Harriet E. Smith

Here's something that should be recorded in this report that has to do with my grandmother on dad’s side of the family, its her obituary.

Harriet E. Smith, daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Kaneour was born in Cumberlain County, Pennsylvania November 30th 1847 and departed this life, Nov. 17 1937, aged 89 yrs.,11 months and17 days. In 1850 she with her parents and their family moved to Northwestern Ohio, where she made her home until about 1869. Feb. 14, 1867 she was united in marriage to John W. Smith and two yrs later moved Amboy Township Hillsdale County ,Michigan where she made her home until her death.

She was the last of a family of seven children. To this union were born four children. Her husband preceded her in death in 1885, leaving her care for the children in the early years of their life. Elizabeth passing away at 11 yrs. . She leaves to mourn their loss, two suns and one daughter, Jay of Frontier, Frank at home and Lettie Robinson of Hillsdale.,12 grandchildren, 25 great grandchildren, and seven great great grandchildren besides many neighbors and friends.

Granddaughters

This is the 25th of Nov. 2002 and I'm trying to think of something interesting to jot down, but can't get my mind in gear, will try later.

I mentioned somewhere back, my grandaughter's Carol and Karen. They are the love of our life and the only grandchildren we have and will probably ever have. Carol graduated from MSU and is now teaching music in Grand Rapids, Karen will be graduating this Dec. 2002 and then getting married the 14th of Dec 2002. Carol is planning on a June wedding. We have followed the girls through every phase of their education especially high school and college, I'm sure they will never forget the profitable handshakes that they so timely deserved on the high school plays and the college concerts.

It's getting quite late, 1:00 am and my thinker has thunk out so until next time. Kilroy was here>>>>>>>!!

Cabin In the U.P.

Somewhere along the line I failed to mention that I built a 12 X 12 hunting cabin in 1952 when we lived on West Hanover St. It was made in sections so it could be dismantled and reassembled in a matter of minutes. We took it several years on a trailer or pick-up into the UP deer hunting setting it up in many different locations until we met a old fellow one day in Paulding Mi. not very far from where we were hunting, he lived just outside Paulding and remarked that we could store the cabin in his barn for the summer instead of carting it back and forth every year, this we did, in fact I bought a acre of land from him and installed the cabin on it and put a permanent roof on the cabin and we used it for more than 20 years. The old fellows name was Paul Kaiser, he passed away at 94 years of age, I cut his hair every year before we left for home, I don't think he cut it until I got there every year. We hunted in a area that was called The Interior which produced many big bucks I got 20 in that area. Paulding is located on rte. 45 between Bruces Crossing and Waters Meet 600 miles from Marshall either around thr'u Chicago or over the Mackinac bridge in northern Michigan.

Just four miles east of Paulding is Bond Falls Basin a beautiful place to visit and see, the falls are second to Toquamin Falls in the eastern UP. Might mention here that before the Mackinac bridge was built, sometimes there would be ten or twelve miles of backup traffic waiting for the ferry's to catch up, taking five or six hours of waiting for your turn to get into the UP.

The date is Tuesday 29th of October, 2002 I believe that I have highlighted about most of the important occasions in my life so far. Maybe future generations will have a general idea of what old man Smith and his family was made of---just common honest endearing god-fearing people which you can find most anywhere on this green earth.

Today, we had a appointment with our attorney, Tom Plaising in Battle Creek to up date our living trust. Nothing had to be done regarding our move to the Condo, however, it is necessary to notify the banks that we are using to recognize our joint account status, which he will do. ( Oct. 30, 2002 ) Last up date was in Sept. 1992. Don't know yet about the next ten years, I'm willing!!!!!!! Be that as it may, I'm going to let things coast along for awhile until a world renowned Calendar of events open my brainwashed noggin to historical Smith recollections, whew, glad that’s out of the way.

>>>>>>>>

Just realized this is Armistice day, and I recall what one of the little things I accomplished 58 years ago to-day at a gloomy rainy muddy place called Arrow-court in France, I carved my initials and date on the steering wheel of my half track, however, the most important and exciting event that took place, we shot down a German Fouk Wolf fighter plane that came in straffing our position, he came directly over my track taking several rounds of 50 Cal. machine gun bullet's in his belly, he hit the ground about 200 yards from us disintegrating the plane and pilot. Other than that, it was just another ho hum boring war day.

Yesterday, Ardis went to Port Huron, Mi. with Dennis and Marge to a shower for Karen. Date 11/10/02

Bill Lautenslager called this morning, we will be going North to Lovell's deer hunting Thursday morning for a few days Date 11/11/02. Maybe, just maybe we will take a gun, don't do much trapsing thr'u the woods any more, feel that we have bagged our share of game anyway.

Until next time, on hold.

I should mention that on many of our vacation trips mainly the ones to Las Vegas and to Hawaii we went with our very good friends Art Merkle and wife Lou, Art was vice president of engineering at the company, we worked together for many years, not a nicer couple in the world>>>>>indisputable the most honorable scotch drinkers on earth.

As you can see, things keep cropping up now and then so will keep on putting them down, until later.

Selling the house on Union Street

One of the toughest things that I have ever had to do, NOTE I said one of the toughest, was to put the house up for sale, the other was selling the car wash's. There was so much enjoyment in the day by day progressive success, even with all the hard work that was necessary, you almost become addicted to whatever it takes to get to the ever elusive plateau that you have dreamed about over the years. However, with

a lifetime partner of 60 plus years steadfast beside me through thick and thin, who could go wrong.

Yes, we sold the house, bought a condo and to the delight of Goodwill in Marshall expanded their business about 100 % and narrowed our possession's to around 0. We kept the Van and Cadillac but only one could be in the garage, the other sets out. Had to keep the Van so Ardis could keep her flea market hobby in high gear, Incidentally, she has been actively involved in her hobby for nearly 35 years, she has made a small fortune over the years, she started at the Shipshewana Ind. flea market when it was just a pup, in fact it was an old run down shed that she had to start with, now, you wouldn't believe what it has grown into. Some Holiday's there are between 15.000 and 20.000 people come to shop.

As a rule she made the 70 mile trip down there without any mishaps, however, there were times when she wasn't so lucky, flat tires, dead batteries and deer slowed her down sometimes, in fact she hit two deer at the same time once , then an other time she was successful in missing a couple of deer but ended up out in a bean field through a ditch and back in the road really screwing up the under carriage of the Van, how in the world she ever made it the 50 miles to Shipshewana is more than my feeble brain can figure out. I always went down on Wed. to help her wrap up what was left, this of course was after I retired we usually would get home about 7:00 after eating usually in Sturgis Michigan or Howe Ind.

This year, 2002 she quit the long drive to Shipshewana and I'm sure she would say stopped to play the little flea jobs around Marshall and Tekonsha, however, it serves her purpose and keeps her busy most of the time.---------I guess we just realized this year that we are not getting any younger Amen!!

