コーンブレッドからキャビア-再び元に戻す

（そして、再び？）

1925 - 1943

私は海兵隊のブートキャンプにパリス島に送られてまで、私は海を見たことがない。 私は43の国でされており、数えて以来 - 72歳のために、私は火にいくつかの興味深いプロジェクトを持っています。 しかし、これらのプロジェクトは、奇数時に表示され、間に、私は、私は"我慢"に幸運を持っていた経験があるのビットに渡すことによって、自分自身を楽しませるしようとしています。

何年か前、私は"国際ジプシー"としての私のキャリアを始めたとき、私はビジネスレターは、基本的に退屈されたこと、その結果、通常は無視されたと感じた。 私は多分、受信者の注目を集めるような方法で書いてみるようになった。 この結果、年間の友人や同僚で"あなたが書く必要があります。"と述べている

私は、事前に十代と十代の頃は野球の多くを演奏し、それがプロ野球選手になるとよいと思いました。 我々は、日本、日本の背中を送ってきた後、たくさんやることがなかった私は、米国海兵隊の1946年に中国にいたとき私たちは野球チームを開始した。 私はレジメンタル最初のチームを作ることでしたが、私はシカゴホワイトソックスのブルペン投手をしていた仲間に対して一度打席に立つでした。彼は時速90マイルで接近アスピリン錠のように僕には見えた速球を投げたと審判が"ストライク"を叫んだ。 別のスト - 彼は私を死ぬ怖い番目を投げた。 第三ピッチは右利き打者をされて、私の頭で右来て、私は殺さから保つために三塁線を駆け下りた。 これは、プレートの中心部の湾曲、審判が"ストライクスリー"を叫んだ。

私は、私はプロ野球選手になるつもりはないことに気づいた。

また、私の十代の若者たちの間に、私は、地元のダンスバンドで演奏サックスを始めた私の野望は、多くの良いバンドの一つの側面の男されることになった。 これは、"スイング"の時代であったビッグネームがされたミラー、グッドマン、ドーシーなど

1942年の12月で17の高齢で、私はノースカロライナ大学でバンドから電話があった。 彼らが起草されていたクリスマスと新年の季節やその5サックスプレーヤーの4ツアーを予約した。 彼らは私とそれらを結合する我々の地元のバンドの二つの他のメンバーを招待した。 このツアー中およびそれ以降の中国では、私は本物の才能の人々と働いていたところ、私はプロのミュージシャンになるつもりはないことに気づいた。

いくつかのように最高ではない - - 華麗な作家の多くが読み終えた後でも、私はどちらか、このフィールドにプロになることはありませんことを認識 - が - 私はいつか場合には孫のためにこれを書いていこうと思います、彼らが知りたいと思うかもしれません彼らはどこから来たの。 （通常、私は言っただろう"どこから来たの"しかし、私はウィンストンチャーチルは、文の末尾に前置詞を持つために議会で非難されたときに覚えている。彼はこれが見当違いである"と言ってrebukeに答えていると私はしませんプット"。

初めての人は"あなたが書く必要があります"私に言った、私が到着したとき、私は手紙が毎月よると、見つかったファイルを介して行っていた。私が最初にグアテマラに到着したときウェイヤーハエウサー本社に私の最初の手紙の結果としてされた詳細以下"売上高は1.3％増、昨年同月比です。 昨年の6.7パーセントとは対照的に、管理費は6.8％です。 在庫は1200トンです。 などなど"

グアテマラの植物がウェイヤーハエウサー基準で、非常に小さなされて以来、私は彼が海外の多くの企業を扱っている場合は特に、誰もこのタイプのレポートを読んで行っていたことを決めた。

次のように私の最初の文字がされました：

氏イヴァンウッド

副社長、国際

ウェイヤーハエウサー会社

ワシントン州タコマ市

親愛なるイワンは、

ご存知のように、ユナイテッドフルーツ会社は、独自のボックス工場を開設Cajas yはEmpaquesデグアテマラだけで事業の45％を失った。 当然のことながら、これは先月の損失を作成しました。

我々は、できるだけ早くこれを回復され、ここで私を送って、なぜ私はこれが前提としています。

先週の水曜日にゲリラは、S -以下怖がっている米国大使、ここで外国人のすべてが死亡した。 元海兵なので、私はそれを扱うことができると思います。

私は徐々に文化的な変化に適応し始めています。 私は家のすべてが彼らの周りの壁と芝生と庭園を持っていたことに気づいた着いたときに、この化合物であった。

私は、これは一部正しいですが保護のためだったと仮定が、それはされて、より実用的な理由を持っています。

グアテマラは、6ヶ月間雨季、6ヶ月間乾季を持っています。 乾燥する季節は、極端な水不足が発生する、細菌を繁殖させる。

ほとんどの人が水不足の問題は、飲料水があることだと思います。 ビール、コークス、飲むソーダ水が常に存在します。 本当の問題は、トイレが1つの時間をフラッシュすることができないということです。

、三人で家や細菌は、"青りんごクイックステップ"でみんなを与えたが一度だけトイレの水を流すことができるされてメイドに住んでいるにするには、上記と義務の呼び出しを超えています。

それは私がプライバシーの壁の値と美しい木々や低木庭園内のすべての実用化を実現し、この時であった。

この種のもので多くの経験を持つ私の猫は、第二に来た。

よろしく、

メガバイトティルソン

アッシュビル、ノースカロライナ州

おそらく、この小さな信徒のタイトルが混乱しています - 私が明確にできます。

私は1925年にアッシュビル、ノースカロライナ州で生まれた。 私の家族は"所得"のだった - 。"中産階級"と混同しないように建築の修士号のための彼の論文の中で私の息子は、ビル、"長く興味深い幼年期の後に"書き込み - 私は警官には、このフレーズをご希望ですかので、私も長く、面白い子供時代を持っていた - が、中所得南部家族をされて、我々はフライドチキンとコーンブレッドを食べた。 私が今までシュリンプカクテルとキャビアを持っていた前に、これは年間ではありません - が、彼らは良いです！

そして今、退職後、我々はコーンブレッドに戻っている。 ほんの少しの運では、マッカーサー将軍のように、おそらくいくつかの複数のハードワークは、数年以上、、、我々は返還しなければならない。

偉大なジャズシンガー、パールベイリーはかつて"私は貧しいしていると私は豊かなてきたほうがよい"と述べた。

私の話は面白いされている場合、それは誰と私が関連付けられている面白い人だけのためです。 このような理由から、私は多くの物語を語るが、命名名前のない一部が"無邪気で保護するために"。

私は過去、それが後者よりも前者の詳細があるので、将来のよりも上に住む場合。

私が開始する場所は先頭にあると思います。 私はアッシュビル、ノースカロライナ州で生まれ、メルビンブラティルソンさんこれは私が長年にわたって私で立ち往生しているニックネームは"チャーリー"を取得するための十分な原因であるという。

私の母は、メアリーレーガン、ジュンジエ、JJ、レーガン政権とウィーヴァーヴィル、NCのキャロリンピケンズの8人兄弟の末っ子だった - 大半の"いとこ"や"おばさん"や"おじさん"としてアドレス指定された500人の大都市にもかかわらずがある可能性があります家族接続されていない。 これは、その時点で尊敬の念を表すでした。 また、奇妙な方法で便利になった。 フランク伯父さんWeaverはメインストリートのベンチに座っていた。 彼は半ばごろビットラウンドを得ていたので、彼はすべての道を彼のズボンを圧縮できませんでした。 その後、家族の男性メンバーの一人は、我々は、"こんにちは、フランク伯父さん"と犯罪者は、彼が忘れていたかすぐに実現と言っていたzip化することを忘れないだろうというとき。

パパレーガンは、我々の祖父と呼ばれる、として知られていた"米国での第八位の数学者。"これが受け入れられ、それは彼の死亡記事で登場しました。 しかし、 - 10歳の時、私は？"をどのように評価の数学を行う"ヒット対回の打席で計算されます首位打者を自問し始めた。 卒業生総代の成績の合計によって決定されますが、どのように数学をランク付けするのですか？

それ以上の年齢のように育った私は、進化と思うタイトルは、この方法を私が考え出したから。

オッドフェローズホールは、ローカル収集スポットウィーヴァーヴィルの男性のための社交クラブであった。 ここで彼らは、たばこや遊びドミノをかむことができます。 私は実際にゲームを理解していないが、私は、彼らはそれを果たしたように、それは数学的な運動であることを知っていますか。 彼が良かったので、パパは、通常獲得した。 彼は、イェール大学、ハーバード大学教授と一致し、それらを解決するために、お互いの問題を送った。 それがされた彼は、夜中に飛び上がることを、彼の夜のシャツを着て問題に答えを書き込み、スリープ状態に戻りますが、言った - これはまだランキングに応答しません。

私は、徹底的に"Fessor"レーガン、グループの1つによる暴行された後、おそらく"Fessorは本当に頭が言ったことを視覚化する。 彼は"国で最高の数学者である必要があります。 もう一つは答えた。"さて、私は知っているわけではないことアインシュタインフェラーあると彼はかなりスマートだ"。 そして、議論の後、彼らは彼がナンバーワンではなかったかもしれないが、彼は数8でなければならないことに合意した。 それは私の理論ですおそらく彼は3番だった - 誰が知っていますか？

大学教授はさらに悪化し、彼らは今よりも支払われていたので、パパレーガンも測量され、彼は保育園と小さな農場を持っていた。 それは、それは果物の木、農地や牧草地を持っていた本物の山に比べて小さいけれども彼は、彼の家の後ろにいたハンブルク山を所有していた。 彼はまた、国のハムは、硬化させた煙の家を持っていた。 これは私の好きな肉のままです。

彼は果物の木を移植して実験を行ったので、彼は、ルーサーバーバンク私は考えますの読んでいた。 私の記憶がすべてのこれらの年後に正常に私を提供している場合、彼は同じツリーにリンゴ、ナシ、サクランボ、桃を持っていた一本の木を持っていた。 私はこの継続はないと思うが、それが移植された年に、果物のすべてが食用された。

メソジスト説教の長い行の子孫 - ママレーガンは、古い学校の神を恐れる女性でした。 私は一日曜日は、パパレーガンは（もファンにしてあった）ラジオでワールドシリーズを聞いて納屋にオフにこっそりことを思い出してください。 ママは安息日に違反してひどく彼をberated。 パパは答えた。"しかし、誰も私を見ることができる"。 するママは"主があなたを見ることができる"と答えた。

多くの場合、私が幼い頃、母の兄弟姉妹とそのすべての子がレーガンの家で夕食を（これは中間日の食事でした）必要があります。 多数のために、我々の子供2番目のテーブルで食べた。 それは私がケーキに嫌悪を開発したとここにいた。 ママレーガンのココナッツケーキは、サハラ砂漠の乾燥され、約スライスごとに8ポンドの重さ。 私の母は私が今まで、私の親愛なるアンと述べている私の人生でそうない料理で、この偉大なスキルを継承しているように見えた"なぜあなたは私の母のような料理ができますか？"

私はパパレーガンにこだわる必要はありませんが、私は上に行く可能性があります。 だから - より多くの事の夫婦のみ。

一度、彼と彼の息子は、当時の最年少は約6歳されて、フェンスの一部を修復するためにハンブルグ山を上って行った。 最年少は、私はそれを"説教"とは、いくつかの他のパパと前方にだったの背後にあるいくつかの方法だったと思う。 突然血液凝結悲鳴があったし、パパは山を駆け上がるようになった。 彼は、恐ろしい悲劇があったと思い、彼は叫んだ"何が起こったのですか？"（私はそれがGradyさんだったと思う）"説教"と交流された最古の背中を叫んだ"彼は足にハンマー落とした。"

