Every day starts a new story. We left Kayenta, Arizona, early on Aug. 23, 2019, to reach our interview in Bloomfield, New Mexico. The night before, we had been able to see the southern edge of Monument Valley and had a taste of the pride this place had reserved for its Navajo Windtalkers. It was still dark when we launched the day. The morning sunrise would show us that we were still very much in monument country.
We passed within six miles of the Four Corners. I wish we could have stopped, but it was still dark and we had a lot of driving to get to our destination. One wonder we didn’t miss was the sunrise revealing Shiprock. The great formation was eight miles south of our highway, but it was so large that it looked like it was only a mile away. Indeed it does look like a grand and powerful ship.
When we reached Farmington, New Mexico, we stopped for a visit with Jan and Bob. Bob had arranged our interview in Bloomfield. One can make easy and good friends with these two and I was sorry that we couldn’t visit longer. Bob gave us directions to his friend’s house complete with landmarks.
Even with his good directions I managed to turn into the wrong driveway. Nobody was home. While trying to figure out what to do, we looked across the street and, sure enough, there was Lee Wooderson sitting calmly in a stand of shade trees waiting for these two fools to figure out their mistake.
Our interview with Spec4 Wooderson is the only one we’ve done outside. It was a hot day, but the shade trees made the heat tolerable and the conversation made our visit pleasant. Inside the house the situation wasn’t so pleasing. Lee’s daughter was in hospice and dying. A few weeks after we arrived home, she was released from her suffering. Our hearts went out to Judy and Lee, and their hospitality made us humble.
Lee Wooderson enlisted in the Army in 1954, at the edge of the Korean War and was sent to Germany at the height of the Cold War. The voyage over was a story in itself. They were transported on the USS Butner which was manned by the Merchant Marine. Somewhere in the English Channel the captain suddenly reversed his engines and came to a complete stop. They had hooked a leftover mine from WWII. It bumped several times against the hull before a minesweeper cut it loose and exploded it away from the troopship.
Lee was assigned to the 265th Field Artillery Battalion, which featured a 280 MM gun that could “Put a round in a washtub at 30 miles.” It featured an atomic “pill” that could be put in the shell. The enormous gun used special trucks that locked in from each side. It could be set, fired, and made ready for transport in 12 minutes. Lee’s Army career was unique, but you’ll love his Bighorn stories.
Don McAllister directs the National Veteran’s Historical Archive. His column appears the second Saturday of each month. He can be reached at [email protected] and www.nvharchive.org.
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