Louisiana--California--Tennessee--Oregon
Velma Louise Watlington (b. 1922, Pineville, La.), daughter and youngest child of John Leonard and Velma Needham Watlington, was studying at Louisiana State at Baton Rouge when she met her future spouse, Karubah Carnahan (b. July 22, 1922, Mooringport, La.) who was studying there also. He is the son of James Andrew Carnahan and Lula Styers who at that time lived near Shreveport, La., where he was a Gulf Oil Distributor for the Minden, La., area.
He was an active Mason and the name for his son may have come from the Masonic Ritual. They also had a daughter who became a registered nurse and a son called ``Cotton.'' In the early 1940's Europe was at war and the importance of an Air Force was in the minds of many students. At Louisiana State Karubah directed his studies toward that end and his attentions toward Velma Louise. They were married Jan. 10, 1942. As Karubah (Karo) continued with his training as a U.S. Army Air Corps Pilot, Velma Louise completed her studies at Louisiana State University and joined her husband at his military bases when possible. During Karo's overseas service she spent many months with her parents who now lived in Shreveport nearer to her husband's family also. Their first child, Kubbie Louise, was born in Shreveport Jan. 26, 1945. In later years her name was legally changed to ``Misty,'' by which she has been known for many years now.
Karubah completed his training, was made an officer in the Army Air Corps and was assigned to overseas duty in the Mediterranean theatre of war, flying A-20 two motored fighter-bombers out of Malta in the invasion of Italy. Later many of their flights were night missions over Germany.
Upon completion of his assignment in Europe, Lt. Carnahan volunteered for duty on the experimental jet fighter planes at the end of the war. He chose to continue a career with the U.S. Air Force and completed nearly twenty-three years with the Armed Services before retirement as a Colonel. His service had literally taken him and his family around the world with service in England, Panama and Germany. In retirement they lived in southern California where he continued to teach pilots from other countries how to use the Northrup military jet planes and related products. This task took him to the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and other countries.
In retirement he also worked as a real estate agent and developer in southern California. In recent years they have made their home in the mountains at Sisters, Oregon. Their daughters, Misty and Velma Demarest each have four children and in recent years have settled at Lookout Mountain, Tenn., where Misty's husband, Alexander (Zan) Guerry, is related to his family's pharmaceutical supply company (Chatham Drugs).