AN UNLIKELY MORTAR-MAN

February, 1943 wasn’t an ideal time for Draft Board bargaining but it was something 19 year old Horace Alligood felt he had to do.  Two of his older brothers were already serving in the Army Air Forces overseas.  To keep the next oldest Alligood son, Heber, home to help with the family farm, Horace -- the youngest of the five sons -- asked the Draft Board to send him instead of Heber.

“We grew almost everything on our 100 acre farm in Creswell, NC and our father wasn’t in the best of health.  Heber ‘loved the dirt’ -- it was logical that I went and he stayed to help our parents,” says Horace Alligood. 

The Draft Board was very accommodating.  After basic training at Camp Davis, North Carolina, Alligood served with Coast Artillery at Norfolk, Virginia.  Later, he joined a 4.2 mortar battalion in Georgia.  A five-day troop train passage took him and hundreds more to Seattle, where they boarded a troopship.

HORACE ALLIGOOD -- WWII COAST ARTILLERMAN

Alligood remembers more about the ship than the train.  “Our commanding officer could not tell us where we were going, but we all suspected the Invasion of Japan was our mission.  He ordered us to look at the soldier on our right and on our left.  He said one of the three would not be coming back.”

The atomic bomb dropped while Alligood was at sea.  He was diverted to Okinawa for occupation duty for the remainder of his enlistment. 

While at Norfolk, Alligood had a chance meeting at Virginia Beach with a young lady from Rochester, New York.  After his 1946 Army discharge, he joined Eastman Kodak and married the young lady. 

Alligood’s second entry into the Army was not as negotiable as the first.  As an inactive reservist, his entire Rochester unit was activated.  “We were off to New Jersey, then to Ft. Hood, Texas, and in no time at all, flown to Korea.” 

His 24^th Infantry Division was the first to respond to the communist invasion of South Korea.  “I don’t recall where we landed, but we took a boat first, then a four-hour ride in the back of a truck to get to our unit.  It was bitter cold and snowing hard, I nearly froze!”

According to Alligood, “We seldom stayed in the same location very long.  The front lines moved often.  I was a forward observer for our mortar unit.  The closest call I had was when artillery fire kept getting closer and closer to my position.  At the last minute, I discovered it was friendly fire – it took a while to get word back to the guns to cease fire!  By the time they finally stopped, we were being sprayed with rocks and gravel from the blasts.”

Asked if he believes in foxhole conversions, Alligood replied, “I believe in mine!”  He went to church as a youngster, but until Korea, admits he did not fully and completely trust Jesus as his Savior.

His World War II training and experience helped ease Alligood up the ranks from corporal to master sergeant in Korea.  In addition to meritorious promotions, he was awarded a bronze star, “his devotion to duty, expert leadership and initiative contributed immeasurably to his unit’s missions.”  He also earned the combat infantryman’s badge and Korean Service Medal with three bronze service stars.

ALLIGOOD (SECOND FROM LEFT) & WW II BUDDIES

 While in Korea, he received a letter from Rochester announcing the arrival of his son, John.

Alligood was contacted by the Army shortly after his second discharge regarding additional awards and recognition.  “I thanked them but told them I was done with the Army – just let me get back to work and care for my family,” says Alligood.

After 37 years with Eastman Kodak, work he describes as the “best of times,” Alligood retired and moved his family to Winston-Salem in 1983.  His daughter, Susan, was there first, having graduated from Wake Forest University.  His wife of 40 years passed away in 1986. 

At Calvary Baptist Church, Alligood had another chance meeting with another young lady.  In 1989 they were married, and in 1992 Ellie and Horace Alligood built a new home in Greensboro.  They are active members of Lawndale Baptist Church and now reside in Friends Home West. 

The Alligood bothers from Creswell, NC (it’s near Plymouth) survived their wars unscathed, and another brother saved the family farm.  Horace Alligood is 93, Lewis is 98.  I.J. died at 96.  Their parents died at ages 88 and 96.  Horace Alligood insists, “I never looked at my brothers or me as doing anything exceptional.”

