The Pigman, Life and Times of Calvin Pigman

As I was researching family history, I came to regret not discussing more of the past with family members, while they were still alive. On the chance that any pf the current family members will be interested, I am recording what I know of family history and what I remember of my past. This record may be a bit disjointed, since memories do not occur in sequence.

AS far as my father's faily is concerned, "The Adams Chronicales", written by my cousin Betty Joe Meek, covers my Grandmother Uzza's family. Much of that history was new to me. I have a copy and each of my daughter's was given copy. My Grandfather, Albert D Pigman, accompanied the Adams Clanfrom eastern kentucky to the Choctaw Nation of the Oklahoma Territory, wherewhere he and Uzza Adams were married, in 1898, in Wilburton. According to various sources, Albert's ftherwas John Lawrence Pigmanand his mother was Leodicy Thomas. The grand parents of LeodicyJames Edward Thomas, were Cherokees forced to go o the Trail of Tears(during which James Edward died in Arkansas).

The original Pigman, in the US, is thought to be John Pigmanwho migrated from England in the mid 1600's. There are several theories about the source of the name Pigman. In early England a man was often known by the name of his occupation. A pigman could be a maker of pig iron, or possibly one who tends pigs. The consensus seems to favor the itinerant crockery vender theory since they were common in England, at the time. Genealogical research into the pigman family is difficult, since given names have often been reused. John occurs in generation after generation. Tracing an Indian connection is also difficult since many chose more anglo names to avoid prejudice.

In my mothers lineage, her notable ancestor was Mathew Caldwell who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence (from Mexico) on March 3, 1836. Also in September of 1842 Caldwell, as a colonel in the Texas Army, led a force of 200 "undisciplined volunteers" in defeating a disciplined Mexican Army of 1,100, under General Adrian Woll, at the battle of Salado Creek. Ten Texans wounded, none killed. He was wounded at the Council House Fight with the Comanshee (March 18, 1840), headed a company i the Battle of Plum Creek (August 12, 1840), and was incarcerated in a Mexican dungeon after the ill-fated SAnta Fe expedition (1841-42). He was ultimately released.

Mathew Caldwell's daughter, Martha E., married Isham Dixon Davis. They were the parents of George Washington Davis, my grandfather. So he was a great-great gtandfather.

A complete family tree, as I kow it, is being documented (Microsoft Works Word) in a PAF5 (LDS) program and will be saved to a memory device.

I searching the web for Pigman connections a number of surnames reoccur numerous times due to intermarriage. Some are Admas, Amburgey, Caudill, Cornett, Frances, Sexton, Stamper and Thomas.

Family History

My parents were marriedd on Dec. 23, 1923 in either Pyote, TX. where my father grew up, or Barstow, TX. where my mother grew up. They first lived in Barstow, where I was born on Nov. 7, 1924. My father worked as an auto mechanic, but since Barstow was a small farming community, there wasn't much business. He then took a job 60 miles away, was a promising water station on the Texas and Pacific Railroad and on highway 80, the southern routes to California. My father took a job as a mechanic there and they moved sometime in 1925.

The mechanics business was not very great during the late 20s depending upon subsisyrncr ranchers, townspeople, and a few passing tourists. Business did pick up in the early 30s, surprisingly, due to the depression and the dust bowl. Both unemployed workers from the East and refugees from the dust bowl were traveling thru Odessa on their way to southern California, looking for work. Those with autos often needed maintenance and those without rode the rails. Often, during that period, men would appear at our door, hat in hand, offering to work for a meal, having left a freight train when it stopped to take on water. My Mother would always stir up something for them. My father would always help a truly needy motorist. Payment was often in bartered goods. Once he received a single-shot shotgun for a job. Later he loaned it to a friend who said he wanted to shoot a coyote that was raiding his chicken house. The man "accidentally' shot his wife. My father had to testify, in court, as to the reliability of the gun. The gun was eventually returned to him. The drought caused some subsistence ranchers to "go broke" forcing them to leave town to look for work. My father was offered much acreage at 5 cents an acre if he would fix their cars and provide gas to get to Calif. Since the acreage had no apparent value he declined, not knowing of the great Permian Basin Oil field underneath.

