“Dear Ruby,

Thought you might be interested in a picture of planes we’ve been flying. Graduating from here tonight and leaving Sunday for Randolph Field to arrive there Tuesday. Will write my new address from there.

Love, Bob.”

How could I resist the hunt for Ruby and ‘Love, Bob?’

Short answer—I didn’t.

As a postcard collector, there are many special cards in my collection, but this is the one I treasure. It’s a very personal card from a specific time and place and I was in the right spot to be able to find our writer and his friend.
But where to start?

The Fannin County Historical Museum is a treasure trove of aviation history, with photo collections of each class graduated from the Bonham Aviation School. Given the date of the postcard, I quickly found Bob’s class, 42-F. In it were four Roberts. Hometowns weren’t listed on the ID cards, so I turned to Ancestry and Family Search and quickly narrowed it down to the one airman from Indiana, Robert L. Perkins.

But how to make sure he was the one? And, perhaps just as importantly, was he the one for Ruby? Not to bury the lede, but yes, and no.

Bonham Aviation School, Jones Field, was dedicated on Saturday, November 1, 1941, on land leased from the City. The original George Jones Airport had been dedicated on November 11, 1929. Construction of the primary flight airfield was begun in July 1941 with cadets training on Fairchild PT-19 Cornell and PT-17 Stearman aircraft.

Robert L. Perkins was a member of the third class of cadets to graduate. The notice in the February 18, 1942, Bonham Daily Favorite proudly cites that since training had started at the field, there had not been a serious incident. While there were no injuries to the cadets, it appears some of the planes might not have fared as well. The aviation school, having graduated more than 5,000 pilots, was closed effective October 15, 1944, as the Army’s training programs were eased back.

Born on December 26, 1918, in Thorntown, Indiana, Robert Lee Perkins grew up on a farm near Otterbein. Prior to his enlistment in the Army Air Corps in September 1940, he had attended Purdue University from 1937 to 1940 studying civil engineering. He began his Army career with training at Chanute Field in Rantoul, Illinois, becoming a link trainer instructor and had then been stationed at Ellington Field, Houston.

The Sunday, March 22, 1942, Indianapolis Star proudly lists the 11 members of Randolph Field’s graduation class from Indiana. To quote the opening paragraph of the Randolph press release: “From Indiana, home of tall corn and taller basketball players, 11 aviation cadets have come to attempt new highs in the clouds at the “West Point of the Air,” Texas’s world-famous basic flying school.”

It goes on to list each cadet with hometown and prior accomplishments. The only one from Western Indiana is Robert L. Perkins, 23, with a note that he began his aviation flying career at Bonham Aviation School, Bonham, Texas. He had been in involved in ROTC at Purdue and served a year in the regular Army. By August of 1942, Lieutenant Perkins had received his silver wings.

On December 24, 1942, he married Doris McQuatters of Houston while he was stationed at Macdill Field, Tampa, Florida. While he was overseas, his wife and daughter resided with her family in Houston.

As a B-26 pilot, Captain Perkins was stationed at a Marauder base in England and by 1944 had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal and several Oak Leaf clusters. He had completed 69 combat missions and had a total flying time of 1,395 hours when he was shot down over France and reported Missing in Action on July 18, 1944. It wasn’t until mid-August that he was known to be safe, as reported in the Lafayette, Indiana, Journal and Courier. His mother had heard from a friend of her son’s but still did not know the full story which didn’t appear in the paper until September.

Bob had been on a mission to destroy Nazi panzer troops when his plane caught fire, and he parachuted to the ground. Both his clothes and the parachute were on fire, and he fought off the flames with his hands. Three Germans were waiting for him and marched him into the woods. Other Allied planes were strafing the area, so the Germans put him in a foxhole. British tanks moved in, and after eight hours without medical attention, he was taken to a hospital and later flown to England. It was the end of Captain Perkins career as a bomber pilot. He would spend the rest of the war at Harlingen Army Air Field, Texas, as Director of Flying, supervising over 100 pilots and the closing of that Air Field. He separated out of the Army in August 1942 at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, as a Major.

He returned to Indiana to complete his degree in Civil Engineering and then moved to Houston. His career began with McClelland Engineers, Inc. He went on to receive his master’s degree from the University of Illinois and continued to work with McClelland until his retirement in 1983. He was recognized by the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig Museum for his contributions to geotechnical engineering. He died in 2004, two years after his wife, and both are buried in the Houston National Cemetery. He was survived by two daughters, two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

I tried to find Bob’s descendants online but the one I reached out to that I’m fairly certain is a granddaughter never got back in touch.

But what became of Ruby Stanley?

Born in 1920, Ruby lived her whole life in Indiana. There’s no way to know how Bob and Ruby met, but in 1942, the date of the postcard, she was living at home with her mother. According to the 1940 census her occupation was given as ‘operator press,’ and she was single, although she had married in 1938 when she would have been 18. In 1946, she marries again, but by the 1950 census, she is listed as divorced and living with her mother again. Ruby listed her occupation as ‘saleslady’ at a 5 & 10 Cent Store. Ruby Helen Stanley died in 2015 at the age of 95, survived only by a niece and several cousins.

It’s been a fascinating journey to find out about Ruby and ‘Love, Bob,’ one I’d gladly take again. I am always on the lookout for fascinating postcards that have a story to tell.

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Sources: United States Federal Census, 1920-1950
Fold3.com
Ancestry.com
FamilySearch.org
Archives.gov National Personnel Records Center
Bonham Daily Favorite
Journal and Courier, Lafayette, Indiana
The Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, Indiana
The Indianapolis News, Indianapolis, Indiana
Houston Chronicle
Robert Porter Funeral Home