Lyman Frank Brines was a WWII veteran and aircraft mechanic who had a career with Snap-On Tools. Known as Frank, he was born 8 May 1920 in Bellmont, Wabash County, Illinois he was the oldest son of three born to Samuel Henry "Sam" Brines, a farm laborer, and Gladys Viola Beehn.



When he was four-years-old, his father died of pneumonia at the age of 24. The family was devastated. With three young boys Frank, Sam and Fred and their mother continued to run the farm through the Great Depression of the 1930's through their childhood. In 1937 she remarried a man named Albert Louis Rigg and had three daughters together.



Life was stable. Frank played basketball with his brother Sam. In the 1936-1937 season they won 27 games and lost 7, propelling them to the Little Ten Tournament where they became champions. Frank was a forward on the team where his brother Sam played Center.



On 7 May 1937 Frank graduated from Bellmont High School. Frank joined the U.S. Army in November 1941 a month before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. As a B-17 mechanic he served as the ground personnel of the 401st Bomb Squadron, 91st Bomb Group,

Bassingbourn, England, September 1942 to June 1945.



The 91st BG operated chiefly against strategic German targets; submarine facilities, bombing industries, marshaling yards, missile sites, shipyards, and airfields.



"Dad said he had too many guys that didn't come back," his son Waldo Brines said. "It wasn't his fault. He'd fix the planes but he knew those guys."



In fact, of the Air Force squadrons his unit flew the most missions in WWII and lost about 58-percent of their crews.



Crew chiefs and their mechanics were respected and valued by the crews of each aircraft they serviced. Frank rose to the rank of Sergeant and received 6 battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation for his service. Frank was ground crew at the base during the 25 missions of the famed Memphis Belle the nickname of a B-17 that inspired the 1990 Hollywood movie by the same name. The aircraft was one of the first to complete all the missions and return to the United States for a war bond tour with her crew.



After the war Frank returned to Bellmont where he got a job at Snap-On Tools in Mt. Carmel. About this time he married Bernice Marie Rigg, a cousin of his step-father.

They named their son Waldo Franklin Brines. He was named Waldo to honor their longtime family doctor Waldo Beard.



They were members of Bellmont United Methodist Church. Bernice worked in a factory operated by Micceners which wound coils for motors. She later worked as a bottle inspector for Coca-Cola. In 1952 he built a house that they lived in all their life. Frank did a lot of the carpentry himself.



"He built the cabinets that were in the kitchen," Waldo said.



He retired in 1980 after 35 years with Snap-On Tools, the last decade as a foreman.

"Dad was a excellent foreman," Waldo said. "My mom told me he'd always get to work 20 or 30 minutes early (on the midnight shift) and made sure everything was ready to go for his men (about 20) so everything would run smooth. I think he passed that on to me because I hate being one minute late for anything. Mom told me all the people who worked under my dad really liked him because he'd show them what to do by example and had a lot of patience."



Frank loved building purple martin houses as a hobby.

"They were big insect eating birds. He loved building the bird houses," Waldo said. "He didn't build a lot of things, but he was a great woodworker and it had to be perfect. He loved to get project plans from Popular Mechanics."



His personality was described as easy going. He died 8 Aug 1983 at the age of 63.

"He died of lung cancer. He was a heavy smoker," Waldo said.



Bernice died 5 March 2010 in Wabash County, Illinois.