从康布里德到鱼子酱-再返回

（和再回来吗？）

1925至1943年

我从来没有见过大海，直到我被送到帕里斯岛的海军陆战队新兵训练营。 从那时起，我一直在43个国家和计数时间 - 因为，在72岁，我在火上一些有趣的项目。 但这些项目出现在奇数时间，并在两者之间，我试图通过一逗的，我有好运气“熬”过我自己的经验位。

几年前，当我开始为“国际吉普赛”我的生涯中，我觉得基本上是商业信函枯燥，因此通常被忽略。 我开始尝试写的方式将可能获得收件人的注意。 由于这一结果，在多年的朋友和同事们说：“你应该写。”

当我是前青少年和青少年岁的时候我打了很多棒球，以为会是不错的一个职业棒球运动员。 当我在1946年中国在美国的海军陆战队，我们开始了一个棒球队后，我们派出了日本带回日本，而且没有很多事要做。 我没有这个团的第一个球队，但我没去蝙蝠针对谁曾是芝加哥白袜队投手研究员牛笔一次。扔了快球，他看上去对我来说，阿司匹林片剂九十○英里接近每小时和裁判大喊“罢工”。 他扔了第二个一石激起千层我死刑 - 再罢工。 第三球来了就在我的脑袋，是一个右打者，我跑下三垒线为了摆脱死亡。 它掠过板中心弯曲，裁判大喊“打三”。

然后我意识到，我是不会成为一个职业棒球选手。

另外，在我十几岁，我开始了在当地的舞蹈乐队演奏萨克斯管，我的志向是要在很多很好的乐队之一侧面的人。 这是“摇摆”的时代，大的名字是米勒，古德曼，多尔西等

1942年十二月，在成熟的17岁的年龄，我遇到一位在北卡罗莱纳大学乐队的呼吁。 他们已经预订了圣诞节和新年季节，他们的5萨克斯球员已经起草了4名导游。 他们邀请我和我们的两个当地乐队的其他成员加入他们的行列。 在这次巡演，后来在中国，我正与真正的人才，我意识到，我是不会成为一名职业音乐家。

在阅读的辉煌作家很多 - 和一些不那么辉煌 - 我也知道我将永远不会成为这一领域的pro任 - 但是 - 我会写在这个情况下我的孙子有一天，他们可能想知道从那里来。 （通常我会说：“他们来自何处”，但我记得当温斯顿丘吉尔在议会中严厉批评有一个在句末介词。他回答说“的指责，这是一个与鲁莽，我不会把“。

第一次有人对我说：“你应该写”是作为我的第一封信惠好公司总部的结果当我第一次来到危地马拉。我是通过我的文件要到了，我发现每个字母月表示，更或更少“的销量上升了1.3％，比去年同月。 管理费用为6.8％至6.7％，而不是去年。 库存为1,200吨。 等等，等等“

