Memoirs of Norbert E. Gnadinger, Sr. Volume 1
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1944More and more I was feeling that I had made a good choice when I decided to leave the Q.M. Depot and apply for a job with Tube Turns. Of course, at that time, all of my happiness was based on money. For instance, just after the start of the new year I was notified that my base pay was to be increased from eighty to eighty-five cents an hour. I had heard that the welders were paid a dollar an hour. At that time, I thought that if I ever raised my base to one dollar an hour I would be in “pig heaven”. All of this, while meaningful to me at that period in time, may make you chuckle a little bit but you have to consider that the dollar an hour then is probably equivalent to thirty dollars an hour today. I didn’t know this at that time, but my leaving the Q.M. Depot was very fortunate for Helen and I. Shortly after World War II ended, the entire Depot was shut down and most employees had to transfer to Richmond, Va. I wouldn’t have wanted to make this move and I know darned well Helen wouldn’t. Now that the holidays were over, rehearsals for our next play, Smilin’ Through, became a two-a-week task. Our performance was again to be held in the Woman’s Club Auditorium on the night of Jan. 21, 1944. The Dress Rehearsal was to be performed this time at the Sacred Heart Academy on Lexington Road. We had a large turnout for this performance because the Ursuline Mother House was on this campus and most of these Nuns were eager to see the newest production of the Catholic Theater Guild. They were nice enough to give us a good review. On the night the play was to be performed, publicly, Helen didn’t feel up to attending and ushering. Bernie did and seemed to really enjoy himself. Willie Ainley did an “adequate” job as the rejected boy-friend of Kathleen but the newspaper review only listed me as a member of the cast. My bubble had been popped. I have not mentioned other members of the cast because, after I dropped out of the Theater Guild, Helen and I didn’t continue our association with any of them. One very talented woman who appeared with me in both plays was Mary Rita Frankrone. I had attended grade school with her brother, Leonard, at St. Vincent but she was a year younger than me so I didn’t know her until we appeared together in the plays. Years later, I discovered that she and my old friend and our attorney, Joe Pike, had married. Various important events were beginning to take up my time and attention so I did not appear in another play even though I continued as a member of the Guild. Jiggs finally got his wish and entered the Naval branch of the service and was assigned to the CB’s(Construction Battalion). After Boot Camp at Great Lakes Naval Training Center, he went directly overseas in the Pacific. He was assigned to many islands but I remember most his service in the Philippines. The CB’s liked to brag that they were assigned to the invasion of an island first to set up bridges and build roads and airfields and then the Marines would land to fight the battles. It sounded good but very impractical. Jiggs had gotten married in 1943 to Inez Hutchins just before he was inducted into the Navy. A lot of young people went through the marriage ceremony just before going into the service.(Jiggs and Inez’s daughter, Norma Ann Buchter was born, March 4, 1944) Bernie was finally given an O.K. by his many doctors to begin driving an automobile again. He had been keeping his license up to date each year. I turned the 1937 Chevrolet over to him with profuse thanks but with no payment for the use of his car. He didn’t expect any. Most of the main transportation lines in the city now had motor buses. When Bernie had been injured and I took over his car, streetcars were still the mode of travel. Where I lived on Stoll Ave., I had to just walk down the street, cross over the railroad tracks and pick up the Walnut St. electric bus on Payne St. which, fortunately for me, dropped me off just in front of the main gate of Tube Turns on Twenty Eighth St. Living without an automobile was not a great hardship where we lived on Stoll Ave. Up on Frankfort Ave. was a “supermarket”, a fine drug store and even a movie theater, the Crescent Theater. I emphasized the grocery store because it was called a supermarket but might have been twenty feet wide by, maybe, forty foot deep. No comparison with todays “mega” stores. Our only inconvenience was in visiting with friends and relatives. This would soon change.