パパは"階段を上って行って、その少年を殺す。"彼の妻によるとここは今、仕事から帰国後、ビルコスビーのルーチンのことを思い出す"ハンマーことと、少年を殺す！持っていこう！"戻って叫んで対応

ママレーガンが落ち、私は海兵隊の留守中に腰を折った。 私たちは、言ったように彼女は、老人になった今、私はそれは私が中国から返される前に、アルツハイマー病は、残念なことに、彼女は死亡した知っている。

パパレーガンは、より多くの年間続いて道路を横断中に車で殺された。 車は新婚旅行のカップルで、もちろん駆動され、彼らは荒廃した。今日は、家族は、おそらく訴えているだろうと巨額を要求している。 当時、私は、我々は、これらの道徳に戻る願って、母の家族は、カップルに謝罪85歳で彼は見ていないか、またはあまりにもよく聞くと、彼らは方法が責任を負うていたと説明した。

パートIは、ほとんどが好きで、エミュレートするために願って、彼は女の子の友達に会いに行く途中で伝えていたということです。 （すべての権利アニーは、笑いを終了し、私はあなたがジョージガーシュウィンの曲を考えていることを知っている"これは必ずしもそうではない"、歌詞は言っているの"メトセラは、900年に住んではLivin'を使用するものですがないギャルれます900年ですだれに与える。"）私はできない私を夢見ることができる？

今、レーガン氏の母の世代を通じて迅速に実行してみましょう：

最古のアンナリー（私たちの子供と呼ばれる彼女の"キー"）でした - 彼女は彼女が、その結果、非常に無駄と女優だったこのためと言って私を殺す生きていたら。 彼女はブロードウェイに決してそれを作らなかったが、彼女はボストンでの研究をして、地域や地方の再生で活躍していた。 私は彼女の最後は、チェロキーインディアンの記録された"かれこれらヒルズ"と呼ばれる生産だったと思う。 彼女は数年間これで演奏もして、Hubertヘイズ、ノースカロライナ大学の劇作家によって書かれた"タイトブリッチズ"と呼ばれる成功劇中で主演した。

キーの娘がメアリーマデリーンだった。 キーは、20年母、お母さんとメアリーして、Madeline（マナ）より年上だったので、実際に一緒に育った。 これはおそらく、"山の男の子は"6'背が高く、散弾銃totin'海賊版はUncleを持っていたところルーフという古い漫画のように聞こえる。 アンクルルーフは、おむつされ、約6ヶ月になった - が、それはそれは家族計画する前に、古い時代にされた方法です。

キーはScroupスタイル（あなたはこれらの名前を愛していないのですか？）と結婚

アルマは（我々がTanteと呼ばれる人）看護婦だった。 彼女は弁護士と結婚し、ハイポイントに住んで、私たちは"おじさん野辺"と呼ばれるNCを彼女の夫、Xenobious Walkerさんと命名された。 私は彼の本当の名前を見つけた後、Melvinはそんなに悪い音でした。

私の母は、Maryさん、音楽の才能が1つだった。 彼女は年にメソジスト教会のソリストと、ほとんどの人々に知られていなかった、彼女は、我々は現在、"ホームレスの人々"と呼んで何のために葬式で歌った。 私はこれを見つけたとき、私は誇りに思っていました。

母方の叔父は次のとおりだった：

Gradyは -一次世界大戦中に陸軍したおそらくUSOのの先駆けとなった。 彼は、フランスの前線にした後、戦争についてのいくつかの曲を書いて送られたの周りは、休憩所にいたときに軍隊を楽しませる。 彼は後に出版された"血の戦争"と呼ばれる曲を書いて、これは多くの詩とシンプルな曲回に適用され、私は後で私達の友人のパロディーを書くためにそれ何年も使用されます。

その後、彼は委員の郡委員会の議長を務めた。 これは政治の仕事と明らかに重要であった。 当時は、おそらくないノースカロライナ州やコンブ郡には共和党があったの熾烈な競争があった。 二つの派閥は、"リング"と"反リング"として知られていた。 リングはディーコングリーンによって制御された。 彼が選出されたオフィスを握ったことが、彼はラングレンホテルに住んでいたが、何も最終的に敗北したディーコン。Gradyさんの承認なしに起こったと私は本当に彼は後に何をしたか分かっていない。 私はおばさんグレースは、彼の妻は、アイビーのデパートで働いていたことを知っている。 たぶんGradyは、その後何もなかった。

彼の息子たちがして、Grady、ジュニア、ゴードンであった。 して、Grady Jrは、良好な低音の声を持っていなかったので、彼の父をして、教会の聖歌隊で歌っていた。 私が最後に彼は退役軍人のために働いた、聞いた。 ゴードンはUNCにバスケットボールの奨学金を持っていたと私はチャペルヒルの最後の時間のために彼を見た。 私は中国から戻ってきた私の教育を終了するGIビルを利用していた彼は、若いされて、ちょうどUNCパスを入力した。 私は彼のことを聞いた最後に、彼はパキスタンの外交官だった。

Rob – I assume his name was Robert but I never knew anything but “Uncle Rob”. Rob was a surveyor or, as we say now, a civil engineer. He was quite successful and he built a house directly behind Mama and Papa Reagan. He and Aunt (we pronounced it Ant) Belle had two children – Bobby and Gloria (Glo). Bobby wanted to be a dentist but for some reason never made it. The last I heard of him, he was a salesman for Morton Salt. Glo married a man who had a car dealership in Virginia Beach. When I was in the Dominican Republic, she and her husband (I am ashamed that [MT1] I cannot remember his name) came to Casa de Campo for a golf vacation. Nice people.

Ernest - Uncle “Ern” was a book keeper. He and Aunt Zola (didn't we have some great names?) had 4 children. One was retarded and was put in a “home”. The eldest was Elaine, a delightful lady. She married a Marine captain and, when I was at Camp Lejeune in the Marine Corps, they invited me to their house for dinner. Afterwards, we went to the movies but, since I was a Pfc. and he was a Captain, we separated. I sat down stairs and they sat in the balcony in the officer's section. Today this would probably be called “discrimination” but I think it is correct.

Ernest Jr. (Bud) and Jim were the two boys. Bud and I, being of the same age, were probably closer than any of my male cousins. Bud was a master joke teller, particularly of dirty, but funny, jokes. He ended up as a Navy Chaplain – and quite a good one. Unfortunately, he died in his early 40's. I never saw him after we left Chapel Hill.

Jim was a Marine, like I. But, since there was an age difference, I was not close to him. The last contact I had was from Jacksonville, Fla. Jim had suffered a severe case of arthritis and for much of the time was confined in the VA hospital in Gainesville, Fla. He started a chronicle of the Reagan clan. I shall try to find if he is still at it although I do not have a phone number.

Carol - We called him “Uncle Preach”. He got this name because, as a child he used to go into the woods and preach sermons. This obviously came from the visits of related “circuit riders” who were part of Mama Reagan's family. Preach married “Aunt Ann” – a tiny lady who worked as a bank teller in the local bank. She was a victim of a bank robbery, complete with shotguns and masks, in the local bank. This was the time of John Dillinger and whether it was Dillinger or some other petty thief, we don't know – but it was exciting to think that it was old John.

Their only child was Suzy. Suzy was about 2 years younger than I so we were not close when we were young. However, for reasons unknown to both of us, and although we never saw each other more than once or twice after we grew up, we became “favorite cousins”. Suzy married a great guy who was an executive for Malcolm McLean at Sealand. The last I heard they lived in Connecticut and their oldest son was an Ensign in the Navy. I shall try to find them also.

Scruggs – ( These names get better all the time). Uncle Scruggs married “Aunt Myrtle”. He moved to Evansville, Indiana before I was born so I only saw him on rare visits to Weaverville. They had one son, Jim. I remember him only because, on one two month stay in Weaverville during the summer, he began to gain weight. No one could understand this until he remarked “This is the best milk I have ever had in my life”. Mama & Papa Reagan had cows and kept a pitcher of pure cream in the refrigerator. Jim was drinking several glasses a day. Talk about cholesterol!! The last I heard of Jim, he was in Las Vegas.

In summary, someone once said of my Mother's brothers “Two were serious, solid citizens. One liked whiskey, one liked women and the other liked both.”  Needless to say, I shall not identify them by name.

Enough about my Mother's family. Let's move on to my Father's side.

彼は私の父は14歳のときに亡くなったので、私は決して私の父方の祖父を知っていた。 このような理由から、お父さんは決して学校を終えて - 私は彼が中学1年生に行ったと思う彼は私の大おじ、博士Weaverとこのバグを駆動するようになった後に進化して私の父のニックネーム"リトルドック"の起源は、単に"先生。"

父方の祖母はエッシーペンランドでした。 私はエッシー、実際の名前はないと思うが、それは私達が知っていたすべてです。 これは、ミスエッシーは、もはや彼女の下宿を実行することができますので、社会保障の日前にあった、彼女は私たちと一緒に暮らすようになった。 私は"おばあちゃんティルソン"について覚えている唯一のものは、彼女が、私は7歳のひざ上で私が座っていたとき、私に聖書の物語を読んでいた。 また、彼女は、夏にスイカを務めたの場所に電車で私がかかっていた。 私はまだスイカが大好きです。 彼女は一緒に住んでいたおばあちゃんが死んだ。 私は彼女が私たちは2ベッドルームの家を持っていたので、眠っては考えている。 私の愛する妹"ティル"と私は私の両親は、他のを持っていた、1ベッドルームを共有した。 どこにグラニー睡眠のですか？ - 私はこの瞬間まで、このなんて、考えたこともなかった！

ジョージとエシーは、5人の子供がいた。 最古その後、父メルビンは、ベルタ、エドガー、ハリエット伯父ジョージだった。 家族のこちら側にも偉大な名前を持っていました。

ジョージはおばさんマリアンと結婚 - ヤンキー劣らず。 彼らは子供がなかったが、スコッティ犬を飼って。 犬が死亡していたので、彼らは、ある晩、取り乱したの家に来た。 かれらは扁桃腺が時間内に削除持っていたので、彼らは罪の意識を感じた。 その犬ポンドから、または街から来て、テーブルのスクラップを食べた私たちの残りの部分は、操作のため医者に行くの犬を想像することができませんでした。

私は最近、叔母マリアンは97歳でまだ生きていると本当に"それを"なかったいとこフレッドReevesさんから聞いた。 私は、このスペア。

エドガーは黒い羊だった。 彼は結婚し、一子を持っていた。バーサアン。 バーサアンはハリエットと数年前から住んでいた。 何が彼女の後に起こった、私は考えている。

ベルタは大きかった。 我々は、彼女の叔母ティリーを（ - ティルソンから派生したニックネーム彼女の夫は、フレッド、与えられた彼女）と呼ばれる。 彼らはウィーヴァーヴィルのテニスコート、リームズ川の山の2キャビンと素敵な家を持っていた。 このプロパティは、されたが、おそらくまだ、男の子と女の子のための排他的なキャンプですキャンプセコイアを隣接しています。 フレッドは、彼は、私たちは今日と言うどう銀行のすべてが不況時に失敗し始めたとき、ウィーヴァーヴィルの銀行で働いていた？ - 小型化？

この後、彼らは（または損失）ウィーヴァーヴィルに家を売却し、キャビンに移動します。 彼らは1つに住んでいて、他の借りた。 彼らは昔ながらの方法で行われたログキャビンであったが、非常に食糧は、春の家の中に保持されていること配管は、我々は、"ジョニーハウスユリ"と呼ばれる花に囲まれた素晴らしいうちの建物以外は快適だった。

