Ep 29 Howard Leon Whetten Pt 1 👨‍🌾 Don’t Hate Your Enemies 👨‍🎓

Howard Leon Whetten: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/KWCB-QL4
Family Tree 🌳 ID: KWCB-QL4

From ordinary lives often comes extraordinary experiences. Such is the simple life of Howard Leon Whetten. From his birth in Southern Arizona, to life in old Mexico, and then school and enlisting in New Mexico, Howard’s life does as many did during the days preceding WWII, as it goes from seemingly normal tasks, to nearly superhuman moments.

CHARACTERS
Woodrow Wilson (U.S. President)
Nelson Mandela (world leader)
Billy Graham (religious leader)
Sam Walton (founder of WalMart)
Rita Hayworth (actress)
Mary Kay Ash (Mary Kay Cosmetics)
Howard Cosell (sportscaster)
Elizabeth Anne Bloomer (aka Betty Ford)
Mike Wallace (journalist)
Pearl Bailey (stage actress)
Leonard Bernstein (West Side Story)
Robert Wadlow (Tallest person in recorded History @ 8 ft 11.1 inches tall)
Howard Leon Whetten
Warren Ernest Whetten
Adelaide Martineau
Uncle Rose Stocks
Old Bacon the Hound Dog
Melvin Whetten
Old Fan (work mare)
Mr. Webb
Lucille Whetten
Charley Martineau
Clarence Williams
Babe Williams
Maynor Hassell
Call Hakes
Clair Hassell
William Child
Adolf Hitler
Admiral Yamamoto
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)
Winston Churchill
Uncle Sam

LOCATIONS
Russia
Delaware
Codell, Kansas
United States of America
Tucson, Arizona
Old Mexico
Colonia Chuichupa
Black Canyon
Chico, Mexico
El Paso, Texas
Cuidad Juarez, Mexico
Bluewater, New Mexico
Grants, New Mexico
Zuni Mountains
Mount Tailor
Toltac
Roundy’s Well
Bluewater Lake
France
Germany
Poland
Berlin
Britian
Jewett Gap
Quemado, New Mexico
Wai Mōmi
Waters of Pearl
Pearl Harbor
Asia
Pacific
Japan
Southeast Asia
Las Vegas, Nevada
Salt Lake City, Utah

LINKS
Region Beta Paradox theory
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmB-vaYgMxJ/?igshid=NDk5N2NlZjQ=

Transcript

Did you know that 1918 started on a Tuesday…

Also on February 14 – Russia switches from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar; the date skips from January 31 to February 14.

March 19 – The United States Congress establishes time zones, and approves daylight saving time

May 2 – General Motors acquires the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware. 

May 20 – The small town of Codell, Kansas is hit for the third year in a row, on the same date, by a tornado. 

This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic…And Woodrow Wilson is the President of the United States. 

As far as famous birthdays in 1918, hmmm lets see if you recognize any of these folks…Nelson Mandela (world leader), Billy Graham (religious leader), Sam Walton (Founder of Walmart), Rita Hayworth (actress), Mary Kay Ash (Mary Kay cosmetics), Howard Cosell (sportscaster), Elizabeth Anne Bloomer (aka Betty Ford), Mike Wallace (journalist), Pearl Bailey (stage actress), Leonard Bernstein (composer, West Side Story), Robert Wadlow (Tallest person in recorded History @ 8 ft 11.1 inches tall) and in stark physical contrast was the birth of Howard Leon Whetten.

You might be saying to yourself, well i recognize a few of them other names, but who in the Sam Hill is Howard Whett…Wheatta? That’s Howard Leon Whetten, W H E T T E N. The surname Whetten is a variant of Whitton W H I T T O N. Found mostly in English, Scottish, or northern Irish. Now as far as Howard, his siblings called him Howard, later in life he was known as Leon, either way he was pretty unassuming, in stature as well as in personality…probably got that from his father Warren. Howard was not listed in any movie credits during his life. He had no #1 albums. He was never on network television, he didnt start a famous chain of retail stores. No. None of that. Rather Howard was a son, brother, husband, father, rancher, farmer, logger, teacher, scoutmaster, forest ranger, and soldier. This is a part of his story. 