I will continue to add to this as my brain jumps into gear every now and then and connects to something I've missed. This date is: Saturday the 19 of Oct. 2002 9:25 pm MSU got tromped by Minnesota today. U of M won over Purdue. I know now that the Lions won their game with Chicago on Sunday (Oct. 20th 2002 ) by two points, good game. MSU has come up several times lately and I have failed to mention that in the 60's Mike Ballard and I along with a Canadian guide owned a fishing and hunting cabin in Canada, Ontario providence, It was located about 50 miles north of Sudbury in the Canadian wilderness, the only way in was by air from Sudbury at that time, our cabin was on a lake named Hassen, this was more of a hunting area rather than fishing. At that time we fished at a lake named Thor which actually was the head waters of the Vermillion River. I recall the first time we were invited to go there was in 1955. Virgil Schultz owned Schultz, Snyder and Steel lumber yard in Lansing and we purchased all of our lumber ( Sherer-Gillett Co.) from them, Mike Ballard and myself was known to be the most proficient hunters and fishermen in the county of Calhoun and we got to know Virgil Schultz very well indeed. If I recall correctly Virgil was an alumni of MSU, undoubtedly the reason Biggie Munn was always invited also, there was always ten or twelve big shots at the lodge Virgil had built on the shore of the lake so rather than disappoint any one we hobnailed it together Biggie was one heck of a nice fellow and always did his share of the work, I'm talking about washing dish's and cleaning up, however, there usually was a lady, the wife of the guide that Virgil kept up there all the time to take care of the place and have it ready for people coming at all times of the year. We made trips up there for at least 10 years The salesman that Virgil employed that sold our factory was a fellow named Colin Sturt , after Colin died our Sufari ended, then we stayed at a lodge on the other side of the lake that was built by several other friends of mine, I think my last trip up there was in the 70's some time, just before I retired from the company.

My Retirement

I better mention that I retired the 12th of November 1978 from my job at the company, I might mention here that I retired as plant manager of the environmental division of the Kysor Industrial Corporation. I had plenty of time to service the car washes and still hunt and fish and enjoy my retirement, still have plenty of time, now however, golf is my hobby, both in Michigan and Florida. I had 32 years work at SHERER, later Warren Sherer division of Kysor industrial corp. We have been a member of the Marshall Country Club for 27 years, I played golf with the members during that time until all my partners died off on me, however, I still play in Florida and still belong to the club here in Marshall.

I also better mention that in 1996 we bought a 35 ft. mobile home in Dade City, FL. that we make good use of every year for from 3 to 5 months. Plus it makes a fine place for the kids and grandkids to visit for a little vacation every year. This year 2002 we will be a little late going as Princess Smith AKA Karen is gettin hitched in Dec. Then watch out Curly Smith AKA Carol will be following the same path in the spring.

Hope to see one of the couple down with us this winter( At country-aire estates mobile home park at 38130 McDonald St. Dade City, FL. 33525 ) We are always happy to have any of the family come down. The park is mid way between most of the major attractions in Florida so it makes a good place to hang out.

Ardis and Frosty Boy

Ardis mentioned one day that she didn't have enough to do taking care of the two car washes during the day and wanted to start up the dairy bar. At the time we were renting the building to Madeleine Allen so we advised her that Ardis was going to start in the business and she would have to get out at the end of the season.

We spent another $20,000 or better buying new equipment and started it up in the spring of the following year, it prospered for two years until we sold the car wash on Michigan Ave. to a fellow by the name of Bill Crank, then his wife started operating the dairy bar for the time being, but rented it to Hank Cassen's girl friend after finding out that it was a tough row to hoe, the girl friend didn't do any better. Oh well so much for that. It was 1982 when we sold the Michigan Ave. wash to Crank, then in 1983 he bought the Venda across from the airport so we were out of the car wash business. Crank later sold both to Frank Boley the next year, so then it was Boley and us for the next 15 years and we couldn’t have had a better buyer.1982 was also the year that we bought a new 27 ft. motor home to travel the country with. We did just that for the next two years and then sold it. To much trouble finding a place to roost every night----- rather take the easy way to stay-----Motel.. The motor home was a Travel-air model.

Money Money Money

The money w as rolling in a lot of it to Security national bank, but a lot was going into our bank account also, Ardis had quit her job at Schuler’s a couple of years earlier to handle her vice presidents job at the car wash, now she had a double dose of car wash's, she took care of them during the day and I would take over at night, we were two busy people for twenty years,. however, we did manage to take a vacation every year, going to Europe and retracing a few of the places I was during the war, mostly however, laying on the beach at the Riviera in southern France, Monaco and Italy, plus we went on several cruises in the Caribbean to south America and most of the islands in that area, also Mexico, Canada and the USA. and Hawaii. I had known Bill Laughtenslager for several years so we hired him every time we went on vacation to take care of the wash's. Bill is still one of my best friends for the last couple of years we have been going turkey and deer hunting north to his cabin at Lovell's. Might mention here that Bill went on quite a few air trips with me for company. I might mention before going any farther that our time spent in Monaco was not very profitable, we decided to venture into Monte Carlo casino and limit our spending to $50.00 bucks apiece,---Brother, that was the fastest disappearing money we ever saw, never won a dime.

Bought Out Partner Plus Dairy Bar and Land

I better start catching up here before my mind starts dreaming again. My partner at the car wash on Michigan Ave. wanted out of our partnership, partly because he had to spend too much time there and also because his little son had some kind of terminal ailment that was getting worse fast, so what did we do, of course, we bought him out, not only that we bought the dairy bar and the land also. We were in debt clear up to our ears, all to Security National Bank in Battle creek. WOW.

Number Two Car Wash

Be that as it may, the car wash prospered for the next two years, however, we were always aware that somebody would think that we making too much money and decide to infringe on our prosperity and build one in town somewhere, so what was I to do?? You guessed it , find a location and build another car wash. This I wasted no time a doing. I found several fair locations but eventually settled on a plot of land ( across the highway from the airport ) with two and five eighth acres on it, actually, it was an old apple orchard, we had to remove near one hundred trees and level it off, so on august first 1967 we opened a five bay car wash. John Bedwell was contracted to build it. Now we had eight bays in two locations to manage and keep repaired. As a matter of record we paid $15.000 for the lot and for the equipment another $35.000 t o get it started The building itself cost about $ 40.000, then after two years operation we decided to make one bay into a automatic, another $18.000. However, this was the only automatic in town or within 35 miles of Marshall, the nearest being in Kalamazoo. It was busy--busy--busy. Costing an even one buck a wash.

Number One Car Wash

Getting back to the car wash business, the first thing I had to do was find a suitable location, this came about rather quickly, there was an empty lot on West Michigan Ave side of the then Dairy Queen I went to city hall and found out who owned it, made an appointment and talked to the man, he didn't want to sell it right away but when he found out what I wanted it for he got real interested and as it turned out he gave me a extra good deal if I would let him go into the business with me. This was not all bad because I had a full time job as well as Ardis, he could watch it during the day and I could take it at night.

The car wash eventually was started in the spring of 1964, it opened in august of the same year and at times there would a cop directing traffic at the site people went nuts over trying to get in especially in the winter when the roads were being salted, we were of course overjoyed when the salt trucks were on the move. I'm again getting ahead of the story, it seems you can’t build a car wash without money, good old Steve Smith again at Security National Battle Creek. I needn’t tell that Michigan National in Marshall turned me down again---------When Steve came over to see the house, and again we both were still working, also looked at the location where the car wash would be, we could have gotten $25,000 more without any problem.

