I have fond memories of visiting my great aunt and uncle and hearing about days gone by from the 1930s-1940s. One of the most humorous things as a youngster was when I saw a picture of them before they had white hair. I had never thought about it before because their hair had turned white before I was born. I think for some the war days would be things they may not wish to recall so not asking does not seem like a big deal. Neither of my grandfathers ever talked about it.
On Monday, September 16, 2013, WILTON wrote: > Yes, I know the feeling well. As children, teen agers and young adults, > we are too concerned about other things - educatrion, making a living, > raising our own children, etc., - to realize how important history, even > our personal family histories, can be later. > > Wilton > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kaleb C. Striplin" <ka...@striplin.net > > > To: "Mercedes Discussion List" <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > Sent: Monday, September 16, 2013 12:40 PM > Subject: Re: [MBZ] Another Sondy Tale > > > Plus, I would have just asked him but he died in 93, and back then I was >> not worried about asking such questions. When you look back at your life >> and your family, there are so many things you would have liked to have >> talked about or asked them whey they were around, but were to young and >> stupid to think about it. >> >> On 9/16/2013 11:26 AM, WILTON wrote: >> >>> 'May have been at Sondrestrom with Bernt Balken, the founder of the >>> base, or at Narsarsuaq, an American WWII base near the southern tip that I >>> wrote about in the Sondy Tale "Flying with the Danish Air Force." 'Would >>> be interesting to know where he was. >>> >>> Wilton >>> >>> >>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kaleb C. Striplin" < >>> ka...@striplin.net> >>> To: "Mercedes Discussion List" <mercedes@okiebenz.com> >>> Sent: Monday, September 16, 2013 12:03 PM >>> Subject: Re: [MBZ] Another Sondy Tale >>> >>> >>> You know I believe my grandfather was in Greenland. I have no idea what >>>> branch he was with or where or what e was doing over there. I will have to >>>> ask my mother and see of she knows. >>>> >>>> Sent from my iPhone >>>> >>>> On Sep 16, 2013, at 10:50 AM, "WILTON" <wilt...@nc.rr.com> wrote: >>>> >>>> Yep, another Sondy Tale already. >>>>> >>>>> LAKE FERGUSON >>>>> By Wilton Strickland >>>>> >>>>> Our water reservoir at Sondrestrom was Lake Ferguson, a >>>>> rectangular-shaped lake visible on Google Earth about a mile and a half >>>>> across the Watson River and south of the base. The water was crystal >>>>> clear >>>>> and did not get above about 34°F in summer. Whenever I'd stop by for a >>>>> visit with the water plant technician, I could look down into the intake >>>>> "well" inside the building built over the lake and see nice fish several >>>>> feet beneath the surface. Usually, the only treatment to the water was to >>>>> heat it to 56°F before and during the pumping process via an above-ground >>>>> pipeline to a pump building with a huge holding tank near the center of >>>>> the >>>>> main base. There it was checked regularly (the frequency and type of >>>>> checks I don't remember) and treated as necessary with addition of >>>>> chlorine >>>>> in accordance with federal standards. The Danish water plant manager told >>>>> me that he seldom ever had to add chlorine. Most of this water is ice >>>>> melt >>>>> from the Greenland ice cap and Russell Glacier where it has been frozen >>>>> for >>>>> thousands of years and is probably one of the best and purest water >>>>> supplies in the world. The cold water at the faucets around base was so >>>>> cold that I always had to add some hot water to keep the cold water from >>>>> hurting my hands. >>>>> >>>>> Summer recreational activities at the lake worried me somewhat, >>>>> though. A rowing club was active at the lake, and occasionally a rower >>>>> would briefly go into the water. On July 4th, a traditional >>>>> Danish-American Day celebration was also held at the lake and the Rowing >>>>> Club house. In addition to the usual July 4th fair of hot dogs, >>>>> hamburgers, >>>>> beer, soft drinks, etc., a large part of the traditional celebration was a >>>>> football game of sorts between the Danish civilian women and the American >>>>> men. Check the link: >>>>> http://sondrestrom.com/folks.**html<http://sondrestrom.com/folks.html>. >>>>> Tradition also required that anybody who had not been thrown into the lake >>>>> was going into the lake before day's end. Yes, I went into the lake, and >>>>> I >>>>> can definitely attest: its temperature does not get above about 34°F, but >>>>> I >>>>> never heard that our domestic water supply needed any additional treatment >>>>> because of my dunking. >>>>> >>>>> Wilton >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> ______________________________**_________ >>>>> http://www.okiebenz.com >>>>> >>>>> To search list archives >>>>> http://www.okiebenz.com/**archive/<http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/> >>>>> >>>>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >>>>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/**mailman/listinfo/mercedes_**okiebenz.com<http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com> >>>>> >>>> >>>> ______________________________**_________ >>>> http://www.okiebenz.com >>>> >>>> To search list archives >>>> http://www.okiebenz.com/**archive/<http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/> >>>> >>>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >>>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/**mailman/listinfo/mercedes_**okiebenz.com<http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> ______________________________**_________ >>> http://www.okiebenz.com >>> >>> To search list archives >>> http://www.okiebenz.com/**archive/<http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/> >>> >>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/**mailman/listinfo/mercedes_**okiebenz.com<http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com> >>> >>> >>> ----- >>> No virus found in this message. >>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >>> Version: 2013.0.3408 / Virus Database: 3222/6671 - Release Date: 09/16/13 >>> >> >> >> ______________________________**_________ >> http://www.okiebenz.com >> >> To search list archives >> http://www.okiebenz.com/**archive/<http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/> >> >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/**mailman/listinfo/mercedes_**okiebenz.com<http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com> >> >> > > ______________________________**_________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives > http://www.okiebenz.com/**archive/<http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/> > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/**mailman/listinfo/mercedes_**okiebenz.com<http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com> > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