由于植物在危地马拉由惠好公司是非常小的标准，我决定，没有人要读这类型的报告，特别是当他在众多海外公司打交道。

我的第一个字母情况如下：

伍德先生伊凡

副总裁，国际

惠好公司

华盛顿州塔科马市

亲爱的伊凡

如你所知，联合果品公司开了自己的箱厂和Cajas Ÿ Empaques危地马拉刚刚失去了其45％的业务。 当然，这创造了该月份的损失。

我们会收回这笔尽快和我想这就是为什么你送我到这里来。

上周三，游击队打死了美国大使和在这里的外国人都害怕的S -更少。 作为一名前海军，我想我可以胜任。

我开始适应文化变迁缓慢。 当我到达时，我发现所有的房子周围有墙，草坪和花园在这种化合物。

我以为这种保护，这是部分正确的，但它有一个更加实际的原因。

危地马拉有一个六个月的雨季和旱季六个月。 旱季缺水导致的极端，也滋生细菌。

大多数人认为，与水短缺问题是，有没有饮用水。 总有啤酒，可乐和苏打水饮用。 真正的问题是，你不能冲马桶，但一次。

要在一到三个人的房子和一当细菌造成的“绿色苹果快人一步”每个人，只能够一次冲洗厕所女佣生活，是超出他们的职责。

正是在这个时候，我意识到了对隐私的价值墙壁和美丽的花园里的树木和灌木的所有实际用途。

我的猫，这已经在这样的事情太多的经验，排在第二。

此致，

MB的蒂尔森

阿什维尔，北卡罗来纳州

也许这小小的书信标题是混乱 - 让我澄清。

我出生在阿什维尔，北卡罗来纳州于1925年。 我的家庭是“中等收入。” - 不要与“中产阶级”的困惑我的儿子，比尔在他的一建筑学硕士学位论文，说：“经过漫长而有趣的童年” - 我想这句话警察因为我也有一个漫长而有趣的童年 - 但是，作为一个中等收入家庭的南部，我们吃炸鸡和玉米饼。 这将是几年前我曾经虾仁杯和鱼子酱 - 但他们是好！

现在，退休后，我们又重新回到玉米面包。 随着一点点运气，多一些努力和再过几年，也许就像麦克阿瑟将军，我们还要回来。

伟大的爵士乐歌手，珍珠贝利曾经说过：“我一直不佳，我一直在丰富和丰富的更好”。

如果我的故事很有趣，因为它是唯一的与我有关联有趣的人。 基于这个原因，我会讲述许多故事，不点名的一些“，以保护不那么无辜的”。

如果我住上比它的未来是因为有是前者比后者更近了。

我想在开始的地方开始的。 我出生在阿什维尔，北卡罗来纳州，并命名小梅尔文布莱洛克蒂尔森充分的理由，这是我获得的绰号“查理”的震撼了我多年。

我的母亲，玛丽里根，是里根的8林俊杰和卡罗琳的威弗维尔，数控皮肯斯孩子中最小的 - 500人，其中大多数是为“表哥”或“阿姨”或“叔叔”给一个大都市，即使有可能不会有一个家庭连接。 这是一种尊重，当时的迹象。 它也派上了用场以奇特的方式。 弗兰克叔叔织女用来坐在大街上的长凳上。 因为他已经得到一个圆围在中间位，他不能他的裤子拉链所有的方式。 后来，当家庭中的男性成员的人会忘记我们只压缩了说“你好，叔叔弗兰克”和罪犯立刻意识到他已经忘了。

里根爸爸，我们打电话给我们的祖父，被称为“8日在美国排名数学家。”这是被接受，它出现在他的讣告。 但是 - 在10岁左右，我开始问自己：“你如何评价数学家？”的击球冠军是在主场迎战蝙蝠点击次数计算。 一个告别演说者是由一年级的总和，但你如何排名的数学家？

随着我逐渐长大，我觉得我想通了这个称号如何演变。

该奥德费洛斯霍尔是当地采集点，并在威弗维尔的人社交俱乐部。 在这里，他们可以发挥咀嚼烟草和多米诺骨牌。 我并不真正了解游戏，但我确实知道，他们玩的方式是，它是一个数学练习。 爸爸通常是赢了，因为他是好的。 他与教授对应从耶鲁和哈佛，他们就打发对方的问题需要解决。 有人说，他将跳起在半夜，写的答案对他的夜晚衬衫的问题，回去睡觉，但 - 这仍然没有回答的排名。

我想象的，在被彻底“Fessor”里根，本集团一打可能说：“Fessor是真的很聪明。 他一定是全国最好的数学家。“ 而另一位答道，“嗯，我不知道，那里的小伙子，他是爱因斯坦的相当聪明。” 而且，经过讨论，他们一致认为，也许他不是第一名，但他只能是数字8。 这是我的理论，但也许他是3号 - 谁知道？

从大学教授的工资甚至比他们差那么现在，爸爸里根也是一个测量师，他有一个幼儿园和一个小农场。 他拥有上山，汉堡自家房子后面是，虽然它是比较小的真正山，它也有果树，农田和牧场。 他也有一个房子里烟雾国家火腿均治愈。 这还是我最喜欢的肉类。

他看了路德伯班克我猜想，因为他与果树嫁接试验。 如果我没有记错的，毕竟这些年我正确，他有一个树，曾在同一棵树苹果，梨，樱桃和桃子。 我不认为这为在继续，但它被嫁接一年，全部的水果食用。

