Articles by Hubert Crowell
Growing up in the FiftiesWhenever anyone would come up to the house Toby, would run out to greet them and stick out his paw. He would continue to stick out his paw until you shook it, then leave you alone.
I had been given a BB gun for Christmas and was looking for anything to shoot at. Mom was always saying, don't shoot the birds, so I found other things to shoot at.
Technically, I did not break my neck, but it sure seem like it. The neck bones are interlocked and I had one of them twisted out of the lock position and could not move my head.
I sat there in the dark alone listening to the drip of water in the distance. Dad was ahead at the face of the mine setting the black powder charges before leaving the mine for the night. I heard a creaking sound above my head, and I moved to another waiting position a few feet away. Suddenly a huge bolder about twice my size fell on the spot that I had been setting just a moment before. Dad had told me to listen to the rocks and that they would warn you before something happened.
We found an old barn that look like it was about to fall down, and climbed up into the second floor. Most of the floor was missing so we had to be careful not to fall through. We spent the night there and the next morning someone yelled, look what is down below!
Setting Bowling Alley Pins in the 50's, My first Job
Before the days of automatic pin setters in bowling alleys, they used a rack that one could throw the pins into, then push a lever down to set the pins in the correct position.
After reading this account, I am sure that most parents will have second thoughts about allowing a 16-year-old to have a car. I am not proud of some of the things I have done or the close calls I have had, but I did learn a lot from those experiences.
I left home in stages, it started shortly after we moved from Lakeland, Florida back to our hometown of Providence, Kentucky. I had just turned 15 and felt very confident.
I felt safe in entering the army at this time, the Korean war had just ended with troops still at high alert on each side and occasional shots beings fired at each other. Most of us thought that we would end up in Korea before it was over. We had not heard about Vietnam and it was not until years later that I discovered that we had advisors there before I was discharged.
A 17-year-old Solder in Germany
I turned 17 in my second eight weeks of basic training at Fort Hood, Texas and was too young to appreciate a tour of duty in Germany. I did visit some of the sites, but most of my free time was wasted. I should have taken more leave while there and toured more.
More Articles by Hubert Crowell
My Poems