Last Name LytleFirst Name JackMiddle Name Ernest"Nickname" if any Date of birth 9-14-1923Place of birth Lubbock TexasName of parents Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Raymond Lytle Sr.Mother's maiden name Oma Melissa HannaNumber of brothers 5Number of sisters 2His order of birth 6High School attended Morton High SchoolYear of graduation 1940Occupation prior to Service Aircraft worker Date entered service Jan 28, 1943Was Airmen married at
time of death NoEngaged NoNames of brothers and sisters Edgar Raymond Jr., Floyd James, Lola Mae Stephens, Maurice, Verna Jeanetta Brown.Town where buried Morton TexasName of cemetery Morton MemorialWhat do you remember
most about this manHappy go-lucky, great smile, always pulling pranks on people.
He was medium build,athletic.Duty stations Sheppard Field, Tx, Goodfellow Field, Tx, Foster Field Tx, Camp Harding, La, Bruning Field Ne.Interesting Stories Coming
The following are Emails, Telephone conversations, Letters and newspaper clippings. They contain the stories that creates those great feelings and emotions that makes one feel good about people, our country and ourselves.
Last statement not very P C, Sorry about that...dh
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A beautiful and touching letter written by Jack's mother to Mrs Sattler Sept 14 1944
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Note written by Verna Brown (Jack's Sister) to Larry Carpenter in 2000
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Email from Scott Buchanan (Verna's Grandson) to Larry Carpenter
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Telcon between Lola (Jack's Sister) and Larry C
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Morton Texas
Sept 14-1944Dear Mrs. Sattler.
I want to thank you for being so good to write me. You will never know what your letter means to me, for I cannot find words to tell you. All I can do is say "Thank you".
I am sending you a clipping from his home paper. I believe Jack was one of the boys that you put the fire out on when you got to them for he couldn't have been burnt very bad. He had a wide expansion identification bracelet on his right arm and a watch on his left wrist. I have them both and can hardly tell that they have ever been burnt. Of course I can tell that they have been cleaned and polished. The crystal is gone from his watch, also the minute hand is gone, but it still runs.
All the children came home except the boy in the Navy.
Jack was the youngest of the 5 boys and the pet of the family. I never loved him more than I do the others, but he was the only single child we had left and I loved him so, and I?m glad to know that he went quick and didn't have to suffer first.
Does your sister-in-law live at Lake View North of Lubbock? If she does I know where it is at, for I live at a little town just 60 miles west. Tell her to write me if she lives north of Lubbock and I'll go see her.
No, Jack had never been over seas but would have been ready to go in about 4 weeks. Some tell me I ought to be glad he got killed before he went over. I know it wouldn't have hurt me any worse if he had been over there, for he wanted to go and do his part. He love flying and I don't regret him being a pilot. For when the Lord got ready for him to come home he would have taken him, regardless of where he was at.
We are farmers, though my husband has the School Tax Collectors job here in town. We live on the first farm north of town. We have a good crop. We raise maize and cotton mostly. This is a plains country and the sand can certainly blow in the spring. But we've lived here so long that no other place would be home to me.
The grave yard joins out farm on the North, so I'll always be close to Jacks grave. He's the only one of our children that is dead. I have 1 girl younger than Jack. She married last June.
Will close this letter by thanking you again for writing to me. Some of them told me I'd never get an answer to my letter when I wrote the Naper (NE) Post Master, but I guess there's kind people that will help one when needed all over the world.
Thanks again Good Luck to you and yours.Mrs. Oma Lytle
P.S. I have a list of the names of the Boys that were killed with Jack. 5 of the Boys were called at the same time as Jack. They had gone through training together, got their wings the same day and were killed together. Oma.
Back to the TOP(Handwritten note to Larry C by Jack's sister) 2000
We were very excited to learn that someone had researched this plane crash. We learned things about it that we had never known before. We really appreciate everyone who spent time and energy on this project ----we appreciate those who contacted us.
It has been a bittersweet experience. The best part of it has been that by seeing this on the web site, Jack has become a person to my children and grandchildren. They have all been very interested in it. While the rest of us have aged, grayed and wrinkled, Jack is still that smiling, young man going off to fly into the clouds.
Thanks again for the researching and the contacting.Sincerely
Verna Brown
From: Scott & MarthaBack to the TOP
To: Larry E. Carpenter
Date: Sunday, March 05, 2000 9:33 PM Subject: Re: phxbrd website
Thanks Larry,
If you want any information on Jack Lytle send the questions to me and I will see if my Grandmother knows. I hope the website keeps growing. We appreciate your efforts on this project.
Being a historian by profession I had always thought I would get time to find out what happened to my great uncle beyond the few details we had. Grandmother didn't talk about it often, but she once talked about going to see him get his wings. Jack really enjoyed making his older brother, an Army Air Corp mechanic, salute him. She still has his pilot's wings displayed in her home.
Scott
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Telecon Lola Mae Lytle Stevens with Larry C
Sunday, March 5, 2000
After receiving the Lubbock newspaper obituaries (from the library) of Lt. Jack Lytle's parents I checked the telephone directory and found several helpful leads. The most promising was a number in Elfrida, AZ for a Hugh Lytle but that number was i now disconnected. There were no listings for brothers Ray and Floyd Lytle.
Yesterday I called an Elbert Stevens in Silverton, TX and was told by the woman that a Mrs. Homer Stevens was likely my best bet as she knew she had lost a brother years ago, in the '30's she thought. Her name was Lola Mae, not Lois Mae as the newspaper suggested. So today I called Lola Stevens and learned Jack was her brother. She had her brother's things: casket flag and billfold he had with him when he was killed. She said she had often thought about her brother.
Lola was five years older than Jack. She was 25 in 1944 and living in San Francisco, CA with her husband when Jack was killed. Jack was the family's youngest son. There were seven children-three are still living. The only surviving brother, Ray, is living with his daughter and another sister is living.
Lola suggested I call her niece, Melissa, because her father, Ray, is hard of hearing. Lola said her brother would be very interested in learning more about the accident. Lola said they and their father Edgar Lytle, went to Nebraska to visit the crash site in the early 1950's she thought. Ray was in the Air Corps during the war. Another brother was in the Navy and served aboard the PT boats.
She remembered Jack was only 20 when he died. Lola would "love to have the material" on the web site to keep with Jack's things. I promised her that if she didn't get this from her niece I would send it to her. When I mentioned a pair of twin's was killed in the same crash, Lola remembered the Jolley's and said they were close friends with her brother.
Their mother's kept corresponding with each other for years.
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