OIL WELL ERA (1965-1979)

This was the beginning of an era when my meager brain started to percolate with visions of the treasure at the bottom of the rainbow. Building a new home ----pioneering the first car washes in town---------and entering into the uncertain financial world of oil wells. The later I better explain now as they would make a Herculean contribution to that rainbow treasure. Ivan Tenny was the promoter and explorer and I might say my partner in the eventual 15 wells over 14 years that we were associated with him, most of the wells were in Kent County Ohio. We had at least five wells that were good producers, two exceptional producers. With good old President Reagan's investment credit and 20% oil depletion allowance the treasure at the bottom of the rainbow was expanding at a unbelievable rate. It couldn't have come at a better time, however, two kids in college, Dennis at MSU and Deanna at WMU. We drove to Ohio a couple times over the years to the oil well locations and took pictures that we have somewhere in our collections.

Birth of Our Children

Now that I think about it I've been procrastinating something awful as I'm skipping the most important chapter of my life, the birth of my children and I will call this the phase that cemented a relationship between a man and woman for over (at this date) an electrifying 61 years. My son Dennis was born Feb. 17th 1947 at the old Oaklawn hospital (made over from a house) in Marshall, Mi. At this time, we had just bought a duplex house on Hanover Street in Marshall from a fellow by the name of Leo Beck, we paid him $4000.00 on a land contract, much to his dismay we paid for it in two years at 6%. Then, lo and behold, my daughter a little gal that we named Deanna came into our life making it completely gratifying.

We continued to prosper, both working two jobs Ardis at Schuler’s, me at Sherer during the day and doing service work for Marshall hardware after work and week ends, we had a baby setter by the name of Ms. Salvanger she was a woman of around 60 years of age, very religious and very good to the kids, always rode her bicycle to work. The house was on the corner of Hanover and Michel, we found out that a house on Michel was going to be sold as an estate to the highest bidder, we won the bid for $2500.00 It was really run down, we put another $2000.00 in it, then sold it for $7500.00. It was about this time that

we thought we would like a better place to live and for the kids to have a better neighborhood and school we found that there was an old house for sale on north mulberry in a nice location and close to Sherman School, we bought it and started to repair it to our satisfaction, it took $10.000 to do this. We lived there for seven years and even though it was a nice enough house and lot we wanted something better, we found that a fellow by the name of Doutch Albaugh had a double lot for sale on union street about a block from our house on mulberry, we bought it and started the big job of clearing it off, we cut if I recall correctly 70 some wild cherry trees and many small bushes, Dennis was in middle school at the time, and after school and week ends he did most of the cutting and clearing. We gave a lot of the wood away and burned a lot more. This was in the spring of 1963 a lot happened in this year, we started building a new 2000 sq. ft. home on the new lot and bought a new Mercury, which was car of the year, that year. At this time, also, I was supervising a new installation in Bronson Mi. which took me through Coldwater, Mi. every day for about a week , I would pass a building going up that to me looked like a four car garage , but as it progressed it look different than a garage , my curiosity got the best of me so one day I stopped to find out what the heck it was going to be. It was going to be a do-it-yourself car wash. Now here let it be known that I seldom let my imagination run wild, but I couldn't get it off my mind, thinking Marshall might be a candidate for such a business. Before the day was over I had made up my mind, excitement ran wild I couldn't wait to tell Ardis that we were about to go into the car wash business. Now back to the design of the house that was in the Battle Creek Enquire. Rather than have an Architects expense of designing what we wanted the enquire news at that time would have a different design of a house every week. They finally come up with just what we were looking for, we cut it out of the paper and changed the location of partitions and rooms and added things that we wanted and proceeded to find a builder for estimates, John Bedwell was fresh out of college (MSU) and looking for houses to build, I had heard about him at work so we contacted him first, he really wanted this job and indicated that a lot of extras that we had confronted him with would not be in the contract price, I had plenty of experience with contractors during the years on my job that I knew he was being honest. I took his bid along with the drawing to Michigan National Bank in Marshall, and was immediately turned down by a loan officer named McKay, (Lear Kay was president at the time.} This didn't discourage me in the least, I simply went to Security National Bank in Battle Creek, the loan officer was a Smith, Steve Smith so I was already half way home and that is to say the least because when he looked at the design, the lot and the fact that we both had good jobs we could have gotten much more. Save that for later. This was in 1963 we moved into the new house in the spring of 1964. Now we must go back to my magnifying excitement of telling Ardis about our car wash business, where Steve Smith again enters the picture. Let me say this>>>>>>>>>>>>>>PLEASE.

Pilot's License

Over the years I picked up many reps of supermarket people and took them to destinations of their choice. I also picked up and delivered much needed parts for production and personnel, plus flying factory zone men and distributors to prospective buyers. Ardis and I would take a trip to places to eat now and then. Of course I recorded this time as in air time per month, which it was necessary to have a certain amount of to maintain your license. The most memorable trip I made was flying Governor Milligan's right hand man to Columbus Ohio to pick up a bundle of certificates that they were going to use at the new factory's grand opening on industrial road. Now I was a certified quality control engineer which reduced my traveling time considerable, it being necessary for me to spend more time in the factory as our sales was almost doubling each year, in fact was progressing to the extent that a new factory was in the planning stages just west a few hundred yards from the old factory. Incidentally, this was August 1st 1971 and I celebrated my 25th year with the company. They gave me the best Bulava watch that was made!! WHOOPEE. Also, it was a time when the Sherer Gillett co. merged with a co. named Duel Jet in Chicago that had invented what was called the duel jet air flow operation that incorporated two protective air flow jets on the frozen food cases and one protective air flow on the normal temp cases. The inventor's name was Sterling Beckwith, I had the opportunity to work with him for about 3 years on the duel jet cases when I was service mgr. I gained a lot of knowledge in those years which assisted me greatly in the future years on both jobs that I had and the environmental division installation and special service jobs that I took over a year before the company moved to the Atlanta, Ga. area. The then president Jack Twist wanted me to move with him to the Atlanta location factory and be in charge of the 19 quality control people that they had there as he was going to be the new president and stay for 2 yrs until he was 60 yrs of age. I had to say no and resign as I had deep roots here in Marshall. With the businesses and I wanted to retire anyway. Maybe I've said this somewhere before but I retired the 12th

of Nov. 1978.

Critical Decision Made

I told Ardis that I had reached a decision of what I would pursue when we arrived home, I would get enough education to graduate as a refrigeration engineer and eventually open my own sales and service business. Great expectations!!!

On advice from the VA I signed up for the benefits of the GI bill of rights which would give me four years of training on anything that I wanted to go into. I started looking for schools and factories where I could work and pursue my studies at the same time, knowing that it would be necessary for me to make a living along with the studies I found two factories where they would participate under the GI bill, one was the SHERER GILLETTE CO. of Marshall, Michigan which I chose. For several reasons one I liked the area, two it was closer to my folks who lived in Frontier, Mi. about 60 miles, and a lot of relatives in Battle Creek Mi. 10 miles away. Also, Ardis was pregnant for Dennis at time and we didn't want to be too far away from the old folks at home

I might mention here, that I chose to take the G.E.D. test before applying for the G.I. bill--- on the job training program the government was sponsoring. (GED stands for general equivalency diploma) obviously, it paid off. I also studied English and math and passed an industrial office management course.

