Arlington Archives ! In this Issue - Arlington Historical Society

What did you do in WW II, Neil Tucker? Part 2 of 3

(as told to Rebecca Tucker, AHS Board Member)

Note: The following is Part 2 of an oral history of Cooper Neil Tucker during WW II, as told to his wife, Rebecca Tucker. Neil was a lifelong resident of Arlington, Texas, and a descendent of Arlington pioneer James Daniel Cooper. Neil passed away April 21, 2010. This document was part of a history assignment while Rebecca was attending Dallas Baptist University during the mid-1990s. The assignment was to obtain an oral history of WWII experiences. Neil was nine years old when America entered the war.

Was the War discussed much at school?

Oh yes! I had a picture of my Daddy in his uniform on my desk at school. A lot of kids had pictures of their Dad, or

their older brother, or whoever was important to them who was in the war. Conversation during the war I would

say was at least 80% about one facet or another of the

war. If you had a

member of your family serving in

the military you

put a blue star in the front win-

dow and if

someone was killed you put a

gold star. Every-body had stars in the window, sometimes gold and blue. I

can still remember - it was June or July in the summer of 1941 and my next door neighbor George Coke, who was 17

(continued on page 2)

1616 W. Abram St.

(at the Historic Fielder House)

Arlington, TX 76013 817-460-4001

Geraldine Mills, Director

[email protected]

www.historicalarlington.org

Hours: Fielder House: Tues. through

Sat. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (or by appointment)

Knapp Heritage Park: Sat. & Sun. 1-4 p.m.

Newsletter Editor—Tom Dodson at [email protected]

Newsletter — JUNE/JULY 2012

Stories from the

Arlington Archives !

In this Issue

How well do you know your Arlington History?

1. Only one NTAC (now UTA) faculty member died while serving in WWII. A campus building was named after him. Who was that faculty mem-ber?

2. This privately owned park west of Bowen and Sanford was a center for civic and social gather-ings . It was given up for a housing develop-ment in the early 1960s. What was the name of this park?

3. Arlington had a Drive-In theater in the 1950s. Where was it located?

4. What was the name of Arlington’s first rural mail carrier? Hint: you may have seen a photo of him carrying mail on his motorcycle.

5. What was the marine park opened by the City, and near to Six Flags over Texas, called?

6. What was the original use of the Top O’ Hill Ter-race (before it was bought by Fred Browning and converted to an illegal casino)?

(answers on page 6)

Arlington Archives – What did you do in

WW II, Neil Tucker?

1

How well do you your Arlington History? 1

Brand New Book Available at the Fielder—

”Top O’ Hill Terrace”

4

New Fielder Exhibit coming June 1—

”Arlington High School-Looking Back”

4

Arlington Historical Society Supporting

Membership (we need you!)

4

Annual Preservation Celebration— at the

Howell Family Farms—June 9 !!

5

UTA Students and Staff pitch in to help out

at the Fielder on “The Big Event” Day

6

Old Timers Schedule through April 2013 6

News from Arlington Historical Society JUNE/JULY 2012 P. 2

What did you do in WW II (continued from page 1) had just joined the Navy. He came over to the house to tell me goodbye, I was just a little kid - nine I guess, and I remember how I wanted to go with him. He had on his sailor suit; he really looked sharp. He died at Pearl Harbor on one of the battle-

ships that went down; they never brought his body up. They left all the bodies down there. He never came home - his mother Mrs. Coke went flat crazy after he was killed; she was never the same.

Where did vou spend Sundays and Holidays? Mother usually fixed Sunday dinner! Sometime we went to my Aunt Beatty's. I loved to go to Beatty's for Sunday dinner -

she sure could fry chicken. It was so good! The Cooper Hotel and its Rainbow Grill was the place to go after church on Sun-day; at least if you went to the First Methodist Church in Arlington; it was right across Center Street. During the week it

was kind of a Beer Hall but on Sundays they put the table cloths on and everybody from church went there to eat. It was

THE place to go -The Rainbow Grill at the Cooper Hotel. We had our Christmas Dinners there too. Mother was from a fam-

ily of seven and we always spent our Christmas celebrations with the Cooper family at the Hotel. On Christmas they would

close the Rainbow Grill and all the family would gather up at the hotel and that was where we would have our Christmas celebration and dinner. I think an old Negro man named Ross Pervis cooked for us; he was the cook at the restaurant. It

never occurred to me that he was missing Christmas with his family or even if he had a family. I hope he celebrated some-where.

What part of the War do you remember as being the worst time for America?

The South Pacific - we were in deep trouble in the South Pacific. We weren't ready for war and the Japanese had us on the run and we almost got wiped out; it was very close and could have gone either way. The battle at Midway Island - that was

the turning point for us in the war; we beat the Japanese. I remember how excited I was when I saw the papers and how they mapped out the battle.