West Texas has always been subjectee to period sandstorms, but those that occuure during the "Dust Bowl" drought period were particularly severe. I saw Model-T Fords, caught on the road by sandstorms, that were sandblasted on one side to the bare metal. Frosted car windows were common signs.

I enjoyed my school days. I was a fast learner, with a great curiousity, a good reader by the second grade, and read every book I could get my hands on. I often read school books far ahead of class assignments and made good grades: the school nerd.

I had many of the childhood afflictions: Chicken Pox at 5; tonsils removed at 6 (In an assembly line operation mandated by the school system to avoid some diseaase); scarlet-fever; and an appendix operation at 12 (during which I woke up and surprised the doctor by asking if he was through; ether was an unreliable anesthetic.) Mumps, twice. There were Polio scares that closed the swimming pools in the summer time.

My grandparents, George Washington Davis and Annie Elizabeth (Adams) had homesteaded property in Barstow arund 1900. My grandfather helped design and built an irrigation system for the area, using water from the Pecos River. They raised and sold grain and other farm products, After my grandfathers death, from stomach cancer in 1928, my grandmother sold much of the property and she and my Aunt Tennie, worked the remainder with the help of my uncles; John, 6 years old at the time, George (Snooks) 5, and Eldon 3 years.These 3 uncles all became truck drivers and died violent deaths. John died 1961 in an auto accident in Tucson, Snooks died in NY City when his truck caught on fire while he slept (thought to be the the work of the Teamsters), and Eldon was kicked in the head by a bull he was loading into a truck (In Pecos in 1987). I do not remember much of my grandfather since I was only 4 at the time he died and he had been sick for some time.

I spent my summers, during my grade school time in Barstow with the family. Mary Annie had marriedEmmett SidneyCapps Jr. and mpved to Pecos. Lucy George had married Nathsa ElienSorrells and moved ro the same area near Snyder, TX. Clifford Mayhugh had married Hazel Ruby Yarbrough and moved to Carlsbad,, NM and Grace Idell, my mother, had married William Clarence Pigmand and moved to Odessa, TX.

Those summers in Barstow were very enjoyable times. I went bare-foot all summer and participated in most of the farm activities. I churned butter, hunted for chicken eggs (yard chickens lay their eggs where they choose), caught chickens chosen for dinner (used a wire coat hanger straightened and with a hook bent in the end), helped bring in the cows for milking in the morning (learned the benefit of a warm cow chip on cold feet on a chilly morning), and helped in the butchering of a pig.

Some of the pig skin was dehaired, sliced thin, cut in small pieces and fried crisp to produce a snack food they called "cracklins", which I loved, dearly. One year my mother brought me a white suit for the trip home. While everyone was talking outside, as we were getting ready to leave I took care of my own priototoes. Then while I was waiting in the hot sun, my mother let out a yelp. I looked down and each of my white pockets was showing a greasy stain from the cracklins stuffed inside.

My grandmother had a strong pioneer philosophy and no food was allowed to go to waste. She cooked a delicious chicken and dumpling (i.e. thick noodle) dish that included chicken feet. They are surprisingly tasty. The nails were clipped and they were held in boiling water long enough to allow the outer hard shell to be removed leaving a thin layer of meat.

There were many experiences not normally avaiable to a "city" boy. I learned the risks of the out-door toilet: flies, wasps, black widow spiders, and learned that the sepia pages of the Montgomery Ward catalog were too slippery to be used. Once I stepped on a nail and received the folk treatment: soaking my foot for 2 hours in coal-oil (kerosene) to avoid lock-jaw (tetanus). It must have worked, I survived.