妈妈怕里根夫人是一个神的老学校 - 一长列卫传教士的后代。 我记得一个星期天，爸爸里根偷偷开了个谷仓，听取电台向世界大赛（有没有电视即可）。 妈妈骂他朝思暮想违反安息日。 爸爸回答说：“但是，谁也看不见我。” 对于这些妈妈回答说：“上帝能看见你。”

通常，当我很小的时候，我母亲的兄弟姐妹和他们的孩子都将在里根家吃饭（这是中日餐）。 由于人数众多，我们的孩子吃了第二个表。 正是在这里，我制定了一个蛋糕的厌恶。 妈妈里根的椰子蛋糕撒哈拉大沙漠一样干燥，每片重约800磅。 我的母亲似乎已经继承了我的生活中做饭所以不要这个伟大的技能把我说，我亲爱的安，“为什么你不喜欢我妈妈煮？”

我不想纠缠于爸爸里根，但我可以继续下去。 所以 - 只有一两件事情更多。

有一次，他和他的儿子，当时最年轻的是大约6岁，被上升汉堡山，修复了一些围栏。 最年轻的，我认为这是“宣讲”，是与其他几个人，爸爸前面是某些方面落后。 突然有一种血液凝结的尖叫声，和爸爸开始跑上山。 他认为只有一个可怕的悲剧，他喊道：“什么事？”谁是最古老的一个以“宣讲”（我认为这是格雷迪）注册的吼声：“他把他的脚趾上锤子。”

爸爸喊回来的反应是“拿把锤子和杀死那个男孩！”这现在想起比尔考斯比常规我在哪里他的妻子说他返回后，从工作“上台阶，杀死那个男孩。”

妈妈里根跌断她的臀部，而我是在海军陆战队了。 她变得老态龙钟，正如我们所说的话，但现在我知道这是老年痴呆症。不幸的是，她死在我从中国返回。

爸爸里根持续了多年，但被车死亡，而穿越公路。 这款车是由度蜜月的情侣，当然驱动，他们被摧毁。如今，家里可能已经被起诉，并要求巨额资金。 在那些日子里，我希望我们回到这些道德，我母亲的家人道歉，夫妇俩解释说，85岁，他没有看到或听到过，而且他们丝毫没有负责人。

我最喜欢的部分，并希望能效仿，是因为他在他的方式，能看到他的女朋友据说。 （所有权利安妮，退出傻笑，我知道你们是乔治格什温调思维“，我看是未必如此”，其中的歌词说：“玛土撒拉活900年，但什么是活着的时候没有女孩会使用屈从于任何人谁是900年。“）我的梦想就不行吗？

现在，让我们运行从我母亲的里根家族世代迅速：

最古老的安娜李（我们孩子们叫她“键”） - 如果她还活着，她会杀了这样说，因为她是一名演员，因此，我很虚荣。 她从未到百老汇，但她在波士顿的研究，并在地方和区域发挥积极的。 我觉得她最后被称为“赐给这山”，这是一个印第安人编年史的切诺基生产。 她在此扮演了多年，也被称为“紧布里切斯”，这是由休伯特海耶斯，一个来自北卡罗莱纳大学剧作家写了一个成功的演出出演。

关键的女儿玛丽马德琳。 因为主要是20岁，比我的妈妈，妈妈和玛丽马德琳（甘露）老人一起长大的实际。 这可能听起来像老连环画“山男孩”，其中6'高，猎枪totin'走私犯有个舅舅叫拉夫。 叔叔拉夫在尿布和大约是6个月大的 - 但那是以前的方式在计划生育的旧天。

重点已婚Scroup样式（难道你不喜欢这些名字？）

阿尔玛（谁，我们称为Tante）是一名护士。 她嫁给了一个律师，住在高点，数控她的丈夫，谁，我们叫“叔叔诺贝”，被评为Xenobious沃克。 当我发现他的真实姓名，梅尔文不好听的那么糟。

我的母亲，玛丽，是那个有音乐天赋之一。 她在多年独奏卫理公会教堂，以及大多数人不知道的，她在葬礼上唱的就是我们现在所说的“无家可归者”。 当我发现这一点，我感到自豪。

