In December 1943, Clabe and Leora Wilson were struggling to get all the work done on the farm near Minburn, where they were tenant farmers. Since their youngest son, Junior, had joined the Army Air Force two months earlier, all five sons were now serving in World War II.
Leora had located a five-star service flag to hang in their farmhouse window.
On Leora’s Dec. 4 birthday, a telegram had arrived announcing that their middle son, Dale, a copilot on a B-25 in New Guinea, had been missing in action since Nov. 27.
Still unaware of the news about Dale, Junior wrote home from College Detachment at Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Mom and Dad,
Got the pictures from home. Joe makes me want to reach right out and pet him! The one of Dad holding the gun with Spats and Joe [the Wilsons’ pet dogs] makes me think of home. A picture is better than a letter itself.
I am bunking with a farmer who had a John Deere. We do a lot of talking on the subject.
Stillwater is about the size of Perry. We went to a wild-west show. Boy, these old Oklahomans sure like the shooting and the flying dust. I will have to admit that I do too!
Oklahoma A&M stands for Agricultural and Mechanical. We passed some hog pens the other day and the guys held their noses. I just laughed and said it reminded me of home! Ha!
I got your present. I’m telling you, the figs and nuts really tasted good, although they were devoured in about 15 minutes! It reminded me of the good old times when we went to Perry and invaded the Thriftway store. No doubt that’s where you got them.
How’s it going on the farm? Boy, how I would like to be there on the bottom today. Might get in on a little pheasant or fox hunting if I were back. You know, I could even stand the hog dust, too! Ha!
Take Care and Merry Christmas, Junior
This is interesting because not too many weeks earlier, Junior had bemoaned that it looked like he’d be a farmer for the duration.
A year later, his parents bought an acreage near Perry. Even when they lived at Minburn, they traded in Perry, probably because the Thriftway would buy Leora’s eggs and butter.
Dale Wilson was still MIA, and Danny Wilson was a P-38 fighter pilot who had been sent to Italy for combat. Junior had passed Primary and Basic Training to become a pilot and was just about to leave for Advanced. He wrote home from Waco, Texas, in late 1944:
Dear Mom and Dad,
I suppose you are having cool weather up there now. Probably some good coon-hunting weather. We had a pet coon on a long chain here at the base. We could pet him like a kitten. I don’t think I’ll kill any more of them.
I’m in Waco for more Basic Training. The gym is right across the road. They have brand new barbells. By Christmas, I’ll be in Advanced Training in fighters. They want the younger boys in the fighters since they can stand more strain and their reflexes are faster.
Are you having fun fixing up your new home? I’m sending home more money. Maybe it will help buy a bucket of coal or a big box of bran from the Thriftway.
Junior
Just a little history of Perry’s Thriftway store, thanks to some old letters.
Joy Neal Kidney of West Des Moines is the author of “Leora’s Letters: The Story of Love and Loss for an Iowa Family During World War II” and “Leora’s Dexter Stories: The Scarcity Years of the Great Depression.”