 

         

            

INFANTRYMAN, AVIATOR, PARISHIONER -- DAN CAMIA

My interview with Dan Camia had fewer unintended consequences than his orientation flight to become a helicopter pilot.  In his words, “It did not go well.”  This should have tipped me off he was given to understatements.  After striking an uncharted power line, the helicopter went down – the instructor pilot, the enlisted observer, and Camia escaped injuries.

DAN CAMIA FIRST SERVED AS INFANTRY OFFICER

Camia, an infantry officer serving a 13-month assignment in Korea, was not dismayed.  He completed helicopter pilot training at Fort Rucker, Alabama and was soon flying combat missions in Vietnam.

CAMIA STILL KEEPS A HUEY REMINDER IN HIS HOME

“It was a tough year for us in 1968,” recalls Camia.  “At one time during the Tet Offensive, we flew 36 straight hours under heavy fire in support of a U.S. Army base in danger of being overrun by the Vietcong.” 

After 13 months in Vietnam, Camia was back at Fort Rucker – as an instructor.  While in Vietnam, he had made the decision to propose to Nancy Balboni, a Boston College School of Nursing coed he had dated all their college years.  He did – she accepted – they were married in 1969.

“I went back to Vietnam again in 1971, and commanded an Assault Helicopter Company.  We flew combat missions on a daily basis, mostly at night, and predominantly in support of Special Forces operations.”

Surprisingly, Camia’s most memorable moment of his Vietnam tours did not involve combat, “Hundreds of Vietnam civilians were marooned on an island isolated by a ravaging flood.  Typhoon conditions prohibited normal helicopter operations, but a single volunteer helicopter crew would be accepted.

That was my most gratifying mission – our crew saved over 400, mostly women and children, from certain death.  This may shock those who know 15 is the maximum capacity for a Huey, but we brought out as many as 40 at a time!”

Company commands stateside and a combat aviation battalion command in Germany followed.  Camia served in the Pentagon, as well as tours in Vicenza, Italy; Stuttgart, Germany; and two tours in Heidelberg, Germany over the remainder of his 24-year career.  He retired as a colonel.

DAN CAMIA RETIRED AS A COLONEL

Inasmuch as they were married during almost 20 years of his military career, I asked about household moves.  Nancy Camia fielded that question, “We moved 19 times in 20 years!”

Dan Camia was well decorated for his service – the Distinguished Flying Cross, “For repeatedly leading his flight of helicopters into enemy held territory including seventeen combat air assaults with five at night,” and the Soldier’s Medal, “For rescue mission under extremely dangerous conditions hazardous to his own life.” 

He also received the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, four Bronze Stars, 36 Air Medals and many other commendations.  He was authorized to wear the Parachutist Badge, Ranger Tab, Master Aviator Wings (rotary & fixed wing) and Office of the Secretary of Defense Identification Badge.

COLONEL DAN CAMIA'S AWARDS REFLECT SUPERIOR
SERVICE FOR HIS ARMY/AIR FORCE CAREER

As for medals and decorations, “While I am honored to have received these awards, I feel being an Army wife is the toughest assignment of all – Nancy is the one who deserves the highest award.  She kept our family going all those years!”

CAMIAS STAY BUSY WITH CHURCH AND CIVIC CHORES

She wasn’t into awards any more than her husband, but finally agreed, “Being a good Army wife wasn’t the easiest road.  Due to our frequent moves and raising two children, it wasn’t practical to pursue my career in nursing.  As a commanding officer’s wife, there were always entertaining and support chores that needed to be done.”

She did find time to tutor soldiers in English and math towards their GED, and teach nursing at Fayetteville Community College.

Camia, now 73, retired at Fort Bragg in 1988, and moved again – a shorter move this time, to Greensboro.  He joined Southern Importers, Inc. as regional sales manager and became chief operating officer before retiring again in 2003.

