Joe Felin sent the following from "Ozarks History" in an e-mail today:
"Dec. 3, 1940: Formal groundbreaking ceremonies were held for Fort Leonard Wood. Four Iowa contractors-Newman of Des Moines, Kilinger, Lytis and Western of Sioux City -- had the job building the base. Denton Smith, A Springfield businessman, served as personnel and labor relations manager for the contractors. He recalled, "The contractors were from Iowa and thought the weather would be like Iowa-- that there'd be a hard freeze and they could go right ahead and work the ground all winter. But at Fort Wood, it would freeze at night and thaw during the day. They hadn't counted on all that mud." Approximately 32,000 men worked in shifts around the clock to build the base. Despite the cold weather and mud, 1,600 buildings, 17 bridges, 29 miles of railroad and countless miles of road were constructed within five months. In February 1941, one million board feet of lumber was laid every 24 hours, and a standard 63-man barracks was completed on average of every 37 minutes. Springfield News & Leader"
PERSONAL NOTE BY JOE, Dec. 01, 2014 - Our dad (James Louis Felin) rode from the farm to Fort Leonard Wood daily in the back of Dave Genetti's pickup truck (which had the resemblance of what we now call a camper shell) to work. Probably half a dozen other local men were in the group. Later Dad stayed at a rooming house near the Fort. He had to furnish his own bed and purchased a Day Bed. (You probably remember it as I think we had it at Marshfield?) The 45 MPH speed restriction for WWII probably was not in place as the war had not broken out yet, but it was a very crooked hwy. 66.
Not mentioned in the article. O'Reilly General Hospital in Springfield (where Evangel College is now located) was built about the same time (both before Pearl Harbor)
PERSONAL NOTE BY ROSE, Dec. 01, 2014 - Hard to imagine what it must have been like commuting that distance to find work. Hard also to imagine the working conditions during those winter months. True heroes don't fly to the moon. True heroes work under terrible conditions to provide food and shelter for their families. Thank goodness for our mom and dad, James Louis and Margaret Marie Felin! What they managed to do was a whole lot more heroic than simply flying to the moon and back.
"Dec. 3, 1940: Formal groundbreaking ceremonies were held for Fort Leonard Wood. Four Iowa contractors-Newman of Des Moines, Kilinger, Lytis and Western of Sioux City -- had the job building the base. Denton Smith, A Springfield businessman, served as personnel and labor relations manager for the contractors. He recalled, "The contractors were from Iowa and thought the weather would be like Iowa-- that there'd be a hard freeze and they could go right ahead and work the ground all winter. But at Fort Wood, it would freeze at night and thaw during the day. They hadn't counted on all that mud." Approximately 32,000 men worked in shifts around the clock to build the base. Despite the cold weather and mud, 1,600 buildings, 17 bridges, 29 miles of railroad and countless miles of road were constructed within five months. In February 1941, one million board feet of lumber was laid every 24 hours, and a standard 63-man barracks was completed on average of every 37 minutes. Springfield News & Leader"
PERSONAL NOTE BY JOE, Dec. 01, 2014 - Our dad (James Louis Felin) rode from the farm to Fort Leonard Wood daily in the back of Dave Genetti's pickup truck (which had the resemblance of what we now call a camper shell) to work. Probably half a dozen other local men were in the group. Later Dad stayed at a rooming house near the Fort. He had to furnish his own bed and purchased a Day Bed. (You probably remember it as I think we had it at Marshfield?) The 45 MPH speed restriction for WWII probably was not in place as the war had not broken out yet, but it was a very crooked hwy. 66.
Not mentioned in the article. O'Reilly General Hospital in Springfield (where Evangel College is now located) was built about the same time (both before Pearl Harbor)
PERSONAL NOTE BY ROSE, Dec. 01, 2014 - Hard to imagine what it must have been like commuting that distance to find work. Hard also to imagine the working conditions during those winter months. True heroes don't fly to the moon. True heroes work under terrible conditions to provide food and shelter for their families. Thank goodness for our mom and dad, James Louis and Margaret Marie Felin! What they managed to do was a whole lot more heroic than simply flying to the moon and back.
No comments:
Post a Comment