"AKA" Jimmy Doolittle Air & Space Museum

What happened on this day in History?

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THE ADOLESCENT YEARS

    The last three years of my schooling produced many negative experiences. I wanted to be a part of school activities, but never felt as though I belonged. There were bitter feelings toward some of my fellow students because they had not suffered through the lean years of the depression. I had deep feelings of rejection and unimportance. All through High School there were few close friends. Although much effort was put forth to be accepted, I felt like an object rather than a human.

    Unfortunately, school teachers were the target for my hostile actions. Their nonchalant attitude toward me generated a mistrust toward them. In retrospect, there were several teachers who tried to enlist my trust but they were rejected. At every opportunity, they were made aware of my presence by my being disruptive and disrespectful. If there was no self-respect, respect for others was nonexistent.

    Upon entering high school, life began to take on a new meaning. The family's finances never improved and I felt out of place in school. My clothes were shabby and sometimes my pants were patched. Attending school functions, such as dances, proms, etc., was out of the question. Feelings of being inferior and rejected by others was always in my subconscious. I never learned to dance for fear of not measuring up to others on the dance floor. Personal thoughts were almost always directed toward being judged and I was fearful of even attempting to dance, thinking that I may be refused if I asked a girl to dance with me. Fishing, hunting, and other sports were acceptable substitutes.

    I played hooky for days at a time. Each year when the baseball season began my seat was empty. When I was in the eight grade, the opening day of baseball I wrote my own excuse for my absence. The next day upon presenting it to my homeroom teacher, his response was, "What was the score?".

    Although he was my homeroom teacher, he was my favorite until one day two dogs of the opposite sex came into our room and began to make out with each other right at my desk. The teacher looked the opposite directions and said, "Take them out Bill". I was no hero to the dogs they both tried to attack me, however the mission was successful and they were removed from the room but I was so embarrassed that I headed for home. The next day I was the brunt of some snide remarks.

    It borders a miracle that a diploma was given me. I was the only one in the history of that school who took ninth grade algebra every year until I graduated. Obviously, this was not my favorite subject but it was required in order to graduate. Wearing a cap and gown into the ninth grade algebra class elicited some comic remarks which were not taken very lightly by me. Also, being the next to last academically in the graduating class was no ego booster.

    One time I was giving a talk to a group of Air Force Reserve Officers and mentioned the fact that I was next to last in my graduating class and it always bothered me. One of the officers spoke up and asked, "Do you know what they call the last person to finish medical school?" I said no and he responds with, "They all them Doctor". That made me feel a little better.

    Presently, there is the realization that education is all important. Once the opportunity presents itself, one must take full advantage of it or it is lost. My late brother-in-law tried to persuade me to study but at that time there was no interest in learning. He struggled to get an education against almost impossible odds. My survival was of less concern because of my personal conflicts and at that time, I resented his insistence on his theme of "education at all costs".

    It is difficult to become involved in a learning process without motivation. The conflicts which were part of my personality made it virtually impossible to arouse my interest in schooling. I never did any homework and was not encouraged to study. In fact, no one seemed interested in my grades and I usually signed my own report cards. However, there was resentment toward other students who achieved good grades. I longed to be an acceptable part of the student body but constantly the thoughts of not measuring up to the level of other students persisted. Another thing which troubled me was the lack of parental interest in school activities such as plays and displays of things produced in the class. My dad and stepmother rarely attended such functions and the only recall for their involvement was a play which I played the part of Simple Simon. I was embarrassed because of the lines in the play implying that I was a silly boy. This was long before high school.

    In 1932 my uncle took me to Cleveland to see the Cleveland Indians play baseball. That was one of the highlights of my life as I got to see Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and the rest of that great New York Team. My hero was Earl Averill and every time he came to bat I prayed he would hit a homer. Fate was not on my side as he struck out three times, and didn't get a hit.

    My subsequent hero was Bob Feller and I had the privilege of seeing him pitch on several occasions. One of these was when he returned from the military service and beat my arch enemies, the New York Yankees.

