LETTER #36 - 29 AUGUST 1944 from Ray Kubick

The book that Ray was reading and referring to.

My Little Notes:
Not much to add.  A nice letter from Ray addressed to my grandmother.  He sounds very upbeat, active and making the use of the time he has there at the base.  Nice to know, fast forward in his life, his choice of skills and education pays off as he becomes a mechanical engineer.





See the movie! Link for the 1953 movie, "The Robe" with Richard Burton 

LETTER #35 - 25 AUG 1944

 

My Little Notes:

Wow quite a bit here!  Well looks like Uncle Louie has completed radio school at Truax Field in Madison and is now at Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois (see postcards below I found on the internet).  Also, he mentions seeing a lot of B-24s flying around (see some photos I found).  He mentions "Al" which I am sure is Alvin Lloyd being assigned to another section.  Hopefully, he can be switched with Louie.  Not sure who poor "Tucker" is that he left behind!  I know that his other Army pal, Ray Kubick is still there...

He also draws a "swell" patch to show his family that he is now an official radio tech guy!

And I enjoyed the story about the two girls they met at Riverview Park and how they had "lots of money" to pay their half!  Riverview Park was such an icon for Chicagoans.  Check out the links and pictures below.  The story goes that my Grandparents (Louie's parents) met on the Carousel at Riverview Park about 1924.

Chanute Air Museum
Click on link above to learn about life at Chanute Air Force Base from 1917 to 1993.  This is an Air Museum now.  I definitely want to visit this museum!

Link on History from Wikipedia on Chanute Air Force Base 

Chanute Air Force Base

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chanute Air Force Base
Part of Air Training Command (ATC)
Located in Rantoul, Illinois
Chanute AFB, 12 April 1998
Type	Air Force Base
Coordinates	40°17′40″N 088°08′35″W
Built	1917
In use	1917-1993
Controlled by	United States Air Force
Garrison	3345th Air Base Group, (1948 - 1993)

Chanute Air Force Base (1917–1993) is a former United States Air Force base located south of and adjacent to Rantoul, Illinois, about 130 miles (210 km) south of Chicago. Its primary mission throughout its existence was Air Force technical training.
Prior to its closing by BRAC in 1993, Chanute was one of the oldest facilities in the United States Air Force. At the time of its closure, Chanute AFB was the U.S. Air Force's third oldest active base and its tennant Chanute Technical Training Center the oldest technical training center in the service.


















 

Below the five technical categories: 

Ask you can see, he drew a pretty good picture of the patch he now wears being a radio man.

B-24 Bombers
According to Wikipedia, "The B-24 was used in World War II by several Allied air forces and navies, and by every branch of the American armed forces during the war, attaining a distinguished war record with its operations in the Western European, Pacific, Mediterranean, and China-Burma-India Theaters."

Link on Wikipedia on B-24 Bombers

Riverview Park

Circa 1960 - A couple on the Riverview Carousel.

Couples here enjoying the Tunnel of Love Boat Ride at Riverview Park ~ circa 1943.

Riverview Remembered by WGN ~ 3.47 minute video clip

Another link on Riverview Park and lots of photos!  

LETTER #34 - 8 AUGUST 1944 from Mrs. Luke Lloyd

A soldier writing to his mother.  Looks like Army Air Forces stationary!

(1943 Ad Bell Aircraft Airacobras Plane Aviation Wartime WWII Mother Military - Ben Stahl)

My little notes:
If you have been following, I gave you heads up on Alvin Lloyd in the last post.  Alvin was another Army buddy of Louie's.  Apparently, he too like Ray Kubick, visited my grandparents on a weekend leave.  It makes me proud that my uncle and my grandparents did such a sweet gesture to welcome another Army pal into their home for a good home cooked meal!  This is the only letter we will see from Chassie Lloyd.  I did a little research and found out that Chassie and Luke Lloyd had 5 sons.  It appears that the first 3 were in the service.  All survived the war and were veterans.  Alvin was the oldest.  He also outlived everyone in his family.  He passed away in 2008 and is buried at the Florida National Military Cemetery (see his memorial below).  Also, Luke and Chassie divorced at some point and Luke remarried in 1957.  Chassie lives a long live and dies at the age of 95 in 1995.  I have been trying to see if I can contact family, like Ray Kubick's family, but no luck yet.  It is interesting to see how our lives are connected.  Here a soldier from Greeneville, Tennessee meets up with a city boy from Chicago.  We will be hearing from Alvin in about 4-5 letters he writes to my grandparents, but not until 1945.  We are still in the summer of 1944 for now.

LINKS BELOW TO THEIR FIND-A-GRAVE MEMORIALS:

Link to Chassie Lloyd's memorial on Find-A-Grave

Link to Alvin V. Lloyd's memorial on Find-A-Grave