8/17/2012 (1571) | Dunseith Alumni

Email exchanges between Gary Stokes and Carol Thompson (’67)

Carol Thompson Gilje (’67): Kingman AZ

Folks,

A couple days ago I replied to a Forwarded message of Carol’s. The following is a trail of my conversations with Carol. In the last message she tells me she is a first cousin to Larry Hackman too. I could say poor girl, but on the other hand she is one lucky gal to have the Hackman clan cousins.

Gary

Hello Carol,

Are you related to the Rolette Gilje’s. I have probably asked you this question before.

Did your family live in Dunseith or in the country? There are not many Thompson’s in the Dunseith area. When you get into the hills and Bottineau county where there are more Norwegians, there are more Thompson’s.

Take care,

Gary

Hello Gary.

My (x) is John Gilje, son of Ruda & Ingvald Gilje of Rolette. John’s sister, Lynn was elementary school teacher in Bottineau and retired about 10 years ago & still lives in Bottineau.

There are 2 sets of Gilje’s in Rolette and they aren’t related to each other. Guess just took the name of the valley they lived in, in Norway.

My Dad is Stanley Thompson from south of Rolette, just west of the Lutheran Church. Olaf & Ingaborg were his folks. He had 4 “wild” brothers & 2 sisters.

My Mother is Julia Kraft, daughter of Alex & Rosina Kraft. They lived on a farm west of Rolette & retired in Rugby. There were 10 kids in the Kraft family, 6 girls & 4 boys. They all went to school in Rolette to the 8th grade. The 2 youngest, Rosie & Alex Jr, went to high school in Rugby. Alex Jr. lives on one farm west of Rolette, just 3 miles from Bill (older brother) & Janet (Fontaine from Dunseith) live on the main farm.

My Mom worked at the Crystal Cafe all of my school years. Was a heck-of-a-waitress. I was impressed with how she would come out of the kitchen, both arms loaded from shoulders down to her hands. Lola Poitra, the cook, would pile the plates on and out she’d come.

Rose McCoy owned the Crystal in “them days.” She & her son Jimmie lived upstairs. Ever hear from him?

Where is Allan Stokes at? He was my classmate. I never get back to N.D. To busy trying to make a living. Real Estate has been so tough the last 4 years! Our area was the worst hit. Phoenix to Las Vegas, with Kingman in the middle. It has been gradually picking up, but low prices- back to 1990 prices. Crazy!

Take care and nice talking with you.

Carol Gilje

Hello Carol,

First off, with your permission, I’d love to post your message. I know it will be of interest to a whole lot of our readers.

Thank you so much for this quick reply. I am guessing your mother stayed in Dunseith working at the Crystal Cafe when you attended HS there? It sounds like most of your family is from the Rolette area. Other than for Stanley and Alex Gilje and their nephews Carl Myhre and Bobby Gilje, I didn’t know too many from the Rolette area in my growing up days. I am guessing you are the other Gilje family?

Those gals, like your mother, we super waitresses. Seldom did they drop things either with being so load down.

Allen, my brother, is in San Diego. He has been living there over 20 years now.

Take care,

Gary

Hello Gary,

One bit of information that would tie this all together for you would be that my Mom, Julia and Marion Hackman were sisters. Marion being the oldest Kraft girl and Mom, next in line. I grew up living next to my 7 cousins, Tony-Henry-Larry-Clarice-Betty-Rosie & Jeanne.

We had so much fun. They had the big house & we had the little house behind the Methodist Church. Hours playing “antie I over” – over our little house, with all the kids in Dunseith. Don’t know how my Mom stood the thumping on the roof from morning til night. Ha

We had the whole field across the street, behind St. Mary’s to play ball all summer and make snow forts in the winter. We had alot of fun.

For my Freshman year, we moved directly across from the High School, next to Fortune Berube. Bogaslawski’s lived across the street to the west. Jim was in my class. Jim, Allen Houle, Beth Fauske and I went to the Bottineau Forestry after High School.

I worked in the library with Clarice Hackman, my cousin, from 7th grade to the July before we went to college. Clarice went on for her degree & is a librarian in Fargo.

Spent alot of time with Mary Anderson, Linda Walters and Sharon Tooke. Would be nice to see them all again. Maybe I’ll get up that way again.

Nice talking with you Gary and take care.

Carol G

Air assault & rescue over North Vietnam – Bill Hosmer (’48) Lead Pilot.

From Aime Casavant (’66): Jamestown, ND

Gary,

Bill Hosmer and I have been enjoying some communication of our�
experiences in the Air Force. While many of us are aware of Bill�
flying with the Thunderbirds, I’m not sure how many know of his�
exceptional leadership as a lead pilot with the F-105 Thunderchiefs in�
Vietnam and then a second tour in close air support for ground forces�
with the F-100. If one goes to the link http://home.roadrunner.com/~airrescue/articles/thewayhome.html
there is a written account of a mission over Hanoi that he was the�
lead pilot on.

In the Air Force I worked as a crew chief on the F4-C and Bill and I�
had a lot to talk about. One plane was assigned to each crew chief and�
we performed or coordinated all the ground maintenance on them, ran�
engines – did everything but fly. So the pilots and crew chiefs�
worked closely together. We knew the pilots were subject to a lot of�
danger so we felt a great responsibility that planes, aircraft as we�
called them were mechaniclly sound and they would not have that issue�
to deal with. Bill sounds like the best, always giving the crew�
chiefs compliments for keeping the planes flying. We strapped them in�
and did what we called ground launch. In Vietnam we lost a fourth of�
our squadron. Strapping those pilots in, knowing they were heading�
into dangerous skies. While we worked hard, we did not have the savvy�
and skill and nerves of steel like the pilots.

The only other person I know of that flew in Vietnam was LaVerne Rude�
(sp?)( married to Carrole Fauske), but there are probably others from�
back home.

So I thought I would send the above link if one wanted to read about�
Bill’s work in the skies over Vietnam. It is none other than a story�
of bravery.

It occurred to me that often in small and larger towns throughout�
North Dakota and the U.S., they have static model of a jet fighter�
displayed, usually near the entry to the town. Three of them off hand�
are Hatton, ND with an F-86, Valley City with an F-104 and Jamestown�
with an F-86. Wouldn’t it be great if we could get an F-100, like the�
one Bill flew over Dunseith that summer day and put it on static�
display to commemorate a part of the towns history?

Aime Casavant

Thank you so much Aime for sharing this with us.

Folks, This is very interesting article with Bill Hosmer being the lead pilot. Please take the time read.

Aime, I did not realize you were a crew chief either. You had a lot of responsibilities making sure all was right for the pilots.

Gary

Flying over America

Posted by Allen Richard (’65): Midland, MI

I doubt you have ever seen anything like this one!

Left Double Click Your Mouse on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=KcuDdPo0WZk

Allen,

These pictures are fabulous. Thank you so much for sharing.

Gary