我的舅舅是：

格雷迪 -对于一支军队在第一次世界大战中，也许是普遍服务的先行者。 他在法国的第一线，然后写一些有关战争的歌曲，被送往附近的娱乐时，他们的部队在其余地区为。 他写了一个称为“血腥的战争”，后来出版了一首歌曲，这是一首简单的歌有许多诗句适用于时代，我用了很多年后写我们的朋友模仿。

后来，他是专员县委员会主席。 这是一个政治性的工作，显然十分重要。 当时有没有在邦科姆县共和党或者在北卡罗莱纳州，而是有激烈的竞争。 两派分别被称为“环”和“反环”。 这枚戒指是受迪肯格林。 他从来不举行选举的职务，他在Langren饭店里住，但没有任何未经执事。格雷迪终于打败批准发生，我真的不知道他以后一样。 我知道阿姨恩典，他的妻子，在Ivey的百货公司工作。 也许格雷迪后从来没有的事情。

他的儿子们格雷迪，Jr和戈登。 格雷迪小有很好的低音的声音，像他的父亲和在教堂唱诗班唱歌。 最后我听到，他为退伍军人管理局工作。 戈登一到UNC的篮球奖学金，我看到了在教堂山的最后一段时间了。 我回到中国，并从利用GI比尔完成我的教育和他作为年轻，刚刚进入联合国军司令部。 最后我听说过他，他是在巴基斯坦的外交服务。

罗布-我猜他的名字是罗伯特，但我从来不知道什么，但“叔叔罗布”。 罗布验船师，或如我们说，现在，一个土木工程师。 他相当成功，他和爸爸妈妈后面建房子直接里根。 他和阿姨（我们把它读做蚂蚁）拜耳有两个孩子 - 博比和Gloria（格洛）。 鲍比想成为一名牙医，但由于某些原因没去成。 最后我听说过他，他是一个莫顿盐业推销员。 格洛嫁了人谁了在弗吉尼亚海滩汽车经销商。 当我在多米尼加共和国，她和她的丈夫（我很惭愧， [MT1]我不记得他的名字）来到卡萨代坎普的高尔夫度假。 尼斯人。

欧内斯特-大叔“ERN的”是一个记账员。 他和阿姨左拉（没有，我们有一些伟大的名字？）有4个孩子。 一个是智障，并在“家”的表决。 最年长的是伊莱恩，一个愉快的女士。 她嫁给了一名海军陆战队队长，当我在营勒琼加入了海军陆战队，他们邀请我去他们家吃饭。 后来，我们去看电影，但因为我是一个PFC。 他是一位船长，我们分开。 我坐在楼梯上，他们在有关人员中的部分阳台坐着。 今天，这很可能是所谓的“歧视”，但我认为这是正确的。

欧内斯特小（芽）和吉姆是两个男孩。 巴德和我同龄的存在，很可能比我更近表兄弟。 巴德是一个笑话出纳员掌握，特别是脏，但是很有趣，玩笑。 他结束了作为一名海军牧师 - 和相当不错。 不幸的是，他死在他早期的40年代。 我从来没有见过他后，我们离开教堂山分校。

吉姆是一个像一水，但由于有一个年龄差距，我没有靠近他。 在最后一次接触是我从杰克逊维尔，佛罗里达州遭受了吉姆和关节炎的时间大部分是在盖恩斯维尔的佛罗里达州，他VA医院限于严重的情况下开始了里根家族的编年史。 我将尽力找到，如果他仍然是在它虽然我没有一个电话号码。

卡罗尔-我们称他为“叔叔鼓吹”。 他得到了这个名字，因为作为一个孩子，他经常去到森林，宣扬说教。 这显然是来自于相关的“电路搭车”谁是妈妈里根家族的一部分的访问。 宣讲结婚“安大妈” - 作为一个微小的夫人谁在当地银行的银行出纳工作。 她是一宗银行劫案的受害者，有完整的猎枪和口罩在当地银行。 这是约翰迪林格时间，它到底是迪林格或其他一些小偷，我们不知道 - 但它是令人兴奋的觉得这是老约翰。

