DAD’S STORY (Episode Three)

Tried to get in the Navy Seabees, but the draft caught me first. I was inducted into the Army Infantry at Fort Lewis, Washington. From there, I went to the Signal Corps, with basic training in Miami Beach, Florida. Most everyone thought that would be real great but it was real tough. Next, I was assigned to Radio School in Kansas City, Missouri. After school, I was promoted to Private First Class, PFC, and left for my next assignment at Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Missouri. Drew Field, Tampa, Florida was my next stop. This was the Signal Corps attached to the Army Air Corps. We were training in the very secret radar field. My job was in the motor pool, looking after the radar trucks. I was a truck driver as a PFC, then promoted to truck mechanic, T5 or Corporal then promoted again to head mechanic T4 or Sergeant.

We spent many months in mostly swampy places such as: Bradenton, Tampa, Tarpon Springs, New Port Richie, Sarasota, many of the Florida Keys and Key West. We had temporary duty in Tennessee on war maneuvers and then back to Tampa, Florida. When our unit was considered trained, it was shipped off to Europe. Five of us were held back to start training the new unit. You would not believe how unhappy I was at this. We found out later that our unit participated in the Normandy Invasion. Of the 200 plus men that hit the beach, six survived and all the rest were wiped out. The Germans knew all about radar, so our unit was a prime target. Aren’t you glad that I was held back to start the new outfit???

The next assignment was Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It was a short stay there for more training and then we moved on to Camp Pinedale, Fresno, California. This is where I met and married your sweet mother, Angelina Louise Mongelli, who was born in Fresno on 22 February 1922. (And died 22 Nov 06) Is it any wonder that her lucky number is 2? We met at a dance hall called the Rainbow Ballroom in January 1945 and on June 3rd; we changed her name to Ray. By that time, I was stationed at Camp Wawona. It was located just inside the south entrance to Yosemite National Park and was a secret training base.

The war ended, thank God, and we decided to stay in the service. William James Ray, Jr. was born on 1 June 1946, in the Fresno General Hospital. We were reassigned again, this time it was Hamilton Field, California, north of San Francisco. We moved from 2102 Drexel in Fresno, to the Victory Apartments in Vallejo, California. It was 25 miles from the base and without a car, we had many problems, but with buses and many friends, we made out.

We moved again, to better housing, into the Salona Apartments, same town. I was promoted to Staff Sergeant, assigned to the orderly room as chief clerk. In late 1947, we were moved to Moses Lake Air Base, Moses Lake, Washington. The Army Air Corps became the United States Air Force. I was promoted to Technical Sergeant and assigned as first sergeant of the Motor pool Squadron. At first we found living quarters in Soap Lake, Washington and then moved on base to a trailer we bought in Spokane. The trailer was called a ‘Homelike’ and was very small, 8’ by 16,’ including the bumper. In 1950, we traded the trailer in for a ‘Pan American’ 12’ by 30.’

I went to school in Cheyenne, Wyoming, without Ann. She went back to Fresno and stayed with her parents till I finished Administration School. We then returned back to Moses Lake where, on 25 November 1950, Robert Edward Ray made the scene. The following year we were sent back to Hamilton Field, California, with the trailer and set up our home in a park called, Penn Grove, north of the town of Petaluma. We didn’t stay long before I got assigned overseas alone. I moved Ann, the kids and the trailer into Oakland to be near relatives and I left for my new outfit in Japan. The base was called FEMCOM, Tachikawa, Japan.

I was still the First Sergeant, but got promoted to Master Sergeant. After nine months, Ann, Bill and Bob joined me. At first, we got quarters at a nearby base called Yakota but soon got nice housing at Tachikawa Air Base with maid service and all. Richard Russell Ray was born in the Base Hospital on 25 August 1953. In January 1954 we returned to the good old USA. Our station assignment was Lackland AFB, San Antonio, Texas. We had real nice quarters on the base and stayed five years. I was promoted in the Reserves from Warrant Officer Junior Grade (WOJG-1) to Chief Warrant Officer (CWO 2). This was a rank I had received through tests taken in Japan.

We were blessed with a son, Joseph Michael Ray, on 11 November 1957. In October 1958, I received reassignment orders again, this time for Iceland. The family could have come with me but we would have had to stay for two years instead of the normal one year, if I went alone. The older children would have had to fly to school in Scotland and only get to come home on weekends. The weather in that part of the world was poor in the winter. Our shuttle planes were not the most trustworthy, so we couldn’t see putting them or us through that worry. Thus we decided that I would go by myself for one year. By the way, it might be of interest to note that Iceland is not the land of ice and snow, but rather, Greenland. The Danes named it Iseland, meaning island and it deteriorated to Iceland.

Anyway, In June of 1959, I got word of a General’s plane that had broken down and was being repaired at our base in Keflavik, Iceland. The plane was going to Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, California for further repairs. I took a short leave, hopped aboard and flew half way around the world and surprised the family on their way to church one Sunday morning. It took a week of hopping from base to base to get back to Iceland but it was well worth the thrill of coming home from around the world, unexpectedly.

My reassignment back to the States was to March Air Force Base, Riverside California. We moved Ann and the boys from Fresno, where they had rented a home near Mother Mongelli, then Mrs. Joe Pirani. We went to Arlington, California, a suburb of Riverside. Here we purchased our first home and started Bill, Bob and Dick in school. Joe was still too young. John David Ray was born there in Riverside on 25 August 1960. Gary Phillip Ray was next on 26 April 1962. It was the same Riverside hospital, and the same doctor, Dr. Franklin J. Dailey. He was not only a great doctor but also a wonderful friend.

On the last day of 1962, we retired from the United States Air Force as Chief Warrant Officer, CWO-3. Shortly after buying our new home in 1959, we met a fellow named Al Line, who owned a Locksmith shop in the area. He had hired me part time so I was familiar with the business. When he retired, I bought the shop. Much time was spent learning the ropes and getting started in business. On 1 August 1965, Timothy Patrick surprised us by being a girl, Cheryl Kathleen, a girl after six boys. What happiness! What a change it made in our lives; our prayers had been answered! (Note from Bill, Jr.: Bill, Jr. and Jean didn’t want the name Timothy Patrick to go to waste so they named their two boys, Scott Patrick and Timothy Daniel).

Many milestones were passed in Riverside. The kids grew up; Bill Jr. joined the Air Force. Ann’s mother was killed, hit by a car while crossing the street, going to Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church, the day before Easter, 1967. The next year (when Bill, Jr. came home from Vietnam) we decided to move back to Washington. We arrived in Monroe the last day of August, 1968. We stayed the first few weeks with Dad and ‘Tiny,’ my new step mother, after which we bought our new house in Marysville. Then I started working for the new Boeing Plant in Everett, in the wing stub join unit. The first part of September I helped build Airplane #1 in the 747 series. After two years, on Airplane #50, the clouds of recession were brewing.

I looked for and found employment with the University of Washington in the Police Department Lock Shop, as a Locksmith. During the years spent at the UWPD, all the children finished school, grew up, got married and left home. We retired from the U. DUB on 1 June 1983. The following year Ann and I retired again on Social Security. We were 62 years old. After traveling around and having fun, we decided to sell our house and bought a mobile home in Glenwood Mobile Estates. This we did on 10 May 1986. We are still traveling around and having fun. The mobile home is the best living we have ever had and is bigger than our house. Here it is 1998 and we are making plans for our seventh trip to Reno and to many, many other places in the spring chasing dinosaurs.