Chapter 7

Saturday Night in Sweetwater

 

The Bluebonnet was the only hotel in Sweetwater, so that is where the pilots headed to do some partying. They were ready for some fun and relaxation after a long week of training, marching, and the physical education class, which some called physical torture, as well as check flights, not to mention the rigors of inspection Saturday morning. They all made sure everything was clean, neat, and tidy as per military orders. They did not want to lose their weekend pass when they had so much to celebrate.

 

The Blue Bonnet Hotel

 

The twelve WFTD trainees arrived at the Blue Bonnet in BJ’s and Lorna’s cars and sat a table near the bar. More women were on their way in various modes of transportation. Some of the instructors and check pilots were already sitting at a table with their second drink.

A few other pilots and soldiers were scattered around the room at tables with groups of civilians. They were probably home on leave visiting their families before they shipped overseas thought Emily.

The girls from Avenger Field ordered drinks all around and then they lifted their glasses to a toast. No one mentioned what the toast was for, but they all knew. They did not want any of the other check pilots or instructors to find out why Lieutenant Purvis had suddenly transferred from Avenger Field.

A local band was playing music, it was not big band style; it was more like the old-fashioned country type of music. Emily was familiar with it, but some of the girls like Madge from New York had never heard it before. However, no one complained; they were there for a good time. The locals asked some of the girls to dance, as did some of the instructors and check pilots. They were not all like Lieutenant Purvis; most of them were fair as well as helpful decent people. The student pilots were not supposed to date the instructors or check pilots, but there was no rule stating that they could not dance with them.

A pilot who was home on leave in Sweetwater asked Emily to dance. He smiled as he commented that she was a popular girl, he tried to ask her to dance several times, but someone always got to her first. She smiled at his handsome face. His name was Gene Crenshaw; he had lived in Sweetwater with his parents, older sister, and younger brother all his life. Gene was a flight lieutenant for the USAAF based near Dallas. His father was a pharmacist who owned a drugstore and soda fountain in town.

He had heard about the WFTD, the all-female training base from the folks in Sweetwater when he returned home on leave. He asked how she had come to be a part of the WFTD. She told him about receiving her pilot’s license at college with the CPT, as well as her six months in England with the ATA flying military aircraft. He was both surprised and impressed with Emily’s flying experience.

They talked about what it was like in England during the Luftwaffe attacks. He was especially interested because he was headed there himself very soon. Emily was one the few people he had talked to who had been close to the real action of the war. They danced and talked during the course of several songs, when, finally, Emily thought she should go back to her table with her friends. He asked if they could dance again later and she agreed.

Gene Crenshaw seemed like a very nice person, not to mention his charming good looks. He was taller than Emily was; about five feet ten inches in height with a medium build. He had short dark hair, parted on the side with a bit of a wave on top; his eyes were a deep blue and he had a captivating smile. He was also a very good dancer. He had learned to fly at college with the CPT also, and then he had left college to join the USAAF after the USA entered the war.

They danced several times throughout the evening; Emily met his sister and brother-in-law on the dance floor between songs. She ended the evening with an invitation to a family dinner on Sunday at the Crenshaw home in Sweetwater. Gene promised he would take her to the drug store soda fountain, even though they closed on Sundays and make her the best ice cream sundae that she ever had. She happily accepted.

Emily stopped drinking alcohol, as she did not want to have a headache the next day; she wanted to enjoy herself at Gene’s family dinner. As it turned out Lorna and BJ were drinking far too much to drive safely back to the base, so Emily volunteered to drive the car. She did not have an official driver’s license, but she had driven the tractor as well as her daddy’s pickup truck on the farm ever since she was tall enough to see over the steering wheel. She was certain she could drive Lorna’s automobile without much difficulty, besides, no one asked if she had a license. Moira, who did not drink much at all, volunteered to drive BJ’s car back to the base. Apparently, she did have a driver’s license; she had mentioned the fact when she volunteered to drive BJ’s automobile back to the base. All of the pilots had a license to fly an airplane, but not many of them could drive an automobile.

They had to make sure that they returned to the base by the one AM curfew. Emily had to concentrate on keeping Lorna’s car on the road. It was not like driving on the farm where you could drive wherever you wanted as long as you did not hit the cows or drive over the crops. By the time they reached Avenger Field, Emily was an expert driver. She thought she might even get her driver’s license sometime in the near future. Right now, her main concern was flying airplanes for the WFTD; she would not need her driver’s license right away, as she did not own a car anyway.

Everyone talked about what a great time they had, at least the ones that were still awake, most of them fell asleep almost immediately on the drive back to Avenger Field.

When everyone was safely in their bays, Emily began thinking about her dinner invitation the following evening with Gene and his family. Emily drifted off to sleep reminiscing about Gene and the events of the evening at the Bluebonnet Hotel in Sweetwater.