二人の子供は、フレッド（ジュニー）とメアリーエリザベス（Libba）であった。

私は最近、フレッドと話し、彼はちょうど彼の80歳の誕生日を祝ったていた。 彼はお年寄りが好きではなかったので、彼は多くの友人を持っていないと述べた。 フレッドは、NC州の自宅で裁判所を持っていることの、おそらく結果でテニスチームでプレイ。 彼は戦争がカリフォルニアに移り、不動産事業に参入第二次世界大戦で空軍の後キャプテンだった。 私は、彼はまだこれで多岐に思います。 私は彼がサンディエゴの近くに住んでいるので、ティファナで私の住宅プロジェクトが生じた場合は、彼を見てほしい。

Libbaは商人海洋官と結婚し、彼女はいくつかの世代のための彼女の夫のファミリーの最初の女の子がいたので、彼女は"イブ"という名前の娘がいた。 私はLibbaはフレッドより年上だったので、完全に彼らとの接触を失っている、おそらく彼女は、もはや生きている。

ハリエットはジョンブレイディを、エンジニアと結婚した。 彼らは2人の息子、ジョンとジョージ生産。 ジョンとハリエットは離婚され、ハリエットは政府のために働いてニューヨークに終わった。 彼女は何年か前に亡くなりました。 ジョージは非常に若くして亡くなったニューイングランドしかし、ジョンのどこかに住んでいます。 町はかなりウィーヴァーヴィルに似て - 彼はフランクリン、ノースカロライナ州の新聞の編集者をしていた。

私は叔母ティリーのための特別な愛情を持っていたので、私は約10年間私は彼女のキャビンのいずれかの後ろに木登りして、これらの木に生えていた巨大なブドウの木の上を歩く使う古いされたとき。 彼女は"チャーリーは彼らに登るのが好き"のため、アンクルフレッドは、これらのブドウの木を切ることはできないだろう。

私たちは結婚していた直前に - 私たちが従事していた時に小屋に私の素敵なアンを取った。 私がそうであったように私は、彼女は山に魅せられていなかったことに気づいていなかった、と私はクリークのブドウのつるのスイングと主張した。 彼女はその過程で彼女の足を切って、これはブドウの蔓で彼女の最後の冒険だった。 彼女はベランダでブランコに乗って寝るしかし、か、実際にはそれが完全に失われませんでしたので、リラックス。

- 今、これらの人々のすべての後に沿って"小さなメルビン"がいます。 私は1925年1月4日に生まれ、それがダイアナ元皇太子妃の早すぎる死を見た後、昨日私を襲い、また、シスターテレサは87歳で死去したシスターマリアテレサは、私の前にわずか15年生まれ。 私はこの記録を終了して急いでいた！

しかし、多分信じられない、よく星座の一般的な特性に興味がある - 私が信じるようになってきた。 私は山羊座を午前一般的な特徴のすべてが"ヤギ"私たちに起因した。 私はレオと結婚し、彼女は"ライオネス"の特徴をすべてしている - プリンセスジャングルの。

ではなく、時には素朴な粘り強い個人をとぼとぼ歩くされておりますが、Capricornsので、私の最初の記憶は継手です。一度私たちは私が生まれた直後に移動していたウィーヴァーヴィルで、私たちの家の横にあるフィールドでプレーしていた、と私はポストの穴にステップ。 それは出てこないというように私の小さな足がダウン指摘が下部から平坦行きました。その他、おそらく、より感情的な私は助けを叫んだていたよりも明るくなります。 私は逃したまで、私は、鈍い山羊として、静かに立っていた。 ので、無表情ではなかった私の母は、フィールドに叫んで来て、銀のスプーンで私を探り出した。

私の次の記憶は、私はペットのヤギを持っていたということでした。 私の父は消防車、これを引っ張ることができるヤギのような形をしてワゴンを構築しました。、明らかに私よりも賢い年齢が私のいとこ、"チャーリーと言う、ここに滞在し、出番も緊急の呼び出しを待つ我々は、さワゴンを取ると起きているすべての火災を検討する。以来、何度も"にだまさ"当時、私はそれらを信じていますが、これはされてから私を維持してきた"。

私の次のメモリは、我々はアッシュビルに戻ったときにメリモンアベニューの家を貸与されている。 私は約6歳でしたが、私は自分の部屋でイーゼルに小さな黒いボードを持っていたことを覚えていないが、私は描画すると白のチョークのうち1つだけの断片を持っていた中央メソジスト教会、南の日曜学校ではあったが、色のチョーク。 私はそれを盗んだ！

非常に巧妙なので、私は来週の水曜日ぐらいまで私の部屋でこれを隠した。 次に、 - 私がつまずいて倒れヤードでプレイ中。 私は地面から来て、"私はトリップを見て、落ちや色チョークの箱に上陸した"玄関にいた私の両親に言った。

もちろん、彼らはチョークは3日間の日曜学校から行方不明になっていたことを知っていた、十分な開発のために待機する鋭いした。 私は告白 - 私はこのチョークを見つけることだったか幸運とそれがそこに得られるかもしれませんどのようにするように控えめな質問を私に言って後。 私はチョーク次日曜日戻り、それ以来、私は何かを盗んだことはない。 私はこれで離れてしまっていたことができれば、または私は6歳で投獄されていた場合、私は犯罪者が確認されているでしょう。

なお、中央メソジスト教会南は会衆黒人は意味がないがあった。

ユーモアのある人のように多少知られていた私の父は、私たちは家賃がために来るたびに移動したことを言っていました。 これは真実ではなかった私は約8歳のときに我々は6コールマンアベニューに移動します。 これは、マイル離れたところについてでしたが、それは別の近所だったので、私は友人の完全な新しいセットを持っていることを意味した。

私は6コールマンアベニューのたくさんの思い出を持っています。 これは、原則として階には地下ガレージと、おそらくを700平方フィート小さな家だった。 我々は2つのベッドルームを持っていた。 ママとパパは、1つを持っていたと私は妹2番目を共有した。 グラニーティルソンは、彼女が私たちと一緒に暮らすに来たときに寝ているが、私は知らない。

私の父はいつも私は彼がオールドウェストや映画でカウボーイに夢中だったと思うので、"ホス"を持っていると思った。 レクリエーション公園はラウンドを、バンプ車、観覧車などまた、ポニーに乗っていたメリーゴーランド、動物園を持っていた1930年代のテーマパークの一つでした。 お父さんが、彼らはそれを与えた場合、それ以降見て馬に乗るの所有者は、誰もが公園が閉鎖されたときに、冬の季節に保つためにポニーを持たせことがわかりました。

彼は私の馬だ。 母と妹も喜んでいたが、父は、私と私の友人がいた！

私たちの家は小さいが、多くは戻って300フィートを歩きまわった。 我々は、レンタルプロパティでいたが、父はガレージのドアを閉鎖していた、私の馬"フィリス"の安定の側面のためにそれらを使用する - AKAの"フィル"。

それはあなたが馬を持っている場合がどのように多くの友人素晴らしいです。

フィルはゆったりと妹が高校の出発前には、文法の学校を出てから取得するために使用する、彼女はフィルを取得し、安定的に彼女を連れ戻すメリモンアベニューまで行かなくてはならなかった。 フィルは常にティルの足を踏むように見えたし、馬を知らず、また、それらを憎み、ティルは、あなたがしなければならないすべては足首をピックアップされており、足を持ち上げて知りませんでした。 私は彼女がこの経験でいくつかの下品な言葉を学んだと思います。

同時に、私は犬、猫、バンタム鶏とバンタム鶏ていた。 犬、猫は8匹を持っていた非常に寛容だった12。母の雛を孵化チャボ、6仔を持っていた。

その時私は最初の商用ベンチャーを開始した。 私はドアにドアから雑誌を販売 - 土曜日の夕方のポスト、レディースホームジャーナル。 私は成功しませんでしたので、これで非常に良いものではなかった。 つだけ私は近所の人、ビリーCharnuckleよりも悪い。 彼のアプローチは、ドアに答えて誰に言っていた"あなたはどの雑誌があなたを行う購入したいのですか？"彼らはもちろんですが、"いいえ"と答えてドアを閉めた。

私は11歳のとき私たちはマードックアベニューに移動します。 これが育っている間私が住んでいたお気に入りの場所だった。 一部が駐車された地下室、1つのフロア - それは小さな家だった。 これは、ウィンドウはすべての周りがあったので、そのうちの2つは以前の大規模な太陽ポーチされた3つのベッドルームを持っていた。 リビングルームのオフ小さなバルコニーへの出口で大規模なストレージクローゼットがあった。 私はベッドルームのいずれかではなく、私の部屋のためにこれを選びました。 これは、私のベッドのための十分棚のではなく、多くをより多くの部屋があったが、それは、プライベートで居心地の良いでした。 それは私のためではなく、他のいくつかの欠点があった。 私の妹は、4歳年上されて、かなり頻繁に会社と日付を持っていた。 彼らは、トイレに私の"隠れ家"から取得するリビングルームとしていた、それはリビングルームを通過する必要があった。 私は朝のルートに新聞を運んでいたので、私は彼女が感動しようとしていた場合に、特に、非常に妹に当惑した私の下着姿でリビングルームを約23:00と散策を取得するためには、早く寝た最新の"彼女の人生の愛"。

The main reason I liked this house was the neighborhood. It was known as “Norwood Park” and there was an abundance of kids of all ages. Across from my house was an area which we called “The Woods”. It was perhaps about 5 acres of trees with a creek running through it and a corn field on the other side.  Each summer we built a dam across this creek and created a swimming hole. This was supervised by the older members of the group who were at least 15 years old. The rest of us, ranging from age 8 to 14, were the common labor.  The creek was perhaps 8 feet wide and about 1 or 2 feet deep during normal times. Our procedure, which wasn't bad for a group of kids, was as follows:

We cut down a tall tree – perhaps 30 feet tall with a diameter of perhaps 12 or 15 inches. This we laid across the creek to reach the banks of the creek which were about 5 feet above the creek level. We staked this log down at each end so that it could not move in either direction.

We then began to scrounge all over the neighborhood and any nearby construction site for any lumber which was not tied down. As I write this I realize that we were probably stealing but we never thought of picking up a loose piece of lumber as theft even though we usually did this at night.

これらの板は、45度の角度ごろに置かれた、"峡谷"全体のログ、プールされるもので土の中にもう一方の端に釘づけに一端は我々の両端に開始し、中央に私たちのように働いて、を流れる小川のためのスペースを残して。 木材の下に我々は板をサポートするために岩を積み上げた板の上に私たちが汚れを積み上げた。 この汚れがした小川ベッドとプールが深く大きくする辺の探り出した。

作品の数週間後にダムが3フィート幅約センターのセクションを除いて完了した。 これはその上に働いていた子供たちのすべてを動員する時間でした。 （あなたが建設に参加しない限りは池で泳ぐことができる）。 皆が午前7時シャベル、つるはし、ハンマーとはるかに興奮して到着した。 板の中心に置かれたとき、我々は残りのすべての領域をカバーするために狂ったようにシャベルを始めた。 これは通常、午前9時によって達成した後、オーバーフローするダムの待機をした。

これは、通常は水を我々は全体の流れを閉鎖したため、下流にあったこの時間の間に池が、もちろん、埋めるためには約5日間を要した。 私たちは水のレベルで銀行に枝を入れて、水が上昇していたどのように多くのインチ表示し、その次の日を確認した。 この原始的な測定から、我々は水がダム上を流れるかについてときに推測することができます。

The creek started from a spring on Sunset Mountain and flowed through the Asheville Country Club golf course in front of Grove Park Inn. After it passed our swimming hole, it meandered through the suburbs and about 15 miles down stream, it flowed through farm land. About the 3rd day of no water there would be a farmer walking upstream to see why his live stock were not getting any water from the creek. We knew this would happen so we always had someone on duty at the dam while it was filling up (except at night). When the farmer would inevitably arrive, a signal would go out and any one nearby would come to plead with him to wait “just one more day”. “Please, Mister, don't break our dam”. They never did since they too had been kids.

