Blackwell-Frazier American Legion Post #142 Hominy, Oklahoma

NEWS FROM THE HUT by John Hamilton

This is going to be a “Flashback” series about veterans who have been part of the history of the HUT, Post 142 in Hominy, Oklahoma, and part of the history of the Hominy community. All veterans are special patriots and deserve to be honored, but the veterans who are no longer with us also deserve to be honored, and that is the purpose of this “Flashback” series for veterans that have passed into the Hominy Post 142 Post Everlasting Memorial in our hearts

Howard Gene Ware

Gene Ware was born, Howard Gene Ware, on Oct. 14, 1926, to David Clark Ware and Dora M. (Smith) Ware at a homestead in the Mound Valley area of northeast Oklahoma. He was the second of eight children.

Gene graduated in Wynona, Oklahoma, at Wynona High School in 1944, served in the Army and graduated college from Oklahoma A&M (now known as Oklahoma State University).

He returned to the Wynona area and began working at the First National Bank of Hominy in early 1950’s.

NEWS FROM THE HUT by John Hamilton

This is going to be a “Flashback” series about veterans who have been part of the history of the HUT, Post 142 in Hominy, Oklahoma, and part of the history of the Hominy community. All veterans are special patriots and deserve to be honored, but the veterans who are no longer with us also deserve to be honored, and that is the purpose of this “Flashback” series for veterans that have passed into the Hominy Post 142 Post Everlasting Memorial in our hearts

Willian “Rex” Mantooth

William Rex Mantooth was born on January 7, 1918, in Newburg, Comanche County, Texas to James Columbus and Addie Bell (English) Mantooth. He had two siblings, Laura Fay, and James Ray Mantooth. The three children with their parents moved to Hominy, Oklahoma from Texas by covered wagon in 1922.

In 1924, at the age of 6, he started school. He had to walk about three miles to the Sunset School every day, though at about the age of 10, he started riding on horseback. He was able to complete the 5th grade; after which he stayed home to help his family on the farm. Their farm was not very big, only about 10 acres, however, they grew a variety of produce including: watermelon, cantaloupes, sweet potatoes, corn, and peanuts. The family made their living selling these crops.

NEWS FROM THE HUT by John Hamilton

Alfred Carl Quillin

Alfred Carl Quillin was born February 19, 1922, in Wynona, Oklahoma. Carl passed from this life at the Oklahoma Veterans Center in Claremore, Oklahoma on Tuesday, April 18, 2017, at the age of ninety-five. He was the son of Henry Claude and Mary Eva (Adams) Quillin. He was raised and attended school in Wynona through the eleventh grade at which time he went to work with his father who ran the Wynona Water works system and assisted him in the oilfields of Osage County. He then accepted employment with the railroad repairing wooden bridges and leveling the tracks in the area. Carl later received his high school diploma through the GED program.

Carl was inducted into the service of his country into the United States Army on October 30, 1942, in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He was then transported by a troop train to Camp Adair in Oregon for basic training; walking nearly 35 miles a day with a full field pack and rifle to prepare him for future action. He was then transferred to Fort Lewis, Washington for cold weather training and to Barstow, California for desert training. He was then assigned to San Luis Obispo in order to prepare for bridge construction and amphibious training. As a combat engineer, Carl would be assigned to go out and pick up land mines and build bridges. Upon completion of this training, Carl was shipped to Hawaii awaiting further orders. He was assigned to the 321st Engineer Battalion, 96th Division and then was transported via ship to the Philippines and participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. They cut down coconut trees and used them to construct bridges and using a dragline scooped limestone rock and used it to construct roads. After completing duty in Leyte, SGT Quillin was then transferred to Okinawa where he repaired roads under heavy fire from the Japanese. Additionally, bridges were constructed to assist in the occupation. Carl then shipped out back to Okinawa and on to the Philippines in preparation for the invasion of Japan. As he developed an eye problem, SGT Quillin was placed in the hospital shortly before the war ended and was shipped back home and honorably discharged from military service on December 24, 1945, in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. For his faithful military service, Carl was awarded the following decorations and citations, Bronze Star Medal, Bronze Arrowhead Medal, Philippine Liberation Ribbon with 1 star and the Good Conduct Medal.

NEWS FROM THE HUT by John Hamilton

On Monday mornings, the veterans from Post 142 gather at the Hut about 8:00 AM or 0800 hours for the 20-year veterans who would rather fight than switch. We also get together on Wednesday mornings at the Daylight Donut Shop on Highway 99 in Hominy. During the course of these two events, many stories are shared between the members. There are Air Force stories, Army, Marine Corps, National Guard, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine stories, and once in a great while, a Navy story. Most of the members that are veterans of the other services, other than the Navy, have 20 plus years of service to draw their experiences from. Even though I was enlisted in the Navy Reserve (USNR) for eight years, I only served two years active duty aboard ship. Consequently, the number of stories I have to share are few and far between.

But that being said, I do have a few stories about when I was in the USNR on active duty. The first story is the one where I went to boot camp twice. When I say that in a group of seasoned veterans, they usually reply, “Twice?” And, of course, I reply, “Yes, twice!” Then a lengthy explanation ensues. The explanation is when I joined the USNR I was still in high school, and the recruitment officer told me that I would be required to do two weeks in boot camp in my first year in the reserves. He told me I could serve those two weeks at the Naval Training Center at San Diego. After completing my two weeks training, that mostly involved attending classes, marching (which I never did again after boot camp), rifle range, and exercises. The most enjoyable part of the entire two weeks was the train ride from the San Francisco Bay area to San Diego along with the one-day liberty on the weekend that my dad was able to talk the base commander into. Normally this is not an occurrence granted to any recruit. I guess it was because he was a veteran of both WWII and the Korean conflict.

NEWS FROM THE HUT by John Hamilton

Seventeen years ago, when I was living and working in California, I received some information about the American Legion. I can’t remember where I found this information, but as much time as I spent on my computer, and on the internet, I probably received it in an e-mail from some unknown source. I had no idea at that time, but from what I have learned in the last six years, it is very possible that the website link I was provided was to the American Legion National Headquarters recruiting website. The next thing, I knew I was receiving information from a post in an adjacent city. Every month, I received their newsletter with short articles by each of the post officers, and a calendar of the months activities. I was so busy with work and other activities that I couldn’t figure out how I would be able to get involved with all that was going on there. I guess it was a lot larger post than our Hominy Post 142 because of the events they had listed on their calendar each month. I wanted to attend their breakfast or the dinner that they served once each week. A couple of times I even drove by the post to locate where in that adjacent city it was located. But alas, I never took that step and probably missed out on some very special memories.