How a World War Changed an Alabama Family, Part 21

by Glenn N. Holliman

Brothers Visit and Babe Ruth Swings...

From the Memoirs of Bishop Holliman - "I remember seeing Euhal (1912-1989) and Edna (1916-1992) (Holliman) and their twin sons, Terry and Jerry (1940-2003), at the train station in Attalla, Alabama one time, or maybe more, as the train stopped there.  The Birmingham Special or the Pelican on the Alabama Great Southern line.  They lived in Gadsden, and Euhal worked at the Jitney-Jungle food store."  Below right, Terry and Jerry in 1941 in Irondale, Alabama at their grandparents.

"Euhal and Edna were not inclined to write and I seldom heard from them.  I have two letters written in 1942.  Euhal had gotten a 10% raise and hoped he would get more, as nearly all the men in the store had been drafted.

 Terry and Jerry (twins born in 1940) were the only children they had then, and Euhal commented on how they growing.  Indicative of how people thought then was a remark from Euhal in a letter: 'Terry and Jerry say for you to them a Jap!'"

In 1965, Euhal and four of his siblings gathered at Vena Daly's home in Irondale, Alabama.  Left to right, twenty years after World War II and now almost fifty years ago, are Euhal Holliman, Vena Holliman Daily, Bishop Holliman, Loudelle Holliman Ferrell and Ralph Holliman. Notice the narrow ties of the men, and Loudelle's stylish sun glasses!

 



"While stationed in Philadelphia in 1942, I took a liberty to New York City and chanced upon a special event that would standout in my memory forever more.  A special Old Timers baseball game was played at Yankee Stadium (August 23, 1942) on Sunday afternoon and I received a free ticket...I guess from the USO, to the game."

 

"The stadium was full, I remember and the two big name 'old-timers' were Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson.  So I could always say I saw two of the greatest even though it was not in a regulation game.  The Babe was the last to be introduced, and when he came out of the dugout, believe me, the stadium rocked and roared!  Walter Johnson pitched to him and he hit several into the right field stands and then circled the bases.  The crowd cheered.  It was indeed a thrill to see all of them.  I have forgotten who the others were, but Johnson and Ruth I did not forget." - Bishop Holliman Memoirs

That game played on August 23, 1942 was filmed by Movietone News and can be found today on You Tube.  Over 69,000 were present that day, and $80,000 was raised for the Army-Navy Service Fund. Above, middle right the Babe circles the bases and acknowledges the crowd.  Ruth was 48 years old then and had six years to live before dying from cancer.


Next More Stories from an Alabama Family during World War II....

 Have questions about Holliman family history? You are invited to join the Hollyman Email List at Hollyman-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com and the Hollyman Family Facebook Page located on Facebook at "Hollyman Family". Post your questions and perhaps one of the dozens Holyman cousins on the list will have an answer. For more information contact Tina Peddie at desabla1@yahoo.com, the list and Facebook manager for Hollyman (and 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

How a World War Changed an Alabama Family, Part 20

by Glenn N. Holliman

The Destroyer...the Weapon to Defeat the U-Boat and a Chance Meeting of a future Wife!

Until the spring of 1943, the German submarine was the greatest threat of Nazi tyranny to deny United States supplies and troops bound for African and European battlefields.  Hundreds of allied ships were torpedoed in the Atlantic.  Uncle Sam's chief weapon to defeat this undersea armada was the destroyer, a  speedy, heavily armed, pint-sized vessel especially built to escort convoys and drop depth charges on the enemy.

In August 1942, H. Bishop Holliman of Irondale, Alabama, was assigned to the USS Butler, 643, built and launched at the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Navy Yard.   This sleek, brand-new, state of the art ship was commissioned on 15 August 1942.  Radio seaman Holliman and 206 other sailors went aboard to make this ship their home and to prepare it for the North Atlantic.

Left, in February 1942, ship yard builders worked over time to construct the Butler.



 
Below, a painting of this Gleaves class ship, over 2,000 tons loaded.  She had four 5 inch guns, depth charges, machine guns and two torpedo tubes.  She was in the invasion of Sicily, numerous conveys and finally took battle wounds in the Pacific.  Ironically at age 3, in 1945, with the War won, she was stricken from the Navy inventory and in 1948 was broken up for scrap. 

It took several months to prepare the Butler for its first shakedown cruise. In the meantime, sailors had time for weekend passes. For a young man from Alabama, the northeast with its big cities of Philadelphia and New York were exciting and historic places to visit and enjoy. 

 In one weekend trip to Manhattan, Bishop took in a NBC radio show, the Army-Navy Hour at Rockefeller Center studios. He was selected from from the audience to participate in a singing performance and managed to warble a tune. For this he won a Ronson cigarette lighter. He mailed it to his brother, Melton Holliman, a smoker. 

Left, this 1942 photograph of two sailors jumping for joy on their skates at the ice rink at Rockefeller Center captured the mood of many service men who were able to experience the sights and sounds of New York City. Millions of young Americans were seeing parts of their country for the first time. 

This movement of people had vast consequences for many, including my father who decided one weekend, September 12th, to visit Irondale buddy, Charles Pugh, then a serviceman,  stationed at Atlantic City, New Jersey. 

Bishop Holliman never met up with Charles that weekend but he did chance to meet a 19 year old from Philadelphia, a girl recently relocated north with her family from Bristol, Tennessee.  That teenager's name was Geraldine Stansbery, a young lady who later became this writer's mother in 1946.  Ah, the fortunes of war!

Right, Gerry in 1942 at her Philadelphia home.  Born and raised in East Tennessee, when her brother-in-law Vance Sherwood, who was married to Louise Stansbery, took a transportation job in Pennsylvania, Gerry and her mother, Mayme Osborne Stansbery moved with them.  Mayme's marriage to Charles S. Stansbery had ended in 1933.

Bishop and Gerry's marriage took place June 26, 1945 in Philadelphia, a war time romance with lasting consequences, especially for this writer and my two sisters.


Next More Stories from an Alabama Family....

 Have questions about Holliman family history? You are invited to join the Hollyman Email List at Hollyman-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com and the Hollyman Family Facebook Page located on Facebook at "Hollyman Family". Post your questions and perhaps one of the dozens Holyman cousins on the list will have an answer. For more information contact Tina Peddie at desabla1@yahoo.com, the list and Facebook manager for Hollyman (and 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