letter to the editor
Mom story about patriotism ‘I have never forgotten’
This is a story about patriotism that I have never forgotten!
I am going to go back to the years 1940 and 1941 for my story. In 1940, my brother, Dick, and I were raised by a single mom who was an employee of the U.S. Army Air Corps at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas. As my mother did her daily chores for the Army Air Corps, her widowed mother came to live with us and became our “mother,” while my mother assumed the role of the father figure.
On Dec. 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, at dawn on Sunday morning. As you can remember, the bombing was devastating!
The Army Air Corps was very shaken up and decided that they had many air fields and facilities that could be hit exactly as Pearl Harbor was attacked and destroyed. The generals of the Army Air Corps decided to make protective changes! After a short study they decided to move Army Air Corps facilities to the center of the United States to make them safer from such attacks.
My mother was called into the General’s office and he briefed her on the situation and the Army’s solution to the problems of defense of our country and facilities. He told her that the plan was to move vital bases to “Inland America” to protect them from enemy bombers. He told her that he would like to have volunteers as a vital link to this security problem and it would mean a promotion for her.
She would have her own office and her own Secretary. Her new job description would be a Time/Motion Expert and her office would observe work procedures and report on better, more efficient ways to accomplish work patterns. My mother accepted this job and responsibility. She promised the General that she would do her very best to accomplish her mission.
The General told her that the new base was already under construction and that personnel were being sought and placed in key positions.
This new air base would be named; “Tinker Field” Named after a great Army Hero! It would be built near Oklahoma City. My mother must leave immediately to join others in their efforts to accomplish this mission. Time was of the essence! The Japanese were “Full Speed Ahead!” To destroy us and our country.
My mother came home, hugged my brother and me and gave her mother specific instructions of what she wanted her to do in her absence. The family would be able to join her in Oklahoma City in a few short months. She quickly packed her bags and departed.
My mother left immediately to carry out her new job requirements! In May, my mother had made all of the necessary arrangements for the family to join her in OKC. We left San Antonio with my grandmother on board the new “Texas Rocket” a new three car diesel train, which was reported to obtain speeds of up to 90 MPH. We arrived at the OKC train depot eight hours later and our mother was there to meet us.
Tinker Air Base was completed and became one of the largest Air Material Command Bases in the world. Oklahoma City became famous for its huge USAF Air Base and the hub of many Air Operations. My mother: Mary E. Ferrell/Lamparter. She retired from the USAF after thirty years service and as a “Plank Owner” in the Huge Complex…”Tinker Air Force Base”. And …We won the War!
Jack Ferrell, Farragut
