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MOUNTAIN STATE UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE wrote
that Leo
E. Ours, Jr. ’64, has written Hospital on
Wheels: World War II MASH. Leo’s book was
inspired when his father began sharing his
WWII experiences. His father had remained
silent for 63 years and only decided to talk
when he received a duffel bag that had been
lost for 54 years. This proved to be the
catalyst for his flood of memories and
stories. Leo Jr. was so moved and intrigued
by the stories that he felt he had to share
them with others. This true story begins
with pre-war America and shares the shock
that our soldiers had when they landed in
war torn Europe. It tracks the exact
movements of Leo’s father’s medical unit as
it followed every major battle in the war
including D-Day, St. Lo, Market Garden,
Battle of the Bulge, and driving the Germans
down the cologne plain to liberate the
concentration camps in Bavaria. Leo’s book
has it all: action, adventure, history, love
and compassion.
Leo Jr.
describes his fathers’ arrival at Ft Thomas
as follows: “By mid-September, Leo Sr. left
Ft. Thomas by the Louisville and Nashville
Railroad (L&N) train that ran between
Covington, Kentucky, and Nashville,
Tennessee. They boarded the train and
traveled at night (early morning), unaware
of the scenery, seeing only the darkness of
the night and the occasional light from
passing train stations or a front porch
light left on by the occupants as if waiting
for someone to return home. Leo Sr. thought
about that front porch light for some time
during the war and hoped someone left one on
for him.
They arrived at
Nashville but could not hear music played at
the little music stores and bars and, of
course, the “Grand Ole Opry”. (Found just
seven blocks from the train station, WSM
radio station, which broadcast the Opry,
identified the broadcast as the “WSM Barn
Dance.)
Getting off the
train, they got on Army buses headed to Camp
Forrest, Tennessee. There, Leo and his
fellows would begin their basic training and
get their unit assignments. They pulled into
the receiving center at camp, found just
outside Tullahoma, Tennessee, and quickly
got off the buses. They did not want to have
a repeat of the welcome they had received in
Ft. Thomas by the sergeants……….”
In 1997, Leo
Sr. and Glenna traveled back to Tullahoma to
revisit their past and to find Camp Forrest
and the places in which Glenna had worked
and stayed. They found the former site of
Camp Forrest and discovered that it is now
called the U.S. Air Force’s Arnold
Engineering Development Center, a
flight-simulation test facility.
From there,
they drove to Tullahoma and looked for
Jackson’s Grill. Not finding the grill, they
began inquiring about it in the various
stores on Atlantic Street. Directed to
Couch’s Photography Shop on North Atlantic
Street, they found Mr. Couch in the rear of
the store. They inquired about the Jackson
Grill and Camp Forrest. Mr. Couch, one of
the local historians of Tullahoma, was
delighted to help Leo and Glenna with their
questions.
When Leo told
Mr. Couch of their war time experiences and
inquired about
Jackson’s
Grill, Mr. Couch explained that the grill
had been torn down several years before. |
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As they
discussed their experiences further, Glenna
related to Mr. Couch that she had stayed
with a Mrs. Morton in Shelbyville. At that,
Mr. Couch went to find his wife Dot, who
joined the group. Bob then asked Glenna to
start over and talk about Mrs. Morton. After
Glenna described her stay with Mrs. Morton,
Dot explained that her grandmother had been
a Morton and had owned a boardinghouse in
Shelbyville.
They all paused
and looked at one another in amazement. Dot
asked Glenna to describe the house and Mrs.
Morton. Glenna could remember Mrs. Morton
and the house well, and she remembered being
seeing a Singer sewing machine at the top of
the stairs in Mrs. Morton’s home. Dot
exclaimed, “Oh my, you were in my
grandmother’s house!”
Glenna paused
for a moment before saying, “I remember that
Mrs. Morton’s daughter would visit her on
occasion and would bring a 10-year-old girl
with her.” When Dot softly said that she had
been the little girl, Glenna said, “I
remember you as a child very well,” and the
two women embraced. Bob, Dot, Glenna, and
Leo spent the remainder of the day
reminiscing, with Bob providing a special
guided tour of the area that included the
Confederate cemetery located nearby. As Leo
and Glenna were leaving, Bob told them that
he had a special gift for Leo and gave him a
remnant of the U.S. flag that had once flown
over Camp Forrest. Leo and Glenna often
speak of the Couches and the day they met
new friends.
Leo Jr., is
planning another book that will tell the
stories of veterans and warriors from any of
the wars since World War I. Go to his web
site to send him a message that you would
like to contribute a story
http://hospitalonwheels.com
Hospital on
Wheels-WWII MASH is scheduled for
publication on June 6, 2008, the 64th
anniversary of D-Day. You may purchase an
advance copy by going to
http://www.wwiimash.com |