The other the TYLER REFRIGERATION CO. of Niles, Mi After interviewing with

the personnel that would handle. my progress and send monthly reports to the government that was set up to evaluate the success within the factory and schooling from KELLOG VOCATION SCHOOL OF TRAINING

At each place of learning (several were set up around the country) different categories would be studied which made it tough to keep abreast of that which I was learning on the job. Over the next couple years I went to Ford in Dearborn for advanced application and silver soldering of copper joints mostly used in the refrigeration industry ,looking back I believe that I received better mechanical information at Ferris Institute in big rapids than anywhere else with maybe the exception of a school set up by an engineer in Traverse City, Mi.

At this time I had progressed enough in the factory that they paid for all my expenses in attending these learning institutions, in fact after four years graduating A plus I was made senior line instructor in the plant on the refrigeration assembly, just a skosh under the foreman. Two years later I was called in to the president's office and advised to come in the following Monday wearing a dress suit and tie, I was promoted to service Mgr.

Had my own office and secretary, was put on salary with full executive privileges including stock options and a free membership at Marshall country club, the stock options which we took advantage of every time one would come up proved to be the most valuable as most of them quadrupled when I retired, in as much as this was the beginning of factory service, it was necessary for me to hire enough service men to handle it. I knew that Ferris

Institute was graduating a class of refrigeration service men every year so I called a professor Hall that I had met when I was there and got the low down on a couple of good men that was graduating. Names------Jack Karol and Bernie White. I hired them both, however Bernie was Korean War age so off to the army went Bernie so I had to replace him with a local man until Bernie returned ( It was a government order that army personnel could have there old job back on discharge ),In fact I was service Mgr. when we made all those trips I have previously reported, However, there were many more that I will skip as the most interesting ones are down somewhere in this report if you can find them, I better let it be known that I held the service managers job for eight years. Then in 1960 I made still another trip to the presidents office and was informed that the company was progressing to the point where it was necessary to consider establishment of a quality control position, in-as-much as this had been a credible part of my four year training he wanted me to immediately take steps to hire a young fellow to eventually take over my job as service manager. We figured the best way to do this was to sponsor an A+ student at the Marshall high school who would like to get in the growing industry of refrigeration we talked to several but only one really excelled to our expectations, This was a student by the name of Jerry Thomas. The company paid for his education at Ferris Institute big rapids, while he was progressing in this field, I still held down the service job and started more schooling on quality control, the fact that I was a super busy person for a couple years I mentioned to the president that I was about to start taking pilot training. Maybe I should tell ( at a risk of being classed a brown-noser) at this time my hunting and fishing buddy, Mike Ballard ( Vice President ) and I always hunted ducks with the president Jack Coolidge, it was at one of our early morning hunts that I mentioned this, I also hinted that I could handle both jobs better if I had a faster mode of transportation, not only that but it was undisputable that service, quality control and sales always went hand-in-hand, we had 26 zone managers in the US and each one of them had an average of 10 distributers, a company pilot would come in handy countless times. The next day he called me into his office to talk turkey on this pilot question, I was ready, had all the answers on time away from the job, amount of total hours and approximate cost of a private pilots license, guess what?? The company paid the whole shot. I accumulated a total of 1400 hours in 15 years flying time. I passed the two hour written examination in one attempt with 70% correct it was necessary to pass with at least 50%. I was all set then to take my flight exam, this consisted of 2 hours of all maneuvers that the FFA deemed necessary for a person to fly a plane in all kinds of conditions, most of this training was under the hood ( blindfolded ) with the instrument panel only in sight. This meant stalls--dives---spirals---climbs to stall to spiral, glides to possible emergency landing with motor off. FUN HUH!!!!!

The Planned Vacation in Florida

We stayed in Florida until august, it was really getting hot so I told Ardis lets get the h--- out of here back to good old Michigan, she wholeheartedly agreed, but whoa, back up a little bit, we got so tired of laying around in the sun that I went to work in an orange groove fertilizing orange trees in 90 degree weather, this didn't last too long as we didn't need the money that bad so I told the guy in charge I was quitting and that we were going back to Michigan in a couple weeks, he didn't like that too much said he didn't want to lose me and that if I would stay he would transfer me to an inside job on the packing line at distribution plant, In as much as I didn't want to lay around any more (never thought I would be saying this) I told him I would take it. I went to work the following morning and found out that he was very short of women help on the packing line, when I told Ardis that she said that she was tired of laying around and she was going to put in for a job there also, she was hired the next day We both worked there about a month, we bought a new car a Buick convertible sold the trailer to the camp owner (made $600.00 profit) and left for Michigan. NOTE At that time there was no air conditioning but engineers were experimenting with different kinds of chemistry that I had read about and they even had a working model that was very promising and figured that within a year they would have a working model installed in a cabinet and could control the inside air at 40 or 50 degrees with an outside temperature of 90 degrees. This was very exciting to me as even as dumb as the old farm boy was I could see the potentiality, although visionary at the time, of markets, homes and offices and even cars cooled by mechanical refrigeration. I read up on everything that I could find about different gases Freon’s, methyl chloride, ammonia and sulfur dioxide were the gases that they were going to use it turned out that they used all of these however, Freon would eventually be the primary gas to be used in all applications as methyl chloride, ammonia and sulfur dioxide was very toxic. I got many a snu--u---u--u t full of sulfur dioxide doing service work for the Marshall Hardware before I was promoted at the factory, I quit most of the outside work after that. I might mention that I had bought a O V Harley Davidson motor cycle and run a lot of service calls with it, also, many nights I would pick Ardis up at Schuler's with it and we would go roaring down W. Hanover Street to home. Just had a thought, why don't I mention the fact that Ardis worked at Shuler's for 18 years, really, until we built the first car wash in 1964 I don't know why this didn't enter my confused mind sooner, as her million's was the advent of our carousel to fame. I should look fame up in the Dictionary??

After Deer Hunt in Michigan

After we got home from deer hunting we started to get ready to go on our planned vacation, maybe I should explain this better. At our parting at the Biltmore hotel in Providence, Rhode Island December 24th 1943 we decided that if I got home alive that we would take a years vacation, it so happened that it was winter time when I came home, so our vacation was to be made in the sunny climate of Florida. To pull our trailer that distance it was necessary to put a heavy hitch on the car and get the trailer out of my dads barn where we had it stored and take a short trial trip, after that it seemed that it was travel safe, therefore, we loaded up what we were taking and got it ready to go. In the meantime we said our goodbyes to everyone and took off a day or so after Xmas 1945. Our car at that time was a 1939 Plymouth convertible, we rolled along fine on route 27 until we came to the mountains, it made the old bus grind sometimes to make it to the top then it took a little time for her to cool off before starting up another, at night we stayed at gas stations mostly, at other times just along the road where we could pull off safely, we had a great time on route especially when we entered warmer climate, incidentally the roads then were all two lane and some of them in the mountain areas were only one lane with meeting zones in appropriate places. If I remember correctly it took us about a week to get to Jacksonville, Florida. We stayed there in a park for several days and visited with my nephew Clyle Jacoby who had not been discharged yet from the marines, he had stayed there all during the war working at the camp. From there we moved on to the Orlando area, about two miles south of Orlando we found a small park in Pinecastle Fl. right on a small lake, an ideal place to spend a lifetime. Believe me this; I was more than willing to do just that. It seems that there is always a something to bring you back to sanity---war was over I was alive----my mind was settling somewhere back to normal. Loving family-----loving wife---------starting over---------getting more education--------good job-----starting family,------owning home--------new car------getting set in the community wherever that may be and make family and new friends a welcome part of our new start in life. What a backlog of memories to take down the long road ahead, sometimes you begin to wonder if your affirmative attitude and love of life and will of God will establish a goal that you can achieve.