The Camias haven’t really retired, “For 13 years, we have volunteered at St. Francis Springs Prayer Center in Stoneville.”  They are active members of St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Greensboro.  They have two married daughters, two wonderful sons-in-law and two grandchildren.

Per Dan Camia, “I am a 4^th Degree Knight and Faithful Navigator in the Knights of Columbus and a member of their Color Corps.”  He overlooked the blank look of a Baptist layman, but I have since looked it up – it’s as special as he makes it sound. 

Nearing the end of our interview, he wanted to tell me about the medal he valued most of all.  I guessed it would be the Soldier’s Medal, since it is such a rare award.  I was way off, “Receiving the St. Francis Medal is the highest honor of my life!”  I looked that up too, and it is also as special as he makes it sound. 

       

  

      

13NOV1944 WASN'T A GOOD DAY FOR THESE SOLDIERS

On the other hand, in August, 2016, the two World War II veterans couldn’t stop toasting each other – with bottled Coca-Colas – spiked with salted peanuts.

WW II PURPLE HEART VETERANS SALUTE EACH OTHER

William Henry Long and Milton Percy Stanfield graduated in the early 1940s from Summerfield and Monticello High Schools, respectively.  Given their era, being drafted wasn’t “if,” but “when.”  They did odd jobs such as farming, driving trucks and building boats in the interim.  The interim was a bit longer in those days – high school graduation came after the 11^th grade.

Their paths did not cross before leaving to serve their country.

Long landed on Omaha Beach in mid-July, 1944.  Stanfield landed on Utah Beach a short time later.  Both joined the 315^th Infantry Regiment of the 79^th Infantry Division as replacements.

MILTON STANFIELD, BAR-MAN, 79TH ID

DOC LONG, BAZOOKA-MAN, 79TH ID

Even though they were in the same Division and Regiment -- Long as a bazooka-man in Company G, Stanfield as a BAR-man in Company E -- their paths did not cross.

Since the French language had not been taught at Summerfield or Monticello High Schools, a French dictionary would have served Long and Stanfield well.  In weeks, they had bridged, boated, waded or swam across rivers such as the Ay, Sarthe, Seine, Moselle, and Meurthe -- and liberated towns such as Flottenan, Cherbourg, La Haye de Puits, Laval, LeMans and Charmes. 

 

In a rush to reach the Franco-Belgian border, the entire 79^th Division moved 180 miles in 72 hours – they were among first American G.I.s to enter Belgium.  According to Major General Charles H. Corbett, “That was one of the fastest opposed advances by a division in the history of warfare.”

While street-fighting and house-to-house combat had been the order of the day, clearing the Foret de Parroy was quite different.  Both Long and Stanfield recall the dense woods, lack of roads, and a steady diet of mud, rain and fatigue.  They have even more unpleasant memories of the determined German defense of tanks, artillery and mortars.

Long recalls, “By that time, we had taken huge numbers of German prisoners of war.  We had to move them as we moved.  We just put a rope around them, they weren’t too interested in escaping.”

After 127 days of continuous combat -- on Tuesday, October 24, 1944 -- the 315^th Infantry Regiment paused for rest near Luneville, France.  Even during this offline period, the paths of Long and Stanfield did not cross. 

At 7 a.m., on Monday, November 13, after what must have felt like the shortest 20 days of their lives, troops of Companies G and E of the 315^th Infantry Regiment went back into the lines. 

On that fateful day, Stanfield went down first, struck in his arm, hand and leg by shrapnel, “I received a purple heart, but felt like I earned three of them – shrapnel burns skin, cuts arteries and breaks bones!”  After treatment in three Army hospitals, he returned to limited duty for the duration of the war.

Long, a bazooka-man himself, went down at 3 p.m. wounded by shrapnel from a German bazooka shell.  With severed nerves and a major artery cut in his right arm, he was wounded a second time in his other shoulder and arm when a mortar shell exploded nearby.  He was rescued after lying on the frozen battlefield for 18 hours. 

