My elder daughter and her family are in Pensacola's, FL right now. Got me thinking of my Dad's Navy career. He was an Aviation Ordinance Chief over three Naval Air Stations around Pensacola during WWII. He, my mother and my brother lived there in the early 40's. But his story does not start there.
His parents did not want to raise him so they dumped him off on his Uncle Mac (McClellan I think) to raise. It seems he had a difficult childhood and one I don't know that I could have survived. Back in those days the adults always ate first (they worked all day and needed the calories) then the women and kids. But, the "natural" kids ate before the "left off" kid. My dad said he was an adult before he even knew a chicken had any other parts than a neck or back.
Reminds me of the story he told of being somewhere (San Diego maybe) and getting a restaurant to put back a whole chicken for him. He came in and had it fried and sat down to a chicken that had more parts than a neck or back and was, apparently, really getting into it when one of those snotty, high-toned, women sitting at a nearby table made some remark to him about "really enjoying that chicken" and he replied that he sure was. I'm sure she could not have related to his childhood or just how much that chicken meant to him at the time.
In fact, he said he was so hungry he used to roam up and down the railroad track hoping some hobo had got run over by a train had was left lying. He said he always wondered how a human would taste. That had to be a hard life coming up.
I can remember him talking about shooting the bell of my grandparent's cow with a .22 rifle. I guess I know where I get my mischievous streak. Never really think of the possible consequences, just do it. I've done a lot of things in my life I would never have done had I really thought of the possible consequences.
I don't know how old he was when he went to West Virginia and stayed with his half-sister, Mamie, and worked in the coal mines. Must have been around 17 or 18. He liked to tell the story of another miner who was 'rooming' there and just disappeared one day. Said one night he was in bed and a woman all in white (just the head and upper body... the rest was just flowing white) came floating our of the air towards him. he said he just put the covers over his head and went to sleep. (Likely story.) Said he ran into the missing boarder later and asked him why he had left and he would not talk about it. So, my dad told him what he had seen and the man admitted he had seen the same thing. My dad was a little more crazy than the rest of us (and that is saying something) or he was a little more psychic.
He was involved in the "War of Blair Mountain" in 1921. He must have just turned 19. It was a rebellion of the coal miners who wanted to join the Unions against the mine owners and law enforcement. It would be nice to say he was one of the miners but he wasn't. He was one of the Sheriff's deputies. That was a bad, sad time in that area and worth doing some research on. Google it. Lot's of information. It was the largest armed insurrection in US history and required the regular Army to be sent in to preserve (some) the peace.
My dad used to run a Ferry there and he says he once took Billy Sunday across the river. I don't remember what river it was but I think it was around Charleston, WV. Billy Sunday was a famous evangelist of the time.
My Dad left WV in 1922 when he joined the Navy. He was too short (5'4") for the Navy and they had to send to Knoxville, TN for special permission. Over the years I had always thought he had just decided to join the Navy but my brother told me not too many years ago he once heard my Dad talking to someone and saying he joined the Navy because he "had to leave" West Virginia. My brother said he never heard why. Knowing my Dad it could have been anything from sleeping with the wrong man's wife to murder.
That is it for now. Later I'll talk about his Navy years.
I tell people many of these things. I figure they think I am exaggerating.
ReplyDelete