In 1918 Warren Ernest Whetten and his wife Adelaide Martineau got a job working on a dairy farm near Tucson, Arizona for Uncle Rone Stocks.  He furnished them all the milk they could use and a place to live.  It was steady and fairly good pay.  It was here on on July 3, of 1918 that their first son, Howard Leon Whetten, was born. His father Warren, loved playing piano & sang with a beautiful tenor voice. He worked on road construction and Adelaide cooked for the road gang.

In 1920, the family moved to Old Mexico. Howard’s parents had been born there but had been forced to leave in 1912 because of the Mexican Revolution. Many of the families that had been driven out were now returning to begin again. Howard’s family settled in Colonia Chuichupa where Howard spent many happy years swimming in the old swimming hole in the creek, hunting coons with Old Bacon the hound dog, fishing in Black Canyon, and hiking through the maze of canyons and mesas south of town. Howard hunted wild turkey and deer, rescued and raised wolf pups, and fished to his heart’s content, enjoying adventures with many of his cousins. It was a wonderful place for a boy to grow up.

There was also work to be done. Howard and his brother Melvin farmed 20 acres of corn. Melvin rode the work mare, Old Fan, up and down the rows while Howard steered the eight- shoveled walking cultivator.  It was hard work chopping all the weeds out of the corn.

Howard often helped his dad on the freight wagon, hauling lumber to Chico, 16 miles through the mountains. Sometimes they would bring back a load of goods for the town store. 

On one of these trips Howard almost froze to death when they got caught in a cold blizzard.

Howard learned to ride horses almost as soon as he learned to walk. He spent many happy hours punching cows on Mr. Webb’s ranch, often camping out under the stars for weeks at a time.

Life was rough for a family of nine and they often had only cornbread and beans to eat. 

Howard and his sister, Lucille, milked the cow together. Leon sat on one side and Lucille on the other. The milk was fed to the younger children and it seemed that there was never quite enough to go around.

Howard was 18 years old when his Papa Warren Whetten packed up the family…and they once again left Old Mexico. 

The family packed what they could and went by team and wagon. They stayed along the way with Addie's brother, Charley, and family…until train tickets could be bought, and other necessary arrangements were made for the trip to El Paso.

The train ride was quite tiring.  There was little space for the children to exercise, and the water was hot and tasted very bad.  The smoke from the wood-burning engine came into the cars and it seemed at times they would smother from the heat.

When they arrived in Cuidad Juarez, Mexico they were met by Clarence and Babe Williams and taken across the bridge into the United States.  They stayed several days with them until Maynor Hassell, from Bluewater, came to get them in his large flat-bed truck to take them the rest of the way.

The Whetten family arrived on 21 September 1934 at the only housing they could find…which was located on a farm 7 long miles out of Bluewater, NM. Here the family spent a very miserable, cold winter.  

A windmill was the only source of water, and sometimes the pipe froze up so the windmill had to be shut off until a large fire could be built around the pipe to thaw it out.  This would often take nearly half a day, and so water had to be hauled from another farm about a mile away by team and wagon.

Everyone was glad when spring finally arrived and the plowing and planting could begin.  Warren and his family did the work on the farm.  Here Howard learned to use modern farm machinery, to irrigate, harvest the crops, and to drive a car. The yield was good that season and things looked as if they might be fairing up for the Warren Whetten family, but it was not to be.

When the owner reneged on the lease, Warren, who had taken his pay in produce from the farm, was unable to move his share and lost it all. 

So in the dead of winter on 1 January 1936 the family hastily packed up and moved into Bluewater. The house was a small two-roomed house owned by Call Hakes. In fact it was so small that the boys had to sleep outside in the cellar.  They often had to shovel the snow away from the door before they could go to bed.

 Howard Leon Whetten went to high school in Grants, New Mexico, but was not able to start until all the crops were harvested each year. And then again he had to quit as soon as work was available in the spring.  Digging mud out of the frozen ditches with a shovel wasnt for the faint of heart, or weak of body. Howard was paid 25 cents an hour. $2.00 a day looked mighty big then.  

