Mesa, Arizona. To day was absolutely a gorgeous day. It is Sunday March 15, 2009. It is cloudless under a deep blue sky with a soft refreshing breeze gently blowing and the temperature in the middle 70’s. It made me think of so many good things that we had done to-gether as a family when you were growing up.
Beginning with Douglas and Charisse during June and July, 1955 in Alaska, on week ends, we would get in our brand new blue and white Chev and drive to one of the lakes near by. The water was cold and crystal clear. You could see, standing even from the shore, thousands of huge red salmon which had spawned and had come home to die. It looked to me that the fishing would be easy but you could see them swim up to the bait and just look at it. It seemed like the only thing that they wanted to do was wait to die.
Charisse was born in the hospital at Ladd Air Force Base, in Fairbanks on February 7, 1954. It was 60 degrees below zero, the coldest night of the year, when I was given a message that Melva Lee was in labor and that Lynn Holist, our branch president, had taken Melva Lee to the hospital. I was at Eielson AFB, about 24 miles South of Anchorage. I was there because I had drawn a duty assignment that required me to be there that day. I was excused from duty so that I could be with Melva Lee. It was so cold that I had to creep along in the car for a mile or two until the tires could warm up and run smoothly. When I arrived at the hospital Melva Lee had delivered a beautiful baby girl. Her name to be? Charisse.
Picture of us standing on a shore with Douglas, Charisse and the Clarks( Lena and John)
Picture of North Pole sign
In April of 1955 we finished our tour of duty in Alaska. We had sold our trailer home at North Pole (*), and the lot that it was on(**). We had put our new blue and white Chevrolet on a flat car and would not see it again until we arrived in Seattle. We had received our orders to return by train and boat to Seattle, pick up our car there and drive to San Jose, California to receive our discharge. The trip home was exciting. We rode the train from Fairbanks to Anchorage. The railroad ran Southward out of Fairbanks and West of Mount McKinley before arriving in Anchorage. The scenery was breath taking. Even though it was April the landscape was still white with snow. As the train sped along we observed many mountain goats standing on the hill sides with the magnificent Mount Mckinley (***)in the background.
Mount McKinley is a little over 20,000ft high. It is the highest mountain in North America. During the two years that we lived in North Pole , 12 miles South of Fairbanks, several of the many mountain climbers who attempted to reach its top were injured or killed.
From Anchorage we were taken to our ship. I had never been on a big ocean going ship before so it was very interesting to see how big and organized it was. Melva Lee (Nena) had been on two large ships before so she more or less knew what to expect. In 1945, when the war ended, families of the occupation forces were permitted to live in Japan. Melva Lee, with her family, was on the first shipload of dependants to go to Japan. They returned home a couple of years later.
Our room was small but very comfortable. Douglas and Charisse had a fun time looking out the big round window in our room. The top deck had a dance floor and exercise room that was the full width of the deck. Douglas and Charisse had a great time running back and forth on the floor as the boat rolled with the waves.
As we approached Seattle the outside air was about 35 degrees but it seemed wonderful compared to the 10 to 40 degees below zero that we were accustomed to.
Melva Lee had said several times that she was excited to know that the road to San Francisco went through the red wood forest; that she had always wanted to see it. By the time we entered the forest she had gone sound a-sleep. She was pregnant with Shelly and could not wake up.
We were discharged at a base just South of San Francisco and spent the night there. The next day we drove all of the way to my parent’s home in Queen Creek, Arizona. It was so good to see them again!
This is a good place to break so I will write you the next time.
Submitted by Ralph G. Brown
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