The overflow was an occasion for celebration. The word went out to the entire neighborhood “The Dam Is Going to over Flow about Midnight!!  We begged our parents to let us go watch and usually they consented and quite often accompanied us.

I learned to swim in this swimming hole and, since it was so shallow, I can dive in a teacup without hitting the bottom. In the early morning it was crystal clear but after 20 kids had been stirring up the mud from the bottom, in the late afternoon it was a dark brown. At night we would take a small piece of wood, about 1 foot square, place a lighted candle on it, tie a string to one edge and float in into the pond. Frogs, attracted by the light, would jump up on the wood and give out what I suppose was their mating call. It was there that I learned to call frogs and this became a great source of amusement at cocktail parties – especially when a frog appeared from a country club pool.

森から池の反対側のフィールドは常にトウモロコシ栽培されませんでした。 時には、彼らはジャガイモを植えて、私たちは泥で覆われて石炭中のいくつかの、ロースト、それら掘るだろうとごちそうを持っています。 私はこれも盗んでいたと思います。

我々は、年齢に十分近い互換性のあることと、実際の野球チーム、近所のサッカーチームをフィールドすることができたが、近所の子供たちの非常に大きな数を持っていた。

この時点で私は新聞のルートで取った。 これはおそらく、若い人たちの最大のビジネスの経験ですが、それは今日存在しません。 それは、ボリュームに他のすべてのように進化しており、現在の若者や移民が大部分を上に提供して雇う自動車と大人によって処理されます。 私のルートは、労働者階級地区に100台のクライアントだった。 彼らは、午前7:00で動作するように行って、午前6時から朝の用紙を望んでいた。 だから - 私は4時に起き：午前6時00分、午前で終了すると、1時間スリープ状態に戻って、学校に行くと立ち上がった。 は学校も、論文を行った私の友人がいた夏の時間では（私たちがメンバーだった）国のクラブでプールに来て、私たちは6:00泳いだ午前中です。 場合によってはガードが出てくるだろうと侵入のための私達を脅かすが、彼は決して彼の銃を取り出し、私たちが平和に残しました。

私もMcIntyreさんの果物店で店員として週末に仕事を得た。 これは、ジョーマッキンタイア、彼の兄と妹によって実行されたレオは、Joeさんの兄がマイアミにボートで入ってきたインドの川とバナナ中央アメリカからの柑橘類と返して、毎週フロリダに半トレーラーを運転した。 スーパーマーケットはその時点で存在していなかったので、他のどこAshevilleのような新鮮で高品質果実できませんでした。 ジョーはまた、果物や野菜カリフォルニアから（当時アッシュビル）のエキゾチックなもたらした。 これらは私の母は愛さアボカドが含まれています。 各給料日私は彼女を買うでしょう。 その時 - 1940年、彼らは$ 1.00かかります。 今日は約$ 20.00だと思う。 アボカドはまだ1.00ドルの費用は約ので、交通機関は私たちの食生活を変更しています。 その時私は、アボカドを憎んでいたが、自生する場所を海外に住んでいるの後で、私はまた、それらの味を開発している - ワカモレ特にインチ

これはうつ病の最後尾にいたので、私は非常に倹約するように教わっていた - 私はどこかに線に沿って失われた形質を - と、私の家族に未知のは、私は貯蓄がアッシュビルのファーストナショナル銀行に口座開設私が支払った。私の論文のルートからの私の費用は、私はMcIntyreさんからの私の小切手を受け取ったとき、私は銀行で、そのほとんどを置く。

I was working full time during the summer so at the end, when school started I had about $250 in the account. This was more than my Father made in a month. One day my passbook fell out of my pocket on the sofa and I did not notice it. My Mother and my Sister found this and were astounded. My Mother casually suggested that I buy some clothes for school so – there went my savings but it did help the family quite a bit because I was still growing and last years clothes did not fit.

I had now graduated from Claxton elementary school and entered High School and I loved every minute of those 4 years. I was a Freshmen for three years. No, I didn't fail – it was a quirk of fate. At that time we had only 11 grades of school. 7 were in elementary (grammar) school and 4 in High School. During the depression Junior High had closed. When I entered Lee Edwards High School I was in the 8th grade. At the end of the year, Junior High was re-opened for one grade so I was a Freshman in the 9th grade. At the end of this year a second grade was moved to Junior High so I was a Freshman in the 10th grade. I graduated at age 16 because I had skipped 1/2 a grade in grammar school. This was not because I was smart but again a quirk of fate.

Today one must be 6 years old in September to enter the first grade. When I entered school, being born in January, I entered in grade 1-A in January. When I was in the 3rd grade this system was abandoned and we had entry to school only in September. Those of us in the “middle” had to either move up 1/2 grade or move back 1/2 grade. I was moved up so I gained 6 months on most of the normal graduates.

When I started High School I carried as heavy a schedule as was allowed. Most people had a “Study Hall” but I never took one, preferring instead to take both Band and Physical Education – both of which were electives. I loved sports and played everything, but not good enough to make either the varsity or to think of an athletic scholarship to college. My Mother, being a musician, wanted me to study piano. At this time any boy who played piano or took dancing classes was a “Sissy”. I have regretted my decision to bow to peer pressure to this day.

Because of my overbite, I was assigned to the clarinet and I played a very exuberant, if not inspired 3rd clarinet in the High School band. For graduation my family gave me an alto saxophone. I had never played sax before but I loved it. I began to play in the local dance bands. The first was formed by a transfer student from New Mexico. His name was Bob Shamaskin. He was known as “The Jerk from Albuquerque” but he was a nice guy and gave me my first chance.

After this band folded I joined one of my friends from Norwood Park who had become an accomplished trumpet player. His name was Arthur Weneje. During this era the bands were named after the leader. This was before we got names like the Grateful Dead, Three Dog Night, the Rolling Stones etc.

Our first job was for the graduation at the Asheville Normal School (this was what teacher's colleges were called in those days). We all griped a bit about being paid $2.50 for the evening but Art said “Listen, these people hired us without ever hearing us. This is our first job so play as best you can and we will get other jobs.”

We were pretty good for a young band and our next job was a debutante ball at the Vanderbilt Hotel. Here I first ran into Union problems. The local musicians union threatened to boycott the Hotel Vanderbilt for hiring a non union band. This came out in the newspaper under the headlines “Local Union Wants To Kill Ambitions of Teenagers” – so they never followed through.  But – we also never got another job at the Vanderbilt.

Our next job was on the local radio. Of course we were not paid for this. But as a result, we got a job playing for a Fraternity Dance in Spartanburg , SC the idea of getting an out of state job was unbelievable , particularly since we got $5.00 each plus expenses.

The band eventually broke up for lack of work and we all played “gigs” whenever we could and people who could not get a job at other time of the year could get one at Christmas. During the Christmas season and New Year there was always work because there were perhaps 3 bands in the area and 15 parties. Many times I went on a job and the first thing we did was to shake hands with the other members of the band and say “I am pleased to meet you”.  After the audience had a few drinks, the band sounded great.

World War II had now started and, being almost of age, we were all ready to go. I joined the Marine Corps in November of 1942 at age 17 but was not called up until July of 1943 when I graduated from Biltmore Junior College (now UNC- Asheville).

For reasons which I still don't understand, I was awarded a huge dictionary at graduation from Biltmore College for being the outstanding student. I still have it somewhere. My only regret is that, being caught off guard, I did not have a proper acceptance speech. What I should have said was “Ladies and Gentlemen, Distinguished Faculty and Guests, there are only 3 reasons why I have been accorded this honor. My sister is not here tonight because she is at school in Greensboro but the other two reasons are here. Please stand up Mom and Dad.” I hope all three can hear this, where ever they are.

I joined the Boy Scouts at age 12 and this was where I learned many things, which, joined with the principals taught to me by my family, church and school is probably why I did not find it necessary to carry a gun to school and shoot at random.

Being a Capricorn, I seemed to be singled out as a leader – although I never sought this. After about 2 months into Troop 4 I was picked to be the patrol leader of the Nighthawk Patrol at age 12. This consisted of 10 other kids and was no big deal – but I learned some things. In my first year at Boy Scout Camp there was a contest among all of the Patrols. The brand new Nighthawk patrol with its brand new patrol leader quickly fell behind. At one location we had to build a fire with two matches, at another we had to tie the proper knots to move a fallen tree etc. There was a counselor at each location and as we reached the one about 3 from the end, all other patrols had finished. I said to the counselor “We might as well quit. Everyone else has finished.” He replied “There is some honor in coming in last. There is no honor in quitting.” I have come in last a lot of times since then but I never quit.

One of the volunteer jobs I had was to hold the ropes around the greens at the first Land Of The Sky professional golf tournament. The favorite was Ralph Gudhal who had just won the US Open. He did not win because a young ex caddie by the name of Ben Hogan won his first tournament there.

I did not have dramatic talent but I was interested in the theater so I joined the stage crew in high school. The Lee Edwards High in Asheville always did well in drama, as well as football, and we went to the regional competition at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Our entry was an original play, written by the drama teacher and it had a mountain theme. We on the stage crew had made the props which were the inside of a mountain cabin. One of the props had a gun rack which held a rifle. That particular prop warped on the trip down and we brought it back straight with a stage brace. Miss Welch was ecstatic with our ingenuity and we were proud. It was fine until the middle of the first act. The stage brace slipped, throwing the rifle onto the middle of the stage, almost decapitating the star of the show. For some reason, Miss Welch was no longer ecstatic and we were in the dog house – women are fickle.

After I graduated from high school I enrolled at Biltmore Junior College. The first year, 1941, at “Biltmore Tech” as we liked to call it, was situated in the first floor of the Asheville Normal School. Math had always been my easiest subject in High School and I usually did the homework, if at all, at the end of the class or when the teacher went over the homework at the beginning of the next class.  When I arrived in college I found the game plan was different. Homework was assigned and at the next class another topic was taken up. Quite often it was based on knowing what had been assigned for homework – I almost failed. I got on the ball and recovered because I remembered my experience in taking 4 semesters of Latin. I got an A, a B, a C and a D. Seeing the hand writing on the wall, I quickly switched to French class.

The second year, 1942, Biltmore Tech moved to an old orphanage. It was an ideal location for a school with several hundred people because the rooms had not been private so they were large enough for a classroom, there was office space and the yard was very large with beautiful oak trees. I had never cut a class in my life but on one gorgeous spring day, I could not resist. Instead of attending economics class, I retired to the lawn and propped myself up against one of the large oaks and let spring fever attack. In about 10 minutes Mr. Junuis Allison, the professor, brought the class outside to have class under the trees. Spotting me at the next tree he said, “Good afternoon Mr. Tilson. Would you care to join us?” My answer is rather obvious – so much for being a truant.

The male population and the faculty of Biltmore College was fast being depleted because of World War II. The math professor was called by the government for one of the agencies, the chemistry professor was hired by DuPont, the language professor (he taught both French and Spanish) was commissioned in the Navy, learned Japanese and was sent to the Pacific to de code intercepted messages and the Phys Ed teacher was called up by the Navy to train recruits.

The male student body was also being depleted by the draft. In 1942 our basketball squad consisted of 6 people. Since the PhysEd teacher had also been the coach, the ole Capricorn ended up being player/coach. Toward the end of the season, we almost won a game.

In October, 1942 we had a special assembly for the male students in which Recruiters from the various branches of service made their pitch to try to get enlistments. The Air Force outlined the glamour and excitement of flying, the Navy gave the old “see the world” bit, the Army stressed how one could learn a trade or a specialty. A Marine Captain stood up and said “I can't make the promises that the others have made. If you join the US Marine Corps you will probably get shot and wash up on the beach of some Pacific Island. But – if you are interested, I will be here as soon as the meeting ends.”

I signed up that day but was not called up until after graduation in July of 1943.