In 1936 bread was 11 cents a loaf. Milk was 47 cents a gallon. Eggs were 18 cents a dozen. Applesauce 20 cents for 3 cans. Potatoes 18 cents for 10 lbs. Toilet paper 🧻 9 cents for a 2 roll pack. Gasoline was 19 cents a gallon

The summer of 1936 and 1937 were spent on the Zuni Mountains, or on Mount Tailor working on the sawmill for Maynor Hassell.  These work projects were usually family events, meaning that the entire family went and camped at the job site. Warren’s dad had done this with his family on RR building projects in old Mexico, and Warren continued the tradition when possible. This the family enjoyed very much.  During the winters, when the snows were too deep for the mill to operate, he helped some of the ranchers care for and feed their cattle. 

One of the ranchers he worked for was Clair Hassell. If you’s wondering, yes, him and Maynor Hassell who owns the sawmill are brothers from another mother. 

It was on an especially cold day during that winter of 1937 as Howard’s father Warren was managing the cattle in the fields of Toltac…well we dont exactly know what happened. You see he was found sitting on the back porch of one of the farms there. His head was all bloody, and he was nearly frozen. Because of the nature of the injury Warren doesn't remember anything about what happened, or where it happened.  In fact he could never recall being in the fields that day. 

They brought him home, and it was several days before he could remember who he was, or where he was.  He kept asking his son Howard, "Where's Mammy?" It was several days before he regained his understanding well enough to remember where his wife was, and why she was there.  It was about six months after Warren was hurt before he could do any work.  He finally got his old job back working for Maynor Hassell in the logwoods on Mount Tailor.  Although he suffered a lot with headaches and with his back, he never missed a days work.

In 1938 they were able to purchase a house from William Child.  The house was a frame house with a good foundation and an asphalt shingle roof.  The outside had been plastered with the first coat, but it was still rough and unfinished.  Only part of the interior of the house had been finished.  The living room was large and spacious.  The floor was finished with a good hardwood material.  This room was heated by a large, smokey fireplace, which gave off very little heat, and was finally replaced by a large pot-bellied stove which was much better.

Water had to be carried from Roundy's well about a block away.  The kitchen was big, but had very few cupboards.  The bedrooms were not finished and were very cold in the winter.

The house was situated on a large lot with plenty of space to grow a good garden which was irrigated with the water from the Bluewater Lake. There was also a corral for the cow, and a small lumber shack to be used for storage and as a wash house.

The house was comfortable and the family enjoyed it there.  Here the children could bring their friends, and many interesting parties were held , and many mulligan stew suppers were enjoyed.  It became the gathering place for the young folks of the town.  It was from here that four sons and a daughter went into the services of their country. 

Howard watched his father’s resilience in effort and persistence in work, and he finally graduated from high school in 1939 at the age of 23. 

It’s September 3, 1939 and France has declared war on Germany following the German invasion of Poland. 

(At 21:00 on 9 May, the code word Danzig was relayed to all German army divisions, beginning Fall Gelb.) 

 On the 10th of May 1940 Germany invaded France. And for the following 6 weeks the German army proceeded to decimate the resolve of the French.  

Hitler had expected a million Germans to die in conquering France; instead, his goal was accomplished in just six weeks with only 27,000 Germans killed, 18,400 missing and 111,000 wounded. The unexpectedly swift victory resulted in a wave of euphoria among the German population and a strong upsurge in war-fever. Hitler's popularity reached its peak with the celebration of the French capitulation on 6 July 1940.

"If an increase in feeling for Adolf Hitler was still possible, it has become reality with the day of the return to Berlin", commented one report from the provinces. "In the face of such greatness," ran another, "all pettiness and grumbling are silenced." Even opponents to the regime found it hard to resist the victory mood. Workers in the armaments factories pressed to be allowed to join the army. People thought final victory was around the corner. Only Britain stood in the way. For perhaps the only time during the Third Reich there was genuine war-fever among the population.
— Kershaw 

In that same summer of 1940 Warren and his boys Melvin & Howard helped Maynor Hassell move his sawmill down to Jewett Gap near Quemado, New Mexico.  It was pert near 120 miles SW each way to get all the equipment moved. When the mill was finished, he started skidding and loading the logs on the big trucks for the mill.  They lived in a small tent with boarded sides and a wooden floor.  When the weather turned cold Melvin returned to Bluewater, But Howard stayed to work on the mill.