Long recalls, “The below freezing temperature and the fact I had on seven layers of clothing, turned out to be a blessing -- otherwise I would have probably bled to death before they got to me.”

With his right arm paralyzed since the war, Long asked a general if he could salute with his left hand, “He told me to stand tall and proudly salute with what I had left!”

Stanfield, now 93, returned to his Triad roots, raised his family, worked at the Sears Catalog Plant for 37 years, and retired to Madison.

William Henry Long, now 92 -- and much better known as “Doc” Long -- returned to his Summerfield roots, raised his family, and co-founded Long Brothers of Summerfield, Asphalt Paving of Greensboro and Hilco Transport Company. 

Long’s philanthropy is significant and far-reaching.  Beyond community and church, he funded a war memorial in the small French village of Ancerviller, where he was wounded in 1944. 

According to Carolina Field of Honor founder, Bill Moss, “Doc Long jump-started our capital fund-raising – we couldn’t have made it without him.”

TWO 79TH ID WW II WARRIORS MEET FOR FIRST TIME, 72 YEARS AFTER THEY
BOTH WON PURPLE HEARTS ON THE SAME DAY, ON THE SAME BATTLEFIELD
PATTY LONG HILL ARRANGED THE MEETING

Decades after landing at Normandy, the paths of Doc Long and Milton Stanfield finally crossed.  Their daughters, Patty Long-Hill and Emily Oakley, made it happen.  Two World War II foot soldiers, two men of strong faith, too long for their paths to cross, but the crossing left notes and memories -- far beyond toasting with Cokes, spiked with salted peanuts.

WW II BAR-MAN, WWII BAZOOKA-MAN, & PEACE-TIME MARINE
MILTON STANFIELD, DOC LONG, HARRY THETFORD
16AUGUST2016

   

 

  

SEARS SATISFIED MILTON STANFIELD

AND VICE VERSA

Milton Stanfield and his fourth grade buddies at Monticello School found it exciting to watch smoke rise from a large fire over the horizon not far from their school.  “Even though they told me later in the day the smoke had come from my house, I was not prepared for what I saw as I stepped off the school bus -- all that remained of our home were the three chimneys, all else was ashes.”

STANFIELD HAS VIVID MEMORIES
OF WW II AND SEARS, ROEBUCK & CO.

The Stanfields rebuilt on their 97-acre tobacco farm.  Milton Stanfield finished school at Monticello.  After a brief farming deferment from the draft, he was off to Army boot camp at Fort McClellan, Alabama, in March, 1944.  

By July, 1944, he had joined Company E, 315^th Regiment of the 79^th Infantry Division in France as a replacement BAR-man. 

BAR-MAN MILTON STANFIELD DURING WORLD WAR II

The Monticello Stanfields were notified in November, 1944 that their son was missing in action.  Shortly afterwards, a telegram informed them he had been killed in action.

“That was a huge mix-up – actually, I was wounded by shrapnel on November 13, 1944 and spent time in three different hospitals.  At one point, they came through the wards and ordered all of us who could walk, back to the lines.  Our Battalion Doctor sent me right back to the hospital, but I was finally able to go back on limited duty by January 25, 1945. 

My folks sent me a nice package of goodies for Christmas, 1944.  I received it in August, 1945 – all the Mr. Goodbars had worms in them,” recalls Stanfield.

Stanfield remembers V-E Day well, “There was more shooting going on that day than on most days when the war was going on – thank the Lord, they weren’t shooting at people anymore!”

Even though he prefers to be known as a “numbers guy,” he is good with words as well.  He can call up most of the French towns his regiment fought through, and the French liquors they sampled – “I can pronounce them but didn’t care for the taste at all!”

The ships on which he sailed over 70 years ago are on the tip of his tongue, “I went over on the USS West Point and came back on the SS Erne Pyle Victory Ship.  We were in rough seas quite often.  I never got seasick, but went over large expanses of water not wanting a thing to eat.”

