Tracks of the StoneBear Copyright MCMLXIII Uncle Hargus ALL Rights reserved
ROF= Ring of Fire Odyssey
MEF-H = Marine Expeditionary Force- Hargus
Equipment and machinery 8
You never drink twice from the same stream.
The love of heavy earth moving Equipment and machinery came from an early age. This is probably more than you want to know about it ... ie some family history is in here but will post the whole email story. I don't have pix from back then but these will do. Will add some more Equipment pix in time
Equipment and machinery 8 n
Tracks of the StoneBear Odyssey Ring of Fire
*****
Will try not to jump around too much on this. Bear w/ me. Here's the story from circa 1966.
1939 Dad's two older brothers have finished law school at ALa. Dad was further behind. 1941Pearl Harbor breaks out; the lawyers are Navy officers; Dad is enlisted Marine... never finished college, and that pretty well defines Dad's life. Never achieved his potential,... & missed opportunities, bad choices/ decisions ect.
Alright,... 1966. ... going into 10th grade. I say I want to go w/ Dad for the summer. Dad is an itinerant construction worker moving from job to job, town to town. 3 months here... 6 months to a year there... He worked for an excavation -- earth moving-- company "Moss-Thornton" const co. (They got the earth moving contract for Talladega Speedway .. more later). So I leave one night in late May 1966 w/ Dad to a road job in Tuscaloosa, AL building "River road", the 2-3 mile road along the Univ of ALA... & the warrior river. Now it is (google map) " Jack Warner Parkway ". And partly to the 82 bypass from river bridge to connect to 15th street right beside DCH Druid City Hospital.
Dad kinda bullshit me through office hiring & had already told them I was 16. I was out working before they could object. Actually was 15 & went to work that day as a "Grease Monkey" helper. I was on the grease truck... fueling, oiling, greasing heavy equipment roadwork machinery. Clean & change oil & air filters on all the machinery. We worked from noon to about 10 or 12 midnight depending on oil changes & more detailed maintenance --- out of sight.... out of mind! ?Remember the Marine rule: Don't be conspicuous, it draws fire? I learned it early. Dad said once i was 16 they couldn't fire me.
The equipment I worked on was: CAT* dozers... D8 & D9 w/ plow, D7 & D6 dozers. CAT 631 "Pan" scrapers. Euclid 14 & 24 "Pan" scrapers. A couple of draglines, a couple of road scrapers "Graders" , a couple of Sheeps foot, Crane trucks, a couple of company utility dump trucks, water trucks, backhoes, Pneumatic tracked ingersol- rand drilling rockwagons(drilling blast holes) and my baby... a CAT 988 front end loader-- a HUGE --loader that was easy to operate and FUN ! to drive.
A euclid Pan " 24" ... a EUC24 could scrape up 24 cubic yards of dirt & go... haul ass... 30+mph, it was about 60 -70' long, 7-8' high rubber tires, front engine w/ driver seat, middle lowering 24 cuyd pan scraper scraped up dirt as it moved, rear engine. A lot of times a big CAT D- 7 or 8 dozer would push on the rear steel bumper plate to really bite & scrape up earth. This is while both front & back engines are running wide open screaming about 3,000 rpms. ... I mean really putting out some real raw torque & horsepower. These powerful machines had built the interstate system ,... made AMERICAN in Euclid, Ohio. w/ American made Steel. It was the late 60's; It was the zenith of American industrial manufacturing to produce these machines.... to build America.... I feel lucky I'm glad I got to see the last of it... and work on it.... w/ my Dad too! Those pieces of equipment went through a LOT of oil & grease & filters. Dealing w/ & seeing the different rock strata layers in the earth really grabbed my interest & I wanted to be a geologist. ... among many other interests.
