Just Another Day at the Salt Mine
Here in the wee hours before Thanksgiving, I am reflecting on an incident that happened yesterday just a couple of hours before closing.
An ancient greybeard wandered into the shop. I had seen him before and he had bought a pistol from me many years ago. He sat down in one of my "regular" chairs and started to talk. He started out with some good natured complaining about how hard it was to catch me open. We laughed and talked some about past gun deals and gradually the conversation driffed into stories about his past farming and horse raising in the Ohio Valley.
My girlfriend Shari stopped by after work and joined us, listening to the stories the old man was telling. He visibly brightened that someone would take an interest in his tales and told us of the excitement of Lucky Lindy and what it was like to drive a Model T.
Then he dropped a bombshell. He said that while in the Navy in 1941, his ship had been torpedoed while escourting ships in the North Atlantic. I immediately asked him if it was the Reuben James, which was the first US warship sunk by the Germans in WWII. He told me no, it was the Kearny, torpedoed Oct. 17, 1941 by U-568. He further told us of how it had limped to Iceland and survived.
I was awestruck. Here was a man sitting in front of me who was a sailor onboard the first American warship torpedoed by the Germans in WWII. This incident gave impetus to Roosevelt's order to the Navy Department to actively prosecute U-boats prior to America's entry into the war.
I then asked him if he had ever written down his experiences. Having no children, he said no, but should anyone sit a dictaphone in front of him, he would. I asked him his age and he told me 86. We talked about how much first hand accounts were being lost as the old timers are dying out. He told me that he was widowed and showed us pictures of his beloved wife. We asked what his Thanksgiving plans were and he thanked us and said he was having dinner at the VA. He then bid us farewell.
After he left, Shari and I talked about what Mr. Chambers had told us. She looked at me and said "Go Ahead". I nodded and said "Thanks". I guess I'd better round up a dictaphone.
An ancient greybeard wandered into the shop. I had seen him before and he had bought a pistol from me many years ago. He sat down in one of my "regular" chairs and started to talk. He started out with some good natured complaining about how hard it was to catch me open. We laughed and talked some about past gun deals and gradually the conversation driffed into stories about his past farming and horse raising in the Ohio Valley.
My girlfriend Shari stopped by after work and joined us, listening to the stories the old man was telling. He visibly brightened that someone would take an interest in his tales and told us of the excitement of Lucky Lindy and what it was like to drive a Model T.
Then he dropped a bombshell. He said that while in the Navy in 1941, his ship had been torpedoed while escourting ships in the North Atlantic. I immediately asked him if it was the Reuben James, which was the first US warship sunk by the Germans in WWII. He told me no, it was the Kearny, torpedoed Oct. 17, 1941 by U-568. He further told us of how it had limped to Iceland and survived.
I was awestruck. Here was a man sitting in front of me who was a sailor onboard the first American warship torpedoed by the Germans in WWII. This incident gave impetus to Roosevelt's order to the Navy Department to actively prosecute U-boats prior to America's entry into the war.
I then asked him if he had ever written down his experiences. Having no children, he said no, but should anyone sit a dictaphone in front of him, he would. I asked him his age and he told me 86. We talked about how much first hand accounts were being lost as the old timers are dying out. He told me that he was widowed and showed us pictures of his beloved wife. We asked what his Thanksgiving plans were and he thanked us and said he was having dinner at the VA. He then bid us farewell.
After he left, Shari and I talked about what Mr. Chambers had told us. She looked at me and said "Go Ahead". I nodded and said "Thanks". I guess I'd better round up a dictaphone.
0
-
p3skyking...
I think you just found out one thing about older ppl....
They have seen so much, know so much, have so much wisdom to share with anyone who listens....
A person can learn a lot from our seniors, but most dont want to be bothered listening to them or just dont want to take the time to sit and have a conversation ....
Listen to him, ask questions, share in his joy reliving the past, and comfort him in his sorrow...you will learn things that will never be in the history books...0 -
I used to allways enjoy listening to my grandfathers WWII stories.
He was in the Pacific and was a Peral Harbor Survivor. He also survived several torpedo attacks on his ships durring his time in WWII and durring Korea. He definatly had many stories to share before he passed away.
Here is a picture of him and another of his ship (USS Honolulu) after it was torpedoed after a battle at Kolombanga (I have been told he is standing on the deck there in this picture).
Here also is a story that my grandfather had put on the internet before he passed away about what he did durring the Peral Harbor attack.
http://www.ibiblio.org/phha/Sellers.html0 -
Off subject a bit but noticed your post-line... Do you work at a mine?...just wondering, I haul out of Cargill and Morton. 0 -
quote:She looked at me and said "Go Ahead". I nodded and said "Thanks". I guess I'd better round up a dictaphone.
The name "Dictaphone" was trademarked by the Columbia Graphophone Company in 1907, which soon became the leading manufacturer of such devices. Dictaphone was spun off into a separate company in 1923 under the leadership of C. King Woodbridge, whose brother-in-law, George Albert Kimball successfully designed and built both the sewer system and then the subway system for the city of Boston.
After relying on wax cylinder recording through the end of World War II, in 1947 Dictaphone introduced their Dictabelt technology, which cut a mechanical groove into a plastic belt instead of into a wax cylinder. This was later replaced by magnetic tape recording and eventually hard-drive recording.
... I'd modernize a bit and use a digital reorder - although, cut grooves would last longer/degrade less than CDs and DVDs.
[:D]0 -
quote:Originally posted by DIRTYRAT
Off subject a bit but noticed your post-line... Do you work at a mine?...just wondering, I haul out of Cargill and Morton.
[:o)][:0][;)]
Nope, I prey on the poor and take advantage of widows and orphans. I am part of the group that causes financial ruin to untold millions every year and laughs when the economy takes a dive. We're curently using petroleum prices to lure new unsuspecting victims into our webs. I'm a real life Spiderman. [}:)]0 -
AT last.....p3....i knew it....the real snidley whiplash emerges from the shadows!!!!!!!!!! could listen to this old gent for hours....what a treat....had a teacher in high school who was boring but smart & didn't find out till 20 years later that he was a turret gunner over France & germany for 20+ missions & had recieved two purple hearts while his twin brother who did same was killed....some older guys around that lived REAL movie like adventures & we never knew about their courage 0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
6 comments