A lifetime together

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    • 12/09/2020 at 17:37 #51614
      Powerbits
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      CLANLEADER

      A LIFETIME TOGETHER !!!! 🇺🇸🙏🇺🇸
      Jess “Jay” Dudley and Winifred Whelchel both grew up in the small town of Westville, Oklahoma. Their mothers were best friends, so the two children used to play and hang out together.

       

      After graduating from Westville High School, Jay enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and trained as an aircraft mechanic. He was then assigned to the 387th Bomb Group, which was sent to England in June 1943. During his time overseas, Jay served in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, and was awarded a Bronze Star for his involvement in the Normandy Invasion and the Battle of the Bulge. While Jay was in Europe, Winifred was doing her part in the United States. In June 1943, she joined the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) and was assigned to the 3rd and 5th Ferrying Groups of Air Transport Command. She fulfilled her duties at eight air bases across the United States. In November 1945, Winifred, who was still in the Army, returned to Westville to attend her grandfather’s funeral. She was then planning to go to Okinawa (Japan) and serve her country for two more years.

       

      But as she walked down the street in Westville, she bumped into Jay, who was no longer in the Army. He invited Winifred to have a soda at the drugstore, and three weeks later, they were married. The couple then moved to Arkansas (where Jay worked as a high school principal) before returning to Oklahoma.

      Married for more than 70 years, Jay and Winifred had four children, eleven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Jay passed away on August 6, 2016, and Winifred is now 98 years old.

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