The Odessa school system was progressive. I went on a munber of school sponsored trips. I went to Carlsbad Caverns, to the 1936 Texas State Centernnial Celebration, in Dallas (where we sang with Kate Smith) and visited a slaughter house, in Fort Worth, om the way. I went on the scjool sponsored Hoonor Tour in 1941 (16 years old). For the Honor Tour, students were rated on grades and activities and the 20 highest number of points were invited to go on tour. I was the 2nd highest. For the 2 week tour we left Odessa on a school bus in June 1941 for Little Rock with 13 girls, 7 boys, 2 teachers the superintendent and his wife and a driver. Then to Memphis, Nashville, Washington, D, Mount Vernon, Toronto, Callender (Ontario), Detroit, Chicago, Madison (Wisc>), Kansas City, Tulsa, OK. City then home.

We visite scenic and historical attractions along the way. In Nashville, we visited Andrew Jackson's home "The Hermitage," and inaround Wshingtnwe visited the Smithsonian Institute, the Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, had lunch in the Supreme Court cafeteria, climmbed the 88 steps to the top of the Washington Memorial, saw the Lincoln Memorial lighted at night, had our picture taken with our representative (R.E. Thomason) at the capitol Building, visited the Library of Congress, the Tomb of the unknown soldier at Arlington Cemetary, and the other scenic wonders of Washington DC. Then on to Washington's mansion at Mt. Vernon, to Niagra Falls, and then to Callender, Ontario. At Calllender we were able towatch the Dionne Quintuplets at play, they were the first quintupplets to survive to adulthood. In 1941 they were 7 year old and were protected from the public. Their play room had a large glass window covered by a curtain.

The viewers sat on benches outside and were cautioned to keep quiet.The curtains were opened for a limited time.Watching 5seven-year-old girls, who appeared to be identical was interesting (I believe one was fraternal). The return trip was relatively uneventful.

I was the valedictorian of the 1942 graduating class of Odessa High School. The situation at that timewas very unsettled. The country was 6 mos. into WWII, the draft was ramping up and I would be 18 in November. I started the sumer working at a friend's father's ice house, where I worked th dock, and helping in the ice making area. When my friend had his hand mangled in an ice crusher accident, his father decided it was too risky to have teens working at sch a dangerous job. For the rest of the summer I worked at a creamery, dealing with #00 blocks of ice on the dock and eating fruit and nuts stored to make ice cream.

By the end of the summer I was very much undecided as to what to do next. Even though I had a tuition waiver to any state college I knew that my father's income could not support me in college.Then the father of my best friend, whom I had tutored in high school, decided that his estranged wife had not raised his son with enough discipline. He had decided to sne dhis son to Texas A&M where the military discipline would 'make a man of him'. He prevailed upon my father to persuide me to go along too. I went along thinking I could get a job, at A&M, to help financially.

After one semester, and in spite of the protests from my schoo counselor, who insisted that with my grades I could get an indefinite draft deferment, I decided to join the army air corps. My decision was not altogether patriotic even though the war was not going well. A & M was a big school in a small town and there were few part time jobs. At that time the military had taken over the school. To turn out more officers they had instituted a semester schedule. I had been required to sign some sort of enlistment papers, when I signed up for A & M, to assure that the military would have my services if I either left school or graduated. I could see the prospect of having to drop out, for financial reasons, and not know where I would end up in the armed forces. When I learned that the air corps would soon stop recruiting, that seemed to be the time to join. (4/6/1943)

Military Experience

my first military assignment was 6 weeks at teh AAF training center at Sheppard Fied in Wichita Falls, TX. Arriving 4/7/42, we were taught marching, military customs and rules and regulations, and waht army food could be like (UGH), etc. Then there were the shot lines. The first ones in would try to panic the rest of us by coming out holding thier arms and complaining of the legenday cork-screw needles. Actually the pain didn't start until later when the tetanus shot started reacting.

Nex I was sent to a College Training Detachment at The Municipal University of Wichita, in Wichits, Kansas. (May 4) This was a routine for potential aviation caadets since a certain level of technical knowledge is required to undestand the science of flying. We stidued, trained, physically, and were introduced to flying. I got 6 hours training in a Piper Cub. While we were at Wichita there was a spinal meningitis sacre. An experimental drug, sulfanilamide, was brought in to prevent its spread. We took 12 pills a day, each with a large glass of water to prevent its crystallizing in our livers. The routine: 1. Get in line for pill & water. 2. Get in line for the toilet. Repeat No. 1. This went on for several days.