Hunting Deer in Luxemburg

Speaking of hunting deer, or was I, I guess so, anyway I can't let go by the fact that I was not only hunting Germans during the war, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to do a little practice on the European deer, I think this was in Jan. '44 the snow was so deep in Luxemburg that it covered the front wheels on my half track and the deer in the area ( lot of them) had a hard time getting out of the way of our touring machine, so what was I to do as a deer hunter, on one of our stops for refueling I took my 30 cal carbine and meandered into the woods, I would say about 3or4 hundred yards running into two of the fat little supply of a rarity, meat. I managed to bag them both. One of my crew helped drag them out to the track and load them on.

Let me tell you I had more friends at that time than a million dollar lottery winner would have now . No one except my crew even got a smell of that treasure, they were frozen hard so when we had time to eat we would skin back enough hide to chop out enough meat for a conservative meal for the crew which of course was a real delicacy.

There are pictures of the deer hanging on the back of my track that were taken about a day after we arrived at our destination for fuel, ammunition and personnel replacements. Just happened to realize its going take a army of Philadelphia lawyers to put these recallments in there respective places, there will also be some triplicate, let alone duplicate occurrences as my memory forgets to let me remember what I'm thinking-----figure it out.

Adris Pickup in Toledo, Ohio

I will go on from the time Ardis picked me up at the train station in Toledo, Ohio. As I mentioned before we were practically strangers and had to start all over again, regardless, that didn’t take too long as we had to make up for lost time, two years super lost, four years total lost. The date when I got home was October 8th 1945 however; I still had to go back to Indian town gap Pennsylvania for my final army physical and discharge papers within 10 days. I took the train out of Hillsdale all the way there and back which took about a week. After visiting all the relatives and friends, Ellen, ( MY SISTER) and her husband wanted us to go deer hunting with them in the middle of November so we stuck around until then , and believe it or not we got our buck in about a half-hour on the first morning, this was five or six miles west of Cadillac Mi. Ardis sat on one side of a tree with a lantern between her legs and a heavy coat on to stay warm, in a few minutes we heard deer coming and a few more minutes Ardis whispers "I see one" actually the buck was looking right at her from the top of a slight hill in front of her, I slowly twisted around the tree and shot, he dropped in his tracks, we dressed him out and pulled him to the camp where the car was. I was the only one in the group that bagged a deer on this hunt. Bob Cowan was Ellen's husband's name at the time, she divorced Bob and married a fellow named Clair Fenton, so much for that, yep!!

Sales Service Meeting in Seattle

Still another trip by myself and Larry, this was to put on a sales, service meeting for all of our distributors in Seattle Washington and the surrounding area. We flew from Battle Creek on the old Republic airline to Chicago and from there on a Douglas DC6 four motored piston aircraft to Seattle (Jet aircraft was just coming into operation by some airlines ) This was in April of 1961. we put on the show and then called the airport to confirm our flight home the following day, we were notified that our flight number had been changed apparently to allow room for a special flight of some kind and not only that but we would be delayed an hour. This we didn’t like at all because more than likely it would result in missing our flight for home in Chicago. In the ensuing argument we found out that this all came about because of the inaugural flight from Seattle to Chicago in the new DC 8 jet aircraft. (Red Carpet all the way ) Well now, this was a United Airline flight and it so happened we knew the Chairman of our company, R P Sherer of the Sherer-Gillett Co. had a brother on the board of directors of United Airlines ,we also knew united airlines co.'s base was in Seattle. So what was we to do?? Call Mr. Sherer at his home and explain who we were and our predicament. Lo and behold Mr. Sherer was a perfect gentleman. He told us, no problem at all be at the airport at our scheduled time and you will have no problem boarding the plane. Man, what a flight, the plane was full of reporters from all the major newspapers and united board members, champagne buckets of it all free and by the time we got to Chicago we didn’t know whether we were going to or coming from Seattle. In about a week we each received a silver medallion with the picture of the plane embossed on it, also, we received a certificate saluting the flight and signed by the captain (pilot) in a framed print. Incidentally, I still have them both. Such was the beginning of the jet age, it was a far cry from the early 40's and 50's when I would either drive the company car or go by train, and I remember catching the train to Chicago or New York here in Marshall or Battle Creek many times in the 50. The depot in Marshall was on the north side of the tracks on south Kalamazoo, many old timers will remember it. I might mention here that Larry Pahl my traveling companion was a heavy drinker and several years later it caught up with him as he died from cirrhosis of the liver. (We had many good times together and worked many super market shows ) On arrival home from each trip usually at the airport in Battle Creek, his wife Norma and Ardis would pick us up and we would have dinner at some nice place before going on home.

Super Market Show

I'll tell about another trip for the company that Larry Pahl ( Larry was sales mgr. )and I made for a service and sales meeting in San Francisco and super market show. On super market shows the equipment to be shown was always shipped by rail to wherever the show would be held. We had finished the meetings and were putting on the show. The show lasted a week and as we were finishing up it went into the weekend, so we decided to stay over, we were staying at the Roosevelt hotel in San Francisco. We noticed a poster in a restaurant that the next day a plane was leaving Oakland to Lake Tahoe Nevada, well now Lake Tahoe sports a casino by the name of HARRAHS, we sort of figured that we had worked hard enough on the show to deserve a little secret vacation, why not!! The plane left Oakland , if I remember correctly around 8:00 AM. We took a long taxi ride from our hotel to the airport in Oakland and it so happened that there was a long holdup on the bridge (this bridge is about seven miles long ) so we missed the plane, which turned out to be the best miss we ever had. O n landing at Tahoe the plane developed engine failure and crashed at the 7000 foot level of the mountain airport killing all aboard. Dodged the bullet again. The plane was a Lockheed Electra famous at the time for malfunctioning.

World Fair Trip

While I'm recording I might as well tell about trip that the whole family went on in the 1960's, I had to make a business trip to Seattle Washington for a meeting with some of our distributers, in-as-much as the Seattle worlds fair happened to be on at this particular time I figured it was a great opportunity to take the kids and Ardis with me, my expenses would be paid by the company so plans were made and everyone went to the worlds fair. The trip by the union pacific train was the highlight of the vacation for the family, we had access to the vista-dome on each car which made visibility almost 360 degrees

The worlds fair was quite a treat for the kids, they rode the rides which many were new and we ate dinner one night in the 600 foot high space needle and rode on the bullet shuttle and did many other things. One thing they will remember, they took a wild ride on the mouse. It was very beautiful going thru' the rocky mountains and glacial national park ,we saw many deer and elk and some rocky mountain sheep and a lot of snow, the kids really enjoyed the worlds fair and the trip out there and home was very educational for them.

