More of the Summer of '42....
In the War, the Germans closed in on the Russian city of Stalingrad, named after the Russian Communist leader, Joseph Stalin. In the South Pacific, the U.S. Navy and Marines began a counter-attack on the Japanese Empire. The island was called Guadalcanal, and it became the focal point of the Pacific War for almost half a year. During late June of 1942, inner ear trouble forced my father, Bishop Holliman of Irondale, Alabama, out of the Navy Air Corp in New Orleans. He went on duty logging airplane training flights and keeping watch over an office. For a while he was able to move off base and lived in a rooming house enjoying 'civilian' life to a modest extent. The Air Corp had raised his sights, and he began to dream of becoming an officer in the Merchant Marine.
Bishop took the Alabama Great Southern train from New Orleans to his duty station. He knew when he would pass through his home town Irondale, Alabama, and so alerted the family. The train would not stop but at the appointed time, Lula Hocutt Caine, Bishop's 81 year old grandmother, stood on her side back porch on 2nd Avenue in Irondale where she could see the train roar through. She vigorously waved a white towel.
My father saw the flapping towel, even though his grandmother could not see him.
In his memory, he sees her to this day. Right, Bishop Holliman in 2010, 68 years later, standing in front of the former home of Lula Hocutt Caine (1861-1957).
His sister, Vena Holliman Daly (1909-1990), and her family managed a vacation in Daytona Beach, Florida that summer. Right, Vena and her daughter, Mary Daly Herrin,
right with unidentified girl on the left. Vena wore a kamona to
protect her self from the Florida sun in this 1938 photograph. Brother-in-law Robert W. Daly, Sr. wrote that the beach was nearly deserted, only 1/4th the tourists compared to earlier summers. It would be their last Florida vacation for the duration of the war.
Due to the lack of tires and fuel, the Daly family had taken the train. In the book "Forth to the Mighty Conflict, Alabama and World War II" author Allen Cronenberg states that between March and May of 1942, the whole state had only new 1,366 tires! Because of this rationing, Robert Daly, Sr. parked his car and started taking the bus to his bank manager's job in Woodlawn.
Loudelle and Charles Ferrell welcomed a new son to their family that summer, a boy
named John Melton. The new baby's uncle, Melton Holliman, sent his namesake a silver cup and spoon as a birth present. Charles was pastor of the Methodist Church in Jacksonville, Alabama. Right, John Melton Ferrell, age 1 in 1943. Below in the 1930s, Melton Holliman giving his niece, Mary Daly Herrin a ride on a bike. Mary's expression seems to indicate some unease with her precarious position in the basket! Melton was told by his Mobile, Alabama draft board that summer of 1942 that he, a 34 year old that year, could expect to be called up for service in 1943.
Author Allen Cronenberg states that over 320,000 men enlisted or were drafted from Alabama during the war. Three would be Holliman brothers of Irondale - Melton, Bishop and Ralph. A fourth brother, Euhal, was called up but excused due to parenthood (four children by 1944) and a possible health issue.
Next an Alabama sailor in the Northeast....
Have
questions about Holliman family history? You are invited to join the
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all our various spellings!).
Or join your many cousins at MyFamily.com and view an expanded Holliman family tree and many files on the history of the family. Just write to glennhistory@gmail.com for an invitation
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