I got to crank up and move all these machines around to the grease truck & move them back -- & got to operate them a little & learned a lot quickly !!! It was a really "Dirty" job-- but a lot of fun for a 15 year old kid. Which guess what....
about a month later... the redneck guy grease monkey on the truck goes off on July 4th weekend & doesn't come back. So, ... you know me... Tuesday at time to go to work, I leave out driving the truck to service all the machines.... thinking he'll show up by next couple of hours w/ a hangover & I'd have covered his butt & all would be fine. So I did all the work by myself for the next few days & figured out he'd laid out drunk or whatever. (Road construction workers were notorious alcoholic & drug users). About Thursday the job superintendent drove his truck up while I was greasing a machine & said he knew about the main guy being gone ... & knew I was doing by myself. said he'd get ME a helper. So,... there I was ,... 15 (my birthday was July 25th 3 weeks away) & I was in charge of keeping a few million dollars of road construction heavy equipment running.
I made $2.55 an hour. really good money then. when I got back for school the other guys had been working as lifeguards & bailing hay ect for .75 c hour. I considered construction doing "A Man's" work... & that kinda set me in motion to always lean toward that rugged type work. -- I sat behind a desk for 5 years as a stockbroker & really didn't like it. I should have found a way to apply my skills & knowledge not so hard on my frame... like archaeologist / anthropologist / geologist. I feel worn out at 58 now from pushing it so hard all those years.
Anyway, all the old construction guys liked me 'cause I was a hard worker. They kidded me & gave me hell... but they all liked me taking charge of the equipment & keeping it running -- if their machine didn't run... they didn't get paid, so I made sure their machine didn't run out of fuel or had to be down for oil changes ect.... They appreciated that..... as the grease monkeys turned over very often from laying out drunk. I' change oil & grease the superintendents and formans pickups too so they appreciated their truck running. Wasn't supposed to, but would oil & lube some of the workers pickups & they really appreciated it. If they pissed me off,... I'd accidentally spill some diesel fuel on their equipment seat & it would rub a blister on their ass next day.
I'd see Dad on the job too in the late afternoon & it was always good to see him. He seemed happy; he seemed proud of me working w/ him & we'd talk some when I'd get in about 11. It was a good bonding time even though I'd spent most of my growing up time w/ him on other stuff. Dad was one of the hardest working guys there. Mom & the girls said he didn't work; they didn't know what they were talking about. Rain-out days the machinery didn't run in the mud,... so Dad & I would kick around Tuscaloosa; we lived about a block from Denny stadium on the university & several times walked through the quad & Dad would tell me what it was like when he went there. I think he went to the 1938 Rose Bowl game Alabama played in. Years later I followed in Dad's footsteps in an amazing parrallel fashion in many ways.
On the off days & many weekends I'd work with the Mechanics as a mechanics helper earning more hours --- & learning how to change out parts on the down equipment. CAT rollers, fuel injectors, worm gears, euclid pan blades... VERY hard work! & learned a GREAT amount of mechanical knowledge. 1" drive wrenches. I was in good muscular shape. On Sundays, Dad & I would go over to the football practice field near the Uof ALA Colosseum -- where "Bear" practiced the boys... & Dad would work w/ me coaching me to kick. Cadence, rhythm, timing, my legs were a coiled spring waiting for the correct timing to execute. Extra points for accuracy, & field goals for distance. Momentum, wind-age, concentration. I kicked a couple thousand goals that summer & developed good disciplined technique. The next year... I made the ALL - Jefferson County football team ; I was the place kicker of the #1 county in Alabama... & only a sophomore. ... thanks to Dad working w. me. I'll never forget my Dad for that sacrifice of time. I liked it 'cause when we were out kicking.... Dad wasn't drinking. He liked it too. Dad & I talked about a LOT of things. The Marines, WW II, He'd been to the middle East & holy land, grew up in the depression... He knew a lot; very intelligent,... working way below his capacity. Dad got to see me kick a dozen+ games. He was actually a good coach. He knew his football.