1943 – 1944

EMORY UNIVERSITY

July 1, 1943 I boarded a train for Atlanta to start my interesting time in the US Marine Corps. The Navy had started a program called “V 12″ as a preliminary to Officer Candidate School. The reason was that the armed forces were building so fast that officers and non commissioned officers cold not be trained as fast as they were taken in. V 12 was offered to individuals who qualified and were currently students in college.

Because this was a rather select group, the talent gathered was most invigorating. Because these people came from various schools and were all reasonably bright and physically fit individuals, it made for an interesting time. The good part for us, as participants, was that we were continuing our education although we were also being trained as Marines.

Emory was, and still is, an outstanding university of medicine and ministry. I dare say that it has never been the same since the V 12 of the Navy and Marine Corps descended upon it. We took over the dormitories and bunked 3 to a room in two tiered bunk beds. The good beds and mattresses were stored in the attic – which I later discovered and took a nap on a pile of 6 mattresses every afternoon. I seem to never get enough sleep and can sleep 10 hours every night – although I don't get to. Perhaps it is because my blood pressure runs low or maybe I am just lazy.

Our group had been drawn from the southeastern colleges while other groups in the north and west drew on students from their respective areas. Since Georgia Tech, across town, also had a V 12 unit, our group at Emory came mainly from smaller schools. Besides me and two others from “Biltmore Tech” we had people from Rollins, The University of the South, Bob Jones College, Furman, Newberry and a host of others whose names escape me at this time.

Our routine was a bit different from what I was used to. We were up at 6:00 am, ran one mile, showered and went to breakfast. Then we went to class just as regular college students until 3 pm from 3 to 5 we had close order drill, rifle instruction and ran 5 miles. Then we could play baseball or football until supper (not dinner). Study period was from 7 pm to 10 pm and lights out at 10 pm I have not been so healthy or in such good condition since.

As mentioned above, there was such a diversity of talent available that almost any kind of group could be formed. Word was put on the bulletin board that there was an inspection next month by high ranking officers from Washington and asking anyone interested to become a part of a marching band. In two weeks we had a reasonably good band, complete with an experienced drum major. To our chagrin, there were no majorettes available.

As an off shoot of this, there was a call for anyone interested in being a part of a dance orchestra which was being formed. I joined this along with some really good musicians and I learned a lot.

Since there was a shortage of men outside of the service, the girl's schools had a difficult time getting enough for the Christmas dances. My roommate, Adrian Testerman, knew a girl from Brenau and she invited him to attend the Christmas dance at the Tri Delta sorority and bring two friends. Hap Marshall and I gladly accepted.  Brenau is in Gainesville, Georgia so we took the train from Atlanta – about a one hour trip.

My blind date was Denny Williams. Denny was engaged to an Ensign and she was not overwhelmed with me nor I with her. I spent most of the time with her roommate, a vivacious young thing named Ann Sholes and as the Sicilians say, I was struck by the thunderbolt. I had a date with Ann the next day and we walked around Gainesville. Ann, always the adventurous type, did not tell me that the girls were prohibited from walking in the city without permission. We were accosted by an old maid teacher who ordered us back to the campus and told me “We think boys would rather marry Brenau girls who have been brought up properly. I replied, in my usual smart mouth way “I just came for the week end, I did not come to get married.” Little did I know that the old biddie was giving me an accurate forecast of the outcome. Ann was in her first year at Brenau but she was a sophomore. Her freshman year was at Stevens College in Missouri but with the cost and travel time involved in going from Lynchburg to Missouri, her parents felt it better that she get closer to home.

Ann and Denny came to Atlanta in a few weeks and we went to the Fox Theater to a movie – that was about all we could do. They returned the same night, after curfew and sneaked in a bottle of rum purchased in Atlanta. Someone squealed and they were campused for a month.

Toward the end of my assignment at Emory, Charlie Smith who had married my cousin Mary Madeline came through Atlanta. Charlie was an executive for FW Woolworth. He took me to dinner at the Biltmore hotel and asked if I liked shrimp cocktail. I said “Yes” but the truth is I had never had one… (Caviar was starting) he also took me to the Fox Theater, which is still the place in Atlanta for entertainment. The featured performer was Eddie Peabody, the King of the Banjo. Many years later while I was attending a meeting of the Fiber Box Association, Eddie was the featured entertainer. The president of the Association, after the cocktail hour had been in session, introduced him as follows: Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a rare treat for you tonight. Eddie Playbody is going to pee on his banjo.

Feeling like a man of the world, I wrote Ann and said “We probably won't see each other again but it has been fun.” She was distraught because now she had only 5 boyfriends instead of 6.

1944

DUKE UNIVERSITY

As more and more of the V-12 group were sent to Parris Island, Camp LeJeune and Quantico, the V-12 program began to contract and the operation at Emory was closed and after 6 months at Emory the remaining personnel were sent to Duke.

Another marvelous opportunity to attend a first rate University.

We were at Duke only 3 months but it was fun, interesting and educational. There was a dance band in existence there and I joined it and was asked to switch from alto to baritone sax. This was because I was not very good and no one wanted to play baritone but I did it quite well. There I learned that a baritone sax really does not play with the sax section. The arrangements were written so that the baritone plays kind of a counter melody with the trombones and bass.

It was also there that I had my first beer. Having been raised in the Methodist church, any alcohol was forbidden and even at communion they gave grape juice instead of wine. This is how Mr. Welch, who was a devout Methodist, started his company “Welch's Grape Juice”. After reading the Bible I found that Jesus drank wine so who am I do otherwise?

The Duke campus at that time was split – one part was for males and one part was for females. There was a bus which took us to the girl's campus but we had to register to enter. How times change. There was also a large bronze statue at the entrance of the girls campus of Mr. Duke seated. The legend at that time was that the statue would stand up if a virgin entered.  Today he would probably remain seated but times were different then.

There I also learned a bit about people. We were told that the workers who cleaned the halls (we cleaned our own rooms) would ask us for a loan. The people “in the know” said “If they ask for a loan of $5.00, don't loan it to them because they will dodge you forever. But, instead, give them a $1.00 and they will be forever loyal”. それについて考えてみてください。

I always seemed to have two close friends. I have found that this is about the total number of close friends one can have even though you may have hundreds of acquaintances. My two close friends at that time were Harrison “Hap” Marshall and Adrian Testerman. Adrian was dating a girl on the other campus whose name was “Bobbie”. A delightful, intelligent and very rich girl. Unfortunately, she was born with an eye problem and Hap and I would say “Are you still dating Cross?”

After the war, Adrian married Bobbie and Hap and I were humiliated since we were invited to the wedding.  I am still in touch with Hap who lives in Greenville, SC but we have not seen each other for a long time. To my distress, I found that Adrian and Bobbie had divorced, Adrian married a second time and passed away a few years ago. Our reunion, which we had planned for years, will have to wait.

So – on to

1944

PARRIS ISLAND

There have been many books written and movies made about Boot Camp in the Marines and it is something special and is part of the reason for the reputation of the Corps. It was tough but perhaps we had it a little easier than a raw recruit coming in cold. The job of the drill instructors (D I's) was to instill blind discipline (which they surely did), teach us to march and strip an M-1 rifle. We already knew how to do the last two so their job was easier. For this reason, we perhaps did not get as much abuse as is normal. However, I do remember when I lost my locker key. The punishment for this was to put a bucket over your head, run up and down before the Platoon flapping your arms like wings and yelling “I am a shit bird from Yemassee, I lost my locker key”. Yemassee was a small town on the mainland across from Parris Island. Our train stopped there on the way from Durham to Parris Island and it was not exactly the Orient Express. There was such a shortage of rail cars that everything which would run was pressed into service. Ours had kerosene lamps and a pot bellied stove for heat. Although we griped about this, the guys from the First Division who were on Guadalcanal would have swapped with us gladly.

This was when I first learned of Government Morals. I had always been taught “Thou shalt not steal”. When we reported, we were issued two sheets and a blanket for the bunks. When I went in to my assigned bunk, there was no blanket. I reported this to the DI he said “I signed for all of these blankets so you will not go to lunch with the rest of the Platoon but when we get back from lunch I expect to see a blanket on your bunk”.  The message was clear and while everyone was a lunch I went to the next Platoon and stole a blanket. How many times this happened and who finally ended up without a blanket, I do not know.

One of our lessons in Boot Camp was to learn how to box. The assistant DI said “Today we are going to learn to box. Are there any professional boxers here?”  No hands were raised. Are there any Golden Glove Boxers here?” Two hands were raised. “You two fall out”. “Are there any college boxers here?”  4 hands were raised. “You 4 fall out”. “Are there any street fighters here?' Two hands were raised. “You 2 fall out”.  “Now, after eliminating these people, I assume that I know more about boxing than you.” and he proceeded to give us a lesson from which even the pros and amateurs learned something because it was not just boxing but total self defense. He taught us that, if the Marcus of Queensbury rules don't apply, a blow to the Adam's apple, a kick on the knee, a stomp on the instep and other areas which shall remain unmentionable, is more effective than a right cross to the jaw.

Our DI's were very good and honorable but tough. Some were not so honorable. One of my staff when I was in China told me a story about when he was in Boot Camp. In the barracks there was a walled off section where the DI lived. My friend told me that one night when they had just come back from “chow”, the DI was in his room. In a loud voice he said “I had $5.00 and I was going over to the NCO club to drink some beer but I lost the $5.00 somewhere – so, I guess we will have to stay here and have a field day (which meant scrubbing the floor with toothbrushes).

One of the recruits yelled out “I found 50 cents of your $5.00. Another chimed in “I found 75 cents” until the entire $5.00 appeared and the DI had his evening and the boots had some rest.

After 4 weeks we earned the ultimate privilege – going to a movie.  The screen was outdoors and we arranged our selves in the sand. If you build up a little mound behind your back, it can be quite comfortable sitting in the sand. Before we went we asked “What is on at the movie?”

The DI's always replied “12 rounds of grab ass starring Shirley Temple and Boris Karloff.” I guess this was part of their training – but you know, the expression “Grab Ass” was pretty accurate when applied correctly. If you remember when you were a pre teenager, all of the boys were constantly tripping each other, pushing each other, grabbing each other and fretting the girls. Other, more civilized persons than Marines probably called this “Horse Play”.

Before I leave Parris Island I must speak of the sand fleas. The environmentalist will tell you that every living thing on earth has a reason for being. If the sand flea has a reason, it must be to pester Marines at Boot Camp. When you are in formation at attention, you cannot move a muscle. If a sand flea crawls up you nose, as they are prone to do, all you can do is swallow them. At any formal parade on Parris Island you would hear “snuff, snuff” – indicating that another sand flea had bitten the dust – or at least the digestive tract. Are they rich in protein? Only the DI Knows.

Then we graduated and received the rank of PFC – Private First Class!!

This meant $5.00 per month raise and an attitude of superiority over the poor buck private.

Also, if you shot Expert on the rifle range this meant another $2.50 per month plus a medal.

And – off to Camp Lejeune to learn how to kill Japs (although we did not really want to kill anybody – except for a few DI's)

1944-1945

CAMP LEJEUNE (1)

Although I did not realize it, this was to be my first time at Camp Lejeune. It is perhaps the largest base in the Marine Corps and is situated in the eastern part of North Carolina, close to Jacksonville NC and not too far from Wilmington NC How many square miles it encompasses I do not know but it numbers in the hundreds of thousands and borders on the Atlantic Ocean and the Inland Waterway.

We were put in Companies according to our age (which at that time was 19 for me and the others in our company). We now had a collar adornment which said “OCS”.  This stood for Officer Candidate School. Needless to say, the other troops training at Camp LeJeune did not like us very much.

One thing I have found in war time is that those who survive do not talk about the terrible things which happen but about the funny things. I recall that we had maneuvers in the Boondocks and we had a box lunch. This consisted of a ham sandwich with mayonnaise. Having been in the heat for a long time, when we ate the sandwich, it got all of us.

