Obituary of Estil Nelms

Estil Day âLinkâ Nelms, 94, of 221 Poplar Drive, Morgantown, passed away Tuesday, October 16, 2012, at Evergreen Assisted Living.Nelms was born in Ong, Seminole County, Oklahoma and reared in South West Arkansas, where his parents moved in 1923 by wagon. Nelms often told that long after the covered wagons went west, his first memory was of going East in an uncovered wagon. At which point his mother would often interject, âNo, our wagon was covered also.âIn 1934, Nelms had to drop out of the ninth grade to support the family of seven after his father disappeared. Five years later he was able to return to high school. Upon finishing at age 24 he worked two months as a life guard then hitchhiked to Ohio where he became a lathe operator and wad drafted.At Gay and High Streets in Columbus Ohio he met his wife to be, Eileen Pryor, a Catholic from Yonkers NY whose grandparents came from Ireland. Eileen whose father then a Captain awarded Nelms the name âLinkâ and stressed that he should make the best score possible on the Armys exam called the Army General Classification Test.During 26 months service in the Pacific he completed Officer Candidate School in Australia, flew missions over Vietnam and Borneo as an Intelligence Observer and served on the Anti Aircraft Survey Board in Tokyo just after the war ended.Settling in Dayton Ohio he completed an associate degree in Tool Engineering and began working at the National Cash Register Company as a Tool Designer. Recall to service during the Korean War was followed by tours of duty with family in Bermuda and Germany. After a Vietnam tour in 1966, Nelms received permission to return by way of Europe to complete his first of two trips around the world. After retirement from the Air Force he worked for Pratt and Whitney, the jet engine manufacturer in Connecticut, as a technical writer . In 1980, he moved to South Carolina., and in 1988 he arrived in Morgantown, to live near his older son, Dr. Timothy Nelms and his family. That same year he married Eileen Cobun, they spent each winter in Treasure Island, Florida. Interests were conservative politics, writing and non-fiction reading. He wrote many letters to editors and one of his greatest joys was researching and writing his own book REMEMBERING VIETNANAM , AFTER THE WAR IN THE GULF in 1995. He elaborated on the difference in treatment of returning soldiers from the Gulf War vs. Vietnam.Nelms leaves behind two sisters, Jane Carter in Oklahoma and Violet Potts in Arkansas. There are three children, Dr. Timothy Nelms of Morgantown, WV, Jonathan Nelms of Amherst Ma, and Joan McGuire of Williston, VT. as well as nine grandchildren , 3 greatgrandchildren and 14 neices and nephews. Burial of his ashes will be in Arlington National Cemetery beside those of his first wife, Eileen, of 39 years.A military honors ceremony will follow a memorial service there at a date and time to be announced.