Ang and Betty Adams
Honeylights Letters begins in January 1944 in Columbia, South Carolina. Lt. Angelo Adams and his wife Betty were stationed there waiting for his orders to go overseas. Ang was learning how to navigate and drop bombs from B-25 Medium Bombers. Betty was training to be a good military wife.
Betty & Ang, 1938. Photo by Verne Russell
Angelo Adams and Elizabeth Russell met in Chicago, Illinois when they were in high school attending Lakeview High. The story is that she had been sent to the principal’s office (a first) where she ran into Ang who was a regular “visitor.” She was upset. He comforted her. They dated. They graduated. He began attending college at University of Illinois, sending her regular correspondence. He was sworn in for active duty in the Army Air Corps on March 20, 1942 and was off to basic training in Santa Ana, California.
While stationed in Santa Ana, he wrote (so the story goes--this is the one letter we do not have) and said he missed her and wished “you were here.” Betty got on a train and went! They were married in Santa Ana on September 26, 1942, and then Betty boarded another train and returned to Chicago! From December 1942 until April 1944 she followed him as he was sent to Albuquerque, NM for bombardier training; then Hondo, Texas for navigation training; and finally to Columbia, South Carolina.
When they weren’t together Ang wrote letters on a near-daily basis. He continued this through his overseas tour. Betty wrote in her diary daily — but she rarely gave a hint as to her thoughts and feelings. Still, her diary is an interesting record of a woman trying to hold herself together in spite of her great fears for the safety of her husband. Likewise, Ang’s letters chronicle a young man’s struggle to survive war and maintain sanity, while dealing with the strange world of the Army on a small island in the Mediterranean. You may be familiar with this world thanks to Joseph Heller, author of “Catch 22” who was stationed on Corsica in 1944 with a different bomb squadron.
Betty kept Ang's letters and her diaries. Sadly, we do not have her letters to Ang. They were either left behind on Corsica or were lost.
While stationed in Santa Ana, he wrote (so the story goes--this is the one letter we do not have) and said he missed her and wished “you were here.” Betty got on a train and went! They were married in Santa Ana on September 26, 1942, and then Betty boarded another train and returned to Chicago! From December 1942 until April 1944 she followed him as he was sent to Albuquerque, NM for bombardier training; then Hondo, Texas for navigation training; and finally to Columbia, South Carolina.
When they weren’t together Ang wrote letters on a near-daily basis. He continued this through his overseas tour. Betty wrote in her diary daily — but she rarely gave a hint as to her thoughts and feelings. Still, her diary is an interesting record of a woman trying to hold herself together in spite of her great fears for the safety of her husband. Likewise, Ang’s letters chronicle a young man’s struggle to survive war and maintain sanity, while dealing with the strange world of the Army on a small island in the Mediterranean. You may be familiar with this world thanks to Joseph Heller, author of “Catch 22” who was stationed on Corsica in 1944 with a different bomb squadron.
Betty kept Ang's letters and her diaries. Sadly, we do not have her letters to Ang. They were either left behind on Corsica or were lost.
Betty & Ang. 1942 wedding photo
Ang was born in Greece in 1921 and came to America with his father, Sam (Sotiris) at the age of 6, followed by his mother, Stella and 2 younger siblings, Jen and John. He grew up in Chicago among a close-knit Greek family/community. In spite of troubles getting through high school, he was admitted to the University of Illinois to study business. After the war, he finished school in June 1947 with a B.S. in Business Administration from Northwestern University School of Commerce.
Betty grew up in a close-knit multigenerational household. Born in Arkansas to Verne and Margaret Russell, she then grew up with cousins and aunts and uncles after Verne and Margaret divorced. Before the divorce they lived in Arkansas and Kansas. Afterwards, they lived in St. Louis with the extended family and finally in Chicago. While Ang was enrolled at University of Illinois and then through the war years until he graduated from Northwestern, Betty worked at various jobs — mostly secretarial.
After Ang’s graduation from Northwestern, they started their family with Susan, followed by Mark, Joni, Tom, and Marian. They left Chicago in 1955 to move to Los Angeles where Ang opened an office for Manufacturers Clearing House; started his own accounting practice; and taught a few business classes at Santa Monica City College. He started working at Union Bank in 1961 and moved the family to San Diego when he was named Regional Vice President in 1965. Ang and Betty eventually moved back to the L.A. area and Ang "retired" in 1985 from Watt Industries in Santa Monica. Of course, he didn't really retire, and continued as a consultant for Watt until his death in 1998.
There are way too many stories to tell about Ang and Betty's 56 years of marriage. So many adventures, changes, gains and losses, joys and sorrows -- just like all the other imperfect marriages between imperfect people. For me, one of the best adventures was our trip to Ang's ancestral village in Greece in 1988 with as many of us as were able to join them. During his time on Corsica in 1944-45, he attempted to work a deal to visit his Grandmothers in Greece. There were simply too many obstacles. I guess he made up for that in 1988 and he and Betty also made a couple other trips to Greece.
In December 1998, Ang died after a devastating stroke. Betty died in 2009. Four of their five children survive them, along with 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Ang is also survived by two children, Mary and Peter, from another relationship.
[Header photo Courtesy of Richland Library, Columbia, S.C. The photo of the B25 over Columbia is from the Walker Local and Family History Center of the Richland Library in Columbia, South Carolina. They have an amazing digital collection of photos you can browse. This photo collection gives a glimpse into life at the Columbia Army Base during the war. http://cdm16817.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16817coll1]
[Edited/Updated 12/27/16]
Betty grew up in a close-knit multigenerational household. Born in Arkansas to Verne and Margaret Russell, she then grew up with cousins and aunts and uncles after Verne and Margaret divorced. Before the divorce they lived in Arkansas and Kansas. Afterwards, they lived in St. Louis with the extended family and finally in Chicago. While Ang was enrolled at University of Illinois and then through the war years until he graduated from Northwestern, Betty worked at various jobs — mostly secretarial.
After Ang’s graduation from Northwestern, they started their family with Susan, followed by Mark, Joni, Tom, and Marian. They left Chicago in 1955 to move to Los Angeles where Ang opened an office for Manufacturers Clearing House; started his own accounting practice; and taught a few business classes at Santa Monica City College. He started working at Union Bank in 1961 and moved the family to San Diego when he was named Regional Vice President in 1965. Ang and Betty eventually moved back to the L.A. area and Ang "retired" in 1985 from Watt Industries in Santa Monica. Of course, he didn't really retire, and continued as a consultant for Watt until his death in 1998.
There are way too many stories to tell about Ang and Betty's 56 years of marriage. So many adventures, changes, gains and losses, joys and sorrows -- just like all the other imperfect marriages between imperfect people. For me, one of the best adventures was our trip to Ang's ancestral village in Greece in 1988 with as many of us as were able to join them. During his time on Corsica in 1944-45, he attempted to work a deal to visit his Grandmothers in Greece. There were simply too many obstacles. I guess he made up for that in 1988 and he and Betty also made a couple other trips to Greece.
In December 1998, Ang died after a devastating stroke. Betty died in 2009. Four of their five children survive them, along with 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Ang is also survived by two children, Mary and Peter, from another relationship.
[Header photo Courtesy of Richland Library, Columbia, S.C. The photo of the B25 over Columbia is from the Walker Local and Family History Center of the Richland Library in Columbia, South Carolina. They have an amazing digital collection of photos you can browse. This photo collection gives a glimpse into life at the Columbia Army Base during the war. http://cdm16817.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16817coll1]
[Edited/Updated 12/27/16]