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Show EDWARD G. LUEDERS February 1 2000 anything of any significance, really, at Keesler Field. And so I wasn t too surprised. I d watched a good many other people in similar situations there come up on orders to fill whatever was needed in the larger scheme of the war. So, when it was my turn it was my turn, it just was rather slow in coming. So that's a fuzzy area for me, where dates are concerned. I came out here though, I remember having a leave in Chicago with my family, and taking the train, stopping off in Denver, and coming on to Salt Lake City, which was strange to me! I'd never been in Utah before, although I had been in the West generallya family trip to Yellowstone, and so forth. WIN: What did you find strange about Utah? Was it the country-side, or the culture? EDW: The strangeness was my being here. I didn't have much to do with the culture, I was wrapped up in Keams. It was an overseas replacement depot, I knew that this was penultimate, it was very temporary- I didn't know how long I'd be here, so I wasn't settled in in any respect. Although, I was here for about a month - six weeks, or so - during which I could come in on the shuttle from Keams to the city. I had one three day pass, I remember, which I spent in a flea bag on Main Street, mostly, and going to movies. Very solitary. Had no friends yet in the service. I was pretty much a loner. We would do battle scenarios up in the Oquirrhs. The rest of the time it was very cold. Sit around the pot-bellied stove, try to stay warm. I remember the coal smoke smog, which almost- all but obscured the mountains. From Keams you could not see - most of the time- in the day time, November, December, you could not see the Wasatch. 24 |
