Volume 13 , Issue 3

Kenneth Dwight Pittman Bio

Vickie J. Glover sent us the following interview she had back in November 11, 2007, with Kenneth Dwight Pittman, a cousin. Kenneth Pittman lived Southeast of Alva, Oklahoma. Vickie says, "I thought you might like to add this to a bio on families from Alva, Oklahoma." It reads as follows as Kenneth Dwight Pittman told it to his cousin, Vickie Glover.

"My Father was Rollie Owen Pittman. My Mother was Bertha Marie Shafer. I was born September 25, 1923 in Alva, Woods County, Oklahoma. I was born at home by a Midwife, her name was Mrs. Gobal. She was a neighbor. On my Birth Certificate it says 'Baby Boy Pittmanâ'.

"I am the oldest of my Brothers and Sisters. My Grandparents on the Pittman side were John Salem Pittman and Ida Mae Osborn Pittman, both buried at the Fogelman Cemetery, Mercer Co, Missouri. On my Mother's side, my Grandparents were Jessie Shafer and Cora Belle Ogleby Shafer. They are both buried in Alva, Oklahoma. My Dad was born in Mercer Co, Missouri. My Mother was born in Admire, Kansas.

"The Pittman's took up land West of Alva with the Land Rush. This is where Bertha and Rollie met at a Barn dance. They married in Alva, Oklahoma. Rollie, walked to Town to go to the town dances. Sometimes it took two days to get to Alva, 11 miles away. In Whitehorse, Alva there was a Post Office and a grocery store. He usually went once a month to the dance.

"It took a whole day to travel by wagon, 20 miles. The Shafer's lived 20 miles east of Alva. They would get their sugar, flour and other staples at the grocery store. My Aunt Grace Shafer was 7 years old before she ever went to town.

"When I was born, my Folks lived in the Country. They lived 11 miles past Alva, Oklahoma. One month after I was born they moved back to town. We had a wood stove that heated our house. We had an ice box for a refrigerator. We canned our own vegetables. We Had our own cow. My brother Norman got the milking job. We made our own butter. You would put the cream in a glass jar and just shake it.

"Our family always had dinner together, when I was growing up. My favorite foods my Mother made were Waldorf salad and homemade stuffing.

"We had to share bedrooms when I was growing up. One house we lived in had a basement and all of the boys stayed downstairs.

"My Dad worked for Woods County. He had a tractor on the back of his pick-up truck. My Dad had an accident with that tractor and really hurt his shoulder and arm. The insurance paid him that was in 1942.

"We were Penacostal. They didn't believe in dancing. I think I was 10 or 12 years old when we started going to Church. When we moved from Alva, Oklahoma we went to the First Christian Church in Burlington, Kansas.

"When I was in the six grade., I passed out at home. My Dad took me to the Doctor's office. I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis. I was kept out of school one whole school year. My knees were affected. I could not walk. I stayed with my Aunts, up to 3-4 week at a time. I was in bed at first. They would put my youngest sister Francis in bed with me. She was just a baby. Then I was able to sit in a chair, and then I could take small steps.

"I mowed lawns and delivered the newspaper. I saved my money. I bought my first rifle at age 14. It cost me $15.00. I would shoot rabbits birds anything I could shoot.
"There was a neighbor boy who was 2 years old then me. He had a good job. He had guns and we would go hunting he also had a car. His name was Francis Parker.

"Movies were 10-cents. We knew the person that took the tickets at the movies and he would let us in free. The name of one of the theaters was the Ritz. All three movies theaters were owned by the same family, in Alva, Oklahoma.

"We would go to Church and there were picnics for fun. I wish I had gotten a better Education, although, I didn't like school much. I was closer to my Mom than my Dad.

"Christmas was exciting. One year I got a pair of leather boots and a pocket knife. We had big dinners for Christmas. We usually went to the Shafer's for dinner. We generally went to Aunt Helen's, 25 miles away. Aunt Grace was a spinster. My Aunts always had gifts for us kids.

"My family was very poor. We did not have a radio. When we did get one, we would listen to the Grand Ole Opry. My parents always rented. We were too poor to buy a home. When I went into the Army my Dad was making $75.00 per month. Our rent was $25.00 per month.

