Ft. Richardson, Alaska

We moved on post into brand new quarters. My dad was a sergeant, i believe he was the company sergeant at the time.

A couple of stories he and my mother told me about our time in Alaska.

When we arrived, mom had traveled cross country with Bill and I on train with the last leg a flight, dad was there to great us as we disembarked. He was lost in what is known as a "Mother of Pearl Sky". We had to wait until the sunset had faded before continuing.

Truman had integrated the Armed Forces. So my dad's company was mixed. One of the black soldiers father had died. As my father made out the paperwork for bereavement leave for the soldier an officer told him the N____ did not deserve leave and wasn't about to allow it. My dad responded the he was a man and as such was entitled to the leave. The soldier got his bereavement leave. My mother always told me that my dad was prejudiced. I never saw it. One of his oft repeated sayings was
"Two wrongs do not make a right".

My father always thought that second lieutenants thought they knew everything bu knew little and were dangerous. He believed it was up to him to teach them. A second lieutenant came in bragging that he thoroughly read everything he signed. My dad schooled him when he rotated out a year later and asked him where the battleship he had signed for was (the Army does not have battleships). The document with the lieutenant's signature was right there before him.

Dad had caught malaria during the war in the Pacific. While in Alaska he was frostbitten. The malaria never reoccurred after that.

The quarters were a row of what is now called town houses. We had a front and back entrance with parking in the rear.  It was two stories with a basement.

As we moved in I discovered the telephone.  I picked up the receiver and dialed each number starting at one and ending with zero. When I put the receiver to my ear I heard "I'll be right over." I spent the rest of the morning sitting on the front porch waiting for this mysterious lady to appear. We had a party line.

During the winter the local Eskimos (Sorry, I do not know the tribe/clan) came to the base with their dogs and  sleds. They would give us rides in the sleds. According to my mother the dogs were barely domesticated and were dangerous. Every year children were mauled by these dogs. there was one that even to owners were afraid of, he being a particularly vicious lead dog. Bill just walked up to him and threw his arms around the dog. They got along fine to the horror of everyone. Bill always had a way with animals.

We had a neighbor that made beautiful snow women after snow falls. I wanted to be able to do that but never graduated beyond the standard three ball snow man.

There were moose that wandered on base all the time. They are still a familiar sight in Anchorage. My mother had never seen one so did not really believe anyone (She grew up in densely settled Arlington, Mass where there was no wildlife). He belief changed when bringing in groceries, as she turned around to go get the next set of bags there was a moose trying to get in the apartment. Fortunately the antlers prevented it from fitting through the door.

In the basement we had a big tricycle. It was so big that neither Bill or I could sit on the saddle and reach the pedals. As I recall it had a chain that drove the rear wheels. We would have contests, sometimes with the neighbor kids, of who could ride it around in circles the fastest.

The new apartments we in had all sorts of problems. Workmen were always coming by to check on or repair something. Shortly after moving in Bill and I decided to help. We took out our crayons and painted the upstairs hallway with them. Mom spent the rest of our time there scrubbing the crayons off the wall. This was before non-toxic crayons were available.

One day, while in kindergarten, we were sent home early. It was pitch black outside and we complained about being kept in school all day and into the night. I usually walked but that day I had to ride the bus. The buss driver stopped at every apartment letting off only the children that lived there. He gave instructions to go right in and waited until we entered the apartment before moving on to the next apartment. When I got home mom put Bill and I down for our usual nap. When we woke it was snowing big white flacks, it was now light out. And surprise, dad was home. Bill and I wanted to go out and play in the snow. Dad said no. When we complained he said that that was not snow, but ash. Three mountains had blown their tops (I think one was Mount Redoubt). The blackness earlier was the heavy ash load blocking out all sunlight. The ash had a high sulfur component that turned to acid when wet. The load of ash was several inches deep when it stopped falling. The ash broke down into a very fine dust, very easily. My mother said that for the remainder of our stay there she always got a very fine sprinkling of ash on the dishes very time she closed the cupboard door. It clung to the underside of the shelving. She kept articles and a sampling of the ash, in a Skippy jar.

The infrastructure was not very good in Anchorage then. Every day at around 4 pm the power went out as the wives started to cook supper, this was 1950, 1951. My mother just started cooking the roasts, steak was expensive and rarer then, earlier in the day. We usually had cold suppers, which was not a stretch being from New England where the big meal was dinner and noon followed by a light supper. bill and I added to the adventure by once removing all the labels from the canned food. For about six weeks it was always a surprise what was for dinner.

Staying on the infrastructure theme almost all food was shipped in via boat. preservation was not as good then. Meat came in frozen solid, mom often commented that she could see the saw marks in the meat she bought. Eggs and milk came in powdered, Bill and I would not drink whole (fresh) mild when we first returned stateside. Vegetables and fruit came in canned.

There was only one paved road Anchorage. That was fourth street which went by the four story skyscraper of J.C. Penney's.

While there Maggie was born at over 9 pounds. A little over 10 months later Jean and Janet were born. I still have memories of Jean and Janet propped up in each corner of the couch while Bill and I were responsible for watching Maggie to mage sure she did not crawl out of the living room. Maggie crawled backwards. We had had fun pointing her so that she would wind up under the couch, a table or other piece of furniture.

Later I have my first memory of my Father's face. It was the day Mom and Dad came home after rushing Janet to the hospital. Janet had died. Both parents were devastated and my father's expression remains in my memory.

I loved Alaska and this is where I probably developed my love of wild places. Spending time in the forest is a recurring theme, even now. The wilder the better.