Teenager in War Time
My dad, Kay D. Call, was a junior in high school when the U.S. went to war in 1941.
He had gone to 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th grade in Wilder, Idaho. His father Reuben and mother Mona had tried for four years to make a go of a very poor farm located in Fargo Valley, a few miles southwest of Wilder. “Irrigation was often a nightmare,” Dad says in his life history. (And one day you will be able to link to that, when I get it typed up.)
The family attended church in Homedale, as Wilder did not have an LDS church. One summer their car broke down, and that meant walking four miles to and from Church.
Kay D Call with Carl and Charles Swigert, Boyhood and Lifelong Friends from Idaho
“It was while we lived near Wilder that I became friends with Charles Swigert. He and his family have been lifelong friends,” Dad wrote.
Chuck Swigert in 1943 Photo Dad Carried in His Wallet
“In 1941, we gave up the farm in Fargo Valley and moved to an 80 acre farm five miles southwest of Homedale…My older sister Leda married a fine young man, Jay Anderson, in 1940. Jay joined the Church when we lived in Wilder. I had the privilege of baptizing him. This was done at Sucker Creek Canyon at the falls.”
“During my senior year,(1942-43) [in Homedale] four of five of us senior boys got the idea that we wanted to join the Navy. As it was right in the middle of WWII we had no trouble finding a Navy recruiter to take us to Boise to sign us up. We had our physicals and had even been sworn in when it was discovered that the two Navy recruiters had been recruiting out of their assigned territory. The onew who should have signed us up were very angry and there was a real problem. The final result was that the officer in charge gave us our choice of staying or going home. We were glad to have a second chance and went home.
Off to War
“It wasn’t until after we graduated that we joined the service. Frank Matteson and I joined the Army Air Corps in October of 1943 and were put on active service November 30, 1943. We were sent to Buckley Field in Colorado for basic training and tests. 
After basic training I was sent to Souix Falls, South Dakota for training as a radio operator. From thee I was sent to Yuma, Arizona to gunnery school. After gunnery school I went to Muroc Army Base in California for training on B-24 Liberator Bombers.”
Dad continues, “While I was at Buckley, my parents had a bad automobile accident and I was sent home on emergency leave. They were both in the hospital for some time and Dad was unable to farm, but I could not get a discharge or extended leave.”
An Unexpected Leave
Homedale, Idaho Farmers and LDS Ward Members Helped Get the Crops in That Year
Leda’s husband, Jay ran the farm for a short time, and the farmers and LDS ward members around Homedale pitched in and made sure Reuben and Mona’s crops got planted that year.
Jay Anderson, Dad’s Brother-in-Law and Close Friend is second from the left in front
And of course, the Ladies pitched in, and made sure everyone who got the crops in, got fed.
Kay’s sister Leda Anderson is at the left with her Daughter
It was during this emergency leave that Patricia Burr let Dad know that she had her eye on him. Dad was so modest, he could never understand why a girl as lovely as Pat would even look twice at him. But it’s obvious to me.
Patricia Burr, before she became Mrs. Kay D. Call
This photo was probably taken after the War, but it gives you the idea of why Dad was so smitten, and wrote to her until he came home.
A Member of B-24 Crew 204, United States Army Air Corps
Meanwhile, World War II was raging, and Dad had to go back to the Army and catch up on the training he had missed.
After gunnery training, Dad was assigned to a B-24 crew.
Enlisted Men of Crew 204
Dad writes, “We then went to Muroc for our flight training. Our crew was made up of: Pilot, Vermon Mattingly; Co-Pilot Roy McCarther, Navigator, Richard Page; Bombadier, _Benhart, Crew Chief and Top Turret gunner, Mike Sietsinger; Nose Gunner, Henry Kury; Ball Gunner, Charles Merrick; Tail Gunner Leonard Shelton; Armour and Waist Gunner, Evan McCreary, Radio Operator and Waist Gunner, Kay D. Call.”
“When we were sent overseas we went by ship to Hawaii. Be were at Barking Sands Air Base for about three or four months, I remember. Be then flew to Biak, New Guinea, stopping at Canton Island, Tarawa, Los Negros and maybe some other islands.”
“The war had ended while we were in Hawaii but because the wheels of government turn so slowly and because we were scheduled to be an attack force against Japan, we were sent on to the Far East and it was another five months or so before we could go home.
“While we were in New Guinea we were assigned to fly B-24s to the Philippines.
Dad was a Radio Operator and Waist Gunner on a B-24 Bomber
We were stationed at Kadenia Air Strip in Okinawa most of the time. We were assigned to the 6th Emergency Air-Sea Rescue Squadron and stayed in that until we were sent home in March of 1946.”
Lt. V. M Mattingly, Pilot of Crew 204 Okinawa, 20 Nov 1945
Mike Sietsinger, Engineer, Crew Chief and Top Turret Gunner Crew 204, Okinawa 1945
Henry “Junior” Kury, Nose Gunner Crew 204, Okinawa 1945
Charles Merrick, Ball Gunner Crew 204, Okinawa 1945
Leonard “Okie” Shelton, Tail Gunner, Crew 204, Okinawa 1945
Evan McCreery, Waist Gunner Crew 204, Okinawa 1945
Kay D. Call, Radio Operator and Waist Gunner Crew 204, Okinawa Nov 20, 1945
WWII Currency: Sample of dozens of bills saved by Kay D. Call
oOo
Stationed on Okinawa, Latter-day Saint Soldier’s Choir
Naturally, the Latter-day Saint Servicemen would have a Choir, even in Okinawa 1945. Recognize Dad?
This looks like a Christmas Concert. Dad is framed by the Conductor’s hands.
I would love to know who the other men in this photo are. Maybe someone will search for “LDS Servicemen in Okinawa 1945” and find a picture of their Dad or Grandpa. Here’s a photo Dad labeled as “LDS Choir, Okinawa.”
The LDS Choir poses for a group photo in 1945 Okinawa
I do know that one of Dad’s LDS friends was Roger Critchlow. I’ve heard him talk about him, and that they were friends after they returned to America. Roger lived in Ogden, and Dad stayed with him once when he went down to Salt Lake City for General Conference.
This picture is the best clue to the others: It’s one photo Dad wrote names on the back of. And I suspect it’s some of the guys in the choir.
Roger B Critchlow, Kay D. Call, Hugh Lynn Brown, DeWayne Falk, Dallas Duffin in Okinawa 1945
oOo
Home from the War
Kay D. Call Happy to be Home in Idaho, 1946
Dad returned to Idaho, and Mom was waiting. I love this photo of them. Dad did, too, because this is the photo he chose to carry in his wallet of Mama. I remember when she died in 1974, he took out his wallet and showed me. I remember thinking, that this is how she will look the next time they meet.
Kay D. Call and Patricia Burr reunited in 1946
oOo
Our Family History Site 
