Dear Mother,
Well here I am in Texas. This is
Saturday morning and we don't start any
army routine until Monday. Then we will
be organized and rested up from our
58 hour train ride.
I enjoyed the trip very much. There
was 525 of us including officers that
made the trip. We left Patterson Field
at 4:45 P.M. Tuesday. We lined up with
field packs on. Our O.D. uniform was
worn. Leggings and we wore no neckties
and had on our field jackets and over
seas caps. It was a grand sight to
see everyone dressed alike. We marched
from the field to the Osborn railroad
depot. I guess the whole town was there
to give us a send off. The major was
the only officer of our outfit that didn't
come with us. He gave us a little
speech at the railroad depot and he told
us he hated to see us leave. He said
we were the best outfit at Patterson Field
and he wished he was going with us.
When we started to board the train
he gave each one of us a personal
handshake and wished us all good luck.
He really felt bad to see
of us shove
off.
We went through East St. Louis Ill. and
then down through Dupo Ill. We picked
up dining cars there and at breakfast ^& dinner between
there and Popular Bluff Missouri. We rode
along the Mississippi for quite a few
miles and crossed the river almost
in the southern tip of Ill. After crossing
over into Missouri and into Popular Bluff
we
felt unloaded and did a few exercises
to limber up a little from riding so long.
They put on another dining car here and it
made three diners then. Meals didn't take
so long then. We were given $6 ration
money to use on the train. Our meals were
$1 a meal and they weren't worth a quarter
but we had to eat.
Going through Missouri there was acre after
acre of just waste ground. It towns were
old and looked as if a good rain and wind
storm would wash and blow it off the map.
There was a lot of cotton fields and they
were picking cotton in most of them. There
was a lot of
cotton sawmills all through
Mo. We arrived in Texarkana
Mo Ark.
about 5:00 o'clock the next morning. Here
were crossed over into Texas. Ark. was
just about the same as Mo. It was night
so we didn't get to see much of Ark.
We arrived in Long View Texas about
8:00 o'clock and got off the train and walked
or marched up to town to the Hilton hotel.
They had telegraphed ahead and they had
breakfast already for us. We ate breakfast
and then we lined up on the street and
talked with the folks in town. We wrote
cards and bought four gas stations out
of pop and candy bars. There was a newspaper
office close by and they gave each of us a
paper to read. We left here about 11:00
o'clock and arrived in Dallas Texas about
3:00 o'clock. This really is a pretty town.
Everything is so clean and the streets are
plenty wide. A lot of space to build in.
We left here about 4:00 o'clock and
head south for San Antonio.
We arrived in San Antonio about 3:00
o'clock in the morning. We came about two
miles outside of San Antonio and a convoy
of trucks met us and brought us into here.
Stinson Field is about 7 miles south of
San Antonio. It is a new field and we
are in new barracks. It sure is a swell
field. It isn't as big and we have quite
a few priveleges. We can go into town after
5:00 oclock without a pass, but there is
a curfew law here in Texas we have to
be off of the streets at 11:30 A.M. (
PM?)
Last night we went into San Antonio
last night. I was over to the Alamo. It is
in the heart of San Antonio. San Antonio is
a really pretty town. It is just about run
over by soldiers. There is about 5 fields
with 7 miles of it. I guess the M.P.'s really
have the ruling of the town. There is a lot
of Theatre here. I am going into town Sunday
and take my camera with me. There is a
a stream going through town and it is
all fixed up just like a park. Canoeing
and there is a lot of palm trees all
around. It is a grand sight. I will
send you some pictures of it here.
Right back of our camp here is a cemetery
It is really thick with palm trees. Flowers
in bloom and the trees are all green with
leaves.
Well I guess I will close for now. We
slept most of the time yesterday. They didn't
even get us up. The officers
thall that met
us at the train told our captain that we
were the best bunch of soldiers he has
ever met at a train. He said we got off just
as if it were all rehearsed. I guess it makes
our officers proud of us.
I must close for now. It really is hot
here. The temperature is around 85. Write
early so I can get an answer next week.
Send it by airmail. It only costs 3 cents
more. Goodbye for now.
Love Ralph.
Background Information:
- The following is some information about Patterson Field, Fairborn Ohio, and Osborn.
- Following WWI, Dayton’s leading businessmen continued to advocate for the city’s connection to military aviation research. McCook Field, with its “this field is small‐use it all” motto, was quickly outgrown, especially as the size of airplanes continued to increase. John Patterson, of NCR, and later his son, Frederick, raised $425,673 to keep the undersized McCook Field in 33 Dayton. The money was used to purchase 4,520 acres near Huffman Prairie and relocate McCook Field. Once relocated in 1927, McCook Field joined the older facilities at Wilbur Wright Field. The flying school was discontinued after WWI, and its facilities merged with the Fairfield Air Depot. The name of the entire facility was changed to Wright Field, recognizing both brothers. The facility continued to grow in size and prominence. The new engineering facilities were the Army Air Corps’ headquarters for the development of advanced aircraft and equipment. In 1931, the field was split in two, the engineering section retaining the name Wright Field. The other section, east of Huffman Dam, became known as Patterson Field, in recognition of the Patterson family’s relationship with the site. This section contained the Fairfield Air Depot.
- Fairborn
The city of Fairborn, in Greene County, was formed by two separate 19th‐century villages.
Fairfield, which was a pike town along the Old Cumberland Trail and the center of Bath
Township, bustled with hotels, taverns, and a variety of other commercial enterprises during
the mid 1800s. Today, this pike between Dayton and Springfield is State Route 444/Broad
Street. Osborn was platted in 1850, just to the northwest of Fairfield, along the newly arrived
Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad. Osborn thrived in the latter part of the century, quickly
outgrowing Fairfield.
- From 1942‐45, the Army Air Force (USAAF) occupied the Dayton Municipal Airport and constructed several large hangars for airplane repair and new runways for training. Designated as the Dayton Army Air Field, the airport served as a satellite to Wright and Patterson fields. 42 The airport returned to civilian use in 1947, although an Ohio Air National Guard unit remained at the facility. Dayton regained the deed for the property the following year. In addition to Wright and Patterson fields, a smaller Army Air Force installation was located in Van Buren Township. Beginning in the 1920s as another Johnson Flying Field, the facility eventually became an Army Air Force Depot. During WWII, Italian prisoners of war were housed at the installation. It was renamed Gentile Air Force Station (AFS) after the war. The station was essentially an Air Force office park, housing several different organizations, but the largest was the supply center. The 55‐acre Gentile AFS eventually contained several dozen buildings, but the four massive supply buildings dominated the facility.
The next letter will be posted on November 10th.