MILTON STANFIELD JUSTIFIABLY PROUD OF HIS COMBAT
INFANTRYMAN BADGE AND PURPLE HEART

With his two sons in the service, Percy Stanfield sold the farm and moved his wife and three daughters to Madison, where he worked as a tobacco buyer and operated a bowling alley. 

After being discharged in 1946, Milton Stanfield farmed and worked in the bowling alley.  He may have looked around for a wife as well.  “I met Trevia Joyce on a blind date to the Moravian Easter Sunrise services in Winston-Salem – we were married in October, 1947.”

Stanfield admits to good timing, “The Sears Mail Order Plant in Greensboro was the only job in town during those days – I started there in 1948 and retired in 1985.”  He built a home on Textile Drive in Greensboro, “It cost $5600, but that included $100 for an extra lot.  The payments were $27.68 per month.”

Fair disclosure – 93-year old Stanfield did not talk from notes during our meeting at Subway in Summerfield -- but his daughter, Emily Oakley, kept us on track.

Trevia Stanfield inherited family land in Madison, where she and her husband built a home after his Sears retirement.  She died in 2007 – they had been married 60 years.  They had two children, five grands, and 13 great-grandchildren. 

When asked what he does every day, Milton Stanfield replied, “Absolutely nothing!”  Emily Oakley reminded him that he goes to Hardees every day of his life and spends hours of quiet time with Sudoku – numbers guy, remember?  In addition to trips to Conyers, Georgia to visit his son Larry, and his family, Stanfield attends quarterly meetings of the Sears Catalog Order Plant Retiree Club in Greensboro. 

He doesn’t have to spend much time washing and waxing his 1988 Chevrolet Caprice Classic because he keeps it garaged, “I special ordered that car from the Chevrolet dealer in King, North Carolina.  I had to wait two months for it to come in because I wanted cruise control.”  He also special ordered his 1997 Chevrolet S-10 pick-up, “I wouldn’t have anything but a six-cylinder!” 

I haven’t verified this, but Stanfield shared with me that dew causes more harm to automotive finishes than does the sun.

STANFIELD SAYS HE DOESN'T DO ANYTHING ALL DAY
HIS DAUGHTER SAYS HE GOES TO HARDEES EVERY DAY

Stanfield remains a member of Friendship United Methodist Church, a 150-year old mainstay of the Monticello community – whose property adjoined the Stanfield land.

   

WORLD WAR II DAUGHTER REMEMBERS 

D-DAY QUITE WELL

While it was an extraordinarily busy Tuesday around the office of Marjorie Moore’s father, he found time to write his oldest daughter a two-page birthday letter, “My little lady, sorry that I can’t be with you today, but pray to God that we will be together for your 10^th birthday.”  

COLONEL E. WALTER MOORE

 He apologized for not having time to shop for an appropriate gift to mark the occasion.  He commended her on the glowing dance recital report he had received from her mother.  He reminded her she was the role model for her younger sister, and to help their mother out as much as possible. 

Since her father was a West Point graduate and career military officer, the Moore family was accustomed to family separations – many more were to come. 

Marjorie Moore had received similar letters before, but this one seemed different.  In closing, her father hinted that the day was particularly memorable -- and that she would understand later.

COL. MOORE (L) DURING WORLD WAR II

She understood sooner than later.  Her father was Colonel E. Walter Moore, U. S. Army Air Forces.  He was stationed in England.  He commanded the 30^th Air Depot Group of the 9^th Air Force. 

The day was June 6, 1944 – D-Day!

Even though Colonel Moore was a decorated Command Pilot and would log over 11,000 hours of flight time, he wasn’t flying on D-Day.  He was tasked to keep other B-26 Marauder Bombers under his charge in the air.  The first 56 had taken off at 4 a.m.  The fact that many of his B-26s flew more than one mission on D-Day was a tribute to Moore’s support personnel on the ground. 

At the time, Marjorie’s mother and the two daughters were living with grandparents in Little Rock, Arkansas, “I attended a small private Catholic school.  Each day, we would be taken into the auditorium and shown movies and news clips of how the war was unfolding.  I knew my father was over there someplace and that it was horrible.”

