Back to the Beginning (Homepage)
Ashley: Alright, um, let me see…How did growing up in a big city affect you?
Vince: Ooh, ah…(p) Well, you see, I don’t even know how to answer something like that, uh (p) well I guess the neighborhood I was born in more or less, you know, I think I’ve told you that we were never rich or anything…we were poor. We were poor. Let me put it that way. So (P) the way it worked, I don’t know, it was like I was raised on the streets, and…’Cause, I mean, I was good in school, I was good in grade school and I was good in high school, too (p). But other than that there was, you had to play in the streets because every time you went to the park to play football or baseball you got thrown out of the park because, you got, you know there were other people there and they were afraid they were going to get hit or something like that with the ball, so we’d play in the middle of the streets. (P)I don’t know how it would really affect me, but, I think I told you, the neighborhood I grew in was, it was German, Italian, Irish and Polish. And, um, we seemed to have gotten along because, at that time, this is like in the early, well, late forties, early fifties in there, uh, we didn’t really know anything about discrimination or anything like that… It didn’t matter to us what color, nationality you were, if you could play ball, come on! (laughs). Yeah, and that’s the way we did it, so (p) so I guess I wasn’t raised up in a racist atmosphere, or any bias towards ethnic groups or anything like that (p). Because, you know, we all called each other names, like, you know, you krout, you mick, you wop or something like that, and you know… But there was nothing really meant by it (p). How it affected me in growing up (p) I don’t know. I think in a way it might have given me some more camaraderie with my, my fellow people, you know, the people who were around me, because even when I went to high school (P) I, uh, it was the same thing, it was all mixed, and we were all the same, and… (P)But, you know, then again them gangs, I belonged to one, but you know, it wasn’t with guns or knives, we just used our fists or a stick or something…you know it wasn’t out to kill somebody, it was just something… It was stupid, anyway, now that I look back. But if you came into our turf and you weren’t supposed to be there, or if you went into somebody else’s turf and you weren’t supposed to be there, you know, so you got beat up. They wouldn’t beat you up senseless where you wound up in a hospital half-dead or something like that. They just made sure you got the point (laughs) not to come over. So, let’s see (p) I guess it was rough, too, but, it made me ah, a better person I think because, I (p). When I was growing up, I knew (p) in order to get something it wasn’t going to be free, see. So you had to pay for it. I guess, you know, we did all the childish tricks, and you know, during Halloween and all that, but… We, we all got along, you know, for being four different nationalities, because, I think I told you I’m German… But, nobody held it against me because of the war or nothing, because, we were just all friends and we hung out together. And then when I got into high school I moved into a different group of people. That’s when I got into the gang, when I was in high school. Because, I guess it came down to, either you, I don’t know if you’ve seen movies or programs but, and it was like that. Either you joined one or you (laughs) you got beat up by everybody (p). So, and, yeah, I wasn’t really rowdy or rough that, or (p). It was just that time. And that’s the way you had to live. And you know, but I respected my elders, I think… But you know we all did. No matter how rough we were, if an older person told us to move on, we’d move on, (p). If the police came and told us to move on, we moved on (laughs). And that’s the way it was, because, I don’t know how it is now a days, but (p). Well, I know it isn’t even like that because I never even brought my own daughter up like that. You know, if, you got in trouble with and older person, right, or you weren’t respectful to them, when you got home, for some reason Momma or Pop always found out, and you got the heck, you got beat up again. But even like, I went to a Catholic grammar school, and the nun used to tap tap tap on your hands or, you know, when you did something wrong, but then they’d notify your parents. And so here you’ve got it at school, and when you went home you got it again (p). I guess it taught me things, but I, I respect people; I do respect all people who are older than me, and uh (p). I don’t know if we’ve gotten away from it or not. Nobody’s been disrespectful to me, so I can’t say what happens with other people. But (coughs) how can I put it that, growing up in an environment like that, things were fast. And, um, I don’t know, it