In Florida Home

This is Thursday April 18^th, 2002. I'm setting on the davenport in the mobile home in Florida thinking about loading the car with some of the stuff that we are taking home, we plan on starting Saturday morning around 7:00. The 20th of April, 2002. I told Jim Crane, my old standby golf buddy that I'd like to get one more game in before going home so he made last minute arrangements with one of our best courses, Lake Bernadette for the next morning, we played it (18 holes ) in 90 degree temperatures and that was enough.

We're going to try a different route this year going home, in looking over the map I figured we would try going 27 all the way to 24 that leads into Nashville Tenn. This way we would miss Tallahassee---Doltham Ga.------Troy Alabama-----Ozark Alabama ---Montgomery Alabama Birmingham Alabama and Atlanta Ga. This is the way we went and actually made better time than traveling the superhighways. thru' these towns .Might be a good idea to add that we bought this mobile home in 1998 form an old gal by the name of Jenny after renting it for several years. It is 35 ft. long and 8 ft. wide, however, it has a 10 ft. Florida room on the side which makes for a lot of room. Jenny was from Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada and made the trip with her dog several years in a row.

We stayed in Prague about a month (June 8th) when it ended , we then drove to Wecker Germany stashed and said a fond farewell to our armored vehicles and settled in to wait for a ship home(I remember sometime in nov.11of 1944 at a place CALLED ARROW COURT we were holed up waiting for ammo and replacement vehicles and men, I carved my name and date which was November 11th on the steering wheel of my track) our home here (a former SS training camp) was like staying at the Waldorf grand hotel compared to what we were used too. German cooks prepared our meals , nice looking girls waited on the tables, and for a pack of cigarettes a week we could have a POW make our beds shine our shoes and run any errands we might have, and believe me we kept them busy, if they made one error they didn’t get their cigarettes for that week. My buddy and I made good use of our time here, first a four day pass into Paris, completely toured the city and other things outside the city. Back at camp we confiscated (stole) a German track cycle and toured the Bavarian Alps and all the little towns around. Beautiful country, mostly untouched by the war, even the people were friendly. Our camp was near a canal. my buddy (King) and I would go swimming about every day, there would always be three or four kids 8 to 10 years old swimming there also, one day I lost my watch the deepest part of the hole and couldn’t find it, I told the kids I would give the kid who found it a pack of cigarettes, those kids dove for it several days and one finally found it boy was he happy to get the cigarettes, probably his dad was happier yet.

We stayed at this camp about four months before we could get a ship out. Finally we were notified that we were moving into a new camp (called Luckystrike) set up near the western shoreline of France to wait for the ship. Imagine 10,000 GI's on shore waiting and praying for that glorious transportation across the Atlantic into NY harbor. We did just that into NY harbor past the old beautiful lady (what a magnificent sight) up the Hudson river to a little disembarking camp for an overnight stay and then by train onto Indian town gap Pa. for discharge and home. It didn’t exactly work out that way when we got to this camp it was so full of GI's from different divisions that there wasn’t room for a rat let alone a GI. Headquarters gave the order for everyone to go home, can you imagine 10,000 love hungry men on the loose at a small place like Indian town gap, with only two roads leading out I might say that I was lucky for once as my friend Jim Clark all thru' the war and before lived in SUNBURY PA. he called his wife Clara to come( she already been alerted) she was there in about an hour, I rode into Harrisburg to the train station and called Ardis and told her to pick me up in Toledo Ohio train station. The next phase of this story is already on paper, so will have to go on from there.

This might a good time to explain how the Fourth Amored got its name, the breakthrough division. From the time of the Normandy Invasion until the final surrender of the german's, the 4th armored division hammered and battered at the wehrmacht ---and we never failed to break through. But we really clinched the nickname Breakthrough Division with our thrilling smash through to the relief of the beleagured 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne .We had 4 or 5 tanks that made contact with some guys that were in a trench that didn't know who we were at the moment, when they found out we were from the 4th armored, hot damn was the happy reply wer'e sure glad to see you. We didn't rest on our laurels after the brilliant rescue of the 101st , after Bastogne we smashed our way through the Eifel mountains and secured the high ground over the Kyll river, shelled and captured Bitberg. We then shifted into high gear and roared 65 mile's in one day to Coblenz .We then crossed the Rhine near Worms and gave the germans in that territory a terrific shellacking. In 6 months from the beginning at Normandy, the 4th Armord Breakthrough Division soldier's had recieved over 1800 decorations. ( Also called the Blood and Guts division ) ,

Now that I think about it I should go back to our last encounter around May 8th 1945 and explain some of the things I forgot to mention that may be important to the reader and probably will not be in the history books as this was a short skermish that stopped us momentarily from entering Prague Czechoslovakia. We encountered resistance at a little town by the name of Susice .After this was cleared we went on and entered Prague on May 8th. Prague was mostly spared from the results of war so it was decided this would be a good place to hole up for awhile and get back on track regarding army disciplinary procedures, as when fighting a war disciplin is more or less confined to the individual himself. As an American we were trained to uphold the articles of war like only giving your rank and serial number if ever captured. However., as a fourth armored division GI we were also trained to be invulnerable, hostile and to cripple the german army in any way you felt that would take him out for good. It was rumored in the german army that the only way a person could get in the forth armored division would be if he was born a bastard and had killed his mother.The regular german army soldier was terrified of the men in the fourth armored, the BLOOD AND GUTS division.