(7-06-2001) Helen was having a sort of rough time with this pregnancy. Not only was she pregnant but she had three little ones to take care of all day long as well as all the housework that entailed. I was still working ten hours a day and it seemed to the two of us that all we were doing was working and sleeping with no rest in between. Nibby was four years old then and it is surprising how much responsibility we put on his little shoulders. If his little body could withstand the strain then he was given a job to do. Rosie was always willing to carry something or go after something. Nancy was just learning to walk so we had to put a barrier around the stove so she wouldn’t get burned. Helen always commented about Nancy that she made life a little easier for Helen because she became potty trained at such a young age. Dr. Abraham changed our life pattern for us when, one day, after one of Helen’s visits to his office, he said that he was concerned about Helen’s response to the pregnancy and he ordered her to bed. She didn’t even make it back to Stoll Ave. I took her to the Buchter’s house and talked it over with Grandma and Grampa Buchter. The decision was made by the four of us that we would move back to Phillips Ave. until after the baby was born. This meant that we would have to give up our home and we weren’t too happy about that. The continuing moves were becoming hard to take. There was no signed contract with the rental of the house but I felt bad about moving out so quickly and leaving the old man, owner, with an empty house. Fortunately, Bart Johnson, who I worked with was looking for a house to rent and he took over the house. I sold him our “Warm Morning” coal stove. All I now had to do was line up helpers like Whitey, Monk and Stanley, borrow a truck and work in the dark while moving the furniture. Fortunately, I did not have to take out the upstairs window in order to move our bed. We were soon back in the same two rooms we lived in before but a lot more crowded since there were five and a half of us now. We decided, for the convenience, that we would eat together and share all the expenses. Whitey and Monk seemed to be glad to have us back with them.(7-07-2001) I had to register for the draft just like every other “able bodied” man between a certain age range. Just after all of this uproar about moving, I received my draft notice. My being married with three children, I was rated a 4F, exempt but subject to re-evaluation. While at the Q.M. Depot I had been “called-up”, had been rated F1, and the Quartermaster Corp had gotten me deferred and put back into the 4F category. I now had to go through the same procedure. I even had to have a physical examination which I passed. I was again on the list ready to be drafted and this time, Tube Turns got me a deferment because my job was very important to the war effort. This deferment really meant that there were sufficient other young men available to fill the draft quota and I could receive a deferment until the next quota was listed. I was real pleased because, with Helen pregnant and the baby due at any time, there was no way I was ready to leave home, war or no war. Of course, my desire had no bearing on this case. Bernie and I had gone to the end-of-season banquet put on by the Theater Guild for all of its’ members. Helen assured me that everything would be alright. After the banquet, Bernie dropped me off on Phillips Ave. I went to bed and sure enough, in the middle of the night, Helen woke me and we were on the way to St. Joseph’s Infirmary. We had notified Dr. Abraham and the nurses were waiting for us when we arrived. I started walking the floor as usual. Men were not allowed in the delivery room. About two hours later, Dr. Abraham came out to talk to me. It seems that Helen had a rough time and it was discovered that she had a tumor on her Uterus which had to be surgically removed. He had to get my permission to call in a specialist, A Dr. Gene Aud who was on the premise, to do the surgery. I gave my permission immediately and Dr. Abraham said he would keep me informed. I called home to let them know what was happening and to tell them the baby was alright, then I had to wait. It seemed like hours before the two doctors came out to talk to me. Helen was in very serious condition and had bled quite heavily. She had needed several blood transfusions and was not yet out of danger. I did not get to see her or the baby until that night and then only for a short while. She really looked haggard and was still drugged. The baby looked normal enough, all wrinkled, as usual. Dr. Aud had stated that it was necessary to have a nurse with Helen overnight and had called in a Beulah Crockett for this duty. She ended up staying two nights before the doctor thought Helen was out of danger. During this day of June 4th, I spent my time talking to neighbors and family trying to line up blood donors to replace the blood that Helen had needed. I believe that Bernie, Stanley and even a close neighbor who we hardly knew, a Dick Fernau, donated their blood at the hospital. We’ll always be thankful to the blood-doners. Everyone was so helpful. I had called in to let Mr. Kannapel know what was happening and assured him I would be in the next day if Helen’s condition warranted it. I ended up losing two days of work. The next day I was able to talk to Helen. She hadn’t been told what all she had gone through and I tried to fill in all the details as best I could. She couldn’t figure out why it was so necessary to have a private nurse on duty overnight. She didn’t think she felt that bad. She finally got to see the baby while I was there so that made us both feel better. She could not have other company until the next day. I then went home and went to bed. I hadn’t had any sleep for two days and I was beat. Helen says that she spent two weeks in the hospital but I can’t remember. I really don’t know how Grandma Buchter held up under all of this pressure but she never complained. In fact, I never heard her complain about anything in her life. She was truly a fine woman.