The Germans - we fought them in Africa to start with and finally the Americans, the British, and the Australians won the

African campaign and crossed the Mediterranean into Sicily and Italy. That was the time when I was looking at the arrows to see where we were. And of course from England we invaded Normandy Beach into France and that was the beginning of the end for the German Army. The South Pacific was totally different because we were fighting more of a Naval Battle: we

fought from island to island - Iwo Jima, Tarawa. The neighbor on the other side of us - he was the brother-in-law of George Coke (the boy I told you about earlier) - was killed at Tarawa. He never even got to land, he was killed right there in the wa-

ter as he was coming off one of those landing barges that transported troops to the beach. He couldn't have received much training; he left Arlington only about 6 weeks earlier. They just did not have time, there was such a need for soldiers; they had to get those guys over there as quickly as possible.

Tell me how the War impacted people’s personal lives!

Well, my Uncle Johnny went through a horrible experience. He was a member of the crew that helped clean out the ovens at

Auschwitz, where the Germans had killed the Jews. It impacted his life so severely he never recovered. He drank con-

stantly and stayed drunk or semi-drunk all the time. It finally ruined his liver and killed him. He died during the fifty's.

When we started fighting the Germans there was the nicest old fellow here. His name was Dutch Geisner, and he owned a service station and a little tire store up on the highway. My friend Milton Kelley and I used to hang around his station; he

was always so nice and good to us. We just liked to hang around there and talk to him and help out if we could. When we started fighting the Germans, our parents wouldn't let us go there anymore just because he was German. The whole town

ostracized him. He was in our church also, and nobody at the church would have anything to do with him. Nobody would trade with him and he had to move, he and Mrs. Geisner just left town. I don't know where they went or anything, but even

as a little kid I knew it was wrong. He wasn't to blame for what happened, it was just the fact that he was German. I had

(continued on page 3)


What did you do in WW II (continued from page 1)

no knowledge of the way the Japanese were treated on the West Coast. That story didn't make the Arlington papers and I

don't remember hearing any gossip. After I got grown and heard about the internment of the Japanese I thought it was atro-cious, but I am quite sure if I had known about it then I probably would have thought it was the proper thing. There was a

General, I can't remember his name now, who convinced the American people the Japanese were a threat to the national

safety and had to be incarcerated. It was just a big lie, those people weren't a threat - they were second and third genera-

tion Americans. It was terrible the way those people were treated; they were just as good a citizens as we were. The gov-ernment took their property and everything. There were lawsuits all through the fifties and sixties; it’s probably still going on. I don't think those people ever got back their property; it is a disgrace and something that should have been righted

long ago. When were vou most afraid during the War? I guess when we started having to put blankets over the windows and doors. You couldn't have any lights on outside or anything. The guys who came around with the little white helmets, The Civil Air Patrol, I guess, might knock on the door and say there were lights shining through or something. That was kind of scary because to get us all to do what was needed they used scare tactics; such as reminding us about the possibility of a bomb attack because of our close proximity to Chance Vought and Consolidated; we all called it the Bomber Plant (Lockheed). They were building planes for the war and we were going to be bombed together; it was important the enemy not know where we were. If we did not pay attention

and do as we were told the consequences were awesome, it was very scary for a child. I can't imagine how the kids in Lon-don coped with the constant bombings that went on over there.

When did vou start feeling that the war effort was going our wav?

I kept up with the war on a daily basis. I was just really interested in what went on from the time I was about ten. Pearl Harbor was bombed in December 1941 before I turned 10 in January of ‘42. When I was about 13 or so I really became in-

terested in what was going on. Midway was the turning point as far as America was concerned; it turned the tide in the South Pacific, and the Japanese quit whipping up on us. Then I guess it was sort of an even battle until Iwo Jima where we

finally began to over-power the Japanese.

Where were vou when vou heard about the

bombing of Pearl Harbor? I will never forget it. After Church, we had gone

across the street to the Cooper Hotel and the Rain-

bow Grill for Sunday dinner. That’s where we heard about it. My Grandfather was sitting in his

chair and listening to the announcements of the bombing of Pearl Harbor on the radio. There was an easy chair and one of those little round-top

radios set up in the lobby and that was where my

grandfather spent a lot of his time. We gathered

around and listened. The next day, FDR, in his ad-dress to Congress, would refer to December 7 as “a day that will live in infamy."

(to be continued with the next issue of the Newsletter)

Cooper Hotel and Rainbow Grill during WW II


Arlington Historical Society Supporting Membership

Supporting Membership Contributions are a vital part of AHS’s income for preserving and presenting Arlington’s history. Thank you for your faithfulness in providing this on-going

support! If you have an annual membership and have not yet sent in this year’s contribution, would you do it now? If you are not a member, please consider becoming one—call us at

817-460-4001.