The downside to this was... well.... the transient... itinerant construction worker life. Dad wasn't homeless but it wasn't stable.. an apartment in July added a little stability. The 1st few weeks were in boarding houses & a "Room" for a few days.... & a room at an old truck stop. Some down trodden characters & some low lifes. I'd go w/ Dad into honky tonks & saloons & dives. I've seen a couple dozen bar-room fights, many taken out into the parking lots for some really brutal beatings. Some real violent. I saw 2 stabbings & a shooting.... surely not a place for a 15 - 16 year old kid. I grew up fast that summer. The bar floozies loved me 'cause I was young somewhat handsome; not some cruddy assed barfly. When I got back to high school after the summer, those little teenage girls were just silly little girls; hey, I'd been w/ real women. This was when I began to learn how to drink. ALL these guys were alcoholic drinkers. Drug guys were mostly pills -- from the truck drivers. But I did see a guy tie- off & shoot up in a boarding house. It's a wonder I didn't wind up in prison. Most of the road workers & barflys were uneducated ... maybe to the 9th or 10th grade if that. Some ex- cons, most drifters, all alcoholic drinkers. Guys that wanted to drink then fight; they weren't very smart. Many WWII & Korea vets. Viet Nam was cranking away & I knew I would soon be swept knee deep in it .... as a Marine; that was the only thing I knew for sure.
When I got to the Marines I thought... this is my place. After the hell ride to this point I feel like i'm home. This place was made for me. The disciplined controlled chaos... these are my kind of guys. These are my kind of motherfuckers. And they issued me my own rifle & I shot Marine rifle expert. Is this a great country or what.
Anyway,... the work part was good. I learned an awful lot about work AND life early. In 1966 in the South these were all still bigoted Jim Crow guys & they really had prejudice for the black guys. Black guys were "Laborers"... & that was the best term they could get. several days when I worked extra with the laborers it was just me,... & black guys. One job I did a couple days was we put in some drain concrete pipeline. There was no crane truck to lift. It was 7 black guys & me with pick - handles. we'd roll a 16" pipe onto pick handles on the ground & get on each side & lift. The black guys would sing & grunt--- like chants when we did this & they kidded me & goaded me into chanting w/ them. Basically,... I was like a RailRoad Gandydancer chanting . Some of it was like chants, some was like some gospel mixed in. Some had some blues. They'd chant "got a wo-man -- huuuup -ugh(lift the pipe) ... goall night --huk(start moving forward.. almost like forward , march) ect.. it was a work gang rhythm. The black guys all knew the songs and how to do it; I caught on quick & followed their lead & they tolerated me & kidded me. It was HARD work.
August in Tuscaloosa, ALA, right beside the Warrior river & the humidity was ungodly. Talk about sweat. The black guys didn't give me a hard time; they nicknamed me cornbread. Looking back now.... it was amazing to see that kind of work.... & actually do it. The foreman wouldn't pay the black workers until Saturday AFTER work was done. Not before. When he payed them Friday afternoon, most wouldn't show up for Saturday work. Most of the younger white guys were just as bad. Laying out drunk until Monday & often Tuesday. Most of the older guys showed up & worked. They probably just knew how to work w/ a hangover. Most of the workers & foremen liked me 'cause I was a hard worker & didn't shy away from the hard jobs. Maybe I just hadn't been corrupted yet being so young. Some off days, Dad & me would get a sandwich or burger & go to an equipment spot beside the warrior & eat lunch... & talk & watch the tugs push barges up & down the river.
The blue collar guys,... I tend to side w/ them. I have sweat w/ them. & they worked hard. The stockbrokers I knew... privileged cheating frat boys that made fun of the workers... they were a loathsome, if not a contemptible ilk devoid of any values or trust.... or any respect.