(7-08-2001) Once again, it was my turn to name the new baby. This baby would be our last one because of the operation Helen had to go through. Naturally, we decided that four children would make an ideal family. I waited a few days before bringing up the need to name the baby. We were alone together in the usually darkened room and tossed names back and forth. I finally prevailed with selecting the names of three of my bothers. Francis after brother Robert Francis and Carl after brother Carl. So the final name was Francis Carl. Now you will want to question me about my third brother mentioned above. That would be brother Frank. I didn’t think that Francis would be an acceptable name for Frankie and that he would soon corrupt it to “Frank”, which he did(he was subject to peer pressure). I didn’t know this at the time, but Frankie was also named for my Pop who, when he was baptized, was given the name Francis, but was always known as Frank. So now we can add this entry.(Helen’s son, Francis Carl Gnadinger, born, June 4, 1944) I now have to fill in the cost statistics of this birth so that you can compare what we had to pay against what the enormous present day costs would be. I don’t believe that Dr. Abraham ever sent us a bill. The bill from the specialist, Dr. Aud has been lost and I don’t remember what he charged. The special duty nurse charged $7.00 a night for a total of $14.00. The hospital bill which Grampa Buchter again insisted on paying came to a total of $152.23. There was no way we could repay everyone who helped us throughout this difficult period.(Jim Wantland’s wife, Carol Bobbitt, born, May 23, 1944) Frankie was indeed a healthy baby. He had the usual problem that most bottle babies seem to have of adjusting to a formula. If Helen had been able to breast feed him I don’t think there would have been any thing to worry about. She had done a very good job with the other three. I am not sure now but I believe that Frankie was able to leave the hospital before Helen did. More work for Grandma and me. Two days after this birth, on June 6, 1944, the Allies, which included some units from every country which Hitler had invaded and conquered, landed on the coast of Normandy in France to finally take the war directly to the Germans. Before this, the invasion of North Africa had been successful with the defeat of the Germans and Italians there. That army, which included brother Carl, had now turned around and invaded Sicily and eventually, Italy. With our help with airplanes and other weapons of war, Russia had made a stand against the invasion of their country and were now on the attack against the Germans. There was still a lot of terrible war to be fought but now we were finally on the offensive. Our air force stationed in England was a formidable weapon and along with the English air force, German targets were being bombed day and night. Sometimes there would be as many as one thousand bombers in a single flight plus the protective fighter planes. The Germans fought tenaciously and every mile of territory recovered cost us and them many lives.(Richards wife, Judith Ann[Williams]Gnadinger, born, July 10, 1944) In the Pacific Theater, the war with Japan was also turning around and we were having success with our “Island Hopping” offense but at a terrible price in lives lost. The Japanese were fanatical and would mostly fight to the last man. There were few who surrendered on the battle field. The Philippine Islands had been retaken and we were recovering enough Islands closer to the Japanese mainland so that we were able to begin bombing their territory. In desperation, the Japanese instituted a devastating offense against our shipping and warships which took a heavy toll in lives and ships. They had been training a group of volunteer suicide flyers who knew in advance that they would have but one flying mission and they would die trying to reach their target. This method of attack was called Kamikaze(divine wind). The pilots would take off in an airplane loaded with nothing but explosives, the pilot and just enough fuel to reach their target. There was to be no return. If they could evade the anti-aircraft fire from the ships and actually crash into the ship there was a distinct possibility the ship would be sunk. If not sunk, there was sure to be terrible damage.