My Time in the Army Part 1 by Richard

I was drafted and went into the service December 6, 1952 in San Francisco, California with about fifty other men. We all took the oath to protect the USA against all enemies foreign and domestic, and then transferred to Ford Ord, near Carmel Ca. We were processed for a week with shots, etc and testing for various assignments.

I was assigned to the Signal Corps and sent to Camp San Luis Obispo with several other men. We went through 8 weeks of basic training and 8 weeks telephone communication. I was always the first to receive KP and guard duty because of my last name begins with “A”.

When we received our orders for assignments over seas, I was lucky, again my name was the first selected and I was assigned to the U S Air Force in Germany¹.

I received a seven day leave before leaving for Germany. I visited family and friends during this leave. My orders were to travel by train from Oakland Ca, to Los Angles Ca, and then on to Camp Kilmer in New Jersey. This trip took five days. I then went aboard a troop ship, the USS General Butner and sailed off to Bremerhaven, Germany.

This was a very interesting trip and again, I was first to receive guard duty because of my last name. I had the 10 PM to 2 AM duty. The first few days, there was a heavy sea running with huge waves, which were fifty or so feet high. When the ship was at the bottom of the wave trough, all I could see was water all round me. I was lucky I didn't get sea sickness but a lot of other men did. When the weather and the sea improved the men were allowed on deck for fresh air. By the way, the food was not very good, I still remember those beans and “shit on a shingle”; which is creamed hamburger on toast.

As we passed through the English Channel I could see the White Cliffs of Dover. The next day we arrived at the port of Bremerhaven, Germany. The next day I was on a train headed for Kaiserslautern Germany and then by jeep to US Landstuhl Air Base².


1. US Army in Germany Bremerhaven.
2. Landstuhl and Ramstein were separate bases until 1 December 1957 when they were combined into one unit.

[Editor's note: This story was written by Richard and is Part 1 of 2]



US Army Signal Corps

So How Does YOUR Garden Grow?

Kim

I think the picture says it pretty well...  We did GOOD!

Tater Harvest 2012

Thoughts of Iowa Falls Part 3

Dad's interest in short wave radio began around 1930 and became an enduring hobby.  He was a licensed amateur operator sending and receiving code as well as conversing with amateurs around the globe.  He took great pride in building transmitters allowing him to make contact with Asian and European countries.  We children learned a lot about radio from him and years later, Esther and I became licensed operators.

Mail was an important factor in everyone's life.  Families kept in touch thru letters. Family members who farmed in Nebraska wrote about conditions for planting and harvesting.  Family in Kentucky passed on news of those living in Tennessee and Georgia.  In turn, those in Iowa passed on the latest job reports.  Everyone's health was of prime importance as was weather. We knew who was down with a cold, when babies were born, who had been hospitalized and how those with heart trouble were faring.  We in the north worried about the south when the Ohio river flooded; the south worried when blizzards or drought hit the north.

Telephones were not yet in wide service. We always had a phone since Dad worked for the phone company.  If a family was lucky enough to have a phone, it was generally placed the center of the house on the first floor, and when the phone rang in the night, one had to go downstairs to answer it.  In those days the phone bell rang until it was answered or the party calling disconnected.  Receiving a long distant phone call, like telegrams, usually meant bad news and were costly.

The first auto the family owned was a Terraplane Hudson.  On Sundays the whole family piled into the car for drives thru the countryside.  There were no seat belts and the smaller children were able to squeeze in beside us older children in the back seat.  Mom  sat next to Dad who drove and held Jerry, the smallest on her lap.  Dad taught me how to drive on those Sunday drives and as time when on, he gave Adeline, Mickey and Charles driving lessons.

There was an innocence and a peaceful sameness to those long ago days of our childhood, but continuing news of the depression, dust storms, soup kitchens, newspaper photos, radio reports of Japanese invading China, Italians invading Ethiopia and threats by Germany's Hitler, crept thru the country.  President Roosevelt held fireside chats on the radio and people across the country gathered around radios and listened intently to his words which kept the nation from being gripped in a state of despair.  The country joined him in keeping the faith that good times would come again, so it was with shock and disbelief that we heard Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor. From that day on, our lives were never again the same.

[Editor's note: This is part 3 of 3 parts]

1938 Terraplane 4-Door Sedan

Thoughts of Iowa Falls Part 2

When we lived on the acreage, (which was on the edge of town), the younger children went to the one room country school, but  Adeline and I walked to the high school in town.   When we moved back to town, we attended the same schools as before moving to the little farm.

Our pets were owned in common, meaning they were family pets, except for the white calf.  We all took turns feeding the calf and staking it to fresh grass areas, but we always referred to it as Jerry's calf.  We all knew it would be sold one day, which didn't seem to bother Jerry or the rest of us, but until then, it was called, 'Jerry's calf'.

