How Nice It Would Be

 

 

 

Olevia didn’t fully understand how much Charles loved her until she read his letter. His words spoke to her more deeply than any she had heard in her young life. Charles wrote his most endearing feelings for Olevia, offering his love through the miles that separated them. He had found the love of his life and expressed his emotions beautifully. Charles had thought long and hard about what love meant to him and shared every one of his beliefs in the written lines.

He spoke of the long search and the realization that Olevia was the only woman for him. He vowed to love her their whole lives and wanted to get married as soon as possible. Charles wrote of Olevia’s concern for her mother and understood that her mother may need to live with them after the wedding. Something that could have easily been a deal breaker for many men, Charles would accept her mother into their home and make it work. He loved Olevia that much.

On the train, heading for Minneapolis, Minnesota for more training, Charles started making plans when he would be able to come back to Boise for their wedding around the middle of December, 1943. They would have ten days together for their honeymoon. He hoped it would work out the way he imagined it. It would be up to Olevia to make all the wedding plans. He wondered if it would give her the time she needed to create the wedding she wanted.

Pull Yourself Up a Chair

 

 

 

Charles’ wit showed up in the most interesting places in his letter. He wrote his feelings much more honestly than he spoke when it came to sharing his thoughts with Olevia. The evening of November 4, 1943 brought a level of happiness into Charles’ heart he had never felt before. Nothing came close to it. Giddiness filled his entire body, so much so that he couldn’t sleep. Love had found its way into his soul.

Oh, how he hated to leave Olevia at the train station again. A place of joyful meeting and sad departing, the Boise Depot created mixed feelings in his gut. The Depot, where he had proposed to her as soon as he got off the train the night before and where she had said the one word he longed to hear, would forever be etched in his mind and life.

Goodbye came too quickly the following morning. Once they waved farewell and he got settled on the train, Charles wanted to tell everyone the news so the rest of the passengers could share in his overflowing joyful energy of having found the love of his life!

“Olevia said, ‘Yes!’ Do you hear? She said, ‘Yes!'”

Everyone on the train would applaud and holler, “Yeah!” Some of the men would pump their own fist in the air and then shake his hand and congratulate him. Others would slap him on the back with friendly affirmations. Some of the women would clap and nod and get a little misty-eyed for Charles and his new fiance’. Everyone would share in his happiness. The train ride went quickly that day. He only wished Olevia could have been with him so he could introduce her to every single passenger and afterward snuggle in the seat with her and wrap her in his loving arms and never let go.

Wasn’t it ironic how the war that had brought them together in the first place was the very thing that once again separated them from each other. Why did it have to be that way? Damn!

Since he couldn’t be with her right then, he chose instead to write to his soon-to-be wife about what love meant to him and how happy Olevia had made him. Today could not have been any better. Halfway between Ogden and Salt Lake City was when he settled down enough to write.

This was the fourth letter from Charles to Olevia and the first time he spelled her first name correctly. No doubt that subject was part of the conversation before she said, “Yes!”

How About a Date Friday Night?

 

 

 

 

Charles waited for weeks as time dragged so slowly it probably felt more like years. Where was a letter from Olevia? Why hadn’t he got it yet? Having heard nary a word from her, he decided it was time to take action, to take a furlough to find out in person, face to face, why she hadn’t mailed a letter or sent a telegram. He couldn’t even connect with her on the telephone. Was she avoiding him? Had something happened?

 

He couldn’t wait another minute to find out if the woman that he loved with all of his heart loved him back. Surely she had told him something that made him believe she loved him or he would not have put his heart on the line like he did for her in his previous letters. All he wanted now was an answer, one way or another. By this time on Friday evening he would be in Boise and be able to speak with Olevia. Friday couldn’t come quick enough for him now.

 

Charles made it his mission to exhaust every possibility before giving up hope. Once he made his mind up there was no changing it. He would take the 300 mile trip by train from Wendover. He hoped Olevia would be at the other end at the Boise Depot to pick him up. If he didn’t see her there when his train pulled into the station, he would walk if he had to in order to get to Olevia’s home and see her face to face. Nothing would hold him back from getting an answer. He hoped it was the answer he wished for, but Charles was a realist and didn’t dare get his hopes up too high. He knew better than that. He had more life experience at twenty-six than most people would see in their lifetime. He prepared himself for the worst while expecting the best.

 

The train ride allowed his full attention to plan for an unknown future. As Charles thought about a future with Olevia a smile came to his face and made his heart feel lighter. He liked the idea of them settling down together and creating a home for their future family. He had time to think about the future without Olevia too. He would manage without her and be all right but he would never meet another woman like her. He knew that completely. This was the one woman who had entered his life through his dreams and settled into his heart from the moment they met.

