 |
| Jack and Alice at Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis |
 |
| Allison V-1710 Engine[1] |
Four months at
Aircraft Maintenance School in Dallas prepared Jack and his buddies for work on
airplanes, but they didn’t know which ones. Their next assignment narrowed
their options. One month at the Allison Engine School in Indianapolis, Indiana, would introduce them to the engines then used in over sixty percent of the U.S.
Army Air Corps’ pursuit aircraft. The Allison V-1710 powered the famous P-38
Lightning, P-39 Airacobra, P-40 Warhawk, and the early P-51A Mustang. The
engines were tough and resisted machine-gun fire well.[2] The planes needed pilots, and they needed
trained mechanics. That’s what Jack would learn at Allison. He was also on the
lookout for a good time. Alice’s arrival would help.
 |
| P-38 Lightning[3] |
Getting Alice Settled
in Indianapolis
That [second] night [in Indianapolis, about 3 June] we got
our passes & Bob & Derrick & I went to town to see if I could find
a room for Alice. After sending her several telegrams I got an answer that she
would arrive Sunday.[4]
Not alone this time, Alice
took a train from Texas to Indiana with her new friend Betty Hahn. Betty’s
husband was from Evansville, on the way to Indianapolis, and Alice stayed a few
nights with her there.[5]
 |
| Barracks at Allison Engine School where Jack lived |
Dear Jack:
I received your message this afternoon. I can hardly wait to get started. Betty and I got our tickets this morning $18.91
& we insured ourselves for $10,000 for 25¢.
I did not have room for my fur coat in the suit case, so I
am sending it home. I will insure it for
$150.—
I will send you a telegram when I arrive in Evansville.
With all my love & lots of luck to you darling.
June
5, 1943
Dearest
Jack :
Betty and I had rather a hard trip, as we didn’t
have a seat when we got on the train. Betty [then
pregnant] got one soon after & I took turns with soldiers. Got a few hours sleep
anyhow. It was so hot until we got to St. Louis, then it rained.
Today it is so warm after the rain yesterday. I am still
so sleepy.
Will write again tomorrow, hope to hear from you soon
I love you honey
forever & ever[7]
 |
| The Hudsons at home |
A Welcoming Landlady
Found the Way to Jack’s Heart
Jack: I had found Alice
a room by going from door to door near the school. After a long search I found
a room at Mrs. Hudson’s but had to do some tall talking to get her to rent it to
her. Later she was glad she had rented it. They are really very nice people.
Mrs. Hudson asked me to sing in their church one night which
I did. I liked their church and the people there were very nice. Mrs. Hudson
made ice cream one Sunday night & treated us to it. One Sunday she had us
out for Breakfast.
Mrs. Hudson asked me to sing at their church again and I did.
After church they had a large dinner in the church basement. We were guests of
honor & treated like kings. We ate heartily & the food was well
enjoyed.[8]
Alice at the Kresge
Lunch Counter
 |
| Kresge, Indianapolis Imagine Alice looking out at the folks at the bus stop. |
Jack: Wherever we
went Alice had a job. She was busy helping out to make money.[9]
At Indianapolis she worked for Kresge’s [five and dime store]. Because
she had worked at Kress’s in Santa Rosa, she had good experience. They were glad
to get her down there, and hated to see her leave. [10]
Who would hire a woman
who likely would only be around one month while her husband was in school?
Jack: They wanted
help then, boy. Everybody’s going into the service or the
airplane factories.
Alice, animated:
They were darn glad to get me, I tell you! I just went in to Kresge’s, and they
put me on cosmetics. They also had a lunch counter. I got all the under stock
straightened out for the cosmetics counter, then one day the lunch counter girl
didn’t show up for work. “Mrs. Kellar can you fill in at the lunch counter? I’d
sure appreciate it.” I don’t remember what I got paid. It didn’t matter. I had
a job, and I had my lunches out. I can remember standing at the lunch counter, and it’s so
hot, just humid and hot. There were people getting on the bus with their
umbrella. I guess I bought an umbrella there. That rain just really came down
when it started, but what a relief! [11]
Fun Together in
Indianapolis
Jack: The school
was fine and being with Alice at night really improved things a lot. We spent a
lot of our time at Maplehurst dairy & fountain where they sure had swell
ice cream. We saw “Shadow of a Doubt,” the picture made in my home town Santa
Rosa. One Sunday we went to church at Roberts Memorial Church built in 1876.