The in August 1943 on to the San antonio Aviation Cadet Center )SAACC) for processing. At SAACC we were all given thorough physical, dental and visual exams. In addition to the standard health conditions, we were tested for hearing, color blindeness, depth perception, night vision and other conditions particular to flying. We were trained in marching including "monkey drills." In these drills a marching group is given orders for a series of maneuvers, and then when given order to start, performed the maneuvers in sequence, without further orders. They were amusing to perform and to watch. There were also many stressful physical tasks. The results of all these activities were considered by a board and each cadet was then assigned to an appropriate training school, either to pilot, bombardier, or navigate school. Others were assigned to less challenging careers, such as gunnery, radio, etc.

I was selected for pilots training and sent to primary flight training at Mustange Field, El Reno, OK. (Nov.43) to train in PT-19s. Originally, Mustang Field was an army remount base where they raised mules. The typical Air Force training had hardened air strips at the bas eheadquarters and a number of surrounding auxiliary fields where the trainees practiced take offs and landings. There auxiliary fields were usually fairly smooth, graded dirt fields. At Mustang, the aux. fields were fenced but the mules often breaached them, so when we were assigned a field for practice we first buzzed it to chase off any mules. We made our first solo flights there. Due to a sinus infection I was not able to complete my primary training requirements with my class and was held over to the next class. I was promoted to basic training in Garden City, Kan. in Feb. 44.

At D-M we practiced bombing at the range south of Tucosn, air to ground gunnery at the Wilcox dry lake, air to air gunnery at White sands in New Mexico and went on several cross country flghts.

Jim liked to play jokes and on a fligt to the Grand Canyon he played one on Dick Cruise. He feathered one of the ngines (meaning he turned the engine off and turned it so the narrow edge face forward, to reduce drag.) He then flew into the canyon below the level of the surrounding land. Jim then called up Dick, in his navigation cubby-hole up front, and told him that he had lost an engine and asked for the nearest landing field. There was a pause while he checked our location on his charts, another pause, the his head poppe dup in his upper navigation window. Then asked pleadingly: "You're kidding me aren't you?" We all got a good laugh. Maybe the last laugh was on Jim since he had trouble restarting the engine-raining planes weren't in the best condition. We could have been destoned to fly around in the Grand Canyon until we ran out of gas and then crash in to the Colorado River. Hah! On another cross country flght, an instructor navigator went along to check Dick Cruise'e performance. Unfortunately, this navigaor had severe emotional damage from many bombing runs over Germany. The route was to fly to San Francisco, down the coast to Los Angeles, thru the pass between San Antonio Mtn. (10,000 feet high) and San Gorgonio Mtn. (11,500ft.) and back to D-M. The flight to san Franncisco was uneventful, thought Jim flew us under the Golden Gate Bridge. The weather deterioirated on the way down to L.A. and was socked in and stormy by the time we got there. We turned east on a heading given by Dick, even though he said the instructor was curled up on the floor affected by the thunder and lightning. As we were flying thru the pass I looked out and in a lightning flash, could see we were not in the pass but were over San Gorgonio with not a lot of altitude to spare. Jim asked Cruise for a new course but he said the instructor had taken over and was giving all kinds of wild orders. Jim told him to do whatever he coud to to calm the man and that he would take over.

We corrected to clear the mountain and resumed the original heading hoping it would take us near enough to Tucson to see the lights of DM. When we broke out of the storm there was neither a light nor a landmark in sight. Our only navigation aid was a radio compass. Tuning the compass only gave you the direction to that station then tuning on another station would allow you to draw reverse lines back from the two stations and where they crossed would be your location.

The problem: radio compasses also hone in on lightning and there was lightning all around. So I tuned the compass on every station I could get and the plot of the reverse directions produced a large circle in the desert north of Ajo. So we plotted our course back to Tucson (then a small town of about 35,000) with great apprehension.