Upon returning to the barracks, it hit us. After much study by architects and engineers it was determined that toilet facilities are needed for 5% of the group involved. When 100% have the “Green Apple Quick Step”, 5% ain't enough. I recall going into our own bathroom which had about 10 toilets and saying “Please get up”. The occupant would say” I would like to but I can't”.

Then I would go to the next barracks and say “Please get up”. The occupant would say” I would like to but I can't”.

Statistics do not always work.

My Mother sent me some candy and I ate it all in one night. The next day I had a stomach ache. I went to sick bay and asked for some medicine. The doctor said “Let me check you”. He punched on my stomach and I almost jumped through the ceiling. He said “You have acute appendicitis. I am sending you to the hospital”. I was put in a truck with a group of prisoners who were also going to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital and sat on benches, waiting. After about 2 hours they got to me and asked for the papers I was carrying. The nurse said “My God, you have acute appendicitis. Get on this stretcher”. I was sent to the operating room and operated on immediately. Instead of stitches I had staples. These rusted and gave me some problems. I don't think the surgeons use these anymore. I was in a ward of about 150 others, most of whom were gunshot wounds from Guadalcanal so I felt kind of inferior – but it was a fun group. When the lights went out there were always jokes and songs – mostly vulgar. After about 4 days I was up on my feet and was assigned to clean the bathroom even though I could not straighten up.  One day, after mopping the bathroom a Lieutenant Nurse came in and said “This is not good enough. Do it over”. As she left I said “Bitch”. She said “What did you say?” I said “I have an itch under the scar”.

After two weeks the doctor came in and said “There is a hospital in your home town of Asheville. We can send you there for two months to recuperate”. I declined this because I would lose my class and would fall behind. If I had accepted this I probably would not have gone to Guam or China. Was I smart or stupid?

We worked hard and learned a lot. The war was in full force in Europe and the Pacific. We were headed for the Pacific and we knew it.

I began to write to Ann again and while she was still preoccupied with other suitors, I was still enchanted. To my surprise and pleasure, I found that because of transportation and cost to Brenau, she had transferred to Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Va. which was close to Quantico where I was going next.

1945

QUANTICO

I arrived in Quantico and, although it was tough, I enjoyed it thoroughly. This was Officers Candidate School so we had a few amenities which we did not have in Parris Island or  Camp LeJeune. We ate at tables for four with chairs instead of a long table on benches and we were called “Mister”. The best part was the quality of the instructors.

Although our primary purpose was to learn to kill people, we also learned the skills of leadership and organization. Both of these principles apply to life in any field. Since that time, I have been interested in the principles of leadership and organization which are put forth by many prominent people. I am not a great student of the Bible but if I remember correctly, Moses, who was known for his leadership, found himself bogged down in settling disputes among his subjects and did not have time to govern. He went to his father in law whose name was (I think) Jethro. Jethro said “Make men captains of tens, captains of hundreds and captains of thousands – then you work with the captains of thousands but don't forget the individuals. This has remained a principle of the military, business and government.

General Eisenhower said “Leadership is a business of push and pull. If you put a piece of string on the table and push it, it will fold up. If you pull it, it will follow you. If you want a promotion, you must push the person above you to create a spot for your promotion but – you must also pull the person below you to fill your spot so that you can be promoted.”

Henry Ford, who did not invent the automobile but who did invent mass production, was once asked by reporters “Mr. Ford, are you an engineer?”  He replied ” No, but I can push this button on my desk and the best 10 engineers in the country will be here in 10 minutes”. He was not afraid to surround himself with good people.

Again, at Quantico, we had a relatively easy time compared to the people who came in cold. There was a program where applicants came in directly from civilian life and had to be taught all of the basics of being a Marine. We had been in V-12 for a year, in Parris Island for 10 weeks and Camp Lejeune for a year. This made it easy for the instructors so they made it (relatively) easy on us.

As in all walks of life there are tragedies but in the military there are more than normal. My fist view of a dead person was at Quantico. We went into the field to be shown how to blow a tank trap with explosives. We were perhaps 1/2 mile away and when the charge was set off great pieces of rock and dirt were blown into the air. The explosive was too big and rocks began to rain down on us. One large rock, the size of a basketball hit one of our platoon on the head. He was perhaps 20 feet away from me. He died instantly.  This was my first real insight into the horrors of war – but it happens on the highway at the rate of 50,000 per year.

I called Ann and arranged our first date as soon as I had a free week end. I went to the train station to go to Fredericksburg and was hit by the “Gallops”. I went to sick bay and they gave me paregoric. This stopped the problem but I felt terrible. When I got to Mary Washington I went through the grilling that the house mothers used to do and they called Ann. I shall never forget her running down the hall, dressed in a gray flannel skirt, a pink angora sweater, pink angora bobby socks and loafers. She threw her arms around me and gave me a big hug. I was hooked.

We began to meet in Washington, DC which was a short train ride for both of us. Ann stayed with her Aunt and Uncle – Bill Clarkson who was a Colonel stationed at the Pentagon. Colonel Clarkson was very self confident gentlemen and many called him arrogant – but I liked him. He was in the army before the war started and was a Warrant Officer. I don't know if this rank still exists but at that time it was between “enlisted” and “officer”. When the war started he was promoted to a commissioned officer – a Captain I think – and was sent on a special mission to General Clair Chennault's “Flying Tigers”. They were volunteers fighting with China against the Japanese. Colonel Clarkson got sick and was flown to Hong Kong for treatment. While he was there, the Japanese attacked and all of the Americans were taken prisoner. Bill told me they spent 5 days on the roof of the American Embassy firing at the Japanese Zeros with 45 caliber pistols.  This is like a bullfighter attacking a bull with a pen knife but it was all they could do. Hong Kong fell and they were captives. For about one year, he was missing in action as far as his family knew. During his captivity he drew up some “official” documents transferring himself to the diplomatic corps. After about a year there was a negotiation whereby the diplomats were returned to the USA on a Swedish ship – I think it was the Gripsholm – and he was on it. While the ship was leaving the harbor his subterfuge was discovered and the Japanese tried to stop the ship but the captain would not turn back so Bill returned to the USA.

He was sent to the Walter Reid Army hospital at Bethesda because of under nourishment. After checking him, the doctor said “We have to get some weight back on you. To help your appetite, what would you like to drink before dinner?”  He said “I would like a Scotch and soda”.  – and that was his medicine. It don't get no better than this in the hospital

I called Ann for a date in Washington and this was before direct dialing. The operator said ” President Roosevelt just died'. I got the news before it came out in the papers and CNN was not in operation at that time.

At that time a hotel room in Washington was almost impossible to get but we had a system. The Willard hotel, an old but famous hotel always had suites available. Five of us would go together to rent a suite and although there were only two beds. We would sleep on the floor, sofa or wherever. Since we did not sleep much on the weekends it really did not matter. One weekend Ann did not have permission to visit her Aunt and Uncle but she came to Washington anyway. Her friend came with her and others in our group at the Willard had girl friends. We all stayed in the suite. Fear not – this was not an orgy. We were of a different generation so we moved the mattresses off the bed and two girls slept on the springs, two on the mattresses and the guys slept on the floor. Since one bed was in one room and one in the other, we had to pass the mattresses through the window since they would not go through the door. We were on the 12th floor. The next morning Ann and I went to have breakfast at a diner across from the hotel. We looked up and saw a mattress being passed from one room to the other on the 12th floor. Fortunately the management was not looking.

On another week end, Ann told me she was “campused” and could not meet me in Washington. I called Sara Bohannon, a good friend and ex classmate at Biltmore Tech who was going to George Washington University. We met and had a good time re hashing old times – nothing romantic. I had always wondered what Sara's father did since they lived in Grove Park, belonged to the Country Club and traveled a lot. I found that he was a lobbyist for the oil industry – an occupation which I am sure is on going.

It turned out that Ann was not “Campused” but was meeting an old high school  boy friend. My friend, Fred Williams bumped into them accidentally and talked Ann into returning on the same train with us. To my surprise, when I went to the station to meet Fred, there was Ann. Stan Kenton was playing a concert at Quantico that night and I asked Ann to get off at Quantico and go to see Kenton because he had Anita O'Day singing with him and she was great. It was strictly prohibited for any girl from Mary Washington to get off at Quantico – but you know Annie – so she did. We were disappointed to find that Anita O'Day had left the band but her replacement was June Christie who went on to her own fame in the Jazz world. We got Ann safely on the late train and she managed to conceal her activities from the Wardeness at the school.

Finally, in June of 1945, graduation day came. I invited Ann to attend. She really wanted to go to the graduation of her favorite cousin, Billy Clarkson at West Point but Billy talked her into coming to Quantico because he was to be married right after graduation and Ann would not really get to see him. I have been grateful to Billy but I never got to meet him. He was killed in a fighter plane crash in Germany.

Ann returned to Asheville with me on the Southern Railroad – what used to be a fine form of transportation. She stayed for one glorious week and when she returned to Lynchburg, I left for Camp Pendleton.

We were allowed the equivalent of train fare from Quantico to Los Angeles with 5 days per diem for meals but the option of how to get there was open. I elected to go by plane – my first trip in the air.

1945

CAMP PENDLETON

I caught American Airlines from Knoxville, Tennessee to LA It was on a DC 3 and took 18 hours. I thought it was incredible. Upon arrival, being a Jazz fan, I went to the Hollywood Palladium to hear Les Brown. Doris Day was singing with him at the time.

The next day I reported to Camp Pendleton and began 2 months of Troop Leaders School. Most civilians think the military spends its time shooting and crawling through the mud – and there is plenty of this – but a great deal of time in training officers is spent on learning how to instruct your troops and to make effective plans. There are many incompetent leaders (and followers) in the military but when the chips are down the cream comes to the top and an Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, Vandergrift, Puller or hundreds of others emerge. The skills I learned there stood me in good stead later in life in business. I had always wanted to be a teacher anyway but I had to wait for my son and granddaughter to fulfill this ambition.

We worked 6 days and had 2 days off so our “weekends” moved up one day each week. This was the pattern in all of the military installations in the area. If a normal 5 day week had been in effect, the number of service men descending on Hollywood, LA and San Diego at one time would have sunk the southern coast of California.

Our normal routine during these two months was to go to the Hollywood Palladium the first night of our pass, meet some girls, dance and do whatever your morals dictated (mine were pretty dull), save enough money to go to Laguna Beach  to drink beer and body surf in the wonderful waves at this beach. I should point out that even though I was a Marine Lieutenant, I could not buy a drink in California because the age limit was 21 and I was 20. Being of sound mind and body and being thirsty I changed my birth date on my ID card from 1925 to 1923 with one stroke of the pen. Also, it was most embarrassing to invite a young lady to dinner and have the waiter refuse to serve you a drink.

One week end a friend asked me to join him in La Jolla which was just north of San Diego (and is now part of metropolitan San Diego). Having no knowledge of Spanish, I was hearing “Lahoya”. I went on the bus, missed the sign and ended up in San Diego.

Then came our orders to pack up and paint “DUVA” on our sea trunks and sea bags.  This was a top secret code but everyone seemed to know it meant “Guam”.

1945

GUAM

We boarded ship in San Diego and became part of one of the most costly mistakes in World War II (of which , I am sure, there were many). The ship was an AKA and the only cargo was 21 brand new, wet behind the ears, Marine Second Lieutenants. While we were zig zaging across the Pacific for 28 days, the atomic bomb was dropped. The crew, knowing that we were the only cargo on a ship which would hold a battalion and equipment, were convinced that we were specialists connected to the atomic program. After denying this for a week, we finally began to say, “Yes, but it is top secret and we can't talk about it”.

