My Father’s
Story
December 30,
1920 – September 3, 1991
Lonzie was born
on December 30, 1920 at home in Blackshear, GA. His parents were Lessie and
Reuben Crawford. They were share-croppers and lived in a little wood house in
the country. They finally purchased the farm after all their children were
grown.
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| Reubin Beal Crawford 1887-1975 Lessie Mae (Harper) Crawford 1901-1966 Lonzie's Parents |
Lonzie was the oldest of nine children. Lonzie was popular and mischievous. He quit school after the sixth grade to work on the farm. He was known to be a “caller” at the local square dances. Lonzie married and divorced before he met Hazel.
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| Scrap (not sure), Reuben, Lessie, Hazel, Geneva, Tonnie, Judy (Julian) Lonzie's parents and siblings |
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| Reuben, Hazel, Tonnie, Geneva, Judy (Julian) Lonzie's father and siblings |
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| 1940 circa. The house in Georgia where Lonzie grew up. |
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| Lonzie, Eugene, Sister, Carl, Scrap, Julian, Tonnie, Hazel, Geneva |
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| Reubin, Lessie and children |
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| Reuben, Lessie and all of their children except Lonzie. |
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| 3rd Platoon, Company C, 9th Battalion |
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| 1942 circa Lonzie Crawford, 24 years old |
He worked at
Laclede Steel in Alton Illinois for over 20 years. He left the Steel Mill on
disability (anxiety I believe) when he was old enough to retire.
Stuff About My Father:
Dad had a great work ethic. He
never missed work. He left for work long before his shift started. Once when
his car was broke, he walked to work (6.5 miles) and back home. He was an
attractive man and small in stature. He was very neat and tidy. He enjoyed
country music and read the newspaper from front to back. He struggled for many
years with alcohol. Years after he retired, he stopped drinking so much and was
really very pleasant to be around.
What Would
Lonzie Say…
- Pretty as a speckled
bird dog
- Love you a
bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck
- I got in a fight
with a Wild Cat
- Blackbird,
blackbird sittin’ on a hill.
One named Jack, one named Jill.
Fly away Jack, fly away Jill.
Come back Jack, come back Jill.
Blackshear, GA. 804 miles from East Alton,
IL. Population in 2010 was 3,445. During the Civil War, the city became a
temporary prisoner of war camp for more than 5,000 Union prisoners.
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| The house in Georgia where Lonzie grew up. |
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| Plumb tuckered out after pickin' that there tabacker! Patti took this picture in Georgia in 2001. |
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| 2001 Aunt Scrap, Donna, Barb, Aunt Tonnie at the old Crawford farm in Georgia. This building was the wash house. It had a big tub to was clothes. |
January 31, 1944
Monday PM
My Dearest Darling and Family,
Darling I just received the letter your mother wrote me on the 24th telling me the news and honestly Dear I'm so excited I can't hardly write and there's so terrible much that I would like to know but can't write it. But anyway the main thing Dear is, are you both getting along OK? I sure hope and pray that you are for Darling I was so shocked and surprised and excited and happy all together until I know you won't be able to get any sense out of this letter because my mind is whirling around at least 10,000 times per second. So you can imagine how a letter would look written by a person in that condition. But Darling please take good care of yourself and the baby and I sure hope and pray from the bottom of my heart that it comes through all OK and gets along fine even though it was a premature baby and I'll be more than glad when you can write me all about it. But Darling be sure you take extra good care of yourself until you are plenty able to write me for even though I am more that anxious to hear from you I want you to get well first and then you can write me all about it. And Dear I am a little uneasy about it being ahead of time like that but I truly hope that it turns out all OK and getting along fine. And Darling about the allotment for it, I'm not sure at present just how we will have to go about getting it fixed up but I believe you will have to send me the birth certificate and I can get it fixed up. But I am not sure but I'll try and find out tonight if I possibly can and I'll write you as soon as I find out so just don't worry Darling about it until you are well again and then it will be time enough to get that straightened out.
All you mother wrote me was when and what time it was born and what it weighed and she said she only got to see you a few minutes after it was born and said she hadn't seen the baby. She told me about it being in the incubator and that you made her promise to write me at once and that there were quite a few of exiting moments that morning and of course that it was a boy and Darling I'm so happy and excited until I don't know how to act. And I'm thinking of you every moment and praying that it will come through fine and you too. Oh, yes I also got the two letters you wrote on the 21 and they were postmarked the 24 the same day you mother's letter was and your mother said she would write me a little every day and let me know how my family was getting along.
Darling I like the name fine that you said you had picked out, and I'll be on pins and needles until I hear that you are both out of danger so I'll say it again Darling be sure you take extra good care of yourself and our son until you are sure you are out of danger and I believe they will give you the best of care there in the hospital and I'll try to write you some answers to some of the things you wrote and ask me, as soon as I find out and my excitement is settled a little more.
Well Darling I will close with all my love and prayers and very best wishes to my Dear Sweet loving Wife and Son!
