I am a 70+ year old writer/columnist from Lockport. 

First off, let me say that I absolutely hated writing in high school. I would frequently write my compositions, essays and book reports on the bus, when I was on my way to school.  I wrote a book report on “The Good Earth” by Pearl S Buck, for three years in a row in high school. It was the exact same book report, just rewritten, word for word, on a clean sheet of paper. Fortunately I had three different English teachers. I didn't find my love for writing until I was in my mid 60's and I now write 3-4 articles a week. 

I have written over 500 articles over the past three years, many of which deal with growing up in Western New York. I have written a series of articles on early Buffalo television including Rocketship 7, Captain Kangaroo, Howdy Doody, and Mr. Rogers. I have also written on my childhood in the Bailey-Kensington area, shopping at The Mohegan Market, and sailing on Lake Erie. 

 I write restaurant reviews for the Niagara Falls Gazette and the Union Sun and Journal and have had Opinions/Editorials published in the East Niagara Post, The Lockport Star, The North Tonawanda Extra, The Niagara Falls Gazette, The Buffalo News and I get published every week in The Lockport Union Sun & Journal. I also just recently started writing for the Niagara Falls Reporter, ArtVoice and Buffalo Rising.

I  have always said I wished I could find a way to download all my knowledge and experiences so I could share them with my children and grand children. I think I may have found the way. 

When a boy becomes a man

It was a cold day in the 60’s that I started a 4 year journey that would change my life forever. I started out a boy and when I was done, I had become a man. 

I boarded a bus for Great Lakes, Michigan. There I would spend months learning to march, and how to handle a rifle. Yes, I was at Boot Camp.

This was the longest period of time I had ever spent away from my friends and family and it prepared me for even longer stretches I would have to spend away from them.  I was selected as the leader of my group which meant I was responsible for the actions of all the people in our company. This was the first thing I learned in the service. Don’t volunteer for anything. I got this job because they asked if anyone had a driver’s license. I raised my hand anticipating a plum job driving around dignitaries and officers. Psyche, they were just looking for someone foolish enough to raise their hand.

We started out with a physical examination (turn your head and cough). They checked our eyesight where I failed the color perception test (it didn’t matter). After they checked our hearing, we went to the clothing issue area where we were measured and given a sea bag full of clothing including underwear, socks and shoes. We also received personal care items like a toothbrush, toothpaste and a bar of soap. 

Then we took a general classification test to determine the area of our aptitude. After physical training and a visit to the obstacle course, we participated in a swim test, water survival class where we learned how to remove our jeans and make a float device. We took damage control training where we had to repair simulated damage to our “ship” before it sank. We then visited a burn building to learn how to put out a burning ship, a smoke house, and a trip thru the tear gas building, After many hours of classroom instruction to complete our training, we graduated and got our stripes.

We then received our “Marching orders”. I was lucky to be selected to go to Machinery Repairman “A” school. I took a brief leave to visit back home and boarded a flight to San Diego California where they offered this school. California was interesting. I had never been somewhere where all the trees were palm trees, no maples or pine trees. On the weekends, some of my “mates” and I would get sleeping bags from “special services” on the base and go to the sandstone cliffs of La Jollia for the weekend. Armed with my “boom box”, we would swim and enjoy our time away from the base. 

We would build a small fire to cook our meals and there was a public drinking fountain nearby that we would fill gallon bottles of water for our use. Water wasn’t all we drank. We used to get a gallon jug of Red Mountain wine at the local package store. We would take food from the mess to take with us but we would also buy food from a supermarket that was near our campsite.

When I graduated from “A” school I took another short leave to go home and then went to my ship in Newport Rode Island. My wife and I got married after a long 6 month cruise and we started living in Massachusetts. That was one of the roughest times of my life up until then. We were living without the benefit of family living nearby and I now had someone else relying on me for food and shelter.

We had no safety net so we had to do it on our own. All through the first few years of our marriage and the birth of two of my children, I was at sea as much as I was in port. It was during this time I learned a lot about myself. I learned more about personal responsibility, family values and self-reliance than I ever had before. Now some fifty plus years later, I am amazed that my younger self was able to pull it off.

I developed the skills during my time in the service to survive, raise children and live a good life. Like I said in the beginning, I started out a boy and when I was done, I had become a man.