Couple of years Later,... during the winter, Dad is working on the Talladega Speedway racetrack here 30 miles from home. Remember Moss-Thornton? There is still a Moss-Thornton seating section right near the finish line that I always try to sit in -- not just because it's maybe the best seat in the house- on the track... but because my Dad & I worked on it & worked for that company... & it brings back GREAT memories of my Dad before he declined. We tried to do the same thing as the Tuscaloosa job & Dad tried to Bullshit me into a job. I worked with him a couple of weekends on the track & the superintendent & foreman (different ones) didn't buy it & said I couldn't get on the payroll. besides I was actually in high school & couldn't be full time. I look back & in hindsight thought that if I could have gotten Dad into a house-- a stable environment-- he would have done ok. Worked... drank a little but still woudl be ok. It took years of the AA guys to finally convince me that I couldn't have saved him & had to go on w/ my life --- that it was ok for me to go on w/ my life. (--- In TCL an AA building was near the job & I asked & learned some & got Dad to go some. He did better & seemed more at peace... some purpose & stable definition... & not so much just drifting ). Later when the track was more finished I got up close to see some of the nascar guys testing & met a few. Richard Brooks, David Pearson (the Silver Fox) told me to stay in school -- I wanted to run away & join the racing circus. Mr Nelms,.. Kens Dad / Codys Grandad taught Ken & me auto mechanics during high school years. Malcolm was way ahead of his time as an auto- engineer... ... he tuned up the nascar guys when they raced on the sand beach at daytona -- before it was nascar. He was that good.
When I went off to the Marines, right before I left,... I told Dad that I would just be back in 2 years,... & "when I get back... we'll build houses". Dad said he'd like that. During Christmas break a couple years before we had worked for a couple weeks with a builder framing houses & I liked that enough to think I 'd like to be a builder some day. When I got out of the Marines and came back home in 1973... Dad was gone. The drinking had taken him & he was not functional by then, A few months later, I left for college at Alabama & after seeing Dad decline so fast, drove back to Tuscaloosa one night & cried while driving .... on the way back... knowing I had to go on ahead. I didn't see Dad again for several years. I felt like I'd left my Marine buddy behind. I wrestled w/ that for years. The next time I cried... was when Lee died.
I've seen a lot in my life. My blessings are abundant & I sure have far more than I deserve. I try to give back when & where I can; where it counts & makes a difference. I have just a few real life friends and consider that a blessing. I still try to lend a helping hand to needy folks. I still give a few dollars to the homeless guys. Still give blood. & do more stuff w/ the MCL guys now.
***
USMC 8th Engineer Battalion , 2nd Bridge Company
In the Marines,... 8th engineer Battalion, I was in 2nd Bridge company. A couple of Bay City rubber wheeled cranes lifted bridge bulk off the flatbed trailers & then it was all by hand of a 14 man Marine squad to manhandle all the pieces. ... back breaking work ! in the field sometimes 20 hour days. pneumatic floats... I should have taken that knowledge & done the pneumatic floats down the Colorado river through the Grand Canyon as a tour guide. A missed path. I felt lucky to be in & see the last of "The old Corps" with the old breed Marines. You're never the same once you've run w/ the Marines.
Triple truss Bailey Bridge.
*****
In college I worked a couple of summers for an underground utilites contractor putting in water distribution systems/ lines into Alabama towns. Case backhoes were the workhorse. some IR mobile air compressors running hand held pneumatic drilling rigs -- I did their blasting as I had some experience from the Marines. A couple of Vermeer trenchers were the biggest machinery.
So Keith,... when I see that picture of that Mack truck & UNIT hoe... I have a love for the work it did & a great respect for your restoration of that equipment. It IS history. A LOT of guys beside me know what it took to restore that to pristine condition. I enjoy looking at that picture. I am proud of you. Our bond was from the Marines and from the work those machines did. You are a really unique guy to have restored that machinery.
This covers just a few young years & had a lot to do w/ the life path chosen & my method of going my own way. ... doing things my way & on my own terms. I kinda feel like.... from what I've lived through... I'm just glad to be here. So,... I do look back some. I try not to. But I look back to the mistakes and not try to repeat them. I try to live in the present. ... to enjoy the days as they come. To live in the moment like I learned from the Cajuns. To enjoy the time I have left. So,... when y'all get a postcard from somewhere... know I was thinking about you & hoped you were well. Whit
You never drink twice from the same stream.
Just because you wander doesn't mean you're lost.
Uncle Hargus: Last of the Independents
Have Bear,
Will Travel
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