 

 

 

I Would Wade Hell’s Fire

Who was the young man was who went AWOL and where did he end up? Why he left Wendover Field in the first place is a mystery along with why he joined the Army Air Corp. What did he think the Army was going to be like?

Jones and Peggy had just gotten married and Wesley and Carol were already engaged. Though the letter didn’t say it specifically, the “proposition we talked over in front of the depot at Boise” sounded very much like a marriage proposal. Charles was making plans for his future in the Army Air Corp and hopefully a future with Olevia. Perhaps the commission would have given him the opportunity to transfer back to Gowen Field. He now considered Boise his home and very much wanted to be there.

Charles had put his heart on the line in this letter, hoping the woman he had fallen head over heels over would give him a chance. What more could he have done? This might have been the last letter he would send to Olevia. Time seemed to drag waiting for her reply. How could he stand the waiting? Why hadn’t she replied? Had her letter been lost in the mail or had she decided she didn’t love Charles after all? All the possible scenarios played over and over in Charles’ head like a needle getting stuck in a groove on a record in a record player. He loved music but this particular song was wearing him down.

Don’t Spare the Horses

A lot went on between the lines. Expectations and misunderstandings, maybe even fear. September 4 to October 21 as the dates between Charles’ letters to Olevia would have felt like an eternity. They were both holding out, waiting for the other one to write. Why? Maybe on a deeper level they felt like they were rushing into a relationship too quickly. Olevia and Charles didn’t know much about each other at this point in time. One or both of them may have wondered what they were getting themselves into. Is this what they wanted?

Both of them had their work that kept them busy in addition to Charles’ studies and Olevia’s chores at home. After a long day it may have become a real challenge to come up with something worth writing, something interesting enough to mail, especially when they could easily get distracted by a game of bowling or a movie. It would be difficult for Olevia to choose not to go to the USO dances with her friends in Boise. Thoughts of what they wanted and what they needed must have been reeling through both of their minds.

Olevia and Charles had enjoyed spending time together from June to August and now it seemed so long ago. The time they enjoyed being together had gone much too quickly. They had a lot of fun times around town with their friends. They wished the fun times could have lasted a little longer. Would they get the chance to do it all again?

Charles had been gone for almost two months now since his transfer to Wendover. Could it have all been a dream? A wonderful, whirlwind romance in an era of constant change and a possibility of being transferred overseas, even further away from each other? It seemed that they were a world apart already.

Common sense told them both that they should allow this relationship to develop naturally over time but with the war in full swing, there seemed to be a universal push to live life now. There might not be a tomorrow. The world being at war probably caused everyone’s energy to vibrate at a higher frequency, causing a sense of urgency that normally wouldn’t have been so prevalent.

Maybe the romantic dream was already over. It had hardly started. They would both know soon enough. If Olevia didn’t answer Charles’ letters, it would be pretty obvious.

I Love You, Olevia

Lots of soldiers wrote love letters during WWII and Dad was no exception. Many soldiers felt an uncertainty about where they would be stationed and how long it might be before they could see loved ones again. A soldier needed someone to write to, someone to live for and someone to come home to. A soldier needed someone to love. In many ways it was a subconscious technique for survival.

Charles had fallen in love with Olevia. Six months seemed like a very long time considering they had known each other for a mere two months. Their time apart would prove to be a test for their relationship and their commitment to each other and their future. Their friends surely helped by providing a support system for Olevia at least. Charles was off by himself for now and letters or telegraphs and an occasional telephone call was the only way he had to stay connected. He shared a secret with Olevia. Perhaps he would give details in a later correspondence.

Note: It may be a little confusing seeing two people named Wes. Charles’ nickname is Wes, but as long as Wes Lyons is in the picture, I will refer to my dad as Charles.

WWII became a fight to the death for the future of the U. S. Our country was still struggling to come out of the Great Depression which lasted for ten years until 1939. It took a toll on many Americans. WWII provided, out of necessity, an attitude of the spirit of good triumphing over evil. The entire country came together for one sole purpose. America was going to win this war. A war that would later be called The Good War.

War bonds, rationing of fuel and food and all of industry combined resources and manpower for a common cause. An energy that had been bottled up and stifled for years of struggle and despair was woven into the very fabric of every item produced for the war effort. Jobs were created for people who needed work, a paycheck and a purpose. The timing couldn’t have been better for a war if war was to be. There was no way of avoiding it after Pearl Harbor was attacked on January 7, 1941. American citizens offered their abilities and skills to do whatever it took to help the world eliminate evil forces that made a mockery of basic human freedoms and rights. This war would test the mettle of every man, woman and child in America. Our fathers and mothers would have to prove themselves once again that they were survivors. They knew they had to fight the good fight.