他们唯一的孩子是苏西。 苏西约2年比我年轻，所以我们并没有关闭，当我们还年轻。 然而，不知何故对我们双方，虽然我们从来没有见过对方超过一次或两次后，我们长大了，我们成了“最喜爱的表兄弟”。 苏西嫁给了一个伟大的人谁是在为马尔科姆麦克莱恩西兰执行。 最后我听到他们在康涅狄格州和大儿子住的是海军少尉。 我会试着找到他们也。

斯克鲁格斯- （这些名字都得到更好的时间）。 斯克鲁格斯叔叔结婚“米尔特阿姨”。 他搬到埃文斯维尔，印第安纳在我出生之前，所以我只看见他向威弗维尔罕见的访问。 他们有一个儿子，吉姆。 我记得他，只因为一两个威弗维尔月在夏季期间，他就开始发胖。 没有人能理解这一点，直到他说：“这是最好的牛奶我曾经在我的生活”。 妈妈和爸爸里根奶牛，并存放于冰箱纯奶油投手。 吉姆是喝几杯一天。 关于胆固醇谈！ 我最后一次听到吉姆，他在拉斯维加斯。

总之，有人曾经说过我母亲的兄弟“两人被严重的，坚实的公民。 人喜欢威士忌，一妇女和其他喜欢既喜欢。“不用说，我不能确定他们的名字。

够了我母亲的家庭。 让我们继续到我父亲的身边。

我从来不知道我的爷爷，因为他去世时，我的父亲是14。 出于这个原因，爸爸从来没有完成学校 - 。我想他去了7年级的时候，就开始为我的叔公驱动博士，这些有缺陷的韦弗，这是我父亲的昵称“小督”，后来演变成简单的起源“医生”。

我的奶奶是埃赛彭兰德。 我不认为埃赛是真正的名字，但是这就是我们从不知道的。 这之前，社会保障天左右，当吴埃赛她再也无法运行寄宿家里，她是来和我们一起生活。 我对“奶奶蒂尔森”只记得事情时，她坐在她的腿上，那时我差不多7岁了我，给我读圣经故事。 此外，她常带我上电车的地方，他们曾在夏天的时候西瓜。 我仍然爱西瓜。 奶奶去世时，她和我们住在一起。 我不知道她在那里睡觉，因为我们有一个二居室的房子。 我亲爱的姐姐“直到”，我也跟一间卧室，我的父母另一方。 奶奶睡在哪里？ - 我从来没有想到，直到这一刻这个！

乔治和埃赛有5个孩子。 最古老的是我的叔叔乔治，那么我的爸爸梅尔文，然后贝莎，埃德加和哈里特。 这个家族的名字也有很大的一面。

玛丽安阿姨嫁给乔治 - 洋基不会少。 他们没有孩子，但有一个皮蓬狗。 他们来到一晚的房子，悲痛欲绝，因为狗已经死了。 他们感到内疚，因为他们没有自己的扁桃体及时拆除。 我们其余的人，他的狗从英镑或关闭街上走了进来，吃残羹剩饭，无法想象一只狗去进行手术的医生。

最近，我听到我的表弟弗雷德里夫斯玛丽安阿姨还活在97岁，但真的不是“它”。 饶了我这一点。

埃德加是害群之马。 他已婚，有一个孩子;伯莎安。 伯莎与哈里特安住了好几年。 她后来发生了什么事，我不知道。

伯莎是伟大的。 我们叫她阿姨蒂莉（绰号她的丈夫，弗雷德，给了她 - 从蒂尔森派生的）。 他们一家在威弗维尔网球场和2日在河上里姆斯山上小屋漂亮的房子。 此属性邻接营杉是，也许现在仍然是一对男孩和女孩的专属营地。 弗雷德曾在银行威弗维尔，当银行都开始大萧条过程中失败，他是，现在我们怎么说？ - 精简？

在此之后，他们卖出（或损失）在威弗维尔房子，搬到了小屋。 他们居住于一体，并租用了其他。 他们的小木屋，在老式的方式作出，但都非常惟食物保存在春天的房子和管道建设是一个美好的了鲜花，我们称为“约翰尼楼百合花”包围舒适。

