In 1943, Gene at 16 years of age and Edgar at 14, left the farm in Jerico Springs, in search of work during the war.
Traveling alone on a bus, first to Booneville, Missouri, then to Columbia, Missouri and then finally, Kansas City, Missouri.
Gene found work on a farm owned by Mr. Henry Cannon of Platte City, Mo for $1.50 per day, while Edgar found
work in Liberty, Missouri as a handy man making about the same wage.
Gene left the Platte City farm after about three weeks and worked at Staley Mills, then at Kansas City Southern
Railway for a few months. In the fall of 1943 Gene found work at the North American Aviation factory
in the Fairfax District of Kansas City, Kansas, building B-25 Mitchell bombers. Gene worked there for over a year
and was then hired by the CB&Q Railroad in the fall of 1944. Gene left the railroad in 1954 and worked for the Liberty
Police Department, he then found work at Trans World Airlines in 1956, working there for 37 years, retiring in 1993.
Edgar left Liberty, Missouri in 1945 and was hired by Safeway Stores in Kansas City, Missouri as a truck driver. He
moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1953 where he resided until moving back to Liberty, Missouri in 1999.
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Fairfax Ghosts
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North American Aviation Factory
Kansas City, Kansas 1944
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B-25 Mitchell The Fairfax Ghost
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B-25 Mitchell The Fairfax Ghost
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B-25J Show Me
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Kansas City Warbirds
B-25 Fairfax Ghost
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North American Aviation Link
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Ace Pilots Link
Lots of B-25 information
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B-25J
- 4,318 B-25J's were built in Kansas City between December 1943 and August 1945, the largest production run of
any B-25 version. No more cannons, but with eighteen machine guns (as many 'J's were modified) it was a
formidable strafer. Bomb groups in the Mediterranean and the Pacific received their first B-25J's in mid to late
1944.
- North American B-25J Specs:
- Engines: Two 1700 hp Wright R-2600-13 Double Cyclone fourteen-cylinder air-cooled radials.
- Maximum Speed: 275 mph at 15,000 feet.
- Ceiling: 24,000 feet.
- Range: 1275 miles with 3200 pounds of bombs.
- Weight: 21,100 pounds empty, 33,000 pounds loaded, 41,800 pounds maximum overload.
- Wingspan: 68 feet, Length: 53 feet
- Fuel: 974 gallons. Provision for one 515-gallon drop tank (plus other options)
- Strafer Version Armament: Eight nose-mounted .50 caliber machine guns. Four in side blisters.
- Two in top turret. Two in the waist. Two in the tail.
- Information Courtesy of Ace Pilots.com
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