4) I made that trip to Michigan 4 or 5 times a year. I’d go home on holidays and we got 30 days of leave a year. “Leave” is the military term for vacation. Most of the time, I’d drive it by myself. I had a car that my Grandfather Altman had given me. It was a 1953 Desoto. I would give anything to still have that car. It was my first car and I loved it. It had what they called a semi-automatic transmission. This was in the days before they had fully invented the automatic. When you started from a stop, you put it in gear just like a stick, but to change gears, you pressed on the gas until you could hear the engine reach a certain number of RPM. Then you would quickly release your foot from the gas peddle and the car would shift into the next gear. Then you repeated the process until you got it into high. It sounds really primitive and it was, but it worked.
The very first time I drove that car, I was not used to the shifting. It was kind of like driving a stick but not really. I drove to Marshall, Michigan which is just a few miles from Battle Creek. In Marshall, there is this big hill with a traffic light at the top of the hill. I got to the light just as it changed and so had to stop. I tried to shift into low and since it had a clutch just like a stick, you had to push in the clutch and then shift and then quickly move your foot to the gas to get going before the car died. Those of you who have driven a stick know what I mean. The light changed to green and I tried to get the car going, but I stalled it. The car rolled backwards. There was this big semi behind me. I started the car and tried again. Stalled again. The car rolled back some more. I was really beginning to sweat. The semi driver blew his horn. The light was green, why wasn’t I moving? I tried again, same result, only this time my car bumped against the front bumper of the semi. Well, I couldn’t roll anymore, so I managed to get the car started and in gear and moving. Luckily, the semi driver didn’t make me stop and see if I did him any damage. I don’t think I did, I barely touched him. But if he hadn’t been there, I’d have been to the bottom of that hill before I got the car going again. I’m a much better driver today. (I hope)
5) I probably owe my life to an anonymous truck driver who used to drive the mountains of Tennessee. I mentioned that there were no interstates in those days. I was driving on a 2-lane road through the mountains. It was a dark and stormy night, as Snoopy would say. It was raining and I was following a huge semi-truck. I couldn’t see anything coming the other way, so I tried to pass him. We must have been going at least 60 or so. I came along side of the truck and slowly began to gain on him. I was just about even with the cab of the truck when I saw the lights coming from the other direction. I was in the on-coming traffic with a truck on my right and a mountain with no shoulder on my left. Nowhere to go. I knew that I was dead, when I heard a beautiful sound. I heard the air breaks of the truck I was passing. He was slowing down. I didn’t even look, I just pressed the accelerator and turned the wheel to pull in front of the truck just as the on-coming car whizzed past. If he had not slowed down, I would have hit the other car head on and might not have survived it. I’ll never know who the trucker was, but I have always tried to respect the truck driver and all that they do. I owe my life to one, at least.
6) The Christmas after Floyd died, I was still in Biloxi. I wanted to do something for my Mom and so, I went off-base and rented an apartment. Several of the Permanent Party instructors had off-base places where they could go on weekends and get away from the Air Force and not have to be inspected and most important, a place where you could take girls. I never had that luxury, but I did have the apartment for awhile. That Christmas was very special. I bought a tree (a little one). I bought decorations and presents for everyone. Martin and Laura were just little kids, so Christmas still meant something to them and this was the first one without their father. Mom drove down to Biloxi with the kids and I met her somewhere and we all went over to the apartment. You should have seen the looks on their faces when they saw the Christmas I had set up. It was very cool and we had a great Christmas. Mom got a chance to get away from Michigan for a few days and I got a chance to have a real Christmas. Something that wouldn’t have happened if I had just been by myself.
Part 3 tomorrow….
Dad