I just had a great visit from my Uncle John who lives in San Francisco. I haven't seen in him in twenty years and I still tear up thinking of him. He has been traveling for 6 weeks trying to visit all of his relatives and friends (as he would say) "Before they die". You see Uncle John just turned 90 years old and is full of life. He has no intentions of leaving this earth anytime soon. He has such a rich history I wanted to share a small piece of it with you guys.
When I was a child he would come and visit my family each summer for a few weeks. At this time he lived in Spain teaching Science classes to 7th through 11th graders. He lived in Spain for 25 years. He also was a professor at UCLA, taught in China, Turkey and Africa.
When he was 16 he left home, due to his father being an abusive alcoholic, and picked cherries on farms in Traverse City Michigan. From there he spent some time in a carnival as a sword walker and then joined the CCC. The CCC was a Conservation program put in place during the Great Depression. He helped build roads, dams, state and federal park buildings and fighting forest fires. He would get paid $30 a month and half of it was required to go back to home, to help support the family.
After leaving the CCC he ended up hitchhiking across America and then joined the Navy. It was a year after Pearl Harbor and my Uncle wanted to fight in this war. He loved the sea and the boats that traveled it. (At 9 years old he sailed over from Europe with his mom and sister to Detroit. His father had traveled here 5 years earlier to earn money so he could send for his family. My Uncle John was fascinated by this ship and spent the entire time exploring every inch of it.) Well, as soon as he took the entrance and physical exam the Navy decided that he would be a sonar operator because he had exceptional hearing. They taught him how to distinguish between a whale and a submarine. But my uncle hated the idea of sitting in a room for hours trying to locate enemy subs and not seeing any action. So he failed his training thinking for sure that was the way to get out where the action was...wrong. They then started training him in Morse code using flags and spotlights and wouldn't you know it he was stationed in Las Angeles. Well it wasn't long until my Uncle found a way to switch orders with another sailor and finally get on a troop transfer ship heading for action. He was going to be the signal man on the beach front, during battle, directing the ships and their artillery rounds (This had a 90% casualty rate). While on this ship my uncle made some extra cash cutting hair. One day the Captain called down for a haircut and the other two ship barber's were too nervous to cut his hair. My uncle ended up giving him a haircut. My uncle took pride in his cutting so he gave him the works. The Captain was very impressed with the job my uncle did and ended up getting uncle John's orders changed. He now was the ships new Barber. My Uncle could not believe his luck and soon after the war ended. He never did get to see combat, which now he is very thankful for.
After the war, with the help of the G.I. Bill (I think) he finished High School and went on to College and became a Professor in Science.
This is just a small look into his life but I wanted to write it down before I forgot it and thought maybe someone here may like to read it also.
When I was a child he would come and visit my family each summer for a few weeks. At this time he lived in Spain teaching Science classes to 7th through 11th graders. He lived in Spain for 25 years. He also was a professor at UCLA, taught in China, Turkey and Africa.
When he was 16 he left home, due to his father being an abusive alcoholic, and picked cherries on farms in Traverse City Michigan. From there he spent some time in a carnival as a sword walker and then joined the CCC. The CCC was a Conservation program put in place during the Great Depression. He helped build roads, dams, state and federal park buildings and fighting forest fires. He would get paid $30 a month and half of it was required to go back to home, to help support the family.
After leaving the CCC he ended up hitchhiking across America and then joined the Navy. It was a year after Pearl Harbor and my Uncle wanted to fight in this war. He loved the sea and the boats that traveled it. (At 9 years old he sailed over from Europe with his mom and sister to Detroit. His father had traveled here 5 years earlier to earn money so he could send for his family. My Uncle John was fascinated by this ship and spent the entire time exploring every inch of it.) Well, as soon as he took the entrance and physical exam the Navy decided that he would be a sonar operator because he had exceptional hearing. They taught him how to distinguish between a whale and a submarine. But my uncle hated the idea of sitting in a room for hours trying to locate enemy subs and not seeing any action. So he failed his training thinking for sure that was the way to get out where the action was...wrong. They then started training him in Morse code using flags and spotlights and wouldn't you know it he was stationed in Las Angeles. Well it wasn't long until my Uncle found a way to switch orders with another sailor and finally get on a troop transfer ship heading for action. He was going to be the signal man on the beach front, during battle, directing the ships and their artillery rounds (This had a 90% casualty rate). While on this ship my uncle made some extra cash cutting hair. One day the Captain called down for a haircut and the other two ship barber's were too nervous to cut his hair. My uncle ended up giving him a haircut. My uncle took pride in his cutting so he gave him the works. The Captain was very impressed with the job my uncle did and ended up getting uncle John's orders changed. He now was the ships new Barber. My Uncle could not believe his luck and soon after the war ended. He never did get to see combat, which now he is very thankful for.
After the war, with the help of the G.I. Bill (I think) he finished High School and went on to College and became a Professor in Science.
This is just a small look into his life but I wanted to write it down before I forgot it and thought maybe someone here may like to read it also.
