We walk among people who have lived remarkable lives, yet these folks deliberately go about life unnoticed. Attention and fame aren’t their goals, unlike many in the political or entertainment fields. They have heroic stories to tell, but unless asked about their experiences, they remain silent.
A funny postcard showing a fellow in a suit getting soused on apple juice was sent in 1943 from Nashville, Tennessee, by A/C Victor A. Bahr, to a Mr. J.M. Gaul in Sumner, Ohio. When I first saw the comedic picture on the front, I figured the sender was a jokester, but I figured that nothing of significant interest would turn up on either the sender or the recipient.
The recipient, Jacob Miller Gaul, was a young farmer living in Sumner, born on September 20, 1921. In 1943, Jacob married Mildred Louise Morgan. The couple had four children: Victor, born in 1945; Gloria Kay, who was stillborn in 1946; Patricia, born in 1951; and Vicki, born in 1957. Victor Gaul was most likely named after his father’s friend, Victor Bahr. Mr. Jacob Miller Gaul lived to be 91 years old.
Army Air Corps Cadet Victor Ansil Bahr was being screened by the military in 1943 in Nashville as a possible pilot. Victor’s aspiration was to fly the P-38, a twin-engine fighter considered to be the best in its class back then. The note he sent his friend, J.M. Gaul, reads as follows.
“A/C Victor A. Bahr
Squadron H Group 2
AAFCC
Nashville, Tenn
Hello J.M.
Will drop you a few lines as I think I owe you a letter. It is considerably nicer here than at Gulfport. How are you getting along with the Spring work? How is everyone? How many acres of potatoes are you planting this year? Hope you are having as nice weather as we are having here. As ever, Victor?”
Victor was obviously having a hard time finding the right words, as often happens when writing to someone. One thing quite noticeable is that Cadet Bahr places more emphasis on his friend’s well-being than his own. From my research, that was a trait the man possessed up until his passing.
What 1st Lieutenant Victor A. Bahr encountered during WWII is phenomenal. The B-24 bomber pilot was fortunate to return home alive, as was his crew. I found significant material on Lt. Bahr’s military exploits, and rather than butcher this data into small, choppy paragraphs, I decided to share a majority of this information at the end.
Victor Bahr married his wife, Wilma, in 1938, and she passed away on April 6, 1995. Victor died on January 31, 2009, at the age of 88. A portion of his obituary I’ve included below:
“Victor was born June 6, 1920, in Chester, OH, son of the late Ernest W. and Bertha B. Betzing Bahr. He attended Alfred Church and formerly attended South Bethel E.U.B. and was a Forest Fire Warden for the Division of Forestry, a U.S. Army Air Corps veteran of World War II, and a member of the Chester Vol. Fire Dept., which he helped start. He was a life member of the Tuppers Plains VFW Post 9053 and the American Legion 128 in Middleport. He was also a school bus driver for Chester School, a coal miner, pilot, carpenter, and farmer.”
I like to write junk... 