    Playing basketball was a reprieve from personal boredom. Basketball was much different in those days and one did not have to be seven feet tall to play. The two handed set shot was all the rage. Many of the present day rules and plays were nonexistent. I would love to have a video of the old fashioned way of playing basketball to show some of my grandchildren.

    I also played golf on the high school team. My older brother who was a good golfer loaned me his clubs to play. An amusing thing happened when we were playing another high school in the area. I teed up my ball and took a healthy swing at it. The club head came loose from the shaft and went further down the fairway than the ball. This invoked a lot of laughter but is was embarrassing to me.

    For some unknown reason the sound of train whistles caused me to daydream about traveling. I wanted to leave home but was fearful that it would be impossible to make it on my own especially at my age. Thoughts of travel frequently entered my mind. Eventually this was a reality.

    Communications with my parents when it came to life's problems was nonexistent. I was left to shift for myself and many of my decisions were erroneous causing additional problems. The pain experienced from the consequences was overwhelming. An awareness of conflicts in my life existed but the tools to repair them were lacking. I wanted desperately to be an acceptable part of society but the means to function without conflicts eluded me.

    Picking the subjects in school was an individual one. No one advised me regarding the subjects to take so the easiest ones were chosen such as shop, typing, physical education and drawing. None of these were related to a successful career in any field but they were the minimum subjects required for graduation.

    At the time I never realized the impact teachers would have on one's life. There were several who still cause me to pause and wonder why I never showed them more respect. For many years I have lived away from my home town and when I would return home there were two teachers that I would see in the grocery store. They always made me feel good but as previously mentioned, the respect was not mutual until later years.

I rarely dated during my high school years. On several occasions there was compassion for a certain girl. I would write notes to her which were somewhat mushy. My sister intercepted on which was sent to me from one who was admired. Mention was made about a fishing trip and the fact that the fish must have been laughing at me because I didn't catch any. In the note she said, "Imagine those silly fish laughing at you". I was teased about this for some time.

    The means to entertain girls such as "joy riding" was out because there was no car. Some of the students whose parents were financially well off had cars. They were the envy of the school. My dad had a model "T" Ford with homemade windows in it. That would be the last form of transportation I would use for a date. Furthermore, I did not know how to drive until shortly before graduation.

    One girl in particular appealed to me. Fearful of being rejected kept me from asking her for a date. The Junior-Senior Prom was fast approaching. With all the courage I could muster, I ask her if she would go to the Prom with me. She agreed to go and this was what was to be the highlight of my young life. Although I could not dance there were others in the same predicament. My thoughts were constantly on what to do without an automobile.

    My brother agreed to teach me how to drive and offered me his car. This was the frosting on the cake and much of the apprehension disappeared. The day before the Prom I approached my date and asked her what time she wanted to be picked up. She told me I should have realized she was only kidding, that she had a date with someone else. This was a devastating blow to me and I have never seen her since.

    Life was not so complicated in those days. Going to the grocery store was an adventure. The stores had no shopping carts, merchandise was not displayed as it is now and commercials on the radio required one to conjure up an image of what was being sold.The graphic presentations of the commercials appearing on today's television were nonexistent.

    Prior to the time my dad had his own store he shopped almost exclusively at a little grocery store in town. Kids went in there to buy penny candy. The owner Cliff was very good to the kids but I remember one time that I was terrified. I went into the store and asked for a penny piece of candy on the bottom shelf of the display counter. When Cliff bent over to get the candy, I grabbed a nickel bar off the top shelf. He came up too quick and caught me in the act. I was so scared that I began to cry and he released me, giving me both the nickel and penny candy. It took several years to gain the good graces of Cliff after that incident.

    Many of the grocery stores were locally owned and the owners established a personal relationship with their customers. Very few chain stores existed and the main ones were A & P, and Krogers.

    Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Wards were the most popular retail stores. They carried almost every kind of merchandise. It may come as a surprise that at one time Sears sold mail-order homes. Only one of these was a part of our community. This one was assembled on a farm and the design would have been outlawed in our present society.

