Drafted

Bud and Verna were married September 7, 1942. He came to get her early that morning; they drove to Sayre and were married in the courthouse. He took her to live where he was working near Panhandle, Texas. They had known each other for nearly 1 year at this time. They met while Verna was in school at Southwestern Oklahoma State University on September 30, 1941. They immediately fell in love.

Only a few short weeks after they were married Bud received the letter they were both dreading. He was being drafted into World War 2. His first post was in Camp Howze in Texas. Camp Howze was an infantry replacement training center located adjacent to the town of Gainesville in Cooke County, Texas. From what I gathered he stayed here about 6-8 months before he was sent to Louisiana.

While he was in Louisiana, he was stationed at several different camps. Most of the letters just say he is "Somewhere in Louisiana." During his time in Louisiana he was training for active duty. They would dig fox holes, build bridges and roads, and practice live fire drills. During one drill he says they were almost "captured" but they just started drilling them with blanks and hauled a__ out of there!

All the while Verna was still back in Oklahoma missing her love. They were making plans for her to come stay on the base with him while he was in Louisiana, but the plans had not come to fruition yet. They still wrote each other daily but since Bud was in the war it took extra time to get the letters. They would each receive 5-6 letters at a time. Bud said it was the letters from his "Darling little Wife" that got him through.