vintage photos

Forty Years Ago – Charting a New Course

January 1, 2012

(Continued from “Forty Years Ago–A Departure”.)

The flight from Houston had a short layover at Los Angeles International before continuing on to San Diego. From there it was but a short trip to the San Diego Naval Training Center.

A few weeks earlier, I had ridden with a friend to the Manned Spacecraft Center, where he worked. He was loaning me his car for the day so that I could look for a job.

Even though I had already had several jobs, I had very little experience at actually looking for a job and, looking back now, I really didn’t have a clue then on how to do it. I basically spent the day driving around, eventually ending up in a shopping center in Baytown.

I really didn’t start the day even thinking about joining the military, but there I was, at a Texas strip mall that housed recruiting offices for Marine Corp, Army, Air Force and Navy. With the ongoing Viet Nam conflict, the first two had absolutely no interest for me. While I don’t remember much about it, my first stop was in the Air Force recruiter’s office.

The stop at the Navy recruiting office was more memorable. The recruiter talked about a number of options, but there was one that really caught my attention, the Navy nuclear power program. Not only did it offer interesting opportunities in the Navy, but the job experience gained might later lead to opportunities in civilian nuclear power. The main drawback was it required a six year commitment instead of the more common two or four year enlistments.

In the ensuing weeks, I qualified for the program through the advanced programs test, passed a physical, and enlisted in the Navy with entry delayed until the end of December.

One of the benefits of the program was that I would be entering the service at E3 pay grade, a seaman – equivalent to a private first class – instead of seaman recruit (E1). Completion of recruit training would bring automatic promotion to Petty Officer Third Class, equivalent to corporal.

Three different job fields were included in the program: electronics, mechanical, and electrical. I hoped for electronics, but I wasn’t going to learn which field I was going to be in until after further testing in boot camp. Of course, electronics was what most of those who enter the program hoped for and not everyone could get it.

January 1, 1972 was a holiday, of course, so there was no processing of the new recruits. Instead, we got to watch football games in the receiving and outfitting transient barracks.

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Forty Years Ago–A Departure.

December 31, 2011

(Continued from “Forty Years Ago.”)

The new Houston Intercontinental Airport had opened less than two years before and, at the end of 1971, I was there for my first flight on an airplane. By the end of the day, I was going to be far away from Houston, far away from anyone I knew.

There were several of us flying standby that day. In those days, flights often flew at less than capacity and still made money. There was little concern that I wouldn’t make the flight, of course, I wouldn’t know until it was time to board.

After all of the regular ticketed passengers had boarded, the ticket agent started to call for the standby passengers. I was pleasantly surprised to end up in first class, the one and only time that’s ever happened.

The food in first class was excellent and the drinks were free. I was quite surprised with the shish kabob, though, which I had never had. Along with the more familiar beef and veggies on the skewer were mushrooms, which I didn’t discover until I bit into one. The taste and consistency were not at all familiar and I didn’t care for it. While today I do eat meals with mushrooms in them, mushrooms are far from a favorite.

While the flight wasn’t a direct flight, I didn’t have to change planes when we landed at an intermediate stop in another large airport.

One more takeoff and landing before arrival.

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Forty Years Ago

December 30, 2011

Houston, Texas 1971
Photo taken at employment
application to H.P.D.

I was 19 years old, almost 20, single and still living at home with my mom.

I didn’t have a job nor any experience to speak of to put on a job application.

Without a reliable vehicle, public transportation didn’t extend out to where we lived, making finding a job difficult — and I wanted a job where I could gain experience for the future.

College hadn’t worked out, partially because of the transportation issue.

1972 was going to start out very, very different.

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Window Shopping

November 22, 2011

Newsboys admiring sporting goods, Jackson, Ohio – April 1936

Images of the Great Depression 001 - Newsboys admiring sporting goods, Jackson, Ohio – April 1936

From a photograph by FSA photographer Theodor Jung.

Part of: Farm Security Administration – Office of War Information Photograph Collection (Library of Congress)

Images of the Great Depression 001

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Deadwood and Spearfish

August 31, 2011

The day we decided to visit Deadwood, South Dakota, turned out to be during the “Kool Deadwood Nights” festival.

We had no idea that there was anything special going on until we got there. When we had trouble finding a place to park, we almost decided to head on down the road to see other places and sights.

Deadwood’s Main Street was filled with the chairs of people who were planning to attend the night’s entertainment. We have no idea who was performing that night and we were not prepared to stay that late.

