HAXTUN, Colorado (STPNS) --     Charles ?Chuck? Edwards met the mother of his children while both attended grade school in Haxtun.  His family then moved back to Lincoln, Neb., but he did not forget her.  Ten years later, on June 26, 1945, he would use a furlough from the Service to marry her.  The marriage lasted 52 and one-half years.  Ethlyn died on Jan. 26, 1998.

    Chuck was born on Sept. 19, 1921 in Lincoln, but the family moved around, said Chuck, and in 1929, the family moved to Colorado, settling first in Paoli for two years, and then moving to Haxtun, where Chuck?s father operated a meat market from 1931 until 1935.  It was during those years, while he attended fifth through eighth grades, that Chuck met Ethlyn.  The Edwards family then returned to Lincoln, where Chuck graduated from Lincoln High School in 1939.



    On Dec. 19, 1941, shortly the United States joined World War Two following the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on Dec. 4, 1941, Chuck joined the Army Air Corps.  Twenty-three days later, he was in Australia, where he would spend the next 32 months.  Chuck said the story is one the government won?t tell.  ?There was about 150 of us who were supposed to take basic training at Shepherd?s Field at Wichita Falls, Texas.  One night they called us for roll call.  They didn?t ask for volunteers, they just called 150 names from A to M, and gave us our Yellow Fever shots.?  He said that was on a Friday night.  ?We were put on a troop train and by Sunday afternoon, we were in Fort Dix, New Jersey, where we joined a squadron from Bangor, Maine, and were bound for Australia.?  He said that what basic training they had, they got in Australia.

    Chuck was stationed with 403rd Bomb Squadron, known as the ?B-17 Flying Fortress? and the ?B-24 Liberators.?  He worked in the ground communications section as a switchboard operator.  Although he was not injured during the war, Chuck caught severe malaria twice and spent a month each time in the hospital.

    He returned to the United States on Sept. 17, 1944 and was sent to Greenville Army Air Base in South Carolina following a 21-day furlough to Lincoln.  The following June he took a second furlough, this time get married.

    He remained at Greenville for about a year, working at headquarters in statistics.  Greenville was a B-25 training base where they held 12-week camps, said Chuck.  He helped take care of the daily training reports.

    When it was time for him to return to civilian life, Chuck said it took four attempts.  ?I was scheduled for discharge four different times.  Each time I was scheduled to go to the separation center, they filled up, so I would be rescheduled.?  It took him six weeks to finally get discharged on Oct. 12, 1945 at Sioux Falls, S.D.

    Following his discharge, he and Ethlyn settled in Lincoln until they returned to Haxtun in February of 1950.  Chuck took a job at the Southside Grocery, which was on the highway across from Haxtun Super?s.  Spelts Roofing uses the building for storage now.

    Over his 41-year career in Haxtun grocery stores, Chuck worked for four different stores: Southside Grocery, Bakers Foodliner, A & F Grocery and Haxtun Super?s.  He retired from Haxtun Super?s in 1988.  During those years, he worked many positions, his last four years as dairy manager.  He also worked as a checker, unloaded grocery trucks, priced merchandise, and worked with produce.  ?Just about everything,? he said.

    The biggest change in the grocery business over the years, said Chuck, is how things come the store.  ?These days a lot of it comes in already prepared for sale,? said Chuck.  He said food used to come in bulk and that the store employees had to get it ready for the shelf.  They cut and package the meat, and the produce had to be cleaned and trimmed.  ?Stuff wasn?t already packaged.?

    Chuck and Ethlyn?s oldest son, Chase, was born while they lived in Lincoln.  Chase now lives in Tucson, Ariz.  Warren was born in Holyoke.

    Warren and his wife, June live in Haxtun.  They have three children, Jesse Edwards and Damon Edwards, both of Haxtun, and Cindy Velder of Denver.  Chuck also has four great-grandchildren, Nicky and Brady Edwards, Mason Edwards and Dawson Velder.

    Chuck has been a member of the Haxtun Church of the Brethren since 1934.  These days he is the official greeter, welcoming those who enter the front doors on Sunday morning for church.  He also served as a deacon at one time.  He is also a member of both the American Legion and the VFW.  He has been a member of the Haxtun American Legion for 55 years and the VFW for 30 years.