I think the lights of David Monthan, as we cleared the Tucson Mountains, was one of the most beautiful sights I had seen. We had gas for only 30 minutes when landed.

We were given some training in formation flight. In a formation the lead plane pilot sets the course and the wing plane pilots only concern is to maintain a position reletive to the leader. The integrity of the formation requires very close spacing. They emphasized this by bring in an ace in a P-63 fighter plane, who would zoom down between planes that were too far apart. In straight formation flight only piloting competants and good depth perception are required, while turns introduced complications. In a three plane formation the inside wing plane must drop and the outside plane must climb to maintain their position during a turn. If the leader makes a turn that is too tight the insider cannot slow enough and the outsider cannot accelerate enough to keep in formation. The officers in charge decided that the final event would be an eighteen plane formation flight. Everything went well, while the pilots formed and flew straight, but the first turn was a disaster. Even though experienced pilots replaced those in some of the lead planes there were enough inexperienced ones so that the sky was filled with planes crossing in front of others. Jim flew our plane while I looked in all directions trying to tell him how to avoid other planes. We were suddenly given orders to 'abort and return to base.' As we flew back, crew members in the back reported two smoked plumes. Two planes had collided and crashed, killing seventeen crew members. The first report was eighteen killed, but one lucky crew member had become ill at the last minute and was left behind. There was a weird coincidence in that Virginia and I moved to Tucson and bought our house near Kolb and Broadway in 1958. Several years later I came across a newspaper clipping of the event and saw that one plane had crashed at Kolb and Speedway, approximately 1 1/4 mile away, and the other had crashed just across Pantano Wash to the east. I visited nearest Kolb where there were many bits of aluminum. A Walmart now covers the site.

When the disturbamce was a typhoon we would fly through the rotating air mass to the eye and measure the direction the eye was moving, which told weather central the direction the typhoon was moving at that time. A typhoon is the south pacific version of a hurricane. The rotating air mass was no problem to the enclosed airplane, except fpr a noticeable surge when entering and leaving. But, as in a hurricane, there are interspersed storm centers. These storm centers resemble violent thunder storms, with vertical winds of up to 200 mph, easily ca[able of destroying airplanes. Our planes were equipped with early radar, adjusted to display such storm centers when working, this radar would allow us to avoid these stoem centers.

Life on Guam was not particulary unpleasant. Most of our missions were routine: 6 to 12 hours over the ocean seeing only small islands often pock marked with bomb craters. The Japanese had built landing strips on many small islands and it was impractical to conquer them, so bombardment y the Navy

Ulithi is a very large atoll that the Navu used as a rendezvous point for the task forces on the way to the battle areas. Previously the Japanese had bought a small airplane, with a torpedo, onto the island of Yap (90 miles away), by submarine, and managed to repair their runway enough for it to take off. This was even though Navy fighters regularly bombed the runway. The pilot barely missed an aircraft carrier ad hit an island. The Navy was suspicious of unknown planes.

They, at first, refused our request to land or even approach Ulith. Our C.O. was informed of our situation and he confirmed our legitimacy so the Navy relented with conditions. We were not to aproach the atoll until Navy fighter planes checked us out. Shortly two gull-winged F4U's appeared on our winng tips.We shoed them we were not oriental looking and answered several sports related questions and were then given permission to land. The runway was quite short for a B24, and covered the island from one end to the other (the oceasen on both ends was littered with wreckage). Jim made a near perfect landing to get us down safely. We taxied to a parking place directed by a Navy officer, used to directing the fighters nd hit a palm tree causing a minor gash in the leading edge of one wing. I was ordered to stay and oversee the repairs while the rest of the crew was flown back to Guam by C47. Two members of our ground crew were sent out to work with the Navy mechanics. Fortunately, the B-24 engines are the same as the one in the Navy SB2C dive bomber ad they had one on hand so the stay was relatively short. The Hiroshima bomb was dropped while I was there.