Anniversary of the On April 19, 1995, the Oklahoma City Murrah Federal Building...

On April 19, 1995, the Oklahoma City National Memorial was dedicated on the site of the Murrah Federal Building, commemorating the victims of the bombing. Remembrance services are held every year on April 19, at the time of the explosion.

I need to give you a little background material first.  I had shingles in my right eye in 1978 and I went to Dr Carter for medical attention and later to Dr Rousey at the Dean Mcgee eye institute in Okla City.

     In 1990 I developed a cataract in the eye and Dr Carter removed the cataract.

    On April 17, 1995 I noticed that I had a black spot on the side of my eye and I had read enough to know that I was having a retina detachment.  I called Dr Carter that morning and they immediately got me in to the office.  I had to round up Dale and we had an appointment in Okla City as an emergency that afternoon at about 2 pm..

     We drove to Okla City for the appointment and low and behold Dales sister Lelda came into the office the same time as I did.  They looked at my eye and scheduled an operation for the next morning and that was on April 18th.  Lelda asked us to come over and spend the night with her and we did.  The next morning we went to the hospital and they did the surgery.  I was in the Presbyterian hospital right next to the Dean Mcgee eye clinic.

     Everything went fine and the next morning the doctor came in and checked me about 8 am.  I was dressed and waiting for a prescription to be filled.

     Dale and I were watching TV at 9:02 in the morning and the bomb went off.  We were on the 7th floor and thought something had blown up in the basement and wondered how we were going to get out.

 
The nurses rushed into our room as we had the TV on and in a few mins the stations were showing pictures of the bombing. 

We were waiting for a prescription to be filled and stayed until we got it.  They asked if I was able to walk out to the car as the wheel chairs were not available.

     They asked if we would be available to help and we left at about 9:45 am.  As we left the hospital the Doctors and nurses were lined up on the street in their white uniforms.  The ambulances were starting to come in and we decided to come home.

     I can still hear that bomb going off and still can see the doctors and nurses lined up waiting for  the ambulances . . 

Radio School in Minnesota in 1947 - A telegraph Operator's journey....

Radio School in Minnesota in 1944 - Telegraph Operator.

 I went to Minneapolis in 1944 to go to radio school and learn some things so I could get a better job. My Mother went with me and my friend Myrtle Olson came along and she was going to find a job and I also needed a job so that I could support myself and go to school.

   We went up on the train and then I think my Mother rented a hotel room and the next day we went down to the radio school and paid them the rest of the money and then we went out for a job search.  There were jobs all over town and my friend got a job at a defense plant running a machine and I go a job at at cafe  located at 6th and Hennepin right down town.  We then found a place to room at on the third floor of an apartment house.

     The room had a bed and a closet and a hot plate.  The bathroom was down on the second floor and the washing machine and iron was down in the basement.   Myrtle's job was at night and we did not see each other very often.  I went to radio school from 9 until 3 and then I came home and changed clothing and went to work at the cafe from 5 to 10 in the evening. I caught the street car home and the apartment was just a block from the street car line.

     The cafe work was quite interesting as it was located in the entertainment dist of Minneapolis.  There were movie theatres close and the men who ran the projectors would come in to get a bite to eat.  Upstairs was a bowling alley and the guys would come down a get a cup of coffee and sometimes pie a la mode.  I also had a couple of women who worked for the CNW railroad that would come in on their break and get a bite.  There were also people that worked on the newspapers that would come in.

     I had a bartender that came in every night and ordered a chicken sandwich.  We always saved a piece of chicken for his sandwich.  The cafe was also a tobacco store and outside the cafe was a newstand.   I can still hear the man who owned the newstand saying  Extra Extra Read All About It.  He was of the Jewish faith and he ordered a milk shake with a raw egg in it.

     The cafe was close to the street car line that went to St Paul and so would get some people waiting for the street car and they would come in for coffee or cherry cokes and we also had ice cream and I made sundaes and milk shakes.  I also washed the dishes as they came off the counter.

     I went to a movie one time with friends and Duke Ellington had a show there.  Think it cost about 50 cents.  Minimum wage at that time was 40 cents an hour.  I could live on what I made at that part time job and was able to save about 40 collars in 9 weeks. We would some times get on the street car and go over to St Paul as it cost about 15 cents.  We would get a transfer ticket and ride all over on Sunday afternoon and see the sights.

     I left Minneapolis the first part of October as had secured a job on The Santa Fe Railroad. I had learned to type much better at the school and also learned how to use a teletype machine which came in hand on the railroad.

They also taught us radio theory and I got my amature radio licence.  We had to go to St Paul to get that at a court house.  Never did use it but that was one of the requirements and we had to pass that test.

     Was an interesting time in my life and helped prepare me for the business world.

My thoughts and memories of the flu of 1918

My parents were alive when the 1918 flu hit near the small village of  Ellendale Minnesota.  I do not believe that they had the flu but a lot of the neighboring  farmers did have it..  I was born in 1927 and people were still talking about it when I was young.

     Dr  Erytl was the Doctor living in Ellendale at that time and he was a young man.  Bear in mind that in 1928 people were not using cars and it was the dead of winter.

 Dr  Erytl would start out in the morning with his horse and sled and he would stop at every farm that had a case of the flu.  There was very little medicine at that time and some of the farmers developed pneumonia.  The Doctor would stop by every day and cup the farmers on their backs to loosen the congestion.  When he had finished his rounds he would tie the reins up and go to sleep and the horse would carry him home.  Then he was up the next morning doing the same thing.  He did not lose one patient. 

     The same thing happened in 1936 to my sister Daisy.  She developed pneumonia at the age of 17.  I was 8 years old and my little brother Richard was about 6 months old.  My folks sent me over to my sister Dorothy who was married and richard and I stayed with Dorothy until Daisy was well.  She ran a 105 fever for a long time and she said Dr Erytle cupped her on the back to loosen the congestion.

     When I went to work for the railroad in 1944 the telegraph operator who were working in 1918 said that they sometimes had to work around the clock as so many people were sick.  The ones that were well stayed in the depot and the dispatcher would tell them to take off and go to sleep and he would call them when he needed them. 

We are facing a worse case now and we need to isolate ourselves as best we can.