just helped me later on in life. Things did get hard for me, I think, my upbringing, and, just living in a fast-paced city (p). It, you know, it got me through; because I knew how to handle it from my younger days. And big city living was good, too, because, if you wanted to go someplace you didn’t really need a car or… You got on the subway, or a bus, and you go anyplace in the city you want. On some subways you can ride for two or three hours, just in one direction, from one side to the other, and uh… I enjoyed that, because we used to go to Canarsey, Coney Island, and, shoot. It isn’t like now, you need somebody to take you, or (p) you had to have a car, you just said, “Mom, I’m going to Prospect Park,” and… That was a bus ride (laughs) and so, that’s all. You got on one bus, you transferred to another bus, and you went. Momma just hollered, “Don’t get in trouble, don’t get in trouble, don’t get in no fights,” so, you know (p). But, (p) I think the kids in suburbia had it worse than we did (p) you know, in the outskirts, because they did need a car or their parents to drive them places where I didn’t need that, so… I guess you built up a sense of independence there, too…(P) But, you know… During my childhood, you know if grandma came around (p) and you were in the middle of a punch ball game or a stick ball game and grandma says, “Vince, walk me home, walk me home!” You went off and walked her home. You got your dime! Ah, that was a lot of money back then… But, you know. But, it was like, even the team you were on didn’t care if you left (small laugh) because then you come running back and got right back into the game again. But, (p) ah… I think that’s also where I learned that, to take time for other people, too. And, yeah, I don’t know, I could say it was hard, but it didn’t seem hard, at the time. It did, it does later on in life as you think about it, but it was a rough time. But even like, when I was away for a while, then I came back and said, “Is this what I lived in?” (p) But while I lived there… it was like a palace, but, you know, just, I don’t know. We had railroad rooms; the rent was just $25 a month. You see how far back that would be… And, I don’t know, but my childhood days in the big city life, even when I got jobs there, you know. I had a car, but I didn’t use it that much unless I was going someplace special, plus it was easier to use the bus or the train, so… Traveling was a lot easer that now…(p). I don’t know. But he main thing I learned was independence, and respect, and a camaraderie with other people. I think that’s why (p) it’s been brought over throughout my life and into my, you know, my older years. When I got older. But, and I, that’s the way I felt about it… Like, when I needed help people helped me, so, I think I learned that from there. But you see, when I came to the South and things slowed down so much, it was like (cough) a whole different life and, I (p), I don’t know… I couldn’t really cope with it because I was so used to go, go, go, go. And then everything got sort of slowed down here, and I still wanted to go, go, go. It took me awhile to make the transition. But, hey! And like, you know, in New York when you drove, you drove and you kept your space. You didn’t let nobody else in there. I mean it didn’t matter if somebody was trying, like a pedestrian, you beeped your horn that they weren’t supposed to be there and you kept going (laughs). But, here, when I came down here you know, people stopped their vehicles and said go ahead, walk, walk. And then, you know, New York you didn’t cut nobody in. And here people’ll stop, slow down, and say go ahead, go ahead, you can pull in now (p). I wasn’t used to things like that (p). So then I had to change my ways down here (p). But, I think that’s about the biggest things I got out of my young life (p). Cause, it was easier, and I did set values, I did get values from that type of living. I’m not saying some were all great, but, how can I put it, I, uh, seemed to put the better ones forward and left the worst ones in the background. Cause event he grandkids now, “Were you in a gang? Were you in a gang?” or “Did you kill anybody?” No we didn’t kill nobody! Because, uh, I guess the reputation of gangs now in comparison to then… I mean, like I told you, you got beat up sometimes, sometimes you go hit by a stick or a chain or something, but… They didn’t try to kill you, when you were down you were down. They’d leave you alone. You know, but now they kill you or…no, no. But, is that what you wanted or did you want something elaborated?
A: Umm, that was great!
V: You sure?
A: (shakes head yes) Um, let’s see (P). What did you do in New York for fun when you were growing up (laughs).
V: You sure?
A: (shakes head yes) Um, let’s see (P). what did you do in New York for fun when you were growing up (laughs).