Upon arriving on Guam, we were all sent to the Transit Center which consisted of a series of tents with wooden floors. We waited, we waited and we waited. Guam had been “secure” for over a year after the Marines landed there and on Tinian which was close by but there were a number of Japanese in the Jungle who did not get the word that the Island had been captured. From time to time, some of these would be captured and they always wore Marine green underwear which they had stolen off the clothes lines at various locations.

To break the monotony of waiting, I decided to hitchhike to North Field to see where some of the planes had taken off for Tokyo. As I recall, the planes carrying the Atomic Bombs had left from Tinian or Saipan and had landed on the return at Okinawa (they did not have fuel to get all the way back). This explained why taking Okinawa had been so important. While on Guam we saw the battle plan for the invasion of Japan with the estimate of hundreds of thousands of casualties. Thanks to Harry Truman's decision to drop the bombs, I am still alive.

While I was standing on the road waiting for a Jeep or truck to come by and give me a lift to North Field, there was a great crashing sound in the jungle. I was unarmed and assumed that a Japanese soldier was coming out. Instead, a huge water buffalo with big horns emerged. He looked at me, I looked at him. He turned and retreated into the jungle. Only the laundry man and I will know how scared I was.

We were finally assigned to a unit. Five of us were assigned to the 2nd battalion, 22nd Marines. Later, after I was promoted to First Lieutenant and became a human being in the eyes of the enlisted men, the First Sergeant told me that when the 5 of us reported he said “My God, here is the basketball team from Podunk High School”.

Adrian Testerman was in our group and he was assigned to be the Adjutant. I was assigned to be S-2, Combat Intelligence Officer. He and I did some “networking” and found that Hap Marshall had landed and was assigned to the 29th Marines across the Island. We walked over and had a good reunion.

We received orders to pack up and leave for China. I was given a work detail with the second platoon of company D to load the ship. Up until this time, the only command I had had was a platoon or a company made up of officer candidates. All of these were eager to do well and get good grades from the instructors so if you gave a command or instruction, they did their best to comply. How naive can you get when entering the real world?

I marched the Platoon to the dock and met the crane operator. He was leaving for supper and would be back in one hour. He also told me that I needed only half the platoon at one time so I divided them up in group 1 and group 2 and told them to relax until the crane operator returned. When he returned I called out “Group one, fall in”. After several shouts with no action, I began to look around. I found one Marine under a tarpaulin drinking pineapple juice which he had found in the shipment and had opened with a bayonet. When I asked if he were in group one he of course said “No.” Wising up, I found some more, here there and yonder. I would ask which group they were in and when they replied either one or two, I would say “Fall in, your group is working.” In this manner I had gathered up about 10 people. I went to search for more and when I returned there was no one there. I then found another eating corned beef which he had discovered in the shipment. I asked his name and when he gave it I said “Private, you have 10 minutes to find your platoon sergeant.  He reported in about 2 minutes. I told him to locate both groups and have them fall in. He yelled “Alright, all you SOB's from the first platoon, company D, fall in.”  They came from all directions and this was the last time I by passed a chain of command.

We completed loading and left for China.

1945-1946

中国

After about three days at sea we ran into a Typhoon. Ropes were tied on the deck for those who had to go out but most stayed inside. Sleeping was difficult because of the pitching and rolling. When we looked out the portholes at other ships in the convoy, it appeared the Destroyer Escorts were going under. They would disappear behind the waves and then break water like a fish jumping. I am told that even the sailors with much time aboard did not make a meal for three days. We had a Chinese interpreter attached to Division Intelligence and he was sick the whole time. Fearing for his health, we finally convinced him to come to a meal. In the officers wardroom the plates were placed upside down and were turned over for serving when you sat down. This poor fellow turned his plate over and promptly threw up in it. The rest of the table rose, as if on command, and retired.

The fourth day the storm passed and we spent much time on deck watching the flying fish (they don't have those in Asheville, NC) I was standing by a Gunnery Sergeant who had previously been in China in the 30's. I said “Gunny, how will we know when we are getting close?” He replied “You will smell it.”

We were prepared for a combat landing because there were several divisions of Japanese in Tsingtao and we were not sure they had gotten the word that the war was over. However, we received radio messages from the Chinese military that all was quiet so we docked in the harbor. To make sure everything was calm we sent a reconnaissance platoon ashore. This was commanded by a lieutenant who was known by the name of “Whiskey”. This had come from the Okinawa campaign where he was famed for always finding something to drink.

Whiskey was gone for some time with no radio messages and we began to be concerned. He finally returned, without his hat. The welcome from the Chinese was joyful and his jeep had been surrounded by a group of “Ladies of the Night.” They sang out “Fuckee ?, Suckee?” to which Whiskey replied “Both.”

We disembarked and took over Shantung University which had been the Japanese Naval Academy. Field grade officers were quartered in houses outside the compound. We junior officers were 8 to a room in what had been class rooms. There appeared on the scene a Chinaman dressed in a long white gown, just like in the movies. He spoke a little English since he had been houseboy to the Marines in the 30's. He asked for a job as our houseboy and I hired him. He cleaned our room, shined our boots and we taught him to clean our weapons.  This was soon discovered by a Major and since the Field grade officers did not have a house boy, we were ordered to fire him. In about two months, everyone, including the non coms had house boys and we were allowed to re hire our friend.

Our mission was to send the Japanese back to Japan but first we had to take a formal surrender. This took place on the grounds of the local race track. Our division stood in ranks while the Japanese officers paraded by our commanding General and place their swords in a huge pile. (These became souvenirs which were given out by rank. There weren't enough to filter down to 2nd lieutenants.) This ceremony, which was quite impressive, was very tiring. We were at parade rest for over 4 hours in the hot sun. Viewed from the front of the ranks, it was a very orderly, military sight. But – a plane took aerial photos and from about the fifth row back, guys were sitting down, lounging and smoking. When these came out the general's staff spent weeks identifying who was where in each company.

We soon found that the local Generals in the Chinese army were responsible for funding their own armies. This resulted  not only in taxes but there were groups of Chinese soldiers who were going into the European sector, entering the house at gun point and taking whatever was available. We started patrols, day and night, in this sector to prevent this. Most of the European population was white Russians who had been in Tsingtao for years. There were also a few English and French. Most of these were sent back to their own country by the Chinese government and it was tough because many had never been to their own country.

Chang was still in charge at that time but the Communists controlled all of China except those cities where there was a Marine contingent. Besides Tsingtao, we had units in Shanghai and Tientsin. Because of this we had to set up a defense line around the airport and around the whole city. We had gun positions and fox holes prepared and could move out to these in a very short time. Because of some sniping and other activity, we were called to move to these positions several times – usually a 2 or 3:00 in the morning.

On one such trip, as day light crept up, I noticed something moving in the trees. I went to investigate and found a Chinaman hanging, an apparent suicide. His possessions were on the ground – a pipe, a small amount of tobacco and a small pocket knife and from his clothing he was obviously a poor peasant. I did not touch anything and upon our return, I reported this to my counterpart in the Chinese intelligence. We went back to these positions three days later and I found that the poor fellow was still hanging but his meager belongings were gone and his clothes had been stolen. I returned to the city, strapped on a .45 pistol (which I normally did not carry), went to the police station and demanded that someone accompany me to the site, cut the poor fellow down and bury him – and they did.

I tried to get one of the trips on an LST returning the Japanese troops to Japan but they always went with a staff sergeant in charge so I never saw Japan except when I was leaving on a ship for home, I got a glimpse of  Mount Fujiama .

After all of the Japanese had been returned we really did not have much to do. We had close order drill in the mornings and were encouraged to participate in sports in the afternoon. I played a lot of tennis – not exactly the thing you brag about when asked about your military service.

I had the good fortune to report to Captain Jack Marston, an excellent officer and later a good friend. Jack was the son of General John Marston who was the Commandant of Camp Lejeune when I was there. Needless to say, I did not know the General.  Jack was one of the older more experienced officers – he was 25. Our battalion commander, Colonel Stephens was known affectionaly as “The Old Man”. He was 28. I had my 21st birthday in Tsingtao. As best I can remember, it was a fine party and used up our ration of two bottles of bourbon per month for several months.

Since the war was over, many officers who had been desk bound were anxious to have overseas service on their records and many applied. Most of them were excellent officers who, through no fault of their own or because of a special skill, were assigned to Washington. Some were just opportunists. One of the latter was a Major assigned to the Regimental Intelligence Section and when I had the duty as Officer of the Day, he called and said he wanted to accompany me on the inspection of all of the guard posts.

We started at the dock and as our jeep approached we were halted and asked for the password. I gave this and we drove up to the sentry, an old country boy from Tennessee. He said “Evenin' Lt. Tilson, evenin' Major and I replied “Good evening, Herman. Everything quiet here?” “Yessir, no action.” The Major looked at the paper listing all of the guard posts and said “Private this is a two man post. I am going to report your partner for deserting his post!!”  To which Herman replied “Oh he ain't deserted his post Major. We seen you coming and didn't know who you was. He's in that clump of bushes over yonder and he's got an M-1 rifle pointed right at your head.“ To my credit, I was able to stifle my laughter.

Buck Thalheimer, a friend from Quantico, and I became friends with Mr. Yen Chi Dong, a wealthy Chinese merchant who had a big house right outside of our compound. As was the custom, we would take him to dinner one night and the next time was his turn. His beautiful young wife, who I saw by accident once in his house, never was present but his brothers and his mother quite often joined us. Once we went to a restaurant which had 5 floors. It got better as the floors increased. The first floor was for walk in patrons and the fifth, where we ate, was all private dining rooms with each person having a waitress. My waitress had gold teeth and was ugly by any standards. Mr. Yen offered her to me if I wished. Besides her being ugly, I had been so frightened by the training films on VD that I had no interest.

I defended several enlisted men as a result of my reputation on Guam. I had forgotten about this until 1993 when I was handling a loan with option to buy for Cartonera Hernandez. The negotiation was with Union Camp (recently bought by International Paper) and I was thrown against some of the finest lawyers in the USA and Dominican Republic. This resulted in the following letter:

November 15, 1993

To: Dr. Ramon Caceres – Troncoso y Caceres

Mr. Jeffery Fraum Esq. – Counsel – Union Camp

Mr. William Lets Esq. – Counsel – Bank of New York

Lic. Georges  Santoni – Herridia Bonetti

Mr. Victor Alvarez Esq. – White & Case

Mr. Donald Baker Esq.  -  White & Case

From: MB Tilson

Gentlemen,

We have successfully completed the negotiations between Cartonera Hernandez and Union Camp/Bank of New York for the $15 million transaction.

As I recall, the gestation period of an elephant is quite long so I think we have given birth to an elephant rather than a baby.

During this extended period I sent many lawyer jokes to Jeff but perhaps the best joke of the whole transaction was when Jeff sent me a package addressed to “MB Tilson, Esquire”.

Georges Santoni , who received a copy, called me and said “Are you a lawyer?”

I told him it was a joke from Jeff but after I hung up the phone I realized that I was a lawyer before any of you.

In 1945 I was serving as combat intelligence officer for the 22nd Marine Regiment on Guam. We were scheduled for a combat landing on the mainland of Japan but, thanks to the atomic bombs, we were diverted to China instead.

Since Guam was secure, except for a few Japanese in the jungle who would not believe the war was over, we allowed the men to go on liberty into the small villages on the island.

One of the men in my section was put in the brig and was scheduled for a court martial for “lewd and lascivious conduct unbecoming a Marine”.

When I asked his friends what he had done they said “He was waving his dick at a gook girl” (The Marine fighting man was not very reverent).

This was before the Code of Military Justice went into effect and the custom was to appoint an officer as defense attorney. The legal officer of the Regiment acted as the prosecutor. I was appointed as defense attorney and so, I became a lawyer in 1945.

Several of you were not born at that time and I am sure none of you were yet lawyers.

I was eminently qualified for this since I was 20 years old and had spent the last three years learning to kill people.