他们的两个孩子被弗雷德（Junie）和玛丽伊丽莎白（Libba）。

我最近采访了弗雷德和他刚刚庆祝了自己80岁生日。 他说，他没有很多朋友，因为他不喜欢的老人。 弗雷德上播放在北卡罗来纳州，也许是在他的家里有一个法庭结果网球队。 他是一个在二战中空军上尉战争后移居加州，进入房地产业务。 我想他还在这个涉猎。 我希望看到他，如果我在蒂华纳住房项目开发，因为他在圣地亚哥附近的生命。

Libba嫁给了一个海军军官和商人的女儿，她有一个名为“夏娃”，因为她是在她丈夫的家族几代第一个女孩。 我已经完全失去了与他们接触，而且由于Libba比弗雷德老，也许她不再活着。

哈里特约翰结婚了布雷迪，工程师。 他们生产的两个儿子，约翰和乔治。 约翰和哈里特离婚和哈里特结束在纽约设立了政府工作。 她几年前去世了。 乔治住在新英格兰的某个地方去世，但约翰非常年轻。 他是在富兰克林，数控报纸编辑 - 一个小镇威弗维尔颇为相似。

我对阿姨蒂莉特殊的感情，因为那时我差不多10岁的我用她的身后爬上车厢一树，走在这庞大的葡萄这些树木生长。 她不会让叔叔弗雷德削减这些葡萄树，因为“查理喜欢爬上来了他们。”

我把我可爱的人工神经网络在机舱时，我们所从事 - 不久之前，我们结婚了。 我不知道她是不是与山陶醉，因为我，我坚持认为，我们在河上的葡萄藤蔓摆动。 她把她的腿在这个过程中，这是她最后一个小道消息创业。 她，然而，去睡在走廊上挥杆，很放松，所以还不是一个完整的损失。

现在 - 在所有这些人，也逃不过“小梅尔文”。 我出生于1925年1月4日，它打我昨天看了戴安娜王妃的不幸去世，也玛丽亚特雷莎修女，德兰修女是谁在87岁之前死于出生我只有15岁。 不过我得赶紧完成这项纪事！

我终于相信 - 嗯，也许不相信，但在黄道带的一般特征感兴趣。 我是一个摩羯座和有所有性状的一般归因于我们“山羊”。 我嫁给了一个狮子座，她有一个“女狮”的所有特征 - 弱肉强食的公主。

Since we Capricorns are rather plodding, dogged and sometimes naive individuals, my first memories are fitting.  Once I was playing in the field next to our house in Weaverville, where we had moved shortly after I was born, and I stepped in a post hole. My little foot went down pointed but flattened out at the bottom so that it would not come out.  Others, perhaps brighter and more emotional than I would have screamed for help. I, as a dull Capricorn, stood silent until I was missed. My mother, who was not so emotionless, came screaming into the field and dug me out with a silver spoon.

My next recollection was that I had a pet goat. My father built a wagon shaped like a fire truck and the goat could pull this.  My cousins, who were older, and obviously cleverer than I, would say “Charlie, you stay here and wait for any emergency calls which come in. We will take the wagon and investigate any fires which are happening.”  Although I believed them at the time, this has kept me from being “suckered in” many times since.

My next memory is when we moved back to Asheville and rented a house on Merrimon Avenue. I was only about 6 years old but I do remember that I had a small black board on an easel in my room but I had only one piece of white chalk with which to draw.  At Sunday school at Central Methodist Church, South, there was colored chalk. I stole it!!

Being very clever, I hid this in my room until about the next Wednesday. Then – while playing in the yard I tripped and fell down. I came up from the ground and said to my parents who were on the front porch “Look, I tripped and fell and landed on a box of colored chalk”.

They of course knew that the chalk had been missing from Sunday school for 3 days and were astute enough to wait for developments. After telling me how lucky I was to find this chalk and with discreet questions as to how it might have gotten there – I confessed. I returned the chalk the next Sunday and I have never stolen anything since. Perhaps if I had gotten away with this or if I had been incarcerated at age six, I would have been a confirmed criminal.

Incidentally, Central Methodist Episcopal Church- South meant that there were no blacks in the congregation.

My Dad, who was known as somewhat of a humorist, used to say that we moved every time the rent came due. This was not true but when I was about eight years old we moved to 6 Coleman Avenue. This was about a mile away but it meant that I would have a complete new set of friends because it was another neighborhood.