"We would see my Pittman Grandparents and family about once a year when they came to Alva, Oklahoma. I remember Grandpa John Pittman selling One Hundred Sixty acres for one horse, so they could move. This was the land he received for the land rush. My Pittman Grandparents moved to Hardtner, Kansas for awhile, it was only 14 miles to Alva, Oklahoma.

"Sometimes we drove to Kansas City and St. Joseph from Alva, Oklahoma. I remember one time there were six carloads of people that came to visit. People were all over. My Aunt Pansy and Uncle Fred Edwards came from Buffalo, New York. Grandma Ida Mae Pittman and Uncle Jim Pittman. My sister Ida Belle was so sick. The Sheriff came by the house and asked about the car with the New York license plates. My Aunt and Uncle Richard and Pearl Pittman came in their new Chevy, it was reddish in color. That was when we lived in Southeast of Alva, Oklahoma. Everyone sat on the porch and visited.

"I walked to and from school to home. I remember seeing a dead Eagle, on a country road. I didn't think there were Eagles in Oklahoma. I went to N.W. Teachers College for High School. Alva had their own High School. I then went to Alva High School also when we moved.

"My brother Norman cut school one time with a friend, they hitch hiked the whole way to California and then hitch hiked back. My parents didn't know he had left.

There was no work in Alva, Oklahoma. I quit High School to go to Radio School. I enlisted in the Reserve Corp at Tonkawa, Oklahoma. Then I went to Radio School in San Antonio, Texas. I was at Radio School at Vent Hill Farms, Virginia. I went into the Army Signal Corp. activate duty 1943. First, I was at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and then I went to Camp Kahlor near Roseville, California for Radio training School.

"My Army unit was sent by train to Sacramento, California. It took more than ten days by train. We went through Kentucky, Tennessee thru Texas on the Southern Pacific Railroad to the West Coast.

"After Camp Kohlor, we went to Virginia then back to Camp Stoneman, Pittsburg, Ca before we were sent overseas. We had to stay at Fort Mason in San Francisco, California. There was not enough room in the barracks at Camp Stoneman.

"When I was in Roseville, Calfiornia at Camp Kohlor the bus would take us to the USO in San Francisco, California. On weekends we would stay on base. The Army shipped me to Hawaii for 9 months. I was sick before I left. It took 4-5 days to get to Hawaii. From Hawaii, I was sent to the Philippines on a Navy Ship. There were ships everywhere as far as you could see. I got there before General MacCarther. He smoked a corncob pipe.

"While I was in the Hospital my cousin Harvey Walker from my Mother's side of the family came by to see me. I did not realize he was in the Philippines. He was a First Lt. and later became a full Colonel. I got to Leyte, Philippians, in November 1944.

"I was very sick with Hepatitis. I was in a Military Hospital 6 weeks. I went to another Hospital to recuperate. I missed the first month of duty with my Battalion in Okinawa, Japan. While I was in Okinawa, Japan, the Jap's were still fighting. When I first got there, I did not have a gun. The Japanese came into our Camp and killed a few soldiers. I remember staying in a hole all night. I was scared to death without a weapon. I could hear moaning all night. It was a Jap that had been shot. When we climbed out of the hole the next morning we could see that the whole top of his head had been shot off. He died.

"My first night of Guard duty I was guarding the post everything that moved I thought it was the Jap's, every noise all the tall weeds, I was so scared.

"My job in the service was to intercept secret codes and messages. When the war ended, the Army got the General of Japan to our Camp to talk to the Empire of Japan to verify that the war had ended. All 25,000 Japanese soldiers in Okinawa, Japan surrendered their weapons.

"I was sent to Korea from August until November as part of the Occupation troops. Our headquarters were in Seoul, Korea in a basement of a Hotel that we took over. The Army took it over for our communications. Our officers were in the basement also.

