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I was born less than 2 months after the start of WW II in a small desert
town located at the foot of Cabbage Hill which is part of the Blue Mountains of Eastern
Oregon. Pendleton's claim to fame is a rodeo called the "Pendleton Round-up"
with real cowboys and Indians as well as a lot of other neat stuff for a boy to have
around as he is growing up. |
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Three weeks later my mother and I moved to Bremerton,
WA where my father was busy welding ships back together that had been towed to Puget Sound
Naval Shipyard from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Sheesh I didn't even get to watch the round-up.
Come to think of it here I am well into my 50's and still haven't seen it. Oh
well I am probably too old for it anyway. |
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My earliest Memories are of WW II in Bremerton, such as air raid drills,
blimps, blackouts, sailors and soldiers on the ferry to Seattle and flatting tin cans for
"the boys at war". My mom baked cakes and cookies for her brother who was in the
army in the pacific. Believe it or not by the age of three I had made up my mind that the
navy life was for me and I was determined to grow up just like those sailors that I saw on
the ferry. Wow!! With a girl under each arm, they sure looked like they were having fun!!
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Our
apartment in Bremerton was used to count the ballots for the 1944 election. I Still
remember trying to help all those strangers count the ballots but they either ignored me
or asked my mother to put me to bed. But, like a true patriot, I kept coming back in an
attempt to fulfill my civic duty as I saw it. I still feel that voting is a civic
responsibility we all share. |