I have many memories of 6 Coleman Avenue. It was a small house, perhaps 700 ft2 on the principle floor but with a basement and a garage. We had two bedrooms. Mom and Dad had one and I shared the second with my sister. Where Granny Tilson slept when she came to live with us, I do not know.

My Father always wanted to have a “hoss” because I think he was infatuated with the Old West and the cowboys in the movies. The Recreation Park was one of the 1930's theme parks which had a zoo, merry go round, bump cars, Ferris wheel etc. It also had a pony ride. Dad found that the owners of the pony ride would let anyone have a pony to keep during the winter season when the Park was closed, if they fed it and looked after it.

He got me a pony. My Mother and Sister were not too delighted but Dad, I and my friends were!!

Although our house was small, the lot went back about 300 feet. We were in rented property but Dad took down the garage doors and used them for the sides of a stable for my pony “Phyllis” – AKA “Phil”.

It is amazing how many friends you have when you have a pony.

Phil used to get loose and since I left for grammar school before my sister left for high school, she had to go up to Merrimon Avenue to get Phil and bring her back to the stable. Phil always seemed to step on Til's foot and, not knowing about horses and hating them also, Til did not know that all you have to do is pick up the ankle and lift the foot. I think she learned some vulgar words in this experience.

At the same time, I had a dog, a cat, a bantam hen and a bantam rooster. The dog had 6 pups, the cat had 8 kittens and the bantams hatched a brood of 12.  My Mother was very tolerant.

At that time I started my first commercial venture. I sold magazines from door to door – Saturday Evening Post and Ladies Home Journal. I was not very good at this so I was not successful. The only one worse than I was my neighbor, Billy Charnuckle. His approach was to say to whomever answered the door “You don't want to buy any magazines do you?” They would of course say “No” and shut the door.

When I was about 11 we moved to Murdoch Avenue. This was the favorite place I lived while growing up. It was a small house – one floor with a basement, part of which was a garage. It had 3 bedrooms, two of which were formerly a large sun porch so there were windows all around. Off of the living room there was a large storage closet with exit to a small balcony. I chose this for my room rather than one of the bedrooms. It had room for my bed, plenty of shelves and not much more but it was private and cozy. It had a few disadvantages not for me but for others. My sister, being 4 years older, quite often had company and dates. They were in the living room and to get from my “hideaway” to the bathroom, it was necessary to pass through the living room. I went to bed early, since I was carrying newspapers on a morning route and for me to get up about 11:00 pm and traipse through the living room in my underwear was quite disconcerting to my sister, particularly when she was trying to impress the latest “love of her life”.

最主要的原因我喜欢这房子是邻居。 它被称为“诺伍德公园”，有一个对所有年龄段的孩子丰富。 我的房子对面的一个领域，我们称为“老虎伍兹”。 这是通过它与一条小溪和一个玉米地的另一边跑也许大约5英亩的树木。每年夏天，我们在这条河修建大坝，创造了一个游泳池。 这是该小组的监督下谁是至少15岁的老成员。 我们其余的人，从8岁至14日，是共同劳动。小溪也许是8英尺宽，约1或2英尺平时深。 我们的程序，这是不是为一群孩子不好，结果如下：

我们砍倒一棵大树 - 大约30英尺，也许会有12或15英寸直径的高。 这是我们奠定整个小溪小河达到约5英尺以上的河水平的银行。 我们押在这本记录下来，每年年底，使其动弹不得在任何一个方向。

然后，我们开始攒够了邻里和任何没有任何束缚附近工地的所有木材。 当我写这个，我认识到，我们很可能是偷，但我们从来不拿起盗窃一块松动的木材，即使我们通常都是在夜里思想。

这些木板，然后在大约45度角的，一端钉在对面的“峡谷”日志和在，这将是在游泳池的另一端污垢。每年年底，我们开始在我们的方式和工作中间，离开小溪流经的空间。 我们下面的木材堆放石块，以支持木板和木板上对我们堆积污垢。 这条土被挖掘出来的小溪的河床和两侧，使池深大。

