|
I enrolled in Park College in Parkville
in the fall of 1940. My roommate in the dormitory
was Hank Llewellyn.
This was a work-study college at
the time, and Hank and I had jobs in lieu of tuition--we
were plumbers.
Our jobs were to repair plumbing facilities on
campus. We worked 15 hours a week as plumbers and
attended classes 15 hours a week, too.
Hank and I were not the best of plumbers--neither of
us had done this kind of work before.
The attack on Pearl Harbor was on December 7, 1941,
during our sophomore year. The next day most of
the men students went to Kansas City to enlist in the
military.
Hank went into the Navy, taking flight training in
Iowa. He graduated as an ensign.
Early in March 1943, Hank came back to marry his
college sweetheart, Ruth Holden, in the college chapel.
I served as best man. It would have been
traditional for the bride and groom to pass between two
rows of soldiers holding crossed swords, forming a
canopy.
When Hank and his bride exited the Park College
chapel, they walked between two lines of people saluting
with--not sabers--but plungers!
|
