I started working at Fairmont, Nebraska in September 1942, in a building on Main Street downtown which people said was the one time the Fairmont Creamery was the U.S. Corps of Engineers. My job was typing and filing clerk, sometimes operating the telephone switchboard. Our section of the office was called "The Steno Pool", consisting of about 30 girls. Lt. Prince was our boss. I drove a 1929 Model A Ford to work from Milligan, 25 miles away.

The three bases of Bruning, Fairmont and Harvard were just beginning to be constructed. While the runways were being poured, the men were working knee-deep in mud as it rained every day. They would come into town for lunch and sometimes change into o dry clothing before going back to work. About 174 buildings were being erected at that time for the bases. The bases were built with efficiency and speed in approximately 90 days.

There were about 8000 military personnel at each base of about 3,602 acres. There were eleven bases in Nebraska. This was like a citadel for defense between the Appalachians to the Rockies, for training purposes of low flying.

In 1943 about 20 acres of land called the Bruning Housing was built in the southern part of Bruning. It was called "Brair Park" (VP: We've wondered if that didn't stand for Bruning "Br" and "air" for air field) Brair Park was built with 25 units for 120 families and it had a community building and other utility buildings. An addition of 24 X 25 feet was added to the Post Office at this time. After the war 10 of these apartments were given to the village of Bruning and the rest were moved away. The American Legion bought the Community Building.

The 23rd Fighter Squadron was at BAAF from Dec. 1943 to March 1944. I worked in their supply office. They were getting all olive drab clothing and blankets for shipment overseas and could not take anything white or light colored , so they took all the white sheets and Hotel towels and was going to trash them. Instead of burning all this the officer said I could have them and I took a car load of white sheets home with me. I was able to supply all my friends with sheets during the war when civilians couldn't get them. I still have towels and sheets 56 years later.

The air men had baseball teams and one of the teams came to play our Milligan local team. In August 1944, at the game in Milligan I met my future husband. He was the catcher on the base team and the only guy I did not know as he had just been shipped to Bruning from Pocatello, Idaho AAF. My husband and I were the last wedding at the Chapel at Bruning AAF on December 2nd, we were told the marriage would not last but we have been married 53 years now.