    Automobiles were built to last. The body of these cars consisted of heavy duty steel and the thicker it was the more appeal it had to the consumer. Bumpers were truly made to protect the rest of the body, not like those today where tests are required to endure a crash of five miles per hour.

    I recall one time I had a Model "A" Ford and took the main bumper off in front and the only thing remaining was two brackets which supported the bumper. I was stopped by a policeman who asked me what happened to my bumper. I told him it was being chromed. He told me to get off the highway, because I was a menace to traffic.

    My brother-in-law bought a new 1932 Ford V8. He took dad and me on a road test. We were going at a moderate speed and all of a sudden he pushed the gas pedal to the floor. We were up to eighty miles per hour in a flash. My dad said in a very anxiety laden voice, "Slow down or I'll jump". It was a terrifying experience and after traveling in a Model "T" with a top speed of about 35 miles per hour this was an experience.

    Speaking of speed, the limit on the highway was anywhere from 35 to 50 miles per hour. One time my dad was going 35 miles per hour in a 25 mile zone. The cop pulled him over for speeding and dad was really mad. The cop gave him a ticket and dad responded by going about 5 miles per hour. The cop, who incidentally was the only motorcycle cop in town, gave dad another ticket for blocking traffic.

    There were many unpaved roads in those days. One in particular comes to mind. North Road which led out of town was paved as far as the city limits extended. The rest was a dirt road for approximately ten miles. Although it was traveled extensively, the county did not pave it. As we would walk home from school after a recent rain storm, many times we would be splashed with muddy water by passing cars. Pot holes wee very common and there were no street lights. This presented an eerie picture and at night during our youth, we were scared to walk this road after dark.

    The two roads in our neighborhood were also not paved and full of pot holes. We often poured the ashes from our coal stove to fill the potholes in front of our house and in our driveway. This made driving a little more tolerable.

    Crime was not as prevalent in those days. Rarely did we lock our doors and tools were left unattended. Perhaps the biggest crime was chicken thieves. I recall one time there was a rash of stealing in the neighborhood. We had a goose which acted as a "watchdog" and we were exempted from this loss. If a stranger came around at night, the goose would begin honking and the stranger would leave. Others were not that fortunate and they lost some of their chickens and other property.

    This thievery got out of hand and a midnight patrol was established. My cousin was a real vigilante, carrying a big shotgun and playing the role of a real hero. I doubt seriously if he would have used the gun if he came upon the thief. I think he would have dropped the gun and ran. Others in the group were more aggressive and vowed to shoot the thief if they encountered him during their tour of duty. Eventually the thief was caught and things returned to normal. The thief was called "Sneaky Pete" and much of the stolen goods were retrieved except the chickens which were long gone.

    During the time the patrols were roaming the neighborhood, there was a real sense of "out west" justice being enacted. An adventurous time was had by many in this little community which consisted of two dirt roads in a rural setting. It is strange that "Sneaky Pete" was not a suspect from the beginning as he had a long criminal history. He did not live on the two roads, he resided in an area called the "Allotment" which consisted of many immigrant families.

    Incidentally, there were very few people who were hooked on drugs and stealing to maintain the habit of drug use was not a common practice. I cannot recall anyone in our town who was addicted to drugs, therefore crime to supply these people with drugs did not exist. In our present society, a major portion of crime is attributed to the need to steal in order to get money or goods for drugs.

    I do remember one person who was an alcoholic and lived in our neighborhood. He was a good friend when he was sober but he would go on binges, drinking constantly for two or three weeks at a time. While actively drinking, he would canvas the neighborhood, begging for money to feed his habit. A very likable person when he was off  the booze, he would remain abstinent for two or three months and then for some reason, find the need to punish himself by going on a binge. He finally drank himself to death and the entire neighborhood mourned his passing. There was no way of knowing what caused him to completely change personalities once he began to drink. Perhaps he had the same type problems as others who became alcoholic. One thing about Ham was the fact that he became very irritable and unfriendly prior to going "off the wagon". I made a solemn vow that I would never indulge in such a practice. Chapter 3

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