The following names will be more for my information in keeping than interesting for anybody else to read. But, these are the guys I fought with for 11 straight months. I'll try to remember which ones came back. The first one would be Sam Grossman. He was from Chicago, IL. Sam, I think, was killed in the early part of 1944. Then there was Michael J. Hayes of Patterson, PA. That's 544 Grant Street in Patterson, Pennsylvania. I don't know for sure, but I think he was sent back to a hospital in Great Britain. The next was Earnest Jones from Columbus, Kentucky. I don't think Earnest even got a scratch. The next was Juan B. Martinez, Box 495, Monte Vista, Colorado. Marti, I think, was wounded and sent back. The next was Walter J. Koch, 290 Clifton Ave, Newark, New Jersey. I don't think Ole Walt was even scratched, either. He was a cook, and of course he wasn't up with us all the time, but he got his share of flack anyway. The next was John Marphew. He was from Holmesville, Ohio. John was with us throughout the conflict. Then we have Bill Spears, 501 N. First Street, Oklahoma City, OK. Bill was with us when my track got knocked out, but he didn't get hit. So, he survived also. The next was George White, 94 Shdipp Street, New York City, New York. George was wounded, I believe, but not seriously, but he got out of the war for a time, anyway. Next, Steven Shendock, 59 Bohac St. Swoyerville, Pennsylvania. Steve, I think, was killed in Arocourt, Germany. The next is John Bellis, Box 234, Ruffletown, PA. John was wounded, but I don't know how bad anymore, because that particular day was a rough one. The next was Paul Fischer, 1208 N. Moore Rd. Chatenooga, TN. Fisch was with us most of the time. I think he was sent back pretty close to the end of the war, but I don't think it was because he was wounded. I think he had something wrong with him. The next was Carl Gleenawer. 588 Goodest Ave. Buffalo, NY. Carl was not with us when the war ended. I think he was transferred to another battery for some reason. Next was Roger B. Martineau, the Frenchman. 2B Webber Ave, Lewiston, Maine. This guy was a real soldier. He wasn't afraid of anything, and he never got wounded. He was with us til the end. The next was Bidwell Hines, Intor… I think he was from Kentucky, but I don't know the city. Anyway, Biddy was wounded the latter part of 44, and I don't know whether he lived or not. The next was Willard Delcore. 5525 Irving Park Blvd. Chicago, IL. Willy was one of the best buddies a person could ever have, and unfortunately he got killed. The next was Thomas J. O'Neil, 2133 Stenton Ave. Philedelphia, Pennsylvania. Tom was one heck of a nice guy, and I think he got wounded, but I don't know how bad. Next was Frank Gaza, 5922 57th Rd. Maspack, NY. I don't know just where that is, but he thought it was one heck of a place. Of course, his folks, and his girlfriend were there, too. Anyway, he made it back. The next one was Frank Gatty, 9 King Ave, Noth Agawam, Massachussettes. Frank, I don't think, made it back. At least, I didn't see him when the war ended. The next buddy was Edward Kos, 90 Wilbur Ave, Meridan, Connecticut. I'm not sure about Ed, either. I didn't see him at the end of the war. W. G. Findago, Broughton, PA. I think his name was William, called him Bill. I didn't' see Bill, either at the end of the war. The next was Robert Lowry, Faith Hope, Alabama. I'm quite sure that Bob got killed. I think he had a direct hit on a Jeep. The next is William Valaiba, Box 186, Hastings, PA. I don't know whether Bill came back or not. I didn't see him at the end of the war. The next would be Elliot A. Ginchensky, 502 East 51st St, Brooklyn, NY. Elli was not in our outfit at the end. He was transferred. I don't know what happened to him. Next would be Walter K. Stevenson, 66 VA Street, Washington DC. There was so much confusion around… I think Walt made it ok… The next was William T. Stroud, 525 Rocksburo, Philedelphia, Pa. Bill was always one of those guys who was always helping somebody out. I don't know whether he made it or not. We were busy and traveling those last days of the war… Some of these guys I can't rightly establish their whereabouts. Next was Arthur Rinkowski, 19 South St. Middletown, Connecticut. I don't know what happened to Arthur. Next was Jack Glasser, 1619 Monroe, Charlseton, IL. I think I remember seeing Jack at the tail end of the war. Next was Bob Soliday, 720 Wilson Ave. Pequia, OH. Also, I think Bob got away with it. Next was Elwood W. Handsman. 1161 W. Emmaus Ave, Allentown, PA. Elli was with us at the tail end. Next was Louis L. Lanza, 135 Chestnut St, Warren, OH. Lanza was an Italian mechanic… He was with us at the tail end. Next was Michael Hayes, 544 Grand St. Patterson, PA. I'm not sure… I think he was transferred to another outfit during the last few days. Next was William Nim. 530 5th St NE, Puiallup, Washington. I knew Bill quite well, but I don't think he made it toward the end. The next was Richard Davis, 815 Ford Street, Vernon, PA. I don't know about Dick. I didn't see him at the tail end. Next was Ray Klain. 3224 N. Dover St. Philedelphia, PA. I don't remember seeing Ray at the tail end, either. Next was Bing Miller, 66 smullen St. Sayersville, New Jersey. Bing, I think, was killed in a tank. I'm not sure, I think that was his destiny. The next was Charles Hunt, Nebo, Kentucky. I don't know about Charles, either. Next was James B. Bajas, 109 S. 7th St, Reading, PA. I think he was with us to the last. Next was Albert Garenaglo, 6118 Johns Ave, Detroit, MI. Al was with us up until about 30 days before the end. I think he was wounded and sent back. I don't know whether he died or not. Next was Lester Kallendor, Pichston, Texas. I didn't know this guy too well. I think he was in ordinance. Of course, ordinance was in back of us a bit. I don't know what happened to him. Here's a guy that I do know what happened to him… Melvin J. King, Island Creek, Maryland. He survived, because he and I went traveling together after the war. He and I went into Paris together, we went in Czechoslovakia, we went the Bavarian Alps together… He was a real nice guy. Next was C M. Spuill, 290 Capital Ave. SE Atlanta, Georgia. I think he was in ordinance, too. I don't know what happened to him. Next was Joseph W. Meyers, 1120 Mothers St. Pittsburgh 21 PA. I think he got hit, and was taken back somewhere. I don't know whether he lived or not. Next was Harley Davis. He was from LaCanya, New Hampshire. He was around to celebrate the end. Next was Willard DelCore, 5525 Irving Park Blvd. Chicago, IL. We hit it off pretty good, too. He was around to go home. (Grandpa, you mentioned this person at the top of page 25, and said he didn't make it… Which one should I keep in the story?) Next was Willis A Cambell, 862 Cragg St. Clariton, PA. I don't think he made it. Next was BeFord Ray, Danville, IN. Can't say whether he made it or not. Next would be Vernon Darcy, 762 Epworth Place, Niagra Falls, Ontario. He made it back. Next was Ellsworth Anderson, Plum Point, Maryland. I'm not sure about Ellsworth either. He was in the A Battery, or B Battery, I'm not sure… Last, but not least, a good friend to me and all of us in Headquarters Battery was Joe Carson. I think he was from Pennsylvania somewhere. Joe got killed while he was in a foot trench in the Black Forest. We had a lot of artillery coming in, and there were airbursts. One of the pieces of shrapnel hit him in the helmet, and went through the helmet. In other words, he didn't know what hit him.

I'm going to call this the end of Phase 2. Phase 3 will begin after the war and when we return from our year's vacation that we planned in Florida.

I might mention here that I served in Europe for 21 months, and was in the following campaigns: Normandy, Northern France, Rhinelands, Ardens, and Central Europe. I was awarded the Good Conduct Medal and the European Middle East Service Medal with five bronze stars, and the Distinguished Presidential Unit Citation plus the Bronze Star Medal. Due to the shortage of ships taking men home, we had to serve in the Army of Occupation in Bavaria for five months. Here, we gaurded approximately 15,000 German prisoners. We did have passes… as many as you would want. So, most of us went into Paris and surrounding towns and into the Bavarian Alps, and so forth. Then, we finally got word that they had put up a new camp on the shore of France, and they called it Camp Lucky Strike. We were finally sent there by train to get on the ship to return home. We were on the ship for about six days, and we pulled in to New York Harbor, right past the Statue of Liberty and into Camp Shanks, NY, where we regrouped. The next day, we got on a train and proceeded to Indian Town Gap, PA, for final discharge. However, there were so many troops in Indian Town Gap that we couldn't get in. So, they sent word around that we were to go immediately home once the train stopped in the station. You can imagine the confusion with so many people on the roads in Indian Town Gap. However, I was lucky because Jim Clark, who was my buddy in the service, called his wife in Sunbury, PA, which was about 40 miles away, and she came and picked him up with a car. So, I rode into Harrisonburg, PA and got a train out for Toledo, OH. I had called Ardis from Harrisburg, and told her that I would be in to the station at Toledo at a certain time. So, she met me there, and I was flabbergasted to finally see her again after two years. Whether you believe this or not, we were more of a stranger to each other than we had been to each other for the prior four years before we were married. We had to put our life in perspective, and go on from there. Putting the war and all of its horrors out of our mind for good, (which we did, to a certain degree) was an accomplishment probably above and beyond our expectations at the time.