Class of Membership Amount

Individual Lifetime $250 once

Family Lifetime $500 once

Individual (annual Oct – September) $25 per year

Family (annual Oct – September) $50 per year

“If the saga of Top O’ Hill Casino becoming Arlington Baptist

College were written as fiction, readers would dismiss it as

improbable and impossible. The story of a tearoom evolving

into the gambling hot spot of North Central Texas that was

then fought by a fiery gospel preacher, who foretold its

transformation into a Baptist seminary and ultimately an

accredited Bible college, is stranger than fiction yet abso-

lutely true. The rich and famous enjoyed rubbing shoulders

with the mysterious and notoriously infamous, and if large

amounts of money were involved, so much the better. Stir

in fabulous racehorses, flashy stage and screen stars, singers,

dancers, well-known bandleaders and bands, and the tale

becomes enthralling.” (from the back cover of the book)

Get your copy at the Fielder House - $22

(or call us and we can mail it to you)

Part of the proceeds benefit The Arlington Historical Society!!

New Fielder Exhibit - “ Arlington High School—Looking Back”

The next downstairs exhibit at the historic Fielder House will

be “Arlington High School—Looking Back.” It will be ready

for viewing June 1, in time for the June AHS Alumni Reunion.


Is proud to salute & HONOR several individuals as

“The Keepers of our History”

At the Howell Family Farms 4016 W. Division St. on the site of the historic

Waples – Platter House Dinner by Spring Creek Barbeque

Other major sponsors—Howell Farms and Wild

Horse Promotional Products

Entertainment by Melissa Lawson—

award-winning country music singer

Tours of the restored historic properties

Silent auction

This is Arlington Historical Society’s principal annual fund-raising event. This is especially important now that we are undertaking the refurbishing and restoration of the Fielder House in time for the historic home’s 100th Anni-versary in 2014!!

You can help in this worthwhile effort in several ways: Purchasing tickets to the event ($50 per person or $400 per table) Becoming a Sponsor of the event Bidding generously on the auction items Making special contributions Volunteering your time at the Fielder & Knapp Park

You should have your invitation in the mail! (if not, call Geraldine Mills at 817-460-4001) A.H.S. is a 501 (c) (3) organization under IRS regulations


OLD TIMERS SCHEDULE Old Timers meets

at the Fielder House on the 3rd Thursday each month at 2 p.m.

Old Timers is where long-time Arlington residents (and other speakers) tell stories (and spin yarns?) about Arlington in days past. Everyone is invited to attend these informative and entertaining sessions. Dates and speakers for the balance of this year are:

June 21—Dan Smith, author (on old Highway 80) July 19—Faye Reeder (Star-Telegram) August 16—Ethel Glazner September 20—Phyllis Forehand October 18—Dan Dipert November 15—Carmen Elliott Gooden December 20—no meeting January 17, 2013—Bud Kennedy (Star- Telegram) February 21, 2013—Juliette Hiett March 21, 2013—Jim Laney April 18, 2013—The Ross Brothers—Albert, Hugh, and Martin

Thanks to Barbara Kight for coordinating this effort!

Answers to “How well do you know your

Arlington history?”

1. His name was Delmar Pachl, who taught art at NTAC. He was killed in action at Leyte in the South Pacific, in 1944. Pachl Hall (a men’s dormitory) was named for him. Unfortunately, that building, still student housing, no longer bears Pachl’s name.

2. It was called Cravendale. Originally, it was Arlington Club Lake, developed by businessmen in 1927. Later it was owned solely by Tom Cravens. It was visited by Admiral Nimitz, Com-mander of the Pacific Fleet during WWII.

3. The Arlington Drive-In Theater was located on the northwest corner of W. Division and Lil-lard (just east of the intersection of W. Division and Bowen). It is now the site of the U-Haul Company.

4. It was Will Leatherman. He delivered mail for 33 years, from 1911 to 1944. 5. It was Seven Seas. Unfortunately, it did not succeed, and was closed in 1975. The Conven-

tion Center and the nearby hotel is now on that site. 6. Top O’ Hill Terrace was built in the early 1920s by T.P. and Beulah Adams Marshall to serve

afternoon tea and evening dinner to the public, along the new coast-to-coast Bankhead Highway (now West Division Street). They called it Top O’ Hill Terrace Tea Room. It was pur-chased in 1930 by C. Fred Browning, who turned it into a famous (but illegal) gambling ca-sino. The property was purchased by Arlington Baptist College in 1956.

UTA Students and Staff pitch in to help out at the Fielder on “The Big Event” Day

Historical Society Board and UTA staff members Stephen “Bear” Lunce and Jessica Lunce organized a group of students in participating, on April 21, in the “Big Event,” an annual UTA community ser-vice project day. The grounds of the Fielder House were spotless when they finished! Thanks so much UTA !!

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