Velma Vento & William "Bill" Grisham
West Point is where Velma met Bill Grisham. He fell head-over-heals for her. He was not only attracted to her physical beauty, but her wit and charm. She was fun loving, had a fabulous sense of humor, and was full of talent.
When Bill started dating Velma, he’d go to Newburgh to visit her on the weekends. Velma and Bill would ride on the paddle boat from Newburgh, past West Point, to New York City to watch the Notre Dame vs. West Point games. Jane, Velma’s mother, arranged for Velma to stay at The Martha Washington Hotel in New York City, where women only were permitted and monitored house mothers. Bill and Velma often visited a pub, something like “Cheers”, where they were treated like royalty as the young lovers that they were. |
|
Bill wrote his parents a letter in April 1946, just before his graduation, introducing Velma to his parents and assuring them that they would love her. Then Bill and Velma married that June 9th. Bill bought an old greasy car, which was all he could afford and they set out on their road trip to California. The headlights of the vehicle were not the best and shone only about a hundred feet ahead. One night in their travels when they reached the Hoover Dam on Route 66, Dad screeched to a stop. He could no longer see road ahead of him. They got out of the car and there they were on the edge of a thousand foot drop. As they traveled through the desert they stopped for a watermelon, found the shade of a billboard and sat under it drenching themselves in watermelon juice. It was a fun trip, adventurous and for Velma, she was seeing a world she’d never experienced before, as she’d never been outside of New York.
They got to Riverside in late June. Dad’s letter had helped to warm the family to Velma, as there was a bit of prejudice that Billy was marrying such a commoner. After all, he was now an Army Officer and had dated many wealthy young girls including the Dole’s (Dole Pineapple) daughter. Elsie, Bill’s mother, never quite accepted Velma and was always correcting her in proper etiquette. Velma quite resented the cold reception she received from Elsie and their relationship never warmed although Velma always treated her with the utmost respect. On the other hand, Bill’s father, Jimmy, was much more open to Velma and in no time he loved her as a daughter. He called her “Sis”. When Jimmy called somebody “Sis” it meant they were family.
Velma loved to entertain, singing and dancing. She idolized Rita Hayworth and aspired to sing and dance, just like her. She actually looked a bit like Rita Hayworth. Once, after Velma and Bill were married a couple of years and stationed in Japan they attended a party at the officer’s club. Velma was in a yellow dress with long black gloves. She got up on the table where all of the officers and their wives were. She danced and sang Rita Hayworth’s song “Put the blame on mame”. All the officers were mesmerized with her. One Colonel was so taken with Velma that it caused an awkward moment for Bill as the Colonel’s subordinate, when Bill had to tell him to “back off”. Velma was talented, beautiful, witty and loveable. You couldn’t blame the poor guy for being enthralled with her.
However, talented and beautiful though, Velma always felt inferior to the other officer’s wives because of her lack of an advanced education. One of the wives, Jane Scott, hurt Velma deeply when she criticized her for having so many children. She implied she was a rabbit of some sort. But Velma was a mother like no other woman could be. She was so selfless and caring.
All of the moving around during both Bill’s military and civilian careers was initially just an adventure to Velma. When they were stationed in Morton, Pennsylvania, with three girls and baby twin boys, Bill was a 1st Lieutenant working in the Group Headquarters. He discovered a way to orient radars on a plotting board so aircraft could be tracked. This same technology, although more advanced, is used today for anti-ballistic missile tracking. This discovery was essential to America’s defense.
Read more...........
They got to Riverside in late June. Dad’s letter had helped to warm the family to Velma, as there was a bit of prejudice that Billy was marrying such a commoner. After all, he was now an Army Officer and had dated many wealthy young girls including the Dole’s (Dole Pineapple) daughter. Elsie, Bill’s mother, never quite accepted Velma and was always correcting her in proper etiquette. Velma quite resented the cold reception she received from Elsie and their relationship never warmed although Velma always treated her with the utmost respect. On the other hand, Bill’s father, Jimmy, was much more open to Velma and in no time he loved her as a daughter. He called her “Sis”. When Jimmy called somebody “Sis” it meant they were family.
Velma loved to entertain, singing and dancing. She idolized Rita Hayworth and aspired to sing and dance, just like her. She actually looked a bit like Rita Hayworth. Once, after Velma and Bill were married a couple of years and stationed in Japan they attended a party at the officer’s club. Velma was in a yellow dress with long black gloves. She got up on the table where all of the officers and their wives were. She danced and sang Rita Hayworth’s song “Put the blame on mame”. All the officers were mesmerized with her. One Colonel was so taken with Velma that it caused an awkward moment for Bill as the Colonel’s subordinate, when Bill had to tell him to “back off”. Velma was talented, beautiful, witty and loveable. You couldn’t blame the poor guy for being enthralled with her.
However, talented and beautiful though, Velma always felt inferior to the other officer’s wives because of her lack of an advanced education. One of the wives, Jane Scott, hurt Velma deeply when she criticized her for having so many children. She implied she was a rabbit of some sort. But Velma was a mother like no other woman could be. She was so selfless and caring.
All of the moving around during both Bill’s military and civilian careers was initially just an adventure to Velma. When they were stationed in Morton, Pennsylvania, with three girls and baby twin boys, Bill was a 1st Lieutenant working in the Group Headquarters. He discovered a way to orient radars on a plotting board so aircraft could be tracked. This same technology, although more advanced, is used today for anti-ballistic missile tracking. This discovery was essential to America’s defense.
Read more...........