Wedded Bliss...

Today, Mary Ann and I celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary!  Hoooaaah!

"Old Blood"...

The other day the Red Cross bloodmobile stopped by the office building where I work.  I stepped inside and asked if I could donate.  Within a few minutes, I was on their very comfortable couch and made my donation -- essentially painless and very much needed.  In the meantime, one of my fellow workers, Matt Nelson, had found their supply of label tags.  He made his contribution by labeling mine!

The Joys of Travel...

Friday night, returning from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Huntsville was an adventure.  My 6:00 PM departure flight from Corpus to Dallas was delayed 2 hours.  I had noticed a scheduled 7:30 flight, so I asked if it might be possible to get a seat on that flight.  I got the last available seat and my bag was transferred to that flight at my request.

The 7:30 flight departed around 8:00 PM and at that time, the plane that would eventually service the "earlier" flight had not yet left Dallas to go to Corpus Christi.  My new flight got into DFW at about 9:26.  I was sure I had missed my 9:30 connecting flight from Dallas to Huntsville.  Nonetheless, I proceeded to my departure gate (naturally, in a different terminal.  I arrived at that gate to find people boarding the plane.  I got in line.  Halleluia!  I might yet get home!

When I gave the attendant my boarding pass, she notified me that I had already been rescheduled for a morning flight because the airline assumed that I could not make my connection.  She was, however, able to give me a window seat with no one next to me.  We sat in a very hot airplane for an hour waiting for a flight crew to arrive.  Finally got off the ground an hour and a half late.  Got to bed about 2:00 AM.  Whatever happened to clean, on-time, efficient train service?

Milestones...

Today is the 120th anniversary of the birth of my father, Harold Richard Mead.

Thoughts on the Maloy...

USS Maloy (DE-791)

The recent 70th anniversary of D-Day brought to mind the last ship that I served on, the USS Maloy (DE-791).  She was a Buckley class destroyer escort, the last of her type in commission.  And the Maloy was present on D-Day.  According to a letter written by Maloy sailor Kenneth Surprise to his parents in Lowell, Indiana, "During the initial assault on France, the Maloy carried the flag of Commodore Campbell D. Edgar, USN, Cazenovia, New York, who commanded an important phase of the invasion."  During the months leading up to D-Day, there are extensive archives that describe Maloy's role as a squadron flagship for a PT boat squadron.  I suspect that Commodore Edgar was a PT boat squadron commander, embarked on Maloy as his flagship.  According to Wikipedia, "On D-Day, 6 June 1944, Maloy supported operations off Omaha Beach in this hard-fought assault where naval gunfire support played a decisive role in victory."

Seaman Surprise further wrote, "We got off to a good start on D Day by knocking down a JU88 with our guns," he said, "and since then we've seen plenty of action!"   While on patrol off the Nazi-held Channel Islands, the Maloy came under the fire of heavy shore guns.  Although the German gunners fired 38 rounds at the vessel, she maneuvered too quickly and the heavy shells splashed harmlessly in the sea nearby.  On another action, Surprise said, his ship went in close to one of the islands and again the shore emplacements opened up on her.

  

"Their first salvo straddled us, showering shrapnel along our starboard side and hitting some depth charges," he related. "It was close enough for me!"

Later the Maloy stood off St. Malo, France, within sight of the bombing and subsequent surrender of Cezambre, a fortified island which held out long after German forces on the mainland gave up.

"That was some show!" Surprise declared.

I reported aboard Maloy nearl 20 years after these events.  There was a plaque in the passageway aft of the officers mess recognizing Maloy for her D-Day service.  It's hard to imagine that she was one of over 5,000 vessels that took part in that portentous event.  I once rode the City of Richmond overnight ferry that was part of the Baltimore Steam Packet Line, running from Baltimore to Norfolk.  That ferry boat had a plaque commemorating her participation on the D-Day armada!  The world will never again witness such a spectacular enterprise.

