John E. Osguthorpe, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Becky B. Lloyd, June 24, 2004: Saving the Legacy tape no. 667

Page 45

JOHN E. 0 GUTHORPE J 24,2004 someplace in China. The plane usually left on a Friday and came back five day lat r. The crews were then given two days shore leave or so. I seldom saw them, much le s had a chance to talk to them. About a month after, I looked up Duane McCloud's widow, who was sharing a house with her mother, divorced brother and two children. She was working at the Safeway Distribution Center, a super grocery in a nearby town. She had moved from home a year after Duane had gone into the Navy and was partially supporting her widowed mother. I soon became quite close to the family especially the older mother, who soon referred to me as her other son. Her own son was a nice enough person who was inclined to drinking, smoking, sleeping around. I was just the opposite, like her daughter's husband, Duane, who she thought so much of. I suppose I sort of took his place in her eyes. I worked almost constantly, continually learning and seldom got close to anyone except Jim Ledger from Texas. If I left the base, it was usually to visit Duane's mother­in- law's (Landon's) household in Oakland near Lake Anna. Momma Landon and I would take short trips to Berkeley or surrounding towns, often taking the grandchildren with us. Occasionally, Bill Landon and I would double date, but not often. Before I purchased a Model-A Ford sedan I would hitch a ride from the airport to San Leandro, which was a town seven or eight miles away. The wind was coming off of the bay, which would cut one to the bone, so during the winter I seldom left the base. After I purchased the car, I could get around better, but gas was rationed to about five gallons a month for those using it only for recreation. Sometimes I even got some of it just to give Bill who was always running somewhere. I would occasionally siphon ten 45