(7-09-2001) There had also been many major battles between our warships and the Japanese ships. We had many ships sunk in these major actions by their ships guns, aircraft and submarines but we were able to sink and disable many more of theirs. In this year of 1944 it could almost be said that we now controlled the Pacific Ocean with our fleet. This is the first time, ever, where some battles were fought without the ships actually seeing each other. The aircraft carriers and their planes made it possible for the fleets to be as much as a hundred miles or more apart during the battles. The large ships like the Cruisers and Battleships were being used more and more in shelling the beaches of islands we were about to make a landing on. While all of this was going on, Jiggs had lucked out and was permanently stationed in the Philippine Islands in a re-supply and repair unit. He always said that, in comparison with some of the other islands he had been on, the Philippines were like Heaven. At home, Helen and I were trying to settle down again into the Buchter homestead. We had not abandoned our desire to have our own home and we talked about it constantly. This time, we decided, we would buy a house. It seemed like a dream but you have to have plans and dreams to work toward. Nibby was getting so big and so was Rosie. Nancy was beginning to walk and Frankie would just blow bubbles and finish one bottle of formula after another. During the summer, after Helen had healed up pretty good, I asked Mr Kannapel for some time off from work. This wasn’t easy with the war going on but he worked it out for me. Grandma said she would take care of Nancy and Frankie so I borrowed the family car and Helen, Nibby, Rosie and I headed for Butler State Park in Carrolton, Ky. where we rented a housekeeping cabin for the week. I wish I remembered how much this vacation cost so that I could let you know what a bargain vacations were at that time. We went swimming in the lake, rented a rowboat which we could keep at the cabin and generally had a very good and restful time I almost wore out Nibby and Rosie walking over the hills. They didn’t complain and especially didn’t complain when we went into town for ice cream cones. This was the first of many vacations we would plan every year and it made going back to work much easier. Helen was feeling her old self again so that took a lot of pressure off of Grandma. I didn’t think of this at the time, but the job I then had in the Receiving Dept. had a most important affect on my future with Tube Turns. Not only did we have to unload and check everything that came into the plant but we had to deliver all the items to the correct departments and offices where they were to be used. Because of this experience, I got to know everyone of importance in the plant and they got to know me as a hard working, macho, type of man. Every future promotion that I enjoyed came about through contacts I had made doing this job. All of my co-workers and I probably knew more about the inner workings of the plant than anyone else did. Whatever we received and delivered, we asked questions about its’ usage. You learn from being inquisitive.(7-10-2001) I now added Frankie to the insurance protection we had set up with the Western and Southern Life Insurance Company. Honest! That was their full name. Our total premium which we had to pay was now up to one dollar a week. As I said before, when the kids grew up and needed the money, we allowed them to cash in their policies. Other insurance policies which they may need to buy for their families was their responsibility. Helen and I continued to explore the idea of buying our own home. Counting our little bit of savings and all the money rolling in from my overtime work, we thought we could handle the new debt. Little did we know. We were about to go through another learning period. We began, in ernest, to search for a home that was for sale. There were only four conditions which was thought we had to live by. The house had to be in a nice neighborhood, we must be able to afford the payments, it must be close to a bus line so that I could get to work easily and it must be close to a church and school because Nibby was already four years old. After looking at several houses during that late summer, we found what we considered the ideal house for us. It was located at 1838 Stevens Avenue, was a block and a half from the Broadway bus line which would drop me on the corner next to Tube Turns and it was about three blocks from St. James Church on Bardstown Road. Now the hard part began.(Mary Catherine’s daughter, Sue Ann Wantland, born, Oct. 26, 1944) We made an offer to the Realtor and the owners accepted. The final selling price was to be $4850.00. The Realtor suggested that I approach the Avery Building Assoc. for a loan. Helen and I did just that and we were slapped in the face with the realities of the business world. Since this house was approximately fifty years old, Avery would only lend us $3000.00. I only had about $900.00 saved so it looked like we were going to lose our deposit and give up this chance to buy the house. I approached Mom for a loan knowing that she probably could not afford to lend me that much money and she did have to refuse. We then talked to Grampa Buchter. He did not have the cash money either but he agreed to take out a mortgage on his home for $1000.00 with a very