An interview with my Dad

This morning Marissa and I were talking about housing shortages, and it made me remember a story my dad told me about housing shortages from his early marriage life.  As I recounted all the memories I had from that day we spoke, I decided to go back to the document I made and fill in the details.  I'm so glad I wrote those things down at the time, because there was a lot I didn't remember today.

I had been at Susan's house taking care of dad, it was my Tuesday.  It seems like we were in the mode of looking at pictures and identifying people during this period of time too.  His mind was still pretty sharp in remembering past experiences, and I really enjoyed asking him questions week to week when I was there.  Here's the doc. I looked up today:

Quinn Arave memories of work at the Shipyards--1941

These are notes from an interview by Cindy probably in the winter of 2004.  We were discussing my family’s upcoming trip to Hawaii in June 2004, and visiting Pearl Harbor.  This got Dad to thinking about his experience, and I grabbed my PDA, and started taking notes. Later I transcribed it to a word document as follows:

Dad, Quinn Arave, gave most of this information with clarification by Byrle.

  

Mom & Dad’s friend on the Arizona (Ship memorial at Pearl Harbor) was Carl Bradley. He sat by Mom in school.

Dad made parts in the shipyard for the USS Arizona (sunk--but they had plans to bring her up initially.  The California & Nevada had repairs in Bremerton.  His work could also have been for sister ships.  The machine shops covered 6 or 7 acres.

Dec. 7, 1941 Dad & Mom were in their apartment in ID Falls listening to the radio when they heard the news.

Dad was working at Gambles hardware store as handyman.   He remembers putting together a manure spreader that a salesman couldn’t figure out.  He had pieces spread out all over the floor,  but couldn't put together so Dad came to the rescue.   He also put together hardware displays from looking at pictures.

Cousin Keith Wadsworth told Dad about machine school in ID Falls.  He wanted him to do it with him.  He did it-6weeks, then went to Seattle for 2 weeks for more machine school.   The Civil Service paid for it.  Mom stayed in ID.  He worked in the shipyard for $6.00 day. After school, his promotion was $.27 more.  He worked on a turret lathe He turned the lathe for different tools, then used the tool to cut metal and make parts, i.e. bearings...Worked almost (?) or more than 2 years, until he went into the army.

He was a firewatcher or guard during air raid drills, during the 2 week training.  A siren called people out to go into a shelter.  It was a big, long underground shelter, shaped like kwansit hut.  People were so close you could hardly breath.  It just had shipyard people in it.  The drills were about once per week.  They had to stay a half hour, just standing and waiting.  He only went once, then he signed up to be a fire guard, so he didn't have to go in shelter.

A fireguard had a bucket, shovel and hardhat.  He had a station by the dry dock.  If bomb debris fell, he was to scoop it up, put in bucket and throw in water.  It was the largest dry dock in the US at the time.

Job @ Puget Sound Ship yards

He lived in house sharing a single bed with people on different shifts.  There was a real housing shortage!  He put an ad in the newspaper under "need house etc."  There were about 500 other adds in paper.  His friends said don’t bother, but he put an ad in anyway.  That afternoon he got a call from a man with apartment for rent.  It had 2 bedrooms, a kitchen and bathroom and front room.  It was brand new.  Dad finished it, and built cabinets in kitchen and got some rent off for the work.  Hans Gregorson, the owner said that he took the ad, and with a pencil circled in the air, landed on the paper right on Dad's ad. Dad became good friends with him.  He used to go fishing every day.   He called Mom in ID about coming out.  His folks brought her out.  She said she needed a dress to come in.  He found a shop where a lady designed and made dresses, and he bought a really nice one.  Mom was thrilled to have a maternity dress.  Many people commented on how nice it was, and even wanted to buy it from her.

When Kathi was an infant, Dad came home from his graveyard shift, 12 Midnight - 8AM.  His apartment was 1/2 mile from shipyard.   He heard a shot.  The navy had shot a balloon down.  The fire dept. was running with it—along side of it.  It didn't catch on fire, but landed on Dad and Mom's house!  It covered the whole house!  Dad was worried about it suffocating them. The fire department got them out before he arrived.  Dad ran inside, past some people to find them, but to his relief they were already out.  A crane had to lift it off the house.  Helium balloons were on every block.  The cables and wires and balloons were to discourage enemy aircraft from flying into Bremerton.  This balloon got loose from its moorings, that's why the navy shot it down.

  

Here is a website article I found about this January 16, 2013.  There is a picture of a helium balloon like I referenced.  They are called barrage balloons.

http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=2860

 
Here is the rest of my interview:

They used to go to Long Lake for outings, picnics, swimming.  It was warm.  They rented boats. 

They moved from Anapolis to Port Orchard, because the landlord sold house in Anapolis, and first a development or apartment complex. (Sorry I don’t know what that sentence means!) House was from Mrs. Dilts.  Their friends that lived across the street, told them about it.  Dad built kitchen cabinets, fixed her well—the broken parts.  Dad took a boat across the Sound to work at the shipyard.

He worked for the longest time period at the lathe.  Then a job came up to work with bullards.  It looks like an upside down lathe, but is bigger.  It required more control and skill, and included a pay raise.  He went to machinist class.   The bosses favored people who volunteered.  Dad got the job.  He was an assistant to Scott, and had a lot of responsibility.  When Scott got transferred, Dad took his job.  He was over a crew of men and women.  He went from point to point and on to the ships to see what parts they needed.  Sometimes he took parts out to the installer to inspect to see if right.  He didn't work there long because he got drafted.  He was on day shift at end of the lathe work, and also when he was on as a machinist.

If you want a hard copy of this interview, email me and I'll send an attachment to you.

 

Hope you enjoyed a moment of history.  I think Dad and Mom's early life could be a movie love story--actually their whole life could be.  

I just miss them.  I'm tired of them being gone.  It was nice to spend an hour just thinking about them, so I guess that's the next best thing to them being here.