Confident Drill Instructor
Having responsibility
for a job gave him some authority and bolstered Jack's self-confidence. Marching is the quickest and most efficient way to move a large group of people from one place to another. Men in the army do a lot of marching, and they have to learn how. Jack became an instructor.
They picked a few fellows from ranks to be drill
instructors. Among them were Georgia
(Giddens[3])
Johnson and Clayton[4].
Clayton could drill about as good as a 2-month-old baby could walk. After
several days of drilling with Georgia he asked me if I could take over so I
said yes. I drilled the fellows and I guess I did pretty good as the next day
he asked me to drill them again. After drilling them and going back to the
barracks I was told that Sgt. Rockhill wanted to see me. He asked me if I wanted to be an instructor
and told me to fall out in the morning in my O.D.s.[5]
The next morning I was in my O.D.s and drilled my men in the A.M.
About this time a new C.O. took over who turned out to be a
prince of a fellow and made an excellent officer. He was 2nd Lt
Francis G. Hughes. He was really a first
class fellow.
Jack found his place
as a drill instructor. It came naturally to him after years marking the rhythm
on his bass horn in his high school marching band. As more recruits came in, he
enlisted the help of his buddy Bob Azevedo. Together they drilled the new men
and felt confident of their task. As fewer recruits arrived, they had less to
do and had “a good time doing nothing.”
I was going home every night as they had cut enlistments off,
and there were no longer any new fellows coming in. I enjoyed these nights at
home very much, and Alice and I really had fun together. About 50 of our
fellows were shipped to Florida to go to school, and word got around that they
were out after more fellows to go to school. They called all of the 38th
together and told us they had their first warning notice about overseas service
and for us to have our wills made out etc.
 |
| Alice on Jack's Model T that her mother called the "Pneumonia Buggy," Santa Rosa |
Lt Hughes asked me if I knew the manual of arms, and I said
no. He said to learn them so I could start to instruct rifle. I took rifle from
Georgia, and he taught it to me pretty good. The day before I was to go on the
range to fire, Lt. Reese Brown called up and wanted me to go to school. He said
he would give me 30 minutes to make up my mind.
I told Lt. Brown I did not want to go to school because Bob
and I had planned on going to Observers[6]
school. He said it was either go to this school or go overseas. We had a big
argument that “Shorty” Brown stuck his nose into, and he really got told off.
I then decided rather than go overseas I would go to A.M.
[Aircraft Maintenance] school at Love Field in Dallas, Texas. I went home that
night and told Alice. In a way she seemed to like the idea as she knew she
would go with me, and in another way I could see way down deep that she hated
the idea because we might be parted for some length of time.
I spent Christmas at home and received a most abundant
amount of gifts and really did appreciate them. Alice was very dear to me and
gave me a nice wallet, a toilet set, etc. I received a garrison hat, a garrison
belt, and a lot of other Army equipment. We thank the good lord for such a nice
Christmas and hope Alice and I can spend many more together in the years to
come.
 |
| Jack at 304 Hendley Street Santa Rosa |
Just after Christmas we got our orders to move. I was going
to go to school in Dallas, Texas, with some of my friends: Bob Azevedo, Vasil
Voikedes, Winkler from Sebastopol, and Derrick from Healdsburg.[7]
On January 24, 1943, our day of departure from good old
Hamilton Field, we started from Santa Rosa to the field in the late morning.
Alice was very quiet on the way and I knew why.
I was very brave up until the time she left. At least I thought I was. After
arriving at the field several of the fellows came over to the car and talked
for a little while. Finally I turned the car around for Alice. Little did I
realize until she left how much I needed her and how much we really loved each
other. After shedding a few tears with my dear wife I told her to be brave and
to go out the road fast so it would not be so hard. Alice was gone. She had
gone home and it was the last time I would see her for a while. I love her very,
very much. I went up to my bed and lay down for a little while but still only
one thing was on my mind—Alice—my wife.
We left Hamilton Field at 2:25 P.M. on Sunday, January 24,
1943. The next part of their adventure would take Jack and Alice farther than they had ever been from home.
 |
| Bob Azevedo, Jack Kellar, Wallace "Wally" Winkler at the train and ready for the trip to Dallas |
[2]
Gordon Chappell,
"History," Historic California
Posts, Camps, Stations and Airfields: Hamilton Air Force Base (http://www.militarymuseum.org/HamiltonAFB.html
: accessed 14 January 2018), first image.
[3]
Possibly Glen E. Giddens from Los Angeles,
employed as a skilled mechanic or repairman of motor vehicles at enlistment, 30
August 1942. See “U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938–1946,”
database, Ancestry (https://search.ancestry.com : accessed
15 January 2018), search for Giddens, California, 1942.
[4]
Possibly Robert G. Clayton from Los Angeles,
employed in mechanical treatment of metals at enlistment, 5 October 1942. See
“U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938–1946,” database, Ancestry (https://search.ancestry.com : accessed
15 January 2018), search for Clayton, California, 1942.
[5]
Olive drabs (O.D.s) were a wool uniform for
cooler weather.
[6]
Aircraft Observers (navigators, bombardiers, and
other support personnel) received training similar to pilots. See “Observer
Badge,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observer_Badge
: accessed 15 January 2018), paragraph 1. Also, Pilots’ Information File 1944: The Authentic World War II Guidebook for
Pilots and Flight Engineers (Atglen, Penna.: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.,
1995), 1-11-4; digital snippet, Google Books (https://books.google.com : accessed 15 January 2018), search in the book for "observer."
[7]
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