经过几个星期的工作，除了大坝是在大约3英尺宽的中心部分的完整。 这是时间，动员谁，它的工作对所有的孩子。 （你不能在池塘里游泳，除非你在施工参加）。 每个人左右抵达用铲子，镐，锤子和兴奋上午07点多。 当木板被放置在中间，我们都开始疯狂支付剩余空间铲。 这通常是实现到上午9点，而后又为溢出堤坝的等待。

它通常需时约5天的池塘填满，当然，在这段时间里没有水下游，因为我们已经封锁了整个流程。 我们把树枝在银行在水位，并检查他们的第二天，看看有多少英寸的水已经上升。 从这种原始的测量，我们可以猜测什么时候水会流过堤坝。

从一开始克里克在日落山泉水，并通过阿什维尔乡村俱乐部格罗夫公园高尔夫球场，酒店前流过。 通过后，我们的游泳洞，它蜿蜒穿过郊区和下游约15英里，它通过农地流。 关于第3天没有水就不会有一个农民走上游明白，为什么他的生活并没有获得任何股票从河的水。 我们知道这会发生，所以我们一直在大坝有人值守，而这是填补（夜间除外）。 当农民将不可避免地到来，信号会出去和附近的任何一个会来恳求他等待“只剩一天了。” “请，先生，请不要破坏我们坝”。 他们从来没有因为他们也一直孩子。

溢出是一个欢庆的时刻。 这话一出到整个社区“大坝将超过大约午夜时分流！！我们求我们的父母，让我们去看，通常，他们同意而且经常伴随着我们。

我学会了在这游泳，游泳洞，因为它是那么浅，我可以在一个茶杯潜水没有击中了底部。 在清晨，但它清楚后，20个孩子已经从底部搅拌泥浆，在下午晚些时候它是黑褐色。 晚上，我们将采取一小块木头，约1英尺见方，其上放置一个点燃的蜡烛，绑一个字符串到一个边缘，飘进池塘英寸 青蛙，被光所吸引，会跳的木头上，给了什么我想是他们交配的呼吁。 在那里，我学会了打电话青蛙，这成为在鸡尾酒会上娱乐的重要来源 - 特别是当一只青蛙从一个乡村俱乐部出现。

作者从池塘对岸的树林场并不总是种植玉米。 有时，他们种植的土豆，我们会挖出一些，烤煤与泥覆盖他们，有一个盛宴。 我想这是偷也。

我们在附近相当多的孩子数量庞大，足够接近的年龄是兼容，并能实际领域的棒球队，从附近的足球队。

在这个时候我在报纸上的路线。 这也许是为青年人最大的商业经验，但今天它不存在。 它的演变，其他事物一样成册，并正通过与汽车谁雇用年轻人或移民提供大面积的成年人处理。 我的路线是100个客户在一个工人阶级区。 他们去工作，并希望在上午07时在早上六点文件时。 所以 - 我就起床了四：上午，由上午06时结束，回去睡觉1小时，站起来去上学。 在夏天的时候有没有学校，我的朋友谁也载文，来到了在乡村俱乐部游泳池（我们是不是成员），我们在6:00在早上游泳。 有时警卫会站出来，威胁到我们，但他从未非法侵入拉着他的枪，我们就离开了平安。

我也得到了作为一个在麦金太尔的水果商店店员在周末工作。 This was run by Joe McIntyre, his brother and a sister.  Leo, Joe's brother drove a semi trailer truck to Florida each week, returning with citrus from Indian River and Bananas from Central America which came in by boat to Miami. Nowhere else in Asheville was such fresh, quality fruit available because the supermarkets did not exist at that time. Joe also brought in exotic (for Asheville at that time) fruits and vegetables from California. These included avocados which my Mother dearly loved. Each pay day I would buy her one. At that time – 1940, they cost $1.00. I suppose that is about $20.00 today. Transportation has changed our eating habits because an avocado still costs about $1.00. At that time I hated avocados but after living overseas where they grow wild, I have developed a taste for them also – particularly in guacamole.

Since this was at the tail end of the depression, I had been taught to be very frugal – a trait I lost somewhere along the line  – and , unknown to my family I opened a savings account at the First National Bank of Asheville.  I paid my expenses from my paper route so when I received my check from McIntyre I put most of it in the bank.

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”. Think about it.

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

里克。 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.

此致，

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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