Our Warriors

Carl Workman - Enlisted in the Navy as soon as he turned 18. He was told by the Draft Board that he could report in 30 days, but he refused, saying he wanted to go immediately. He only had three weeks of basic training in San Diego before being posted to the USS Liscomb Bay Aircraft Carrier as a gun operator. His ship was engaged in battle for 3 days and was hit by 14 torpedoes by a Japanese sub in the Makin Islands in the Gilbert Chain in the South Pacific, Nov 24th, 1943. Here is a website link that tells about the battle Click Here.

Carl Taber - was a 27 year veteran of the military. He entered the Army as a private in 1951 and fought in the Korean war. He was wounded in Korea by a Chinese grenade and was sent to the hospital in Japan for 5 or 6 months while they performed skin grafts on him. He was sent home to a hospital in the US and spent a year recovering. He re-enlisted in 1957 and was stationed in Germany for 11 years. For three of those years, he was posted at the Berlin wall check point. He was sent to Vietnam in 1966 and was there for one year. He and his unit would go out on patrol in the jungle, be out for several weeks, then they would get sent back to base camp, where they could relax a little bit. After Vietnam he was posted in Wurzburg, Germany and finally retired as a Master Sargent.

Lex Tabor - served in the Army. He enlisted June 10, 1965, took his basic training at Fort Ord, CA but never went to Vietnam. He was posted first to Manheim, Germany and then Stuggart until June 20th, 1968 when he was discharged.

Marjorie Allen-White was a WAC stationed at Beale Air Force Base in California. She was in charge of the 2000 bed hospital there.  She was appointed the title of 1st Lieutenant in the US Army on March 6th 1945.  She was born Febuary 2nd, 1909 and died July 31st, 2003.

Now to Wayne, this is something that is very real to me, and I have a special connection to Wayne.  Both boys grew up in the La Junta house, and I always have felt Wayne in my life.  I felt his energy in Grandma's house all the time.  When I was 14, I could see his energy in the doorway between the dining room and kitchen.  I was driven to explore the depths of the house, and in the basement, up in the corners where it was only dirt, and old flooded items, I found a military chest.  When I opened it I found Wayne's suits, Military hats, his medals and his burial flag.  Nothing had been damaged by the flood.  I brought this up to my Grandmother and she broke down, and said, "Where did you find this"?  She wasn't exactly happy about it.  She grabbed everything from me and had Wayne's uniforms dry cleaned and hung in her closet.  I asked if I could have his flag, and she told me that if I still wanted it when I was 18, I could have it.   I believe from talking with my dad and looking at family papers that my Grandmother was so hurt by Wayne's death that the only way she could cope was to bury it. He was an avid musician and loved to sing. I was heartbroken when I learned that she had records with him singing on them, but threw them away because she couldn't bear to listen to them.  I understand her pain, I just wished she would have stored them instead of getting rid of them.  :(  That would be invaluable to me.  Somewhere in this info, is Wayne's school.  I will look for it.  

Wayne was pulled out of college and sent to boot camp in mid to late 1944.  He entered service from Colorado into the 782nd Tank Batallion.  He was a 2nd Lieutenant with the US ARMY.  O-548081.  You will find letters that he sent during this time.  I always thought until very recently, that he had been taken so early that he didn't have a chance to find love and make his way in life.  I found out that he not only had a high school girlfriend named Ida Mae Finkner, love that name, but also was engaged to be married at the time of his death to a girl named DeeDee.  He gave her a ring that was apparently something to see as she writes that she was feeling a "bit smug" when she was around other girls and saw their rings.  :)  His letters to Marjorie were sent from his post and also from La Junta (he states that he will be leaving soon, so would like to spend as much time with Dee Dee as possible-Having lost his brother already, I am sure he understood what he was facing) to her when she was stationed in California at Beale Air Force Base.  She was appointed the title of 1st Lieutenant in the US Army on March 6, 1945.  He also writes his mother just before he leaves and , and her response letter to him was returned to her stamped "deceased".  I was told by my Grandmother that it was received the same day that the Military informed her of his death, but the letter arrived before the Military.  

For years, I attempted to find out what had happened to Wayne.  The only thing the family was told was that he died in a train wreck on his way to Battle of the Bulge.  I researched and researched, but couldn't find anything.  I even wrote to the Military and requested the info, but they refused.  One day about 7 years ago, I was packing up my things from my friends house, I was returning to Sacramento, and had the day off.  I was going through things, paperwork, photos etc...as you do when sorting through your stuff and I came across the letters that I had written to the National War Archives.  I thought to myself, I have been out here for hours, I'm hot and tired, I am going to go in and take a break, and just google "train wreck on the way to Battle of the Bulge".  I have to tell you that I honestly had no idea what the day was, I just knew I had a day off from work, and had a ton to do, as I was leaving in a few days.  I sat down at the computer and typed in the info.  To my surprise, I FINNALY got a hit.  Please see this link regarding troop Train 2980.   It turns out that Wayne had only been on the Continent for a few hours, when the troop transport train that he had been loaded onto with many many other military personnel crashed into the round house of a little town in France and destroyed the town and killed, I think it was 89 service men and wounded 152  more.  

The Government covered this up because engineers on the train had been complaining about the brakes, and were ignored.  The brakes failed, and that is why the train picked up speed and could not slow down as it came to the station.  I was FLOORED.  I wrote to my dad and sisters telling them what I had found.  The boys were all buried in France and I read that the French Citizens place wreaths on the graves of the lost every year on Memorial Day.  I started to get a little freeked out when I realized that it WAS Memorial Day, that was why I was off of work.  I felt this was meant to be and felt that Wayne made sure I found out about what had happened to him 60 years later on Memorial Day.  I said to myself, Eve, you need to be awake and thinking about Wayne when they place the flowers on his grave.  I later went to bed and set my alarm so that I could be awake.  As I laid there, I said, OMG, the time change, the time change, so I got up and went to the computer and looked at the world time clock and saw that I first learned about Wayne's fate at the exact hour that they were placing flowers on his grave, 60 years later.  This isn't coincidence.  He made that happen.  :)  I was amazed.  I still have his flag, it is here in my case, and I have a connection to him that has always been so strong.  I have to tell you that I am so proud to be a part of this legacy, and I am so proud of them and their sacrifices to our country that it makes me want to cry.  

Wayne is buried in Plot B Row 22 Grave 12 in the Normandy American Cemetary in St. Laurent-Sur-Mer, France.  He received the European-African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, 1 Bronze Star, WWII victory Medal, Honorable Service Lapel and WWII Button. 

Carl was 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army Special Forces  0-884132  Buried Plot F, Row 19, Grave 6 North Africa Cemetary, Carthage Tunisia.  He was awarded medals including the Purple Heart.  

Lily did not want the boys relocated back to the states, she said that it would cause to much grief and chose to let them remain where they were.  I would have brought them home, but of course it wasn't my decision.  DeeDee had a very difficult time with Wayne's death.  As you can see in the attached letters, her mother wrote to Lily asking for her assistance in helping DeeDee move on.  Dee Dee did get re-married, and you can see the attached Christmas card she sent in 197? someting...with photos of her children, which she signed, DeeDee Allen.  H