The summer of '43

Summer of 1943, Beaumont, Kansas

Outside Beaumont in the bottom lands, the farmers raise corn, which they call maize and primarily used as forage for cattle, in the uplands on the rocky hillsides, the cattle grow fat grazing on the rich Kansas grass. Everyone is what they call "dirt poor" meaning that one hopes for a better life for one's children.

In Beaumont, the roads are dirt and few. The horse and buggy replaced by the Tin Lizzy, but Beaumont is small and one can walk from end to end in a matter of minutes.

Bob was 13, his brother Jim was 14. They lived on Main Street in a two bedroom house. Their father Fred was a cattle trader, his mother Beulah the postmistress, his grandfather Dr. Phillips, the town doctor. City houses had electricity and phones, party lines that neighbors could listen in on. A bank took in what little money there was from the cattlemen and farmers, who loaded their cattle and crops on the steam engines that stopped at the depot at the south end of town. The depot was next to the holding pens for the cattle and the two ponds that caught the rainfall when it came.

The railroad was the reason the town existed at all. Years later, the Frisco railroad stopped running and so did the town. They took up almost all the track, leaving only a short stretch and the historic water tower that is now the town's signature piece.

Last Night

My wife and I went to dinner with her father at the Cracker Barrel last night.

Bob Van Huss was born in 1929 in Beaumont, Kansas. He was 12 years old when World War II started. He and his brother Jim saw farm boys from Beaumont go off to war. And Bob and Jim would have heard this song on the radio in 1943 while they worked the farms in place of the boys who left.

Some never came home.

Bob has seen a lot. During the war and after, the steam engine trains came through Beaumont taking troops off to training camps and to war. Bob tells the story of the time the train stopped to take on water and refuel. Jackie Robinson was on the train with other recruits. They got off for a spell and, according to Bob, Jackie ran a foot race against all comers, and won.

Bob and his brother answered the call to serve their country, both served in the Army overseas. Jim fought in Korea. Sadly, Bob now suffers from memory loss, but he is staying at the Presbyterian Manor and I am glad to say, quite happy.

On a Wing and a Prayer

On the way to the restaurant and home again Bob sang the lyrics over and over again with a smile on his face. Oh, how he sang. There were stars in his eyes. The world was in bloom. Somewhere, it was spring again. Some memories are never forgotten.

Thought you might like to hear it:

Comin' in on a wing and a prayer
Comin' in on a wing and a prayer
Though there's one motor gone
We still carry on
Comin' in on a wing and a prayer

What a show, what a fight!
Boys, we really hit our target tonight
How we sing as we limp through the air
Look below, there's our field over there
With just one motor gone
We still carry on
Comin' in on a wing and a prayer...

There are many recordings, but English vocalist Anne Shelton gives one of the best.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B69CquvLHgY