V: (small laugh) Well, we went, ah no, we did have fun (p). You know, we weren’t always hoodlums (laughs). We, we’d go out and you, know, like, um, my mother would take us to, um, me and my brother and (p)… Cause we were the youngest, we’d go to Prospect Park, Coney Island, ride the rides, and… You know, and I think it was, like, what was it? I think it was 50 cents to ride the rides all day… And there use to be a place called Steeple Chase Park, I think they’ve torn it down now… But we’d eat hotdogs and that’s what I’m saying, a lot of times I didn’t know we were poor. Because Mom always tried to give us things and we’d have a slice of pizza and get, then when it was time to go home we’d get our ice cream… But, then, but like we used to go on, ah, I don’t know if you’d call them actual camping trips because (p) we never did stay overnight, but… Like we used to go to Canarsey or something like that, and… with a group of guys, and girls, of course… And we’d go about 6 o’clock in the morning and this was our camping out. And we’d just stay the whole day there. It was fun. And we went to the movies and (p) because um, when my dad got real sick there was a movie you could go to, it was called An Assort Theater in Brooklyn, it was in Great Point (p). And uh, it was a nickel, everybody was, kids were a nickel, adults were a nickel, it was just a nickel, and you got to watch five cartoons, a serial, which was either the Three Stooges or something like that, then you got to watch two full Westerns (p). And I thought, wow. So you know I used to enjoy that (p). And when I got older I played in a marching band and I enjoyed that because we’d go places and you know, we would stop and have ice cream some place and like I said, you really didn’t need no car or bus, or… We took the regular transportation so you didn’t need school buses or anything… And, I don’t know, hanging out (both laugh). We didn’t have no malls or anything but… I can remember when I was younger like you’d get your girlfriend and you’d just go for a long walk and if you got tired after that you just hopped on a bus and came back. So it didn’t matter, if you wanted to walk you walked, if you didn’t you rode the bus or the subway back. But we’d just walk on Sundays. What did we do on Saturdays? A lot of the times we just played ball, but like I said, we… There used to be a park that had four baseball fields, but it seems like the older kids always got them before we did, so… We couldn’t do that, cause we didn’t have sense enough to reserve the field (laughs) we’d just go out there and when they’d come out you’d have to leave cause they had the field reserved (p). And football… We just played in the park, we didn’t have no real football field or anything… But, you know, this is when I was younger. Even in high school, I never played high school football, but we did play football a lot… And we were a pretty good team. I mean, we played other teams around the neighborhood, and we’d even travel—like I said, a whole bunch of us on the subway or the bus… People’d think we were going to try and kill them or something, but we didn’t (p). But the funniest part is um, (p) for our football uniforms…you know, like I said, we were poor, so (p) like the same person would wear the same helmet and shoulder pads and… You’d just take it off, when you came out you’d give it to the next person that went in and … Everybody waited, because nobody else had it, neither. I think we had two footballs between the two teams. But it was fun… And what else? We did a lot of things, really… We used to hang out in the candy store, and you know, listen to the jukebox and you know… But it isn’t like on Happy Days where, you know, everybody’s got all this money for hamburgers and fries and all… You maybe had a Coke and set there for three hours… (laughs) just asked for more ice… Time you’d finished with that Coke it was water really… I, what else did we do? We hung out in the park (P). I guess, that’s about it. We were, we’d go to movies, go to dances, cause we had dances in them days. Them days! How do you like…! I didn’t mean to say “them days.” (laughs) But, you know, these were school-sponsored dances (p). So we’d really have a good time. You know we’d neck in the park, I guess that was good, too (laughs) except when the cops came, they’d throw us out of the park (laughs). So, but, you know, but, we had portable radios, but you know, they were nothing like they have now, boom boxes or anything big. They weren’t even stereos. They were just old, portable radios… And they took eight batteries, and, you know, we’d listen to that and dance around in the park sometimes… Even in the cold now we’d hang out in the park, too, so… And I guess the best think was that (p) the macho image you had to give (p) that (p) it could be cold as heck but you had to have your jacket unbuttoned a certain length… And your shirt had to be unbuttoned, too, to a certain length. No matter how cold it was out there (both laugh). And sometimes you’d freeze to death (laughs). And, you know, wearing hats wasn’t it, because, you know, we had the duck tails, like they had in the ‘50’s, and they was greased down just like them and… I don’t know if you’ve seen the movies where they had these big dips down in the front, but you had to do that, you had to get it all coming down, and like, it was, I guess it was just a peer thing. It was just a fad that was all that it was… Um, we had the peg pants with the uh, like, we used to get the gray pants and they used to have the pink saddle stitching down there, and that was cool (laughs). But, no, ah (p). When I look back (p) I don’t think there’s anything I’d really want to change, because, when I look back now, like I say (p) we weren’t real bad, we were just…keeping with the times, that’s the only way I can put it, so… We didn’t have no, um, drugs back then… We didn’t even know what drugs were, so the oldest looking guy would go in there and (p) and used to be able to go into the bar and get quart cannist—what are they called? Containers, quart containers of draft beer for, I think, 90 cents (p). And so, sometimes we’d cheat like that (laughs). You know, we’d get drunk on that one quart and, so by the time we went home or something we’d get a beating for that (laughs). And, you know, but it was fun. How can I say it was fun when you got beat up all the time, but it was (p). Yeah, (p) but like I say, your friends were your friends. If something happened to you they’d take care of you, even your neighbors. Your neighbors were your neighbors and if you needed something no matter what it was, they’d help you (p). But, we did have fun (p). Even after I went to work, you know, we still had fun. We hung out, and we’d, we started hanging out in bars because that was the macho thing, we were all over 18 now, go into the bar (p). I guess we were rowdy then, too, but (p). Not to the point of wanting to hurt anybody you know, we’d just make a lot of noise or something like that (p). But we still respected people when they came in, you know. If they wanted to listen to the jukebox we didn’t go hollering and screaming all over the place… But, and then again we used to go to the dances out on the Island… This time we used to, we did have a car and we used the car and… We’d go to the dances out on the island, you know (p)… But, it was fun, but you know, the best thing was that (p) you could take your girlfriend and get on a bus, and et on a transfer, ride for maybe two hours (p) right, just you and your girl, and come back. On the same 15 cents (laughs). See what I’m saying? And on the subway it was the same thing, but you know you were underground, but they had some, they had some elevated lines, too, but most of them, for the long rides, were underground (p). And so, you didn’t want that. Usually on the bus you know, it was daylight so you could walk around and look at different places… Go to Rockaway… Had a good time, yeah (P).
A: Um, how important is religion to you?
V: Now?
A: Um, anytime.
V: Oh, like I said, I went to a Catholic School (p). I was an alter boy (p). I started in a Catholic high school, but we couldn’t afford it so I had to go to a public school (P). We’d still go to church every Sunday (p) every Holy Thursday we’d go visit the churches (p) Good Friday we’d visit the churches, we’d go to 6 o’clock mass Easter Sunday… We used to go to church a lot (laughs). But, yeah. I think (p) I believe in God (p) cause somebody’s been protecting me all these years. Somebody has because (p) some of the things I’ve done I really shouldn’t be around but (P). So, there is (p) there has to be a God (p) cause I pray to him everyday anyway, now… There was a time in my life when, aft… after I went into the service, well, I lost the religion. I lost it for a good 20 years even…(p). But ten I found it again, and… I’m not the type of person that, um, professes it (p). I don’t go to church on Sundays (p). I, I don’t know why, but I just don’t. And, uh, people tell me, “why, you should go,” I ask them why. “Well, that’s what you’re supposed to do” see? (p) Then there’s some people who don’t believe I’m religious because I don’t talk about religion (p) and I have, I tell them that, oh, how can I put this, that…(p). When I talk to God, that’s between me and Him. I don’t think anybody else should have anything to do with it. And like I tell you, I do pray every morning, thanking God for letting me be alive and well, being able to move around another day… I thank Him again every evening when I lay down (p)… And, you