Colonel Moore missed Marjorie’s 10^th birthday as well.  This time, his Martin Marauder bombers were kept busy repatriating American prisoners of war and moving soldiers back towards home.

COL MOORE BEING DECORATED BY FRENCH GENERAL

Her 11^th birthday showed a brief touch of normalcy – albeit overseas -- the family was all together at Erlangen, Germany.  The family spent Marjorie’s 12^th birthday together in Paris, after which Colonel Moore transferred to Eglin Field, Florida.  By this time, Marjorie had become a Christian and started a strong pilgrimage of faith that continues to this day. 

So much for normalcy, she attended schools at Fort Walton Beach, Florida for 9^th grade; Fort Worth, Texas for 10^th ; Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska for 11^th; and Falls Church, Virginia for her senior year.

She doesn’t expect sympathy for changing schools every year, “It was actually lots of fun!  Our high school in Alaska consisted of a 9^th grade boy and me!  I was a shoo-in for most beautiful, most intellectual, class president, etc.  Also, I wouldn’t trade anything for the year we lived in Germany – we traveled all over the place.”

Inasmuch as her father was expecting an assignment in Colorado, Marjorie enrolled as a freshman at Colorado College.  The Colorado assignment did not happen, so Marjorie re-joined her family the next year, matriculating at George Washington University.

In the nation’s capital, she met 2^nd Lieutenant Walter Martin, a South Carolinian freshly commissioned from Furman University, and serving with Headquarters, Military District of Washington.

On June 4, 1957, Marjorie Moore earned her B.A. degree in art from George Washington University.  On June 6, she celebrated another birthday – her father was present for this one.  On June 8, she became Mrs. Marjorie Moore Martin.

MARJORIE AND WALT MARTIN -- 2016

Walter Martin remembers her father was present for the wedding as well, “He was pretty tough on me, maybe because I was a second lieutenant or maybe because I was his son-in-law!”

Since the Martins and I first met several years ago, Marjorie’s prompt still holds, “Remember me as the M&M girl.”

Just as he had sold himself to a colonel’s daughter, Walter Martin made a career of sales and marketing.  Prior to moving to Greensboro in 2001 to be near their children, his livelihood had taken the family to Asheville, Detroit, Fayetteville, Winston-Salem, Martinsville, Virginia and Atlanta.

The Martins are active members of Lawndale Baptist Church.  He is a musician, she is a water color artist – they have two children and five grandchildren.  And one celebrated Dachshund, Heidi.

Colonel E. Walter Moore retired with 30 years of service in 1964.  Among his personal decorations were two legions of merit, two bronze stars, and seven combat campaign stars.

He died on July 16, 1992 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.  Fifteen days prior, he penned his last letter to his oldest daughter, Marjorie.

     

     

      

GENTLE GIANT OF A GENERAL

Even after several years of chance encounters with Ted Crichton, a sit-down breakfast at Herbie’s Place, and a morning-long visit in his beautiful Lake Jeanette home, I feel inadequate to write about this former enlisted man who rose to brigadier general during a 35-year military career.

I'VE NEVER MET A FRIENDLIER GENERAL THAN TED CRICHTON

His two older brothers were in the thick of World War II, but the end was in sight by the time he turned 17 and joined the Army Air Forces in 1945.  “I had wanted to fly since I was a kid making airplane models in Wilmington, Delaware.  I had high hopes of becoming an aviation cadet -- my timing wasn’t the best – they made me an aircraft mechanic.”

However, his timing for appointment to the U.S. Military Academy couldn’t have been better.  “I graduated from West Point in 1950, received my U.S. Air Force wings in 1951, and remained on flying status for 30 years.”

CRICHTON RAN TRACK AT WEST POINT

While my personal observation is that Crichton never saw an airplane he did not like, he leans to the B-45 and C-130, in that order.

