Let me interview you.

I won't ask you what your address is, or you social security number, or other specific personal info. But I will ask you general questions about yourself.

You can set out ground rules on what I can and can't ask you. If you don't want to answer one of my questions then just say so.

Anyone have the guts to be interviewed?

I'm your Huckleberry....but I reserve the right to make shit up.

Jack

I'll take what you say as the truth unless it's obviously bullshit.

The readers can decide if they believe you or not.

Lay out the ground rules for me so I know my parameters.

What do you want to know? I am a master electrician (semi-retired); the best writer on the Fray; I just bought a moving company (two months ago I couldn't spell enterpernure and now I are one).

I am probably in at least the top 10% in intelligence in the country (IQ 137). I am a Republican, right wing fanatic with no tolerance for liberal bullshit. I once took the Mensa test and passed but did not join because the women were all ugly.

Oh, my favorite color is blue, I can't dance, and I met my wife in a shopping mall.

Jack

And most of my bullshit is fairly believable.

Okay.

No questions about my past.

No questions about my present.

No questions anout my future.

We cannot discuss my politics.

We cannot discuss my religion.

We cannot discuss my family.

There will be no sports questions.

There will be no hobby questions.

There will be no follow up questions.

I have the right to terminate the interview when it suits me.

I will be compensated with U.S. legal tender in amounts no smaller than ten dollars for each question asked and one hundred dollars for each question answered, asking a question will constitute an agreement and will result in a billable charge.

So, lets start.

66.....Dallas, Texas

(1) How long has you family been in the US?

(2) Did they go straight to Texas once in the US or did they move from another part of the US to Texas?

(3) What did your father and mother do?

(4) What did your grandparents do?

(5) How many kids do you have?

(6) How many grandchildren?

greeneggsnham wrote the following post at 10/13/2009 10:53 PM:

(1) How long has you family been in the US?

One, great great grandfather (maybe another great or two) is alleged to have fought in the Revolution, on our side. Another served in the Confederate Cavalry in Alabama, and was captured near the end of the war. One other, to my chagrin was from Indiana and fought for the Union.

(2) Did they go straight to Texas once in the US or did they move from another part of the US to Texas?

I don't know.

(3) What did your father and mother do?

Dad worked in the oil fields of West Texas, after coming home from WW II. Mother was a housewife. Dad died in a car wreck in 1962 while I was in the Navy. Mother died New Year's day 2005.

(4) What did your grandparents do?

They were farmers

(5) How many kids do you have?

1 daughter

(6) How many grandchildren?

<link>

I'll probably come back and ask follow ups to your answers above.

But what I want to ask now is about your time in the Navy. It sounds like you were a teenager when you went in and therefore you probably were an enlisted guy. Correct?

Why did you enlist?

What was your "military operational skill"?

Tell me about boot camp. Was it a shock? Where was your basic training? Had you ever been away from home before this experience? What was the most challenging part?

Were you on ship? What was it like to live on the sea? How long were you gone? Was there anywhere you could go to be alone? Did you have any space that was just your's? Did you have any free time? What did the ship provide for recreation? How many floats did you go on? How long were they? What ports of call did you visit?

Tell me about you experience during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

How long did you stay in?

Why did you get out?

Were you sorry that you didn't stay in longer when Vietnam heated up?

But what I want to ask now is about your time in the Navy. It sounds like you were a teenager when you went in and therefore you probably were an enlisted guy. Correct?

I was 19 when I went on active duty.

Why did you enlist?

I joined the Navy Reserve while still in High School. In those days, every American boy was expected to serve his military obligation. Every man in my family had served and there was never a thought of not doing it. I was 17 and that was the first thing I could do without my parents permission. I was starting my second year at Texas Tech when part of the unit was called up for the Cuban Missile Crisis. I could have gotten a deferment but I didn't want to. I volunteered to go.

What was your "military operational skill"?

Aircraft Electrician and Combat Aircrew Member.

Tell me about boot camp. Was it a shock? Where was your basic training? Had you ever been away from home before this experience? What was the most challenging part?

For a Reservist it was nothing. Two Weeks during the Christmas Break. I had been away from home at college. That was my only other experience away from home.

