Willis married MCNEIL, Flora about 1895. Flora (daughter of MCNEIL, James and SCOTT, Mary) was born on 28 Aug 1876 in Turtle Creek, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, USA; died on 6 Nov 1934 in Rochester, Olmsted, Minnesota, USA; was buried in Larned, Pawnee, Kansas, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ralph married COOK, Hazel on 21 Nov 1942 in Bastrop County, Texas. Hazel was born about 1901. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Arthur married MIERAU, Mary Ruth on 3 May 1936 in Wichita, Sedgwick, Kansas, USA. Mary (daughter of MIERAU, Edward C. and STURTZ, Mertie I.) was born about 1909; died on 31 Oct 2003; was buried on 4 Nov 2003. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Newton married BUTTS, Lucille Marguerite about 1934. Lucille (daughter of BUTTS, William Sherman and WALL, Cecilia J) was born in 1916 in Kansas, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Floyd married WORKMAN, Beulah Pauline on 16 Jul 1938 in Larned, Pawnee, Kansas, USA. Beulah (daughter of WORKMAN, Thomas and SCOTT, Jessie Emeline) was born on 26 Feb 1906 in Ulysses, Kansas; died on 7 May 2000 in Larned, Pawnee, Kansas, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Soldier of the Week: Cpl. Jack Brasfield, USAF
Posted: Wednesday, Nov 9th, 2011
BY: Ed Kuehneman
http://www.coppercountrynews.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=77&story_id=2106

Jack Brasfield grew up on ranches outside Nogales, Arizona, first the Z Bar S, then the Sopari, a big ranch that his father managed. Jack went to little schools “in the middle of nowhere.” Once a month his mother packed a picnic lunch and they’d “go to town,” shop, and eat in the park. Jack would go over the border where haircuts were 15 cents instead of a quarter.

There was a lot of work to be done on a ranch, but Jack liked it. He’d be up before dawn, riding and tending to cattle and fences. Inside, he’d get restless, but outside, there was always something to do.

He didn’t have a happy childhood. It seemed like his big half-brother Clinton could do no wrong, and he could do nothing right. Even after Clinton went off to the Air Force, Jack’s efforts were insulted.

Then there was school. Jack was too “hyper” to “settle down,” and he had a short attention span. As a high school sophomore, he joined the Air Force. He went to Basic Training at Parks Air Force Base outside Oakland. His DI could be heard a block away, and it rained every day, but Jack survived.

Jack asked to be an airplane mechanic, but “auto mechanic” was pretty close. At Lake Charles, Louisiana, there were no mountains or hills anywhere, just trees and swamps. He got used to it, though, and life wasn’t bad. He did his best and no one complained. (An improvement.) On the Job Training suited him fine; he learned short cuts that weren’t “in the book.” He learned a lot from a civilian mechanic.

Jack didn’t miss his parents, and he quickly made friends. They’d quiz him about Arizona: “Are there still Indians today?”

After a couple years, he was told that two soldiers had orders for Korea, but their wives were both expecting. Would he be a substitute? “I’ll volunteer,” said Jack. He got 30 days leave, and then was off to K-Site 55 near Osan, Korea, in June, 1956. The Korean War was supposed to be over, but they often heard shots at night.

Motor Maintenance worked on “anything with wheels,” like “deuce and a half” trucks, the “tugs” for the F86 Sabre Jets (fun to drive) and O11A fire trucks (hard to get at the motor). After an eight-hour day, the main recreation was drinking beer. Sometimes they’d pitch horseshoes or go to the base movie theater. Bob Hope and Carol Channing came to entertain.

Osan was 15 miles away, but “Chico Village” was right on their doorstep, with prostitutes and a busy black market. Some Koreans worked on base. They were small and wiry, but surprisingly strong. None were overweight.

A temporary duty in Taiwan and an R & R in Japan were adventures and a chance to see other cultures up close. At Seoul, Korea, the medieval city wall was impressive, but the city was still “bombed out.” Seeing real poverty, Jack learned to appreciate the United States.

Jack and his buddies visited an orphanage every other weekend. Mixed-race kids had an especially hard life. The Captain adopted his little blond almond-eyed daughter and took her home to the States, but most G.I.’s didn’t.

That winter was wicked cold. The heater in the shop didn’t seem to do much and they’d have to take a break every half hour to “thaw.” Mechanic work in gloves was difficult. Back in the barracks, a 55-gallon drum was heated cherry-red, and they sat up close, chatting, hot on one side and cold on the other; then everyone would turn around. (Rotisserie Airmen.) The latrine had no privacy, rats were there too, and it was in a separate building, with a “50 below” wind chill outside.

After a year in Korea and a 30-day leave, Jack was sent to Luke Air Force Base. He had “good duty,” helping run the “Auto Shop.” Airmen could rent a stall for a quarter and work on their cars, and Jack would loan them tools. The sergeant realized Corporal Jack would take good care of the place, so the he’d leave for the NCO Club. Jack would stay extra and made a little side money repairing private cars. The Lieutenant Colonel was pleased when Jack tuned up his T-bird.

“How’s your chow?” he asked, and Jack said, “Fair.”

“No, really. I was an enlisted man myself once. How’s the food?”

“Lousy,” said Jack. After that, the food improved “100 percent!”

Jack was up for Buck Sergeant, but he’d put in four years and was ready to get out. He visited around home, but his old friends were married with children now. He went to California, and came right back and got an underground mining job in San Manuel.

In the strike of 1960, he left and became a guard at the Florence prison for 10 years. He lived in Coolidge, where he met and married Helen Waggner. Helen was mild and her father was friendlier to Jack than his own had ever been. Helen and Jack had a son, Warren, now married, with his own business, in Lavin.

Jack wasn’t making rank at Florence, so he moved to Inspiration Copper in Miami and made twice the pay. Commuting got old after a few months, and they got a little trailer in Pueblo Heights, then a bigger one in Holiday Hills. Finally they moved to Apache Trail Mobile Home Park, where Jack lives today. The park is in the country, quiet, with good neighbors, and Jack likes to hike and rock-hunt and see the wild animals.

He used to drink beer by the case on the weekend, but Helen would say it was expensive and she wished he’d quit. Twenty years ago, he did, and hasn’t “missed it a bit.”

Jack was a mine mechanic, mostly a lube mechanic, from 1969 to 1994, when he retired and Helen was found to have a rare cancer. After operations, Helen was active but the cancer kept coming back. She passed away in September 2009, and it’s not easy for Jack to come home to an empty trailer after 50 years of marriage. “I don’t know how she put up with me,” he says. He hopes to see her again.

Jack married WAGGONER, Helen Elizabeth on 19 Dec 1960 in Yuma, Arizona, USA. Helen (daughter of WAGGONER, Roy Chesterfield and GIBSON, Elinor Helen) was born on 31 Dec 1937 in Florence, Pinal, Arizona, USA; died on 5 Aug 2009 in Globe, Gila, Arizona, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Clinton married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]