Being up over 8,000 feet in elevation the weather was expectedly, very cold, and the ground was covered with snow most of the time, thats where the ponderosa pines like to grow. With all the cold and snow it was extremely difficult to skid and load the logs.  It was here in December of 1940 while working in the woods that Warren was hurt again.  The mill needed logs, so Warren took his team out and started loading the truck.  One of the logs didn't fit into place so he got up on the truck to adjust it.  The logs were frozen and very slick, and the cant hook slipped, Warren lost his footing on the slippery logs and fell off the truck backward onto the frozen ground.  The driver loaded him into the truck and brought him back to camp.  He was unconscious and was bleeding from a wound in his head.  It was several hours before he regained consciousness.  When Howard saw him he realized he would need medical attention as soon as possible.

It was late in the afternoon before Warren could be moved.  They loaded him into an old Buick with wooden-spoked wheels that belonged to one of the workers there, and with three other mill hands to help push the car out of the mud, they started for Grants, New Mexico about 120 miles away.

Warren could do very little work after he was hurt the second time.  He tried working in trading posts and stores, but the strain was too much for him. The responsibility of providing for the family now fell squarely on Howard’s shoulders.

Sunday morning. December 7, 1941. At 7:25 a.m. the sun has been up for an hour and it’s 73 degrees already. The skies above Wai Mōmi are partly cloudy with good visibility. 

Church services start early and many military personnel are attending off-base worship services, leaving the ships in the harbor momentarily understaffed. Its neck deep into the Christmas season, and its a beautiful day at a place known locally as the “Waters of Pearl”, a place of refuge from the stormy seas that will forever be known as Pearl Harbor.

(Tāgetto wa sugu mae. Jitto shite ite, watashi no meirei o matte kudasai.) 
“Target just ahead” “Hold Steady, Wait My Orders”

At 7:48am the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked Pearl Harbor, killing 2,403 Americans and wounding 1,178 others. The attack sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. More than 180 US aircraft were destroyed including the only B-24 Bomber assigned to the base.

Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because it wanted to expand its empire in Asia and the Pacific, and it saw the United States as a major obstacle to achieving that goal. The Japanese military believed that by destroying the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, it could neutralize the threat from the US and buy time to conquer the resources it needed in Southeast Asia.

The United States had been assisting its allies for a few years, but had itself resisted entry into the war. According to the Region Beta Paradox theory, sometimes worse situations can be better than better situations as far as galvanizing you into action. For example, If you have to go a mile or less you might walk it. If you have to go 2 miles you will drive it. Paradoxically you would go 2 miles quicker than you would go 1 mile. Being forced into the fight was certainly the quickest way to end the battle. And in the moments and days after the attack Admiral Yamamoto of the Japanese Imperial Navy knew that he had awakened a sleeping bear. The attack led to the immediate entry of the United States into world war 2.

“Before America entered the war I knew we could NOT win it, But after she entered I knew we could NOT lose.” Winston Churchill

When Uncle Sam called on Howard Leon Whetten to help win World War II in July of 1942, he did not have to go to war, he chose to.  Howard was the eldest son of a disabled father and a busy mother, and the eldest able provider in the home. He worked on a farm before his service, and his boss practically insisted that he stay on the farm; in fact he secured a work deferment for him, pleading with him not to leave his farm work, because growing food was also ‘serving’.  But Leon talked with his ‘folks’ about it, and even though he was providing most of the support for the family of 8, his father said, “No, son, I want you to go.  I want you to help take care of this great United States that we live in.  To me that’s more important.”  Leon and his mother also agreed that that was what he should do.. Before he left, he received a blessing from his father in which he was promised that if he would value his Christian faith, be faithful to his covenants to God, that no hostile bullet could harm him.  Throughout his service to his country this promise was fulfilled numerous times. His Father also gave him other excellent advice which he never forgot.  He said, "Don't hate your enemies Howard.  Remember God is at the helm".

Howard went to gunnery school in Las Vegas, Nevada, radio school in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was finally sent to Tucson, Arizona where he became an assistant radio operator.

Its not often that I get to share stories of individuals that I personally knew. As a young boy I got to know Howard Leon Whetten and hear snippets of his story from his own lips, I attended his funeral, I loved his example and appreciated his influence on my young life. This story is nearly unbelievable, in fact its so miraculous it has to be true. Nothing else would make sense. You don’t want to miss the rest of this amazing moment in history. Please join me in the next episode for part 2 of this story as Howard becomes Leon, and the farm boy becomes a soldier in WWII.