“I’d taken business and shorthand classes after high school, and took an exam for a messenger’s job when they began adding air bases,” said Snavely, a Pennsylvania native. “I had to ride a bicycle, which I’d never done, delivering messages through hangars. Later, I rode an Indian motorcycle. At 21, I signed up.”
A new base was built in Rome, N.Y., and Snavely transferred there as a supply clerk. War broke out in Europe, and he went to Manchester, England, where staff was needed for hangars being built.
“I traveled over on the Queen Mary, which had been converted for wartime; the hangars got built, but there was no place for supplies,” he said.
Eventually, the supply staff occupied a Royal Air Force facility, where Snavely worked until the war ended. Then, he was sent to Germany as a supply sergeant for the 415th Night Fighter Squadron.
When he returned to Pennsylvania, bases were being closed, and his job was moved to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which brought him to the Dayton area.
“I got married, we settled in Kettering and had a daughter and two sons,” he said. “My wife, Lovina, had us take square dance lessons, and after I retired we got an RV, traveled and would enter square dances to get acquainted.” He no longer dances, but volunteered at Cox Arboretum for 35 years, attends VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) meetings and is a regular at El Meson Restaurant.
Lovina passed away in 2008. “We went to El Meson for 25 years, and you can still find me there every Saturday,” said the three-year Brookdale resident.
He advises young people to “take advantage of as much as possible, and don’t sweat the small stuff.”
Taylor, born in Newark, N.J., served in the Naval Reserve, then enlisted in the Army in 1942. “I was in the Signal Corps and was shipped to England, working with coding and communications, repairing and putting down wires,” he said.
He left England on D-Day, landing on Utah Beach in Normandy, following Gen. George Patton to Le Mans France.
“When Patton got close to Paris, the Allies took Le Mans, but the Germans were still in Turres,” Taylor said. “I was put in charge of six men, and we straightened out all the communications and laid wire for the French Underground, so Patton could keep in touch with his troops and the Underground.
“Back then, there was no Internet and communication was all mechanical with punch cards; when we moved the punch card service to Paris from England, we were assigned to Eisenhower Headquarters. Then, I was assigned to SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) Headquarters to set up and repair IBM equipment.” He was awarded the French Croiz de Guerre for his work with the French Resistance.
When he left the service and he and his wife, who he’d met in his work pool, got back to the states, Taylor went to work for IBM in product planning, engineering and development.
“I was transferred to different places, and after I retired and we got older, our daughter, who lives in Centerville, got us to move here.” Taylor’s wife, Odile, died last November. “We were married 70 years, and had three children,” said the eight-year Brookdale resident, who stays active on his computer and Facebook page.
As for aging, Taylor says, “I feel like I’m in my second childhood, but didn’t know it would be so rough. I’d advise folks not to dwell on the past – think of today and just keep moving.
“I’m looking forward to my 100th birthday. I wished Ken a happy birthday and am waiting for him to wish me one in a few months.”
Contact this contributing writer at virgburroughs@gmail.com.
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