“I had the good fortune to be both an aircraft commander and instructor pilot in the B-45, which became operational in the early fifties -- it was our first multi-engine jet bomber.  From England, we planned for operations over Communist countries in B-45s equipped to deliver both conventional or nuclear weapons.  In fact, the Mark V atomic bomb was designed specifically for the B-45.  These missions proved to be a strong deterrence to Soviet Union advances in Western Europe.

TED CRICHTON FEELS B-45 FILLED VALUABLE SLOT DURING COLD WAR

We were commanded by Colonel David M. Jones, a former Doolittle Raider.  Early models of the B-45 were relatively short range, with insufficient fuel to reach some assigned targets and return to England.   He inspired us to believe dissidents in Eastern Europe would help get us home, just as the Chinese had helped the Raiders.  Fortunately, we never put that theory to the test.”

Inasmuch as Crichton is a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College and the National War College -- with a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology -- he left the B-45 in terms even a Marine could understand, “It was a good horse to ride!”

In the 1960’s, Crichton became involved in air transport operations, commanding units equipped with the C-130 at Squadron, Wing and Air Division levels.  On his way to becoming a Command Pilot, Crichton completed over 6,000 flying hours, including 100 combat missions in Southeast Asia.

Other Crichton assignments include tours in the Pentagon; Senior Military Airlift Command Officer in the Europe, Middle East, North Africa area; and from Pope Air Force Base, he commanded two active duty Air Force Wings.

Crichton’s personal decorations include the distinguished service medal, three legions of merit, distinguished flying cross, bronze star, and several air medals. 

GENERAL CRICHTON HAS IMPRESSIVE COLLECTION OF MEMORABILIA

As for the highlight of General Crichton’s Air Force career, “I spotted her in an Officers’ Club chow line at Sculthorpe RAF Base in England.  I wasn’t looking for a wife, but I knew in an instant that she was the one – it was definitely love at first sight.  In 1955, Stella Peterson and I were married.  She was the ideal military wife – we moved 27 times over our 54 years together.”  Mrs. Stella Crichton passed away in 2009.

The Crichton’s daughter, Teresa Crichton Audilet and her husband Alex, live in Greensboro, which led to her parents moving here in 1999.  There are three grandchildren – Emily, Matthew and Claire.

Upon his retirement in 1980, Crichton became Vice President of HR Textron, Inc. in Los Angeles.  He later joined American Nucleonics Corporation, and became president in 1988.  He retired again in 1992 but ANC hired him back as advisor to the president, “My third retirement was a charm – it was concurrent with our move to Greensboro.”

He is a Kiwanian; member of the Black Caps Veterans Group; West Point Society; Guilford County Veterans Memorial Board of Directors; 2008 inductee into the Delaware Aviation Hall of Fame; and active member of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church.

His love for flying did not end with his Air Force retirement, “I’ve worked as a volunteer at Oshkosh, Wisconsin Air Shows for over 20 years and have flown in numerous other air shows.”

Just how inadequate am I to write about General Ted Crichton?  Except for noticing a small photo on his wall, I would have never guessed this six foot, four inch giant of a man ran the individual half mile and the two-mile relay at West Point – he was a four-year letterman.

And except from a coffee table book, I would never have guessed he is a grandson of the famous illustrator and writer, Howard Pyle.  

To keep me in the loop, Crichton says of his grandfather, “He was the writer who put a good face on Robin Hood!”

  

 

      

  

WORLD WAR II SAILOR STILL MAKING FRIENDS

A rehabbing friend said I had to meet his new friend, Carl Adams, his rehab room-mate.  I went, and even though both room-mates were taking extended lunch hours off campus, I waited them out.  Adams’ daughter and niece were waiting too -- they made the wait enjoyable, sharing how much they loved their father and uncle.

When 90-year old Julian Carl Adams Jr. rounded the corner in his wheel chair, his World War II cap and huge smile made me pleased that I waited.