know, but, I guess I used to be (p) how can I say this now? This is going to seem harsh, maybe, but (p)… I blamed God for everything that happened bad in my life. Like, uh, I had nothing to do with it. I, I’d kind of holler “why did you let this happen to me, God? Why didn’t you protect me doing this?” And, uh (p) I guess a lot of people do that (p). For a while I was really angry, because 9p). And I really had no reason to be angry with God or anybody else, I had no reason… I was mad at people (p) for no reason because—I had brought it all on myself (p) see? And I, like they say, you get to feeling sorry for yourself, so you try to push the blame on (p)… But, this is about 15 years that I came to realize that (p) hey, there’s only one person that’s to blame for this situation here, you created it, so you’ve got to live with it and get out of it now, so (p)… And that’s what happened, because, um, (p) I don’t know if I’ve said this before, the lady that I’m living with, her name is Ethel… And, she sort of saved my life, because I was going off the deep end (p). And like, we never got married, we’re still together what, I think in June 20 years (P). And, um, she sort of, she did save my life, really. I guess all her nagging and hollering paid off, because I decided to straighten up. For a while. And Then I came here. I got the job here, so… I was still a little wild, so… but, (p) so she kept on me and, she just hung with me. We’d have some bad arguments but (p) she just hung with me. And eventually, I said enough’s enough, that’s it, said God help me, please (p). And that was it. I straightened myself out. And life is so good now… It’s great (laughs)! Well I, I guess you can see! Nothing bothers me now (p) except how people are treated. That’s all. I don’t like to see people treated unfairly or bad… It makes me, it frustrates me… See I, I hardly ever get angry anymore ever, it’s, it takes so much to get me angry that most people give up before they get me angry (laughs). But, nah, but like I said, if it wasn’t for Ethel I, I’d probably be either in jail or in the ground (p). Cause I was, I was a little wild there for a while… But, again, I blamed God for things, but I was going it all on my own (p). But she stuck with me and now, now she’s in bad shape cause she’s sick and everything and I’ll stick with her. Everybody says “oh Vince, you’re a saint for doing this!” And I say nah, nah, nah, I’m just paying back what she did for me. And that’s the way I am. If people—I never forget when people do stuff for me…never. And I never forget when people do me wrong, either (laughs). But, I, here, you’ll never know I didn’t forget about it, because I’m not the type of person who holds grudges against anybody. I’ll get angry for a few minutes, that’s the end of it (p)! I’ve said what I wanted, you’ve said what you wanted, forget about it now (p). There’s no point in being enemies about it (p). If I had to have enemies with everybody I had a little debate or argument with, I’d have so many enemies (laughs)! Nah, nah. There’s no reason for that. But, nah, I…(p). But I do believe, I do believe. So, I don’t want anybody to think I’m an atheist or, or , you know, because I do believe, and like I say, I just (p) pray my own way (p). And, if people don’t think I pray that’s there business… They can think whatever they want. Okay!
A: How important is family?
V: (P) Number one.
Number one, above everything, everything, everything (p). You got one momma; you got one daddy (p).
If you have sisters and brothers, you’ll never have anymore (p).
See, that’s why family is first, and it’s the most important, you
should, next to God, family is the most important thing in the world.
And all these things I hear about people arguing about money, they
don’t talk to each other for 10, 15
years, I say it’s stupid, stupid! You
want the money, take the money! I
don’t care. Just don’t go off
on the deep end on me (p). Because,
uh, (p) see, the way we were raised… How can I say this now?
That (p) we were always close, no matter what happened, see (p).
Every holiday, or every summer we always go together with the children,
the nephews, nieces, brothers and sisters, and we always got together for
Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter (p). And
like I said, a few days in the summer. But
(p). And that’s the way I was
brought up. Now, I’ll admit when
I moved down here I drifted off (laughs). But,
you know, I think they sort of understood it, because (p) to me, (p) as good as
New York was (p) it was best for me to get out of there (p).
So, I don’t feel bad about leaving.
I don’t feel bad about leaving my family up there because we still keep
in touch with each other; we e-mail each other (p).
But I put family above everything except God (p).