Dogs dominated our list of pets, but we also had a piglet.  It had been brought into the house and kept in a cardboard box near the cast iron range so it would be warm and given special care. We  petted and played with it.  While it was small, we played with it outdoors and  when we came inside, it came in too and stayed in a corner of the kitchen near the stove.  As it got bigger it was barred from the kitchen and would squeal to be let in.  It was very smart and learned how to jiggle the screen door so that the latch would pop open and crack the door just enough so it's snout could push it open and come inside. Eventually it joined the other pigs at the barn.

Everyone helped with the chores as they were able, even the youngest.  Some chores were more fun than others; we liked helping Dad work with the bees.  Once, when the bees were swarming, Charles caught a swarm on his arm by throwing a clod of dirt into the air as they began leaving the hive. He was able to put the swarm into an empty hive without getting stung.
    
Those days seems quite idyllic as we recall them now.  As children, we were unaware of the hard work and long hours Mom and Dad put in every day to keep the family fed and healthy.  Dad's job with the telephone company lasted thru the great depression and until he retired from the company years later.

We always had large vegetable gardens and canned and preserved the extra harvest.  The asparagus and the surplus of honey from the bee hives, chickens, eggs, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries were sold.  We had our own milk and  raised some of our own meat which helped too.

[Editor's note: This is part 2 of 3 parts]

Beehive Swarm

Thoughts of Iowa Falls Part 1

The letter from my brother, Richard, mentioning his memories of childhood and our life in Iowa before WWII was a delight to read.  Memories of the houses we lived in, the schools we attended, work and play during our childhood allow us to relive those days tinged with the sweetness of age. 

Being older than my 5 brothers and 2 sisters, I recall each of their arrivals in the family and I enjoy remembering them as babies and later as play companions.  Although my sister, Adeline and I were close in age and able to participate in activities the younger ones could not, we eight children often played as a group. 

We older children helped look after the younger ones and I was often asked to baby sit when Mom and Dad both had to be away from the house.  We enjoyed a tremendous amount of liberty and we came and went as we chose until supper time, although we usually told Mom where we were going or asked permission to do something not usually allowed.  

For as long as I can remember, the whole family ate the evening meal together. Besides the immediate family, we often had friends and visiting relatives at the table too. 

The various dishes of food,  breads,butter and relishes were placed on the table and passed around with each helping themselves.  Adeline and I learned to set the table at an early age and as we got older, helped Mom prepare the evening meal.  Then we washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen afterward.  All my brothers and sisters learned to cook and three brothers earned their living as cooks. 

The foods we ate were home grown vegetables, beef and pork from animals we had raised or purchased from local farmers who had butchered  recently.  At breakfast time bacon and eggs, with hot biscuits or pancakes with corn syrup or sorghum, or a choice of cooked oatmeal or dry cereal was served. School lunches varied depending on which school was attended.  We came home for lunches or packed them to eat at school.  On rare occasions we were allowed to buy a hamburger at a small cafe near Dad's office. The evening meal was served soon after Dad got home from the office. The meal usually ended with a dessert, home made pie, cake or pudding.  Fruit was usually eaten as a snack or with dry cereal at breakfast time. During berry season shortcake was a daily dessert.

[Editor's note: This is part 1 of 3 parts]

Sorghum

Theater: Bill W. and Dr. Bob by Richard

Frances and I went to the San Jose Repertory Theater and watched the play Bill W. and Dr. Bob.

The play is about two men with alcohol drug addiction. The time is early 1900's,and the stage is long bar, plus roll out home living areas and bedroom rooms, with telephones of that time, and with background Charleston music.

Bill W, is in the hospital, very sick and down on himself when he receives a dream or an awaking and becomes sober for several months. Bill is then invited to New York for an interview for a job. Bill becomes uneasy after arriving in New York, and Bill wants a drink. Bill knows he needs help and needs to talk with another addicted alcohol. He makes several calls before making contact with Dr. Bob.

They meet and started immediately taking about their problems with drinking alcohol and their many attempts to stop drinking. Bill and Bob found that they could discuss their addictions freely because they shared the same experiences and that they were not able to share these with non drinkers.

From these meetings and discussions it becomes very clear to Bill and Bob, their drinking addictions affected them and all people they loved. Bill and Bob know they could not change the past, but the future they could. So they started working with other people with alcohol drug addiction.

These changes were the foundation of Alcoholics Anonymous as we know it to day.

Frances and I left theater with a better understanding Alcohol drug abdication.


[Editor's note: This story was written by Richard]