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The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918; that is when, at the end of World War I, the allies’ armistice with Germany officially went into effect. Commemoration of that event was called Armistice Day until 1954, when it was changed to Veterans Day, in order to honor veterans from all eras of service.

Tullahoma certainly has strong ties to the military, and has had such for over 150 years. Much of that is of course due to Camp Peay, then Camp Forrest, and ultimately AEDC being located here. That was preceded by the area’s role in the Civil War. Many veterans served at least some of their military duty in Tullahoma, but even more Tullahoma veterans served far away from here. We honor both for their service, and we feature an example of both here.

The picture here features Tullahoma locals, and was undoubtedly photographed by Bob Couch, Sr. The sailor is the late Bob Couch, Jr. (age 19 at the time) and the little girl is his sister, Dot (Couch) Watson. I cannot tell the story as well as Dot, so here’s what she told me:

“Christmas has always been special in our home. As a young child it was doubly special because we had two birthdays to celebrate, one being that of the baby Jesus and the other being that of my older brother, Bob. Our tradition was to get up on Christmas morning and have a big breakfast to celebrate Bob’s birthday before we could go into the living room to see if Santa had come during the night. The anticipation was always great, and I was never very patient wanting breakfast to be finished.

“One Christmas morning, my mother awakened me early and said to get up and get dressed because we were going on a little trip. I asked her where we were going and she replied that it was a surprise. This was during WWII, and my brother was away because he was serving in the Navy. My mother said I could see the Christmas tree and pick one toy to take with me in the car. I kept asking where we were going and why, and kept being told, ‘It’s a surprise!’

“After about a little over an hour, we pulled into a parking lot at a train station. As we were getting out of the car, a train was pulling into the station. When it stopped and people were getting off, I suddenly saw my brother! I ran to him, and he picked me up and spun around with me in his arms! What a great surprise it was to have him home! And that year, having him home not only for Christmas but for his birthday as well was the best Christmas present ever for this 5-year-old little sister!”

The second photo depicts the other side, the Tullahoma-related non-residents. This one is at Camp Forrest and the soldier is my uncle, James V. Drake, my mother’s older brother. This is from 1943, and the little boy is my cousin. I discovered this photo a few years ago while looking through some of my parents’ photo albums. Written on the back in my mom’s handwriting was “Camp Forrest, Tenn. 1943.” Unfortunately, that’s all I know about Uncle Jim’s service at Camp Forrest, and there’s no one left to ask. Still, I was pleased to find that I had a small family connection to Camp Forrest and Tullahoma.

Do you have some old Tullahoma photos and accompanying stories to share? You can contact me at alanmayes@lighttube.net.