And, to me, if you can’t protect and help your family (p) there’s you
know, it’s just bad business. That’s
all it becomes. But (p)… but
number one! Number one! Family, uh-huh. That’s
why I call it my family! (laughs)
Hollins University, I love it, I love it! My
family!
A: Uh, would you feel comfortable talking about your daughter?
V: About what?
A: Your daughter.
V: Oh, oh, oh um.
A: If you’re not that’s okay.
V: Maybe not (laughs a little) (p). Yeah, because, uh… (P) Yeah, I’d have to come on ah, nah, I don’t think we want to talk much about that…
A: Okay (p) um, (P) How was life in the service…
V: (coughs)
A: Different from your life now?
V: Than what?
A: Oh, just your life now.
V: Oh, in the service? (p) Oh, I had a good time in the service! Don’t ask me why, but I did… Because (P) I was in a supply outfit, and um (p) sometimes the work was hard, but it was (p) just like having a job, really, because I worked 8 to 5, had a break for lunch (p). And, except for your in the service, it was more regimented and (p) you had orders to obey, you know. But, (p) I think my upbringing really (p) prepared me for it… And I, you know, I never felt any animosity towards anything I was told to do (p)… Because, I figured they knew what they were doing, they knew better than me (p). But (p) later on in life I found out it wasn’t so…(laughs) but that’s okay. But, no (p) uh (p) during basic training I was in, uh, San Antonio Texas (p) and, I got there in August and it seemed like… It was so hot there, and flat (p) that we wore what they called these pit helmets, they looked like those safari helmets, and uh, you had to carry water and salt tablets with you every place you went (p). Because, that was how hot it was (p). It used to get to 105, 110 and you’d be in this green uniform (laughs) marching, and, ah! Lord!… It’d be murder! I was in, they didn’t have no air conditioning, all you did was open the windows. There was no breeze until at night, then the breeze’d come off the desert out there (p). But, during the day you paid (p). The nights were nice, but, you know… I enjoyed it. It was another thing (p) where I met a whole lot of different types of people. I met people from other states, I met Southern people, see… And they called me “Yankee” (laughs). I, good Lord! Then I , I had a roommate, and he was from, um, Missouri. He was a bigger hick than any Southerner I know (laughs) I tell you! But, he was a good man. Then, we had a guy from Chicago, he was good. But we all hung out together and where we were stationed you couldn’t drink until you were 21, so… We’d build, uh, these model cars that you see now (p). So, we’d get five or six of us in the room and build and talk and just drink sodas and … But we, I used to like them because… I (p)…you met, that was the first time I really met people from ah, different walks of life. I met people that had money, people that was as poor as me, people that were, you know, middle class… Said he, we’re all in this together and… But, you know (p) but I really enjoyed it, I , I was stationed in Delaware for about, what (p) almost two and a half years, so I was only about 200 miles from New York City. And, you see, you can go home on weekends. If you live within a 200-mile radius, you can go home without taking any leave or any permission. But you have to let them know that you’re leaving the base and when you’ll be back. So, we’d just all pile into this old ’53 Buick Century (p). Ah, that thing burned so much oil (laughs). Which, it go to the point that we were buying used oil to put in it… Just, but, so a lot of times…. But we used to make it… You know, and then we’d come back and a few times it’d stop on us. We used to be happy on a hill because you pushed it—it was a stick shift—so you pushed it and it started rolling down the hill and it would start again once you popped the clutch. We’d leave a big cloud of black smoke. People’d look at us like we were crazy. But, I guess, you know, we didn’t know, we were young. What were we, 19? You know, we were young…
A: (laughing)