Adams could have just as well worn his USS Core or USS Lake Champlain caps.  He served on the Core 1943-1945, when he left to become a plank-owner on the newly commissioned Lake Champlain – both are U.S. Navy aircraft carriers.t 

“I was on the Core fueling detail.  We had to fuel the aircraft as they came and went.  At least one of us had to wear an asbestos suit during fueling operations – fires broke out quite frequently and had to be snuffed out quickly.”

The Core operated as a hunter-killer carrier and its aircraft were credited with sinking several German submarines in the North Atlantic.  “When we weren’t on patrol for enemy submarines -- we escorted convoys across the Atlantic and ferried aircraft to the war zone.  We delivered 56 P-51s to Liverpool on one occasion and 85 new aircraft to Glasgow another time.” 

CARL ADAMS JOINED THE NAVY AT 17,
"I THINK MY DADDY WAS GLAD TO GET RID OF ME!"

Adams was taken off the Core at Newport, RI and assigned to Marine Corps Air Station in Edenton, NC where the crew for the USS Lake Champlain was forming.  “We traveled by troop train.  I will always remember stopping in Richmond where they gave us box lunches.  Army Private Red Skelton was at the railroad station, dressed in a long Army coat – he looked pretty funny.” 

Adam wasn’t on the Lake Champlain very long before another Hollywood personality came on board, Harvard alumni John Uhler Lemmons III.  His shipmates knew him as Ensign Jack Lemmon.  He would become better known as Ensign Pulver.  

Hollywood dignitaries aside, Adams was more impressed with his commanding officer aboard the Lake Champlain, Captain Logan C. Ramsey.  “Our skipper, a commander at the time, was at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  He was the one who ordered the radio transmission heard around the world, “AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NOT DRILL!” 

The USS Lake Champlain was commissioned June 3, 1945 and saw no World War II action.  “However, you can bet your boots that we brought a lot of GIs home who had been in combat,” says Adams.

The carrier’s aircraft and flight crews were removed and 4000 bunks installed on the hanger deck, as part of the Navy’s, “Magic Carpet” emphasis.  She was the first aircraft carrier converted for troop use and brought troops home from Southampton, England and Naples, Italy, sometimes carrying more than 5000 troops.

Per Adams, “Not only did we bring the troops home in relative comfort and style, we brought them home faster than any other ship!  No one touched our four-day, eight-hour, and 51-minute crossing record from Gibraltar to Norfolk.  We averaged 32.048 knots per hour. 

I had enough points to get out when the war ended, but they froze me due to our Magic Carpet operations.”

1946 was a good year for Adams.  He was discharged from the Navy and married Margaret Neureiter, a New York City donut shop waitress.  He was 19, she was 17.  “We caught a train to Fayetteville, my dad picked us up there.” 

Adams was employed by Roadway Express for 36 years.  He and his wife had two children, Judy Adams Jordan of High Point, and Julian Carl Adams III, who served with the U.S. Army in Vietnam.  Margaret Adams died in 1990, Carl III died in 1998.

Just as Adams became friends with his rehab room-mate, he made friends in the Navy too.  It is easier to list the USS Core reunions he recalls missing (Atlantic City, NJ) versus those he recalls attending (Hot Springs, AR; Lancaster, PA; Des Moines, IA; Islip, NY; Green Bay, WI; Minneapolis, MN, etc.).

We shouldn’t leave out the 1990 USS CORE reunion he brought to his home town of High Point.

Adams chairs the High Point Elks Club veterans committee and is a member of their ballroom dance group.  He is an American Legionnaire, life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and a Shriner for 48 years.  He is quick to add, “I’m just two years away from my Masonic Lodge 60-year pin.”

A WIDOWER FOR 26 YEARS, CARL ADAMS HAD ATTENDED
MANY USS CORE REUNIONS AND HOSTED ONE IN HIS HOME TOWN OF HIGH POINT, NC

He became a Christian as an adult and is a deacon in First Presbyterian Church in High Point.

Adams’ two younger brothers followed him into the Navy – both served during the Korean War.