Anyone who has lived in Ponte Vedra Beach for any length of time probably knows the LeMaster name. And many of them also knew Ebbie LeMaster.
Edward (Ebbie) LeMaster served as president of the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club from 1960 to 1972, helping to grow a 13-mile strip of undeveloped beachfront into one of the more notable resort communities in the United States. But before he served his community, Ebbie served his country during the Korean War. He documented his wartime experiences with hundreds of letters, mostly addressed to his mother, Jeannette LeMaster.
Like most servicemen and women in combat zones, his correspondence related stories of homesickness, boredom, close calls and survival. His letters provided a perspective into ordinary men caught in extraordinary circumstances during what has been called “The Forgotten War.”
LeMaster saved all of the letters and other mementos collected during that time, but they gathered dust after his death in 2005. Recently, however, his widow, Harriet LeMaster, and daughter, Katie, decided to preserve Ebbie’s war history in a commemorative book for their family. The resulting volume, titled “Love, Ebbie: Edward LeMaster’s Korean War Letters,” mixes the history of the era with a young man’s poignant letters while far from home.
Ebbie enlisted in the Air Force on September 12, 1950. Devoted to his mother, he wrote her almost daily during his basic training and deployment to Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, where he served as a radio operator aboard B-29 bombers. Through his letters home, he supplied the family with an intimate view of his Air Force experiences, including details of how he survived a tragic accident on one of his missions.
Returning from a bombing run over North Korea on October 31, 1952 — Halloween night — Ebbie’s B-29 lost power and crashed into the East China Sea. Eleven crew members perished, and only Ebbie and two other airmen survived the crash. Shortly after the accident, Ebbie described what happened, telling his mother the plane had lost two engines and dropped from about 8,000 feet down to 500 feet.
“… and then the plane seemed to straighten out and was doing pretty good on the remaining two engines. I was pretty busy for the next few minutes trying to get a distress message out, so I cannot say how long we remained at that altitude before the third engine went out. The old gal seemed to shudder all over at that time, so I stood up and braced myself on one of the gun turrets just before Capt. Harvey rang the alarm bell and said we were going to ditch. The tail seemed to drag for a minute, and then we crashed in the water, nose down with a terrific impact. Air/Sea Rescue saw us going down and said we hit a twenty-foot wave head-on. The next thing I knew, I was sitting on the top of the plane, and one of the gunners was yelling at me to jump.”
Ebbie went on to describe his rescue from the frigid waters and the extent of his injuries. He kept his family informed throughout his hospital stay and beyond, until his discharge in September 1953.
Despite this dramatic experience, Ebbie’s wartime story is not an uncommon one. Examples abound of such correspondence in every war where men fought and died for their country. There are probably tens of thousands, if not millions, of households with boxes of similar letters from veterans who have served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. What is uncommon is the decision and effort Harriet and Katie LeMaster made to preserve Ebbie’s slice of history with a commemorative volume for their family and friends. Katie worked with local writer/publisher Vic DiGenti (Windrusher Hall Press) to assemble all the correspondence, photographs, and associated materials into a compelling and attractive book worthy of her father’s legacy.
And it’s a legacy worth remembering. In a February 1982 Ponte Vedra Recorder article on Ponte Vedra Pioneers, LeMaster told reporter Dennie Carter that he joined the staff of the Ponte Vedra Club in 1953 because his father told him, “You have a nice smile the guests should like, and I sure need someone to run those wild cows off the golf course.”
They managed to round up around 300 cows, he said, and then fenced in the golf course. From that point on, The Ponte Vedra Club became the center of Ebbie’s world. His father, Josiah LeMaster, had been the longtime manager of the fledgling club for Stockton, Whatley, Davin, and Company. But when his father retired after suffering a heart attack, Jim Stockton offered the presidency to Ebbie, who thought he was too young at age 31. After he accepted the position, and Ponte Vedra — all 13 miles of oceanfront and one mile inland — was purchased by the General American Oil Company of Dallas, Ebbie stayed on as president. During his 12 years as president, Ebbie LeMaster helped grow both the Inn & Club and the Ponte Vedra community. In the 1982 Recorder article, he stated that he wanted to start selling waterfront lots on the north end for $30,000. “Much too high,” the General Oil management told him. “Really improper.” But Ebbie persisted, and as soon as he sold the first few, he increased the price to $50,000, receiving the same “Really improper” comment. But those lots were also quickly purchased.
Even after he left the Inn & Club and became president of the Sea Pines Resort Company of Hilton Head Island, he remained an integral part of the Ponte Vedra community where he is given credit for helping to establish the zoning laws. Ebbie LeMaster lived a life of continued service, full of accomplishment and love for his family. And now, his family is returning the favor with “Love, Ebbie: Edward LeMaster’s Korean War Letters.” As his daughter, Katie said, “Although ‘Love, Ebbie’ highlights and preserves an important period in my father’s life, the book also commemorates and honors all those who served, particularly the nearly 40,000 Americans who died in action in Korea.”