strict agreement that I would make extra payments each year in order to pay off the loan sooner. Grandpa was not happy with the fact that his home, which he worked so hard to pay for, would have a mortgage on it again. I thought that after all this time we were finally in a position to close on the house. I talked to the person handling the loan at Avery’s while arranging Grampa’s loan and discovered that there was such a thing as “closing costs”. I was still close to a $100.00 short of what I would need for all of the expenses. I now had to approach Helen’s Uncle, Frank Lang, for this amount of money and he reluctantly agreed. He charged us no interest but I had to promise I would pay the full amount back by the following summer. With all of the “roadblocks” now out of the way, Avery’s set up the closing date for the two loans. Grampa had to take off from work for a few hours. On Nov. 4, 1944 the house and the heavy debt was ours. The payments on this astronomical debt came to $5.88 per week and the added payment on Grampa Buchter’s loan was $2.16. On Nov. 5, 1944, I received another draft notice in the mail.We didn’t take this draft notice too seriously because I had gotten a deferment through Tube Turns earlier in the year and I thought they would be successful again. Our new home had been rented out by the previous owners to a Mr. Charles Hayes. The usual approach to this problem in those days was to go to the Kentucky State office of the Louisville Area Rent Office and file for an eviction which would usually occur in thirty days. But, this was war time and there were housing shortages and rent controls. The Rent Director, working under the authority of the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, did issue an Eviction Notice for us but, under the rules, the eviction could only take place after three months had expired in order to give Mr. Hayes time to find another apartment or house. This was the bureaucracy of war time. Helen and I were terribly disappointed because we were very anxious to move into our home. Now, we had to sit back and wait, which wasn’t easy for us. We were receiving rent from the Hayes during this period and life had to go on. We were learning the meaning of patience. While all of these things were happening, we had been seeing Mary Loretta Dicken and Stan Lattis, socially. On this particular day, they informed us that the proposal had been made, the date set and Stan wanted me to be his best man in the wedding. I felt honored by the invitation and agreed to do it. I owned a suit now. It was a beautiful event held at St. Vincent de Paul Church on Nov. 23, 1944 and the church choir under Cecilia Schmitt’s direction, sang the Mass. This also had occurred on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. Loretta’s two sisters and Stan’s sister were the bridesmaids. I must be lucky for some people for Loretta and Stan are still happily married.(7-11-2001) We did not receive a lot of letters from Carl(or Frank), but to be honest, we were not in the habit of writing them often. I learned letter writing when I became a lonely “Salt” stationed away from my home and family. Carl was very faithful in writing to his Mom. I still have a copy of one of his letters to us dated Nov. 29, 1944. It was a V-Mail(Victory Mail) which had been reproduced to about one quarter size to help cut down on the weight and size of the millions of letters sent home to family by the service people. Carl said he was pleased to hear that we liked the Rosaries he had sent each of us and thanked us for the family pictures we had sent him. He had a good word for each of our children and was happy that we were buying a house close to our cousins, the Droppelmans, on Stevens Ave. Later, Carl sent us a complete copy of The Boston Herald newspaper(12 pages)which was probably one-eighth size but easy to read. It concerned itself mostly about the Japanese for the war in Europe was already over when this newspaper was printed. I still have this newspaper. What a terrible disappointment and what a way to end this year. On Dec.10th, I received my notice from the Draft Board that I had passed my physical examination and that I was to report for induction into the regular navy on Feb. 10, 1945. This time, Tube Turns could not help me get a deferment. While going through all the tests and the physical, I had asked to go into the Navy if I was inducted. An officer there had tried to talk me into asking for the Submarine Corp but there was no way I would want that. One of my good friends, Clifford White, a neighbor, had already been lost at sea in a submarine. This news changed all of our plans as it also had done for millions of other civilians who were drafted or volunteered. There was much that Helen and I had to decide after the new year and I had to notify Tube Turns and make arrangements to preserve my job. Once again I received a Christmas Bonus from the company so that we had a very nice Christmas with the kids and family. Download 1.21 Mb. Share with your friends:
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