From the Nye County, Nevada Photograph Collection (PH-00221) -- Series IV. Pahrump, Nevada -- Subseries IV.D. Wiley Family. The remains of a fireplace believed to have been constructed by the Indians. Left to right: Ruth Ellerbrook; unidentified; unidentified; Frank Ellerbrook, husband of Ruth Ellerbrook. Mrs. Ellerbrook was Mrs. America. In the 1930s, Bob Lee, a long-time resident of the Pahrump Valley area and at that time more than 80 years old, told Wiley that this site and another like it on the Hidden Hills Ranch was in the fallen-down condition seen here when Lee was a small boy. Lee's statement suggests that the fireplace is more than 120 years old.
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William Dean Whitaker was born in 1925 and raised in a suburb of Los Angeles, California. Dean, as he is known, talks briefly about his parents and his brothers, for his youth quickly ended when he joined the Air Force and became an aviation cadet once he had turned 18 years old. The year was 1943 and World War II was raging. He became a member of the 398 th Bomb Group and flew twenty missions before being captured by the Germans. In this oral history, Dean talks with vivid recollection of the day he was captured and details of being a POW in Germany. Among his anecdotes are those of his mother's unwavering belief that he would return home, the humanity of a German soldier, and of meeting Gen. George Patton. Included are photos and excerpts from his personal history of his life during the war. Dean and his wife Lucille moved to Las Vegas in 1990.
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