About five days out into the Atlantic, we were chased by German subs. We had destroyers along with us for protection, and we had to zig-zig all the way up to Newfoundland, back and forth, in order to enhance our safety crossing the Atlantic. It was about a week out of New Hampshire and I got sea-sick. I wasn't the only one, but boy was I sick. I was hoping a torpedo would sink that ship, I was that sick. Anyway, you couldn't eat anything, you couldn't sleep… The Atlantic was so rough. Sometimes you couldn't even see the destroyers. They'd go down under the waves so much that they would go out of sight. Our ship, which had 10,000 people on it, was named the USS Santa Rosa. It was a Liberty Ship to carry troops to Europe. Anyway, we pulled into South Wales in about 10 days and I got over my sickness, of course. Then, we got on a train and we went to a little town north of South Hampton called Bath, England. That's where we set up camp to go on maneuvers and get ready to hit the beaches of Normandy. We were there for about 4 months before they deemed us ready to take care of the Germaninskies. We called them "Germaninskies" and "Hineys" mostly. The weather in Great Britain was lousy. At that time of year, it was in January, it was foggy, cold, and rainy… I don't think the sun shone only a couple days during the time we were there. We weren't welcomed too much by the citizens of Great Britain. GI's, of course, had been away from their families, wives, and girlfriends for quite a while, and there was a lot of British women willing to cooperate. SO, the British men were always jealous of the Americans. We'd go into a pub, which was a bar actually, and there was a bunch of Limeys, we called them (that was English soldiers) in there. They always got waited on first by the proprieter, which didn't set very good with the GI's. One time, I remember, we went into a bar and two British soldiers came in and they were waited on right away, leaving us holding the bag. Well, that didn't work at all. One of the guys picked up a stool and threw it thr'u the mirror at the back of the bar, like t he old western movies, and that started a fight. Well, we ended up on the shore patrol vehicle taking us back to camp and turning us in. Now, I had made corporal before coming over from the states, but the guys that were just privates in this bunch had to peel potatoes for about two weeks. The sergeants and corporals got out of it. That was one of the benefits when you achieved a little rank. There wasn't much to do over there when you weren't on maneuvers, except get a pass and go into different towns like South Hampton and London and go into Ireland and South Wales, and so forth. SO, we went into London several times. We could get on a train and get there in about an hour and a half. Then we toured most of the British Isles in the course of three months. Off and on we would get notices or "alerts" to get ready to go across the English Channel. But, the weather didn't cooperate for about a month. Eisenhower would say "Well, we're gonna do it next week." Well, the weather would be rainy and foggy and wind would be blowing and it would be real nasty weather, so they would postpone it. Then, they'd say we'll go next week, but the same thing would happen. Then the next week, and the next week… It kept going on like that until everybody got awful tired of getting ready to go and also they voiced their opinions many times. So, after many weeks, the weather didn't clear entirely, but it was a little better… The wind wasn't quite as bad, so Eisenhower said, "Well, we're going." We started loading about three o'clock one morning, into LST's South Hampton. Of course, an armored division is a big outfit. We were 10,000 men, probably 60 or 70 heavy tanks, and 25 or 30 light tanks. We had mechanized infantry that went into half-tracks, peeps, and Jeeps and Command Cars, and you name it. We had it all. In fact, we had so much fire power that it was real difficult for anything to stop us. Anyway, we were loaded on to the LST, and we arrived at the beach at about daylight. We started unloading, and as soon as the ramp came down, we drove our vehicles into the water, which was sometimes 6 or 8 feet deep. It would cover the motor and everything. But the motor was protected with grease, and there were larger stacks on the mufflers, so that water wouldn't get into them. So, we made it to the shore alright in a hail of bombs and bullets and you name it. I was driving a half track at the time, and I had five people and a commander. We made it into the woods on shore, a couple hundred yards from the LST. Then, we regrouped and held our position until the whole Fourth Armored Division was unloaded. Then we were waiting for orders to advance. We waited a couple of days for replacement people and vehicles, then we were advised that we would take off and cut off the Cherburg Penninsula the following Monday morning, which was about three days away. The day before we were to advance, four thousand bombers and about as many fighter escorts from Great Britain came over and bombed the Cherburg Penninsula ahead of us. After they left, we started our advance, and destroyed everything that was left. We went into averanches , and we took 20,000 German prisoners there. A lot of them were shell shocked because of the horrific bombing that took place. We then cut off the Brittany Penninsula where we met considerable resistance. Going into a little town Assinoins, my vehicle was hit, and some of my men were hit, just outside of the town, with an 88 German tank projectile. My half-track was hit on the left side in the bogies. It tore most of the track and bogies away. Those people who were in the back of the track got hit pretty hard, some of them. So, we abandoned the vehicle on the right side of the road where we were pinned down for 15 or 20 minutes by constant artillery and mortar fire. Incidentally, this is where I earned the Bronze Star Medal and bad ears. I got up in a little absence of fire and told the guys behind me that I was going to turn the track around and get the hell out of there. So, I got up into the track, started it, put it into front wheel drive, (the front wheels were all right), turned it around, got the guys in it, and we took off for the rear. Luckily, we didn't get hit again at that time. I drove the vehicle back to ordinance, and without help, we put new bogies and a new track on the left-hand side. We got the guys who were wounded patched up and left them there, and we took off again. This time we made it all the way through this town and into an area where we stopped for replacements of personnell and vehicles. We also got ammunition, because we had used up all of our 30 caliber machine gun ammunition and all of our 50 caliber ammunition by firing into machine gun nests and at snipers in bombed out buildings. We kept going at a terrific pace, taking many small towns with small battles, spearheading and circling, then stopping for replacements of personnel, ammunition, and vehicles, then spearheading again… Keep going, keep going again, until we went into Neese, then we turned north and went into Gina and Leipzig. Then we met up with the Russians and Sure River in Germany. Then, we came back towards Czechoslovakia and we crossed the Rhine again and went on to Oppenheim on the Main River. Then, we went on to Buckenwald, then we had a rather deciding battle at a town called Ifta. Then, we went on into Czechoslovakia and "Hurrah, hurrah, The war was coming to an end!" In a little town outside of Czechoslovakia, the day came when we all celebrated the fact that we were still alive, especially Jim Clark and I. We had a reunion and congratulated ourselves that at last we were going home. We then had time to think of all the others who were not there, nor ever would be, for they were laying in graves in France, Luxembourg, and Belgium. In a serious moment when we gave thanks that we were still alive, we wondered how the free nations of the world, like America, would thank all the armies that took part in the winning of this war and for ridding the world of a fear that just a few short months ago was still cowing the entire globe. We wondered if people would realize the sacrifices that were made by people that have brought the world a new hope and a new lease on humanity. I think we can believe that for generations, they will not forget this war of all wars. This was a time when there are some moments which only the angel of history should be allowed to record. There are occasions when pride and memory and gratitude and humbleness are so mixed up that your emotions are dull and words cannot describe your innermost feeling. The end of the war was like that.