V: And it didn’t bother us. And, uh, one of the guys, well, the guy from Chicago, he had a what was it—a ’41 Mercury (p) four-door convertible, so, he had that and he brought that down (p). And then, this other guy, he brought a ’55 Chevy. He had a, it was a Bel Air, but he a (p) Coup. And, back then, Chevy’s were the deal. So, we decided to take this big engine out of this Mercury and put it into the Chevy (laughs). So, we had a guy who lived off base and he had a garage and everything, so we went to doing it, too, so, like I said, we couldn’t drink, we still weren’t 21. So, we, we just commenced to doing it, so… We got it in there, with as whole lot of work, though… I think it took four or five weeks of finally getting everything adapted… So, we’d get it started, so the timing was off so we’d had to go… We’re doing it all ourselves, now, so… So we go buy a timer and check the timing thing, we re-adjust it and… I don’t know nothing about cars. Mind you, I don’t, and to this day I don’t (p). But here we are working on it, it had a big block, an old Canadian block on it… So, we finally get it all done. Well, we get it done we can’t get the hood back on the Chevy, because the three duces, the carburetors, are all sticking so far up (p). So we got to leave the hood off. But we started that thing up, what a noise (laughs). It was loud, but it moved. Few times it stopped, but we fixed it up. Well, the guy, there was two guys, this guy, they guy from Chicago and the other guy that lived there, they knew about the cars so they adjusted all the carburetors on it (p). And that thing got to moving. Wow. And we went up the highway (both laugh) with that thing, oh we had good times but, we’re, like I was telling you about this ’41 Mercury convertible, right, had this big souped up engine (p). But, so, I don’t know how we got involved with Winchester Virginia… Like I said we were stationed in Delaware…
A: Winchester Virginia?
V: We were stationed in Dover, Delaware…
A: I live in Winchester!
V: Oh, yeah?
A: Yeah.
V: Yeah, but we got involved in Winchester Virginia. I forgot how it was (P) but here we are in the wintertime, now, right (p)? This convertible’s got no top on it (laughs). It’s a big long car, too… But we’re getting in there, all three of us are in the front seat, of course, because there’re no heater in the car, and so what heat we’re getting is whatever comes off the block cause he had a hole cut in there. But we’re getting the heat but we’re getting the fumes from it, too. But, man, we went to town! And, we did, we had a good time in Winchester. We met some people there. One time the car got stuck and we couldn’t get it started, we had to hitch hike back to Delaware (laughs). Ah, but it was fun. See I can look back on all this and it’s funny, you know… It was crazy. I mean, the things we did like I was telling you about that Buick and (p) the tires were bald (p). But we were young, we didn’t care (laughs). We’d just go with it…yeah(p). But, I, I forget what, this was on a main highway, I forget, in Winchester… There was this drive-in, you know (p) where you got the hamburgers and everything… I remember, it was, it reminded me of when I’d seen Happy Days after that. That’s what, it kept reminding me of Winchester Virginia (p). Because the sun, I can remember on night, one day the sun had gone down like that, (p) where it was just the sun shining on part of it, and (p). And we were standing outside the car (laughs). And we were talking with the girl’s (p). It was good, and then (p). Yeah, but, it was crazy. Now, I went to Korea, so, but that was nice (p) because I got to stay two weeks in Japan before I went over there and it was beautiful there and … I mean Korea, if you want to talk about cold Korea’s cold (p). And hot, too. When I was there they had one paved road, everything else was mud (p). And the whole thing was, like I said I worked in supply and in their ration breakdown delivering food (p) so… In order to get up the mountain, to the people on top, you had to crawl up and make sure nothing was coming down, cause if you meet, somebody’s got to back down. Because there was no room for two vehicles. So that was a little comedy scene sometimes… But, nah, I had a good time there, too… We did some wild things (p). We went to the clubs there, well, they weren’t really clubs they were dives. (unclear) Oh, they were bad, they were bad places. We fell into the patties a few times (laughs). We were trying to take them as a shortcut and they have these little mounds around, you know, separating them (p). But when it rained they’d be so slick. So, then we’d fall in there and (p)… I, I, my service time, I have good memories… I, I met some really good people in my service time (p). And you know like you always do, oh, we’re going to keep in touch, yeah, yeah, Joe, when I get home I’m going to look you up on my way home… And we never did it (p). So, but the memories are always there, and that’s what I enjoy (P). Okay?
A: Um hmm.
V: What else did you want to know?
A: I, think that’s pretty much it.
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