Your Loving Husband and Father,
Lonzie
February 2, 1944
Hello Darling,
How is my Darling Wife and Son today? Fine I truly hope as for myself, I'm all OK except I have been sorta uneasy ever since I got your mother's letter, day before yesterday, and I didn't hear from you yesterday so I'm really hoping to get one today. Oh, Dear, you just can't imagine how much I would like to see you and be with you but lets take it like a man and do the best we can until I can come home to my dear sweet wife and see my son. I am hoping and praying for you both Darling and I hope you will soon be well again where you can look after and take care of our baby and keep him a big healthy fellow until I come home and then we will try to make him the happiest parents in the world won't we Darling? And about the allotment Dear, I found out how to get it. I will get the papers from here and send them to you and they may be already partly filled out. When you get them but I don't really know whether there will be anything for you to fill out or not. There probably will be and you have to get a certified certificate of it's birth or in other words a certified birth certificate and send it along with the papers that I'll send you to Headquarters. I don't know the address but that will all be on the papers and I think I will get the papers by tonight or tomorrow. I saw or rather inquired about it yesterday and they told me that the papers would be ready to send to you by today or tomorrow so I'm pretty sure they will be mailed not later than tomorrow. So Darling don't send me the birth certificate as I wrote you before that I thought you may have to do that. I sure will be around when you are well enough to write me a long letter and tell me all about it and boy oh boy. I just can't explain how tickled I will be when I get picture of you and it together.
I had a letter from mother yesterday written on the 24 of January and I don't think I will forget that date so easy as I do some dates. Ha!
Mother wrote that all was fine she still hadn't heard from Gene though. Darling how long do you think you will be in the hospital? Not too I hope and sweetheart I'm more than
There was a three line section blocked out
here.
Oh say Honey have you written mother the news yet? I'm going
to write her about it today if I possibly have time. I'm sorry I didn't get to
write you yesterday. But I know you understand and I promise to write every
time I possibly can. Yes Dear. I got the letter with the pictures and about 5
stamps but I haven't got the other stamps yet. I believe you said in one letter
that you had sent 10 stamps. What does Aunt Lorretta, Lylah, and Helen think of
their nephew or have they seen him yet. Ha! I picture him in my mind all the
time and if he is as cute as the picture I've got of him in my mind, he is
really a Darling! Ha! Well sweetheart, I'll close for this time with all my
love and very best wishes to my Darling Wife and Son. And I'm counting the
minutes until I hear from you.
Your Loving Husband and Father,
Lonzie
PS: Give him a kiss for me.
****Letter From Lonzie to Hazel****
Satan's Village
Nov. 10, 1944
My Dear Darling and Family,
How are you today sweetheart. Fine I hope and pray. As for myself I'm all OK! But since I got those pictures of my man: I just can't hardly bear the thought of not being with you and him. Remember I wrote you in my last letter that I couldn't keep my eyes off him, well I still can't. I write a few words then stop and look at him. Darling he is really cute and sweet. I can just picture me hugging him to me and playing with him and the more...
missing pages
Deep Down Under
November 27, 1944
My Dearest Beloved,
Love, Yours,
Lonzie
Philippines
January 24, 1945
My Darling Wife and Son,
Hello Sweetheart. How are you today? Fine I hope and pray as for me I'm just fine. But it seems like I miss you ten times more now than ever before, for there's lots more civilization here to remind me of just what I'm missing than there was in New Guinea. Although this likes a lot comparing it with good old USA but it really makes me wish I was home with you.
Oh I'll bet you thought I had forgotten what today is. But I haven't. For I've been thinking all day that my little man is a year old today and Darling its almost unbearable to think that I've never seen him. But I'm praying that I will be with him on his next birthday and then we can celebrate the three of us together. Won't that be swell Darling? I can just picture the three of us together and how happy I will be for really Darling I'm not kidding. I miss you more and more every day. And my love grows stronger every day. And believe me I will really be a happy-go-lucky guy when I can be with you again.
Well Darling we have captured several towns but they don't look much like a town for the stores don't have anything in them and the water system and lights have been cut off and most all the homes are made of bamboo poles and covered with grass and no furniture or bedding of any kind. The japs destroyed it all and took most of their clothing and they cook rice in a clay pot on an open fire and eat it with their fingers. They sleep on a floor made of split bamboo poles with no cover or bedding except maybe a straw mat and they all have a few...
missing pages
113 Ohio Avenue
East Alton, Ill.
July 28, 1944
My Dearest Brother:
I really was surprised when I
got your letter yesterday. I didn’t know I rated so highly on your list. The
oddest thing is that I got a letter from your brother on the same day. From all
indications you wrote your letter the same day as he wrote his. That is a pleasant
thought, isn’t it?
Gosh you certainly have been
doing some interesting things. Maybe when this is all over, you will know
enough to write a book. Right here and now I want to put my bid in for a job as
your personal secretary. You know, I suppose that you have possibilities for
being an author. That letter was so good of yours that I have half a mind to
publish it in some magazine.
By the time you get this
letter I know you will know that Hazel and Larry are down in Georgia. Your son
is sure a sweet little dickens. Real good looking too. And I am not just saying
that. His hair is gold-red, and I would do almost anything if I could have the
same shade. He has big blue eyes and smiles all the time. He used to wake me up
every morning with his cooing and chuckling. In fact, since he went to Georgia,
I have been late to work two mornings.
Mother and dad are still
working. For a while help was really short and dad had to work 16 hours a day,
but now that school is out there are loads of girls and boys to help out.
I guess that fellow that was
going to write to me is pretty busy writing to his folks and won’t have time to
write to a little insignificant girl like me.
If any of the fellows in your
company accidently get furloughs or get to come home for some reason and they
go through St. Louis, there is usually a step-over of quite a few hours and
they can call me up and I will go down and show them around. The last year I
have been learning how to get around and I don’t think I will get lost so
quickly anymore. Just call Wood River 44791.
Thanks for the Japanese money.
Maybe after the war there won’t be any of that. In fact, who can tell maybe
some day it will be worth quite a bit.
Love From Your Sis
Loretta
P.S. Nina has a baby boy. She
expected a girl and had decided to name it Barbara Frances.
P.S.2. In case you are interested,
your garrison hat hangs on the back of my bedroom door waiting for you. It
kinda affords us some kind of protection if you can believe that.