Were you on ship? What was it like to live on the sea? How long were you gone? Was there anywhere you could go to be alone? Did you have any space that was just your's? Did you have any free time? What did the ship provide for recreation? How many floats did you go on? How long were they? What ports of call did you visit?

I did a two-week training cruise on Lake Michigan on the USS Worland PCE 845, out of Navy Pier in Chicago. It was fucking miserable. I was never on another ship.

Tell me about you experience during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

I went on active duty on the very day the crisis started Oct. 22 1962. I flew to Guantanamo Bay on deployment not long after the Crisis was over. There was still some tension; but there were Cuban nationals working on the base. I was there a month. We hunted Russian submarines and photographed Cuban Navy ships. Gitmo was not a bad duty station, if you were at Seward. It is like an American city. Leeward is pretty harsh, bad food and not much to do.

<link>

How long did you stay in?

2 years active duty. Got out in October of 1964

Why did you get out?

My obligation was up and I wanted to go home.

Were you sorry that you didn't stay in longer when Vietnam heated up?

I was, on occasion. I considered going back in (sort of like it was my obligation) but I was already married and just didn't really want to go. I was not a strong supporter of the Vietnam War. I was never very vocal about it because I didn't want to be associated with the Hippies who opposed it.

(1) So you learned part of the electrician trade in the Navy?

(2) Did you become an electrician in civilian life because you discovered that you really liked it or was it just easier not to change course?

(3) What kind of aircraft were you on? Describe it, how high did you fly, how far out to sea, what sights did you see from the plane?

(4) You mentioned tension at Guantanamo. Be more specific.

(5) Did you live at Seward or Leeward? Describe life there. Was it claustraphobic? How was Seward like a city? Were there inter-unit rivalries? Were there tensions between Navy people and Marines? If so, describe. What did you see of the Cubans? How did they act toward you guys? Did you speak to them? What could you see of the Cuban part of Cuba? What were some of the rumors that circulated in Guantananmo during that period?

Yes

(2) Did you become an electrician in civilian life because you discovered that you really liked it or was it just easier not to change course?

After I got out of the Navy, I worked for a civilian airline, as an aircraft electrician, in New Orleans. It was a Salvadoran Airline (Taca) based in New Orleans. I traveled all over Central America working on the airplanes. I eventually got tired of working on airplanes and got into the commercial electrical trade. I enjoyed the work and loved learning. After a number of years, after I got my licenses, I went into management and worked as a project manager and a department head, until getting out of it a little over two years ago.

(3) What kind of aircraft were you on? Describe it, how high did you fly, how far out to sea, what sights did you see from the plane?

I flew on, and worked on, the Lockheed Neptune P2V. I worked on the DC-6. British Viscounts and British BAC-111. We flew 12 hour hops as far as 500 miles out over the water. We sometmes flw low enough to see dolphins and such in the water.

(4) You mentioned tension at Guantanamo. Be more specific.

Some Cubans were allowed to work on the base. They stunk really bad and expressed bad attitudes toward us. Some actually worked in the Gedunk (snack bar) and would mess up orders, either just out of plain stupidity or on purpose.

(5) Did you live at Seward or Leeward? Describe life there. Was it claustraphobic? How was Seward like a city? Were there inter-unit rivalries? Were there tensions between Navy people and Marines? If so, describe. What did you see of the Cubans? How did they act toward you guys? Did you speak to them? What could you see of the Cuban part of Cuba? What were some of the rumors that circulated in Guantananmo during that period?

The patrol squadrons were at Leeward. There was nothing to do at Leeward. They had an EM club which consisted of a fenced in area where they showed movies and everybody got drunk. The food at Leeward was not good.

Seward had much better chow halls, movie theaters, shops and such. There was always some rivalry between the Marines and Sailors. I came from a Marine family so I held no animosity toward Jarheads, still don't.

I don't recall any rumors circulating then. We did not speak to the Cubans. I cussed one out in Spanish once, at the Gedunk, because he gave my sandwich to someone else. We could see the fence line from Leeward and some of the guard towers. A couple of times we flew along the fence line just to take a look, before landing.