Kool Deadwood Nights: Car lovers come together for four days full of classic cars, classic music and classic fun. It’s a 50’s and 60’s sock hop—Deadwood style. Enjoy parades, show and shines and FREE concerts on Main Street featuring the biggest names in rock ‘n roll history.¹

Deadwood, named for dead trees found there when it was established, was illegally settled in the 1870s in territory granted to native tribes in the 1868 Treaty of Laramie. An expedition led by George Armstrong Custer in 1874 announce the discovery of gold in the Black Hills. The news, of course, triggered a gold rush, and gave rise to the lawless town of Deadwood.

The town’s early history forms the basis for the storyline of the HBO TV series named Deadwood.

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Deadwood references:

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¹ Deadwood Chamber of Commerce.

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Torn Asunder

August 3, 2011

I’ve created a short video using photographs from the civil war and and mixed it with a couple of medleys of civil war music recorded almost 100 years ago. I titled it “Torn Asunder–Images from America’s Civil War.” It can be viewed in high definition by going to YouTube.com and then selecting the full screen icon in lower right corner of video (move mouse cursor over lower part of video to see icon).

Before and after:

This little project took a lot longer than the one’s I’ve created from my own photos and videos. I assembled it photo by photo as I found them in the U.S. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog. Each image was “adjusted” to correct fading, remove spots and scratches, or other enhancements. The audio was enhanced to filter out most of the static, hisses, and pops.

The video shows very little of battle. First off, there are very few actual photos of battle. Second, for most people, including the soldiers, the actual fighting was only a fraction of their war-time experiences.

I am using the frames from some of the photographs in the new header on my Daily Observations from the Civil War blog, which, of course, also has a post on this video, with a different slant to the blog post content.

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Description of photographs:

Keedysville, Md., vicinity. Confederate wounded at Smith’s Barn, with Dr. Anson Hurd, 14th Indiana Volunteers, in attendance, September 1862.
Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform and forage cap.
Chickahominy River, Va. Grapevine bridge built May 27-28, 1862, by the 5th New Hampshire Infantry under Col. Edward E. Cross.
Unidentified young soldier in Union uniform with musket, bayonet, and knapsack.
Aquia Creek Landing, Va. Embarkation of 9th Army Corps for Fort Monroe, February 1863.
Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform and slouch hat, missing jacket buttons.
Cedar Mountain, Va. A Confederate field hospital, 1862.
Unidentified young soldier in New York Zouave uniform.
Cumberland Landing, Va. Federal encampment April – May 1862.
Unidentified young soldier in Confederate shell jacket, Hardee hat with Mounted Rifles insignia and plume with canteen and cup.
Military Bridge across the Chicahominy, June 1862.
Unidentified African American soldier in Union uniform in front of painted backdrop showing military camp.
Rebel gun in front of Fort Hell, April 1865, a Confederate cannon inside of Fort Sedgwick in Petersburg, Virginia.
Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform.
Yorktown, Va. Embarkation for White House Landing, Va.
Unidentified young sailor in Union uniform.
Antietam Bridge, September, 1862.
Unidentified soldier in Confederate shell jacket and slouch hat with object hanging from neck in front of painted backdrop showing waterfall.
Confederate prisoners at Fairfax Courthouse, June 1863.
Unidentified girl in mourning dress holding framed photograph of her father as a cavalryman with sword and Hardee hat.
Hand colored; Tending wounded Union soldiers at Savage’s Station, Virginia, during the Peninsular Campaign, 1862.
Two unidentified women reading letters.
James River, Va. Sailors on deck of U.S.S. Monitor; cookstove at left, July 9, 1862.
Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform and civilian, likely his father or older brother.
Harper’s Ferry, meeting of the Potomac and the Shenandoah, July 1865.
Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform.
Libby Prison, Richmond, Va., August 23, 1863.
Unidentified African American Union soldier with a rifle and revolver in front of painted backdrop showing weapons and American flag at Benton Barracks, Saint Louis, Missouri.
Manassas, Virginia. Camp of General Irvin McDowell’s body guard, hand colored photographic print.
Unidentified soldier in uniform with young woman, probably his wife.
Secret Service agents, Whitehouse, Va.
Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform of the 11th Virginia regiment with knapsack and bedroll.
Dinner time in camp.
Unidentified woman wearing mourning brooch and displaying framed image of unidentified soldier.
Confederate artillery near Charleston, S.C.
Unidentified soldier in Union uniform with Company E, 12th Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers hat.
Confederate prisoners at Belle Plain Landing, Va., captured with Johnson’s Division, May 12, 1864.
1863, Interior view of Fort Sumter showing ruins and explosion.