P-40 pilots Ralph Woods and C. Junior Wilson, Aloe AAF Base, Victoria, Texas
What an endearing letter from Junior’s friends at the base. They called him C.J. He’d recently started signing his letters the same.
Aloe Field, Victoria, Texas–August 1945
P-40 pilots Ralph Woods and C. Junior Wilson, Aloe AAF Base, Victoria, Texas
What an endearing letter from Junior’s friends at the base. They called him C.J. He’d recently started signing his letters the same.
What an outstanding letter. How grateful the Wilsons must have been to know that Junior had been surrounded by such men.
I would say so! More about him and his history in Monday’s post. Ralph Woods wrote them some after the war, corresponded with me when I was trying to learn what happened, and I’m still in contact with one of his (five) daughters. Next Friday, I’m featuring Harry Wold, who was Danny Wilson’s best friend when they were stationed in Italy, and even before.
Incredible… this letter is so sweet. You have such treasures!
Thanks to Grandma Leora keeping everything.
That was so sweet and priceless that you still have it 🙂
What an eloquent letter, so heartfelt and direct. It gives new meaning to “stand-up guy.” Junior’s buddies were stand-up guys for sure.
What a beautiful letter! What a keepsake treasure to have a letter such as this.
Looking forward to the rest of the story. My mind is coming up with all sorts of possible tragedies.
There are many reasons why all of that time, soldier and citizen, are called the Greatest Generation. This letter is one of those reasons. It is the best example of people taking the time to appreciate each other as a unique person that I have seen in a very long time. Much has changed since they came together in common cause .. and, sadly, much not for the better.
Thank you for your note. C.J. (Junior) was just one of the sons Clabe and Leora Wilson lost during the war. P-38 pilot, Daniel S. Wilson, was KIA earlier that year in Austria and is now buried in the Lorraine American Cemetery in France. Dale R. Wilson, copilot of a B-25 lost off New Guinea has never been found. They are the reason I wrote “Leora’s Letters,” which is the family story, and “What Leora Never Knew,” which is my journey of discovering what happened to my mother’s three younger brothers. Leora was their mother, and my delightful grandmother for four decades after the war.
I happened to stumble upon your blog because I was looking up stuff about my father. He was at Aloe Field , not sure of his time there so I don’t know if he and your relative crossed paths, but perhaps. A thanks to your family for their service and my sincere thoughts on their ultimate sacrifice.
I visited the site of the base with my parents in the 80s. It is just an industrial area now but my mom wanted to see it again (she was sorely disappointed) because it was the first base dad was stationed at after they were married.
You have some very interesting blogs, very good work Ms. Kidney.
Oh
Oh my, bless you, Dan, for your note. Junior Wilson was one of three Wilson brothers who lost their lives during the war, so this has been a compelling Memorial Day weekend for me. Leora’s Letters is the family story about WWII. Five brothers served, only two came home. Junior Wilson is buried here at home in Iowa. Danny Wilson was a P-38 pilot KIA in Austria, now buried in the Lorraine American Cemetery in France. (A faithful Frenchman posted a photo of his cross and photo over the weekend.) Dale Wilson, a B-25 copilot, has never been found, along with the other five on the bomber, off Wewak, New Guinea. (He was my Aunt Darlene’s twin. My mother was their other sister.)