"We slept in an old school, there were no windows only open space, It was so cold the school was a 4 story building, that the Jap's built. I remember wearing every piece of clothing I owned to bed so I would not freeze to death.
The war ended Aug 1945. I was in Okinawa, Japan. I was sent back to the States in November 1945 from Seoul, Korea. The night before I was discharged, I was so sick with a cold I was afraid they would not discharge me. I drank six bottles of beer and then jumped into the shower to break the fever. I was discharged at Fort Leonard, Missouri, December 17, 1944.

"I was sent home by bus to Kansas City. From Kansas City, Missouri, I hitched hiked to home. When I got to Alva, Uncle Fred Edwards saw me and gave me a lift to Enid, Oklahoma. From there another friend saw me and gave me a ride to Alva, Oklahoma.

"I had not seen my family in 4 years. I stayed with my family until Feb rural 1946. I then went to Virginia to see Helen, my fianc�©e. I had meet Helen at a town dance in Virginia before I was shipped out. She wrote me every day when I was in the service. We did not become engaged until after the War.

"When I got to Virginia Helen and her girl friend meet me at the drugstore. We all stayed at the same boarding house. Helen and I did not get along after spending time together. I found out she wrote to a bunch of soldiers in the Army! For two years, I lived in Kansas City and she lived in Virginia.

"I went to Washington, DC to get my High School diploma. The Army paid my way thru the GI Bill. I finished in six months. I worked at United Fruit Express in Alexander, Virginia. I was a carpenter. I made refrigerator cars for the railroad. We built refrigerators on both ends of the train cars. This is where the ice was held to keep produce fresh and cool. I lived in Virginia a few years. I went to Kansas City, Missouri and enrolled into the University of Kansas City it is now part of the University of Missouri.

"Another job I had was I worked part time cleaning, repairing, replacing ribbon and slates on venetian blinds in Kansas City while I was going to college. I lived in a room/ boarding house there in Kansas City. They sure made good meals there. This is where I meet Pauline. Her girlfriend lived at the same boarding house that I did. Her girlfriend was from Guatemala. I married Pauline on September 9, 1950, Kansas City, Kansas.

"After going to the University of Kansas City, Missouri, I went to work for the railroad in Kansas City. The Army helped with the GI Bill. I was a relief worker. My job was with Union Pacific Railroad.

"Then I went to work for the Missouri Pacific railroad. I worked in Colorado and Western Kansas and Wyoming, Arkansas, Missouri. At the Pacific Railroad, I worked for the telegraph dept. I worked at the station I copied train orders. They had a stick with a string on one end. One was for the Engineer and one for the Conductor, sometimes the trains would go by at 60 miles per hour. The instructions that I gave to them had the time they had to be at next station and what set of tracks they had to be on for the next station.

"In 1968, the Navy sent me back to the Philippians to put electronics on airplanes. The Navy flew me to Louzan Island Naval Air Station.

"I was excited about having children. Sharon was born at East Oakland Hospital, on 98th Ave, Oakland, California. Her death came early she died 11/2/1993. She is buried at Chapel of the Chimes Hayward, California. Sharon had a daughter Michelle Rene Grave's born June 23, 1973; she died in a car accident a month after her 18th birthday. Sharon also has a son John (Johnny) Kenneth Angel born 9/23/1980.

"Donna was born 1959 at East Oakland Hospital, 98th Ave, Oakland, Calfornia. Donna has a son Devin Lloyd Stanley born 11/18/1984 in San Leandro, California. Donna's husband is Tom Vandor they live near Reno, NV.

"We came to California by car November 1952. I took a job at General Motors assembling cars. The office was at 73rd and Macarthur Blvd., Oakland, Ca. I took an exam at the Alameda Naval Station for an apprentice Electrician in 1954. I stayed there until I retired 1982. My job title was Aircraft Electrician.

"People say I am frugal. I paid my home off 20 years ago. I still take care of my yards and cars. I do most of my home repairs. Pauline and I went to Alaska to fish several years in a row. We would drive to Seattle and take the Ferry to Alaska. Pauline died 4/10/2005.Complications from Alzheimer's disease. She is buried at the Chapel of the Chimes, Hayward, California. My parents are both buried at Burlington, Kansas Cemetery. The end" -- Kenneth Pittman   |  View or Add Comments (4 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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