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Here I am in my "work clothes" with one of my professors from the Norfolk division of the College of William and Mary. He and his wife came to see me where I worked as a lifeguard at the Chaimberlain Hotel at Old Point Comfort, Virginia after attending a performance of the play I was in the night before. I was a feature character in the play that was called "Years Ago".
Now I want to tell about how I came to meet a wonderful man that I have been married to for 59 years. His name is Charles Bernard Clontz, and I call him "Chuck". He was born in a coal mining town called Kentenia, Kentucky in 1925. His father was a meat cutter, "the best in the trade" Chuck often recalled, and because of this, his dad was never without a job during the Depression.
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| Charles B. Clontz |
Chuck attended a one-room school in first grade, and since he was sitting next to second graders, he absorbed what they were learning. When his family moved to a new town his teacher told his mother to enroll him in the second grade at his new school. Because of that, Chuck graduated from high school when he was only 17 years old. His graduation from high school was overshadowed by the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and, wanting to help his country, he tried to enlist, but was told that Franklin Roosevelt had stopped voluntary enlistments for seventeen year olds.
A former physics teacher from Chuck's high school had received a letter from the Army wanting students who had excelled in mathematics and physics for their meteorology program, and helped Chuck sign up. Chuck waited and waited to hear back from the Army; he needed to do something. He heard about the National Youth Administration (NYA), which taught defense plant skills, and with $2.34 in his pocket, he boarded a bus to Charleston, S.C. He walked the 3-4 miles to the NYA camp, suitcase in hand. When he got to the office, he put the suitcase down and informed the lady at the office that he was there to sign up. "Sign up for what?" she asked. "For your program" he responded. Much to his dismay, she told him that he couldn't just sign up. He needed to go through his Congressman and get all sorts of recommendations. Chuck told her he didn't know that, and showed her what he had in his pocket. He was tired and hungry, and must have looked so forlorn that the lady told him to wait there. She went into a back office for a while and when she came out she informed him that he had been accepted into the NYA!
Chuck was there for 3 weeks and in that time learned how to cut, form, and rivet metals and was eventually sent to Fairchild Aviation in Hagerstown, MD. He was assigned as a "rivet bucker"; he would stand on one side of the metal holding a metal bar against the backside of the rivet while his partner used the rivet gun to join the metal pieces together. They were working on the wings of a Navy planes.
Chuck eventually left Fairchild Aviation and went to where his sister and her husband lived in Kimball, W. VA. They rented him a room in their home and he was able to get a job at the local store behind the meat counter since he had experience working with his father while growing up. He finally received a wire from the Army and was given 3 days to report. The men selected for the Meteorology Course were sent to the University of Iowa and were in an accelerated program, completing a 2 year program in 1 year. In addition to their studies, the men had drill and physical training.
In this picture taken at the University of Iowa, Chuck is fifth from the right.
Two weeks prior to the final exam, the men learned that the Army had overestimated the number of meteorologists that would be needed. The University of Iowa was one of the schools eliminated from the program. The Army allowed the men to chose another field, and would provide training. Chuck qualified for both pilot and navigator, and chose to be a navigator. That decision brought him to San Antonio, Texas for training.
There's something about a man in uniform!
Before training was complete, the War ended. Chuck signed up for the Inactive Reserve. He was then a civilian, but it wasn't long before the military became a part of his life once again. He was recalled in 1951 and was told to report to Langley AFB in Hampton, VA. When he arrived it was absolute bedlam because thousands had been recalled. He signed in, received a uniform, and was told to find his own living accommodations. He met up with another navigator, and they found a little cottage on the beach nearby. What they thought would be "heaven" proved to be very noisy with parties going on all night and they ended up looking for another place to stay.
Chuck had made friends with his pilot and his pilot's daughter just happened to be taking swimming lessons from me at the Chamberlain Hotel where I was working as a lifeguard. His pilot pulled him aside one day after work and told him there was someone he wanted him to meet.
The next day his pilot introduced us and Chuck asked me out to lunch for a hamburger. Chuck enjoyed being at the hotel (and wanted to see more of me), so he went to the manager and asked for help with a place for him and his room mate to stay. Being service men who were doing their duty for our country, they were able to get a room at a very reasonable rate and moved in. It took a few more hamburgers, but he won my heart, and before long asked me to marry him.
I didn't say "Yes" right away because I took him to meet my parents and although my mother fell in love with him right off the bat, my father was more reserved and wanted me to be cautious. He was afraid things were moving too fast. Before long Chuck's training was complete, he was to go to California to await orders, and I still had not given him my answer. He decided to go to Kimball, W. VA to see his sister before heading to the West Coast. The day after he left I realized I should have said "yes", and called him at his sister's home to let him know. Unbeknown-st to me, his sister had invited one of Chuck's old girlfriends and her mother over to visit with Chuck and was hoping to set them up with each other. When I called him, he was sitting in the livingroom being sized up by the girl's mother! When I called, his sister Ruth answered the phone and handed the phone to Chuck. When Chuck came on the phone I told him to come back, that I would marry him! He was in an uncomfortable situation, so he said "Don't go anywhere, I'll call you right back!" He quickly excused himself from the room and ran out the door. I can imagine that the old girlfriend, her mother, and Chuck's sister were all sitting there with their mouths wide open, wondering what had just happened! The house was on a hill and there were about 80 steps down to street level. Chuck flew down the steps and ran to the drug store at the foot of the hill and called me back on the pay phone. He said he would be on the next train and would call me when he got the schedule so I could meet him. I was working full time at the Chamberlain and was appearing in a play in the evenings, so my parents had to make all of the arrangements for the wedding and reception in one week's time! When Chuck got back we went to get our marriage license and our rings.
When we went to the courthouse to get our marriage license there were two Jewish men there in line in front of us. We thought it was interesting because they were there to get a license for their children. It must have been an "arranged" marriage. The young couple looked to be college age and neither seemed interested in each other at all!
My mother came to get me one day from work and took me to buy a dress. The ladies of our church helped my mother put the wedding and reception together and even found a lady to sing. The minister of our church was out of town, so Chuck called the Chaplain from the local Army post at Fort Monroe, and he agreed to help us out. I had rehearsals for the play, so had to attend the play rehearsal instead of my wedding rehearsal. We were married at 4:30 in the afternoon on a rainy Wednesday afternoon, and stayed at the Chamberlain Hotel on our wedding night.
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These pictures show the Chamberlain Hotel swimming pool where I worked and a kid named Bruce Price who's father was stationed at Fort Monroe. Bruce spent his summer hanging out at the pool (I think he had a crush on me). Every time I turned around he was there! He even showed up at our wedding with all of my friends from the hotel who attended and made his way into many of the photos!  |