But – I did learn the dilemma which you attorneys face when your duty is to defend your client even though you know, or at least suspect, that he is guilty.

In this case the client readily admitted that he had indeed done this but he had not been arrested at the scene. The MP's came for him only after the young lady reported him.

He further stated that she had decided not to appear against him and that his story to the Military Police was that he was not in the city but was visiting his brother who was on a submarine which had arrived at the port in Guam.

Since I knew, or at least thought, that the burden of proof was on the prosecution, my defense was as follows:

I did not let him testify. I submitted to the court the record showing that he was off the base on authorized liberty. I entered into the record his statement about visiting his brother on a submarine. He did not name the submarine because the coming and going of submarines was top secret at that time.

Since the young lady did not wish to testify and since the court could not disprove the submarine story, I rested my case.

He was convicted anyway and sentenced to six months in the brig with loss of pay for this time.

After two months, the verdict was reversed by the Judge Advocate General's Office in Washington for lack of evidence. He was released and his pay restored.

The consensus of the men in the Regiment was that he should have been punished but after 2 months in the brig with 10 days on cake and ale (which you civilians would call bread and water), this was enough. Besides, having been in the Pacific for three years, all he was doing was advertising which is nothing but good business.

The word of the reversal spread through the Regiment and, after reaching China, I defended several more cases. I was known to the men as the “Perry Mason of the 22nd Marines”.

So you see, Gentlemen, I am not a lawyer but I used to be.

よろしく、

Having not much to do, we organized a dance band and played at the enlisted club twice a week. The men were allowed to bring Chinese girls to these dances. Three of us were officers and were not supposed to be in the enlisted club so we took off the bars on our collar. Since there were no stripes on our sleeves, we appeared to be buck privates and quite often had to take a lot of lip from drunk corporals. Occasionally a fight would break out between sailors and Marines. The only way to stop it was to start playing The Star Spangled Banner. When the National Anthem was being played, all service men were required to stand at attention and salute. Francis Scott Key never knew how many broken bones, black eyes and bloody noses he would prevent.

I met an English journalist who had been sent to cover the operation. He encouraged me to enter the Diplomatic service when I returned home and finished my education. I asked him why he thought I could be a diplomat and he said ” When we have been playing bridge (which I was just learning) I have seen you open the bidding with two no trump without anything in your hand. As the hand progressed I could see no emotion to indicate that you were in trouble so I made many mistakes, assuming you had something hidden.” I sometimes wish I had taken his advice.

Then came the day we all had waited for. On the bulletin board was posted the names of those returning. These were listed in order of time spent overseas and my name was pretty close to the top since the real veterans of Iwo Jima, Okinawa etc. had already been sent home when the war ended. Also a chance came up for us to fly in Marine Corps fighter planes as passengers to Shanghai, Tientsin and Hong Kong. I did not take this because I was afraid of missing the next ship home. Adrian Testerman took a more logical approach saying “I'll never get this chance again and a few more months won't make any difference.” He took the trip and when he returned I was still waiting for the boat.

One reason I declined was that I had sent Ann an engagement ring and a wedding ring. I don't think I had ever formally proposed but she accepted and sent me a newspaper clipping with her picture and the engagement announcement. She still had a number of boys after her and she continued to date. Absence makes the heart grow fonder – but of whom??  Fortunately for me, when she met me in Asheville upon my return, she agreed completely.

We got word that we were going to pull out and we who remained were transferred to the Sin Wah Hotel. We were there for three weeks while we were loading the ship and the waiters and clean up people were fabulous. You could leave money on the table by the bed and nothing happened. But – the night before we left everyone knew we were leaving at 6:00 am. That morning every watch, fountain pen, wallet and money was gone – as were the waiters, cooks and clean up personnel.

I was in charge of loading the equipment for our Battalion on the ship. I was up for 36 hours and after boarding I slept for 16 hours straight. When I awakened, we were at sea.  A few days later we passed by Japan – but far away – but I did get a glimpse of the top of Mount Fujiyama – Spectacular.

We were on a ship with 5,000 men and the routine for the men was to eat breakfast and then get in line for lunch and after lunch, get in line for supper. Since I had been in charge of loading the ship the Colonel excused me from being on guard duty as officer of the day. Instead, he placed me in charge of the laundry. Can you imagine having to sort out green underwear, all identical except for the name stenciled on them, for 5,000 men?  He did me no favors.

Most of our band was on the ship so we re-organized and played on the fan tail each night. This would normally have been cocktail hour but, as you know, American ships are dry (at least they were after the booze sneaked aboard ran out).

Again we by passed Hawaii. I guess we were the only group going to the Pacific which did not stop in Hawaii going or coming. I am sorry I missed it.

One morning we were awakened by the fact that the ship was not moving. Coming on deck we sighted the lushest vegetation I had ever seen. After having been in China for a year and at sea for about 24 days, the sight of greenery was wonderful. We were anchored off Panama, ready to enter the Canal. This took all day and we all stood on deck watching. I would like to do it again someday because it is an experience which I shall never forget.

After passing through the Canal, we anchored on the Atlantic side and were told we would have two days liberty. The paymaster said we could draw whatever pay we had coming if we wished. I had $50.00 so I assumed that this was plenty. After returning the first night and having prowled all of the night clubs, I and many others had to go to the paymaster and ask for more. All of the clubs had girls who would come to the table, dance with the Marines and engage in lively conversation.  Of course we were expected to buy the girls drinks and, being young and naive, I did not know they were drinking tea and not bourbon.

The young Latin lovely for whom I had been buying drinks suddenly stood up and said “Excuse me, I am on.” In about 3 minutes she came on stage and did a most erotic strip tease on top of a drum. When she returned to the table, I did not know quite what to do. I guess I was like Gomer Pyle.

Having been raised in the South, perhaps the most astounding thing to me was to see black people speaking Spanish. In my town when you get past “Que horas son?” you are bilingual.

We boarded ship and headed for Norfolk, VA. After about 3 days we were off the coast of Virginia Beach where I would later spend happy vacations with Ann and later Bill and Kerry. We disembarked at Norfolk and boarded the train for Camp Lejeune. Since all of the Marines on the train were reservists going home, it was a little difficult to maintain discipline but, once a Marine, always a Marine and I was able to keep my group under reasonable control.

1946 – 1947

ASHEVILLE & UNC

We were all given 60 days leaving so I left for Asheville on the Greyhound bus. After 28 days aboard ship, this was luxury.  A few days later Ann arrived in Asheville with the possible idea of breaking our engagement. As she tells it, when she saw me walking across the station, she decided we were for real. (I was neat and trim at that time since, being in uniform, I did not have to pick out the proper tie to go with my shirt.)

After a visit in Asheville I returned to Lynchburg with Ann and we were married on November 9, 1946. We were both 21 years old. Because Ann has always looked younger than she is (she still does), her sister had to go to the Court House to swear that she was old enough to get a marriage license.

My family came up for the wedding and besides the traditional champagne and wedding cake, we had Virginia country ham on beaten biscuits. At last count my father had eaten about 3 gross. The wedding reception was in Ann's home and it was a beauty. The house was formerly owned by Carter Glass whose family had started the local newspaper. Carter was a senator and is responsible for the Federal Reserve Act. The house was rented but came up for sale a few years later. My wonderful father in law, Warren Simpson Sholes (who was known affectionately as “Bill”) was determined to buy it. He had to be out of town on business and left a friend with power of attorney at the auction. The man decided the bidding had gone too high and let it get away. I am not sure Bill ever got over this although the house he did buy was something special also.

Since I was getting paid for the dance jobs, I had enough in China to keep me in cigarettes and 10 cent beer and therefore I put away a big part of my small salary and had enough for a good honeymoon. Ann wanted to go to Bermuda but, having been overseas for over a year, I wanted to keep my feet in the USA. We went to Washington, DC to re-visit our dating days and then on to New York. We were driving Bill Sholes car. Since they only had one car, I don't know what he did to run his business while we were cruising all over in his car.

I have always been a Jazz fan and at that time 52nd street was a swinging place. Also each hotel and theater and night club had first class orchestra and small groups. We danced to Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa , Eddie Condon and listened to June Christy, Billie Holiday, the Ink Spots etc. It was great.

When we were in Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe an older gentleman sent us drinks. (People did that for service men at this time). Since that time, I have tried to do the same whenever possible.

We returned to Camp Lejeune where I received my discharge and accepted a permanent commission in the Marine Corps Reserve. Then back to Lynchburg and on to Asheville.

We were a rare couple – both virgins until we married. Ann's chastity was because that was what proper young ladies did at this time. Mine was probably for lack of opportunity and a fear of VD instilled by the Marine Corps training films. But there are many advantages to this situation. For one, you don't have to compare your mate with other encounters.

We rented a room in Asheville next door to my family while I waited to get into a University. I applied to Furman where Hap and Adrian were and was accepted but a week later I was accepted at UNC at Chapel Hill and this had always been my first choice so I was Happy!!!

Because of the GI Bill, all of the colleges in the country were expanding like wildfire. We went to Chapel Hill to find a place to live. All dormitories were for single students and all available houses, apartments and rooms had been rented. The university had established a trailer park but it was full. The only chance was to buy one on the site from someone graduating. We were lucky to find one and it was a palace – 20′ long and about 20 years old. This was before “trailers” became “mobile homes” and although we had running cold water in the sink, there was a common bath house in the middle of the park. Fortunately I did not have to get up in the middle of the night as I now do – Ah, Youth.

Since the next term did not start until January I took a job at my Alma Mater, McIntyre's Fruit Store. I earned $30.00 per week and could have joined the “52/20″ club at $20.00 for doing nothing. The 52/20 was another benefit offered to veterans to help them out until they could find work. It offered $20.00 per week for 52 weeks and all you had to do was to register and show that you could not find work in your field. One of my cousins registered as a snow plow operator and a friend registered as a commercial fisherman, neither occupation existed in Asheville. I preferred to retain my dignity and work, even though it was menial.

I filled in for one dance job with a local band but had to join the union to do it.

In January we left for Chapel Hill and arrived at night with a light snow on the ground. I could not get the kerosene heater lighted so we shivered all night under my Marine overcoat. The next day a neighbor showed me how to light the stove and the heater and life became more pleasant. I started classes and we settled in to being married – and it was fun.

I had many friends and acquaintances there and some of them were in the KA fraternity which was just a block up the street from our trailer. If I came home from class and Ann was not at the trailer, I knew I could find her playing poker at the KA house. Never a dull moment with that lady.

By this time the funds I had accumulated had run out and although the GI bill paid tuition and a small allowance, it would not support a wife. I took a job in the library at night and Ann got a job at a camera shop developing film. This was almost fatal for me.  One of her co-workers was a cute little blonde country girl who was the girl friend of Art Weiner, a star tight end on the football team. Art was about 6′5″ tall and weighed about 250 lbs. Ann bruised her arm one day and when her friend asked how she said “Charlie threw me up against the wall”. The girl was appalled and Ann said “Oh, he does this all the time.” Her friend was prepared to have Art Weiner punch me out until I convinced Ann to tell her that she was kidding.

Our entertainment was mainly events at the University so we were able to hoard enough to have dinner each week end at the Port Hole, the best restaurant in Chapel Hill. Their specialty for dessert was toasted pound cake with ice cream and the aroma of the pound cake permeated the whole restaurant – it was a delightful smell and I still find a dinner in a nice restaurant to be one of life's finest experiences.

We particularly enjoyed the basketball games. This was before integration and, had this not been changed there would have been no Michael Jordon at UNC.

After Biltmore Tech and a full 12 months at Emory and Duke I had only 6 months to go for a degree. I graduated in August with a BS in Commerce. I don't think they offer this degree any more. Usually a degree in commerce with a stress on accounting is a BA but ours had some engineering involved.

I was proud of the BS until it took on a more vernacular connotation in recent years.

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