Then we went out to the Indianapolis speedway with Bob. We crawled under the
fence & took some pictures as all of the gates were locked. We went to the amusement
park at Riverside and went on the tunnel of love, Chute the Chutes, & many
other rides. We ate wienies & had a swell time.
 |
| Back: Erwin Derrick, Bob Azevedo, Bob Rehbein; Front: Wallace Winkler, Floyd K. Anderson, Leo A. Dregier |
School was nearly over now and we went thru the Allison
factory. It was most interesting altho we did not have enough time to see all
we wanted to. At least we saw the main & important things. We graduated on
a Tues about June 29.
The best news came when we heard we were to be sent to
Hammer Field at Fresno California. California! That seemed too good to be true.[12]
But before I could go, I had to have everything done on my
teeth. I had fourteen fillings, some on the front teeth. That was the orders of
the day that everyone will have their teeth checked and everything checked
physically.[13]
Teeth fixed and ready
to go, the trip back to California would be an easy one. It proved to be different
from what Jack and Alice expected, though, and one they laughed about the rest
of their lives.
 |
| Jack's Allison Engine School Class, June 1943 Jack is seated, far right. |
[1]
“Allison V-1710 Engine 1.jpg,” photo, Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Allison_V-1710_Engine_1.jpg
: downloaded 18 January 2018), by “Highflier” (Self-made, taken at the USAF
Museum; Dayton, OH) [GFDL CC-BY-SA-3.0].
[2]
“Allison V-1710,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allison_V-1710
: accessed 18 January 2018), “Supercharger,” paragraph 3. Also “Allison
V-1710—USA,” Larry Dwyer, The Aviation
History On-Line Museum (http://www.aviation-history.com/engines/allison.htm
: accessed 18 January 2018).
[3] “P-38 Lightning (U.S. Air Force photo),” U.S. Air Force (http://www.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2000592992/ : accessed 16 February 2018) > News > Photos.
[4]
Jack J. Kellar,
“My Life in the Service,” diary, 22 October 1942–July 1943, excerpts; held and
transcribed by Judy Kellar Fox. The diary is a
preprinted fill-in book, My Life in the Service (Chicago:
Consolidated Book Publishers, 1941). Jack began the section titled, "The
Following Pages Contain the Diary of My Life in the Service." He completed
about eight months of narration, often at long sittings, not daily.
[5]
Jack J. Kellar and Alice (Streeter) Kellar,
interview by Judy Kellar Fox, December 1993; cassette tape recording and
transcription held by the author.
[6]
Alice Streeter Kellar (Dallas, Texas), letter to
Cpl. Jack J. Kellar (Training Det., A.A.F.T.T.C. (Allison Division),
Indianopolis [sic], Indiana), 2 June
1943, excerpts. A.A.F.T.T.C. was the Army Air Force Technical Training Command.
See United States Department of Defense, United States Air Force, Air Education and Training Command (http://www.aetc.af.mil/ : accessed 20
January 2018) > About Us >
History > Significant Events
> 1940-49 > 15 Mar 42.
[7]
Alice Streeter Kellar (Evansville, Indiana),
letter to “Dearest Jack” (Indianapolis, Indiana), 5 June 1943, excerpts. Also,
for Betty’s pregnancy, see Jack J. Kellar and Alice (Streeter) Kellar,
interview by Judy Kellar Fox, December 1993.
[9]
[10]
Jack J. Kellar, interview about his first years
after high school by Judy Kellar Fox, 12 April 1993; cassette tape recording
and transcription held by the author.
[11]
Jack J. Kellar and Alice (Streeter) Kellar,
interview by Judy Kellar Fox, December 1993, excerpts.
[13]
Jack J. Kellar and Alice (Streeter) Kellar,
interview by Judy Kellar Fox, December 1993, excerpts.
No comments:
Post a Comment