10 A Hot, Humid June in Indianapolis

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

June 2, 1943
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.

    Your wife, Alice.[6]

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.

 

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[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.

[8] Jack J. Kellar, “My Life in the Service,” diary, 22 October 1942–July 1943, excerpts.

[9] Jack J. Kellar, “Autobiography,” 1998; two ninety-minute cassette tape recordings; held and partially transcribed by the author.

[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.

[12] Jack J. Kellar, “My Life in the Service,” diary, 22 October 1942–July 1943, excerpts.

[13] Jack J. Kellar and Alice (Streeter) Kellar, interview by Judy Kellar Fox, December 1993, excerpts.

7 Practical Jokers at School

The practical jokers at Dallas Aircraft Maintenance School:
Bob Azevedo, Leo Kurland, Jack Kellar, Vasil Voikides
Public domain photo by US Army Air Corps, 1943

In five months Dallas Aviation School at Love Field, Dallas, Texas, gave young men the skills and confidence to work on airplane engines in the field. Starting from the basics of working with metal they learned how to repair and replace engines. They gained experience they would need to build on when they were eventually sent into combat. Schooling aside, Jack’s primary concern on arrival was when and how he could be with Alice again.

Barracks A and B, Dallas Aircraft Maintenance School

27 January 1943, arrival at Love Field: Sgt Eiland gave us a short talk about the school. He made my heart sink to the bottom of my shoes when he said, “You will have to sign a paper saying your wife will not accompany you here.” The following morning I wrote several letters, one to Alice, and my heart was really down in my shoes, or lower, by now. For the first time I realized I was away from home and I missed Alice so much that words can’t express. I sent a telegram to Alice and finally I laid down on the bed and did a little real old-fashioned crying and finally fell asleep.[1] 

Jack, far right, marching to school, Dallas

Jack had no formal preparation for aircraft maintenance. In high school he participated in band, orchestra, and drama and took no shop classes.[2] As an appliance deliveryman, he learned on the spot basic adjustments of stoves and refrigerators.[3] Jack’s journal describes the progression of his classes (in added boldface type).[4]

First day of school: We learned how to tin a piece of metal and how to make wire connections and solder them.

Second day: We started to make a Dzus wrench[5] and then we made a screw driver. The next several days were spent in the metal shop and then on into electricity and magnets.

Beginning of second week: We finished our first phase today and will start on Structures tomorrow. Time seems to drag along.

The following week: We finished Structures and started Hydraulics. We got into “Props” and met up with a S.B. for an instructor.

Jack and Alice in front of the USO Club

Up to this point Jack had little to say about his instructors and wrote respectfully about them. Three weeks of school and Alice’s arrival in Dallas emboldened him to join his pals Bob Azevedo, Leo Kurland, and Vasil Voikedes (photo above) in teasing and playing practical jokes on their instructors.

School is interesting now especially that Alice is here. In Electrical systems we had a good old F.O. [@#$%] with whom we had a lot of fun but did not learn much.

We went on thru engine overhaul and Carburation. From there we went to engine test and had Pop Bruner. We had lots of fun with him and played lots of tricks on him.

We went into Preflight & daily inspections with Mr. Karns. He sure was a swell fellow and very interested in airplanes. We enjoyed Mr. Murray for 25 hr inspection. We worked on the piper cub for 5 days and still it would not run right for us. For 50 hr inspection we had an old Codger who was as full of bull _ _ _ _ as a Christmas goose. We got his number and had lots of fun with him.

We went into our last phase of engine change with an instructor that was really O.K.

When Alice arrived, Jack was happy, and the fun began, both as a couple and with new friends they met in Dallas. Alice lived at the home of Mrs. Taylor who rented rooms to several Army wives.

Alice in her handmade Easter dress
She covered an old handbag with
matching fabric.

Boy was it good to see Alice when I met her at the station!!! Our days were well spent together as I was on the night shift. We went to dances at the U.S.O. and to Fair Park. We rode street cars all over Dallas. We went to quite a few shows and at one saw the “Ink Spots” which we enjoyed very much. The girls would go to the U.S.O. dances and bring us cake & cookies which sure were good.

Jack on the merry-go-round at Fair Park

Alice & I went out to church Palm Sunday & Easter Sunday at Southern Methodist University
Methodist Church. It is a beautiful church and you really feel close to God when you are there. The church was quite packed and the services were beautiful. We enjoyed the preachers at several other occasions at the same church.

On our [first] anniversary Voikides took us to Dinner, and after dinner we had a big time, ask Alice about it. We spent lots of afternoons laying on Mrs Taylors lawn in the sun and the evenings on the porch swing with Pat & Betty Hahn. We enjoyed our noon meals by sitting on the railing in front of the mess hall and talking about people & taking pictures.

Betty and Pat Hahn, Jack and Alice Kellar, Margaret and Rocky Mitchell
in front of the cafeteria

Betty Hahn, Margaret Mitchell, and June Radsky
at the Taylor home

Jack, Pat Hahn, Ralph Barkemeier
Lake Buchanan wiener roast

One afternoon Alice, Betty Hahn, & Betty Barkemeier got some wieners and made some potato salad. We went down by the lake & had a swell picnic. Boy did we eat.

Jack and Alice had good times in Dallas. Once she got there. However, her solo train trip from California left her at the mercy of strangers and her own inexperience.

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[1] Jack J. Kellar, “My Life in the Service,” diary, 22 October 1942–July 1943; 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. Excerpts are lightly edited for consistency.

[2] Santa Rosa (California) High School, report cards, 1935–1939, Jack J. Kellar; Kellar family memorabilia collection held by the author.

[3] 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.

[4] Jack J. Kellar, “My Life in the Service.”

[5] Pronounced “zoose,” a dzus wrench is a quarter-turn wrench for dzus fasteners.