Yesterday, my Google Alert informed me that a new Web content had been detected in which the term "USS Maloy" was present.  I hope you find the following video as interesting as I did.

A Saturday Excursion...

Yesterday was the occasion of the 10th Annual Cigar Box Guitar Festival in Huntsville, AL.  It is held at Lowe Mill, a century-old cotton mill that houses the Flying Monkey Arts Center.  Several years ago I built a cigar box guitar and I have a long-standing interest in these unique instruments.

My banjo-building buddy, Clint Rankin, and his wife Sarah, had expressed an interest in the event and we agreed to meet there.  As I stepped out of my truck, I spotted an amazing array of food trucks.

I passed through "Food Truck Alley" and met up with the Rankins near the stage, which is set up on the sheltered loading dock of the old mill.

The stage area on the old loading dock

We listened for a while and then went into the air conditioned mill to dine at the "Happy Tummy."  Then we wandered through the cavernous building which is now a haven for dozens of art galleries, artists, craft shops, and other creative outlets.  We proceeded to the second floor, where there was to be a guitar-building workshop.  The next workshop was scheduled for 4:00 PM and it was only 2:00.  We continued to wander.  The sights were quite varied.

One of the big surprises for me was the number of vendors selling cigar box guitars.

By about 4:00 PM, it was just plain hot.  The Rankins and I bid adieu and headed home, after a delightful afternoon. 

The Shady Boys Take a Ride!

The entire Shady gang poses in front of their chariot

The Experimental Aircraft Association, headquartered in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is the proud owner of one of the few remaining Ford Tri-Motor aircraft.  It goes on an annual tour of the U.S,. taking passengers up wherever it stops.  As the EAA Website describes this plane,

"From 1926 through 1933, Ford Motor Company built 199 Tri-Motors. EAA’s model 4-AT-E was the 146th off Ford’s innovative assembly line and first flew on August 21, 1929. It was sold to Pitcairn Aviation’s passenger division, Eastern Air Transport, whose paint scheme is replicated on EAA’s Tri-Motor. This is why EAA’s Ford resides in the Pitcairn Hangar at Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, when not touring the U.S. Eastern Air Transport later became Eastern Airlines.

In 1930, the Tri-Motor (NC8407) was leased to Cubana Airlines, where it inaugurated air service between Havana and Santiago de Cuba. The airplane was later flown by the government of the Dominican Republic.

EAA’s Ford Tri-Motor returned to the U.S. in 1949 for barnstorming use. In 1950, it was moved from Miami to Phoenix and was refitted with more powerful engines for use as a crop duster. With two 450 HP engines and one 550 HP engine, it became the most powerful Model 4-AT ever flown. In 1955, it was moved to Idaho and fitted with two 275-gallon tanks and bomb doors for use as a borate bomber in aerial firefighting. Then in 1958, it was further modified for use by smoke jumpers.

After working for a variety of crop spraying businesses, EAA’s Tri-Motor moved to Lawrence, Kansas, in 1964, where its new owner flew barnstorming tours. During this period it had a variety of roles, including serving as the primary setting for the Jerry Lewis comedy, The Family Jewels.

In 1973, the aircraft was still being used for air show rides, including an EAA chapter’s fly-in at Burlington, Wisconsin. While at the 1973 fly-in, a severe thunderstorm ripped the plane from its tie-downs, lifted it 50 feet into the air, and smashed it to the ground on its back. EAA subsequently purchased the wreckage.

After an arduous, 12-year restoration process by EAA staff, volunteers, and Ford Tri-Motor operators nationwide, the old Tri-Motor took to the air once again, where it had its official re-debut at the 1985 EAA Fly-In Convention in Oshkosh.

It was displayed in the EAA AirVenture Museum until 1991 when it returned to its former role of delighting passengers on its annual tour across the U.S."

This weekend, the plane was in Huntsville, at the executive airport in Meridianville.  I heard from my friends, Dan, Deron, and Daniel Shady.  All three generations of the Shadys have now flown in a Ford Tri-Motor!  What an experience!  I can't wait to hear the details...