Michael Oliver Scott (January 9, 1938 - ?)
I was born at Allen Nursing Home across from the high school in Columbus, Kansas. I lived in Crestline the first 18 years.
2010 Cruise
This was taken in 1948. I was in the fifth grade. I'm third from the left in the first row. Cousin Judy is in the second row (second from the right) and my future wife Nancy is in the back row on the right. Next to Nancy is my (distant) cousin Janet Fowler. The school had two rooms which we referred to as the little room (grades 1-4) and the big room (grades 5-8). This was my first year in the big room which was a big deal at the time. My cousin Jeanine was in the little room (one year behind me). Cousin Pat lived in Pittsburg, KS and Brother Tim wasn't in school yet. There was no Kindergarten and if one's birthday fell in the first six months of the year you started school when you were five. We only had eight months of school because the farm kids were needed in the fields during the summer. Great deal for us "town" kids. We weren't aware that TV and plastic were on the horizon. In fact horses were still used on the farms to some extent, but were slowly being completely phased out. There were still quite a few really old cars on the roads like Ford's model A etc. However new cars were being produced again which had been postponed during the War. After the 8th Grade here we had our choice of attending HS either in Riverton to the south or Columbus to the west. My family all went to Columbus, but most of the other kids here went to Riverton. Bus rides to and from HS, because of how scattered the kids were, usually took over an hour each way.
1969, with a buddy in the central highlands of Viet Nam. We'd found and adopted a young wild monkey. Contrary to press reports at the time U.S. forces in this area were neither laying waste to the countryside nor killing innocent women and children. When fired upon, it was policy to respond with overwhelming force. It was working. We were winning. We were defeated by the smart asses at home.
Wallet pictures. The way we see each other.
Getting close to retirement in the late 70s.
We lived in two different houses (both off the highway to the west in the center of Crestline) before I started to school. In about 1943 we moved to the house by the Crestline school where we rented from a man named Weems who peddled fruit around the area. Grandad Leonard and his wife Blanch lived in a small cabin out back of the house. In the early years my Father ran an auto garage in Crestline. He and Paul Anderson (Harry Gene's brother) had a radio shop in Carl Junction for a while. At the start of the war he got a job hauling ore for St. Louis Mining Co. by Waco, Missouri. He worked there until about 1947 when we moved (for a short time) to Dayton, Ohio where Aunt Linda taught school and Dad got a job with the Frigidaire Co. After about six months we moved back to Crestline and bought the house we'd rented before and stayed there from then on. Dad got a job at the chemical company (then known as Spencer Chemical) which had been called the Jayhawk Works during the war. Later on it was purchased by Gulf Oil. The remnants ended up with Chevron/Texaco.
After graduating from HS in 1955 I attended college in Pittsburg for a semester and then, on my 18th birthday I joined the USAF. I trained in California and Mississippi and served in Japan, the P.I. and NSA at Ft. Meade in Maryland. After returning to Crestline I attended college for about three semesters in Pittsburg and married Nancy Martin in 1960. I worked for General Electric Credit Corporation for a couple of years and a while for the National Cash Register Company. I even tried selling for the Fuller Brush Company for a (very) short time. Compared to the military these jobs all bored me to tears.
I had one brother, Timothy Mineor Scott (December 6, 1944-September 6, 1968). He was seven years younger than me. We didn't really get to know one another well until I returned from the AF in 1959. We became good friends and joined the Army in 1963 and went through basic training together. After about a year we ended up stationed together in Germany. In 1967 he left Germany and I never saw him again. Our last contact was a letter I received, with a small gift enclosed for my 30th birthday. I was on vacation on the Adriatic in Italy when he had a fatal auto accident which I didn't learn of until too late to return to Crestline for his burial. My daughter was Catherine Marie (July 20, 1962 - June 18, 1975) .
I spent the 3rd (and maybe the 4th) decade of my life trying to gain a foothold on adulthood. No one knows the story concerning my first marriage and my two children better than my Son for whom this is intended. I offer no excuses for the hardships my leaving the children caused. Staying in the marriage or pulling at them after I was gone could have been worse. What is done is done. I loved both the children. I suffered a lot of heartache (as everyone involved did) over the unfortunate circumstances of my Daughter's long illness. I worried a lot about how my Son might be scarred by his forced role in all this. He wasn't. I'm extremely proud of him, his accomplishments and his great family.
My second wife is Renate Hannalore Vorberg (June 23, 1939-?). Long after deciding that romantic love was a myth, I fell in love. We were married in Kassel, Germany in December of 1968. Renate is pronounced ruhnahtuh.
While in the Army I served at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri; Mineral Wells, Texas; Frankfurt, Kassel, Augsburg and Berlin Germany; Viet Nam; NSA at Ft. Meade, MD and Thailand. After retiring from the Army in 1982, I worked for an Army Contractor in Augsburg, Germany for over 12 years. I spent a total of 25 years in Germany.
In 1994, at 56, Renate and I retired to Pensacola, Florida where we now reside. From this base we've spent a princely sum traveling the world, mostly in the form of ocean and river cruises. This has given us enormous pleasure.
Summary of sorts: Most of my extended family always seemed to see the accumulation of wealth and property as major goals in life. They viewed property as fun projects. From the early years I rebelled against this idea. I always saw property as maintenance items which restricted my freedom to travel and adventure. I don't wish to imply one perspective is any better than the other, only that they are different and everyone should pursue his or her own interests in life.
Getting philosophical now: "Old age is like a shipwreck, you keep bail'n water and sing'n hymns till it gets away from you." I told Mother at the last (when she was feeling low) that, " At least we got old. I wish my Father, Brother and Daughter had, but it didn't turn out that way".
Using the above for reference, this story awaits another's perspective. Try to be kind. :-)
After graduating from HS in 1955 I attended college in Pittsburg for a semester and then, on my 18th birthday I joined the USAF. I trained in California and Mississippi and served in Japan, the P.I. and NSA at Ft. Meade in Maryland. After returning to Crestline I attended college for about three semesters in Pittsburg and married Nancy Martin in 1960. I worked for General Electric Credit Corporation for a couple of years and a while for the National Cash Register Company. I even tried selling for the Fuller Brush Company for a (very) short time. Compared to the military these jobs all bored me to tears.
I had one brother, Timothy Mineor Scott (December 6, 1944-September 6, 1968). He was seven years younger than me. We didn't really get to know one another well until I returned from the AF in 1959. We became good friends and joined the Army in 1963 and went through basic training together. After about a year we ended up stationed together in Germany. In 1967 he left Germany and I never saw him again. Our last contact was a letter I received, with a small gift enclosed for my 30th birthday. I was on vacation on the Adriatic in Italy when he had a fatal auto accident which I didn't learn of until too late to return to Crestline for his burial. My daughter was Catherine Marie (July 20, 1962 - June 18, 1975) .
I spent the 3rd (and maybe the 4th) decade of my life trying to gain a foothold on adulthood. No one knows the story concerning my first marriage and my two children better than my Son for whom this is intended. I offer no excuses for the hardships my leaving the children caused. Staying in the marriage or pulling at them after I was gone could have been worse. What is done is done. I loved both the children. I suffered a lot of heartache (as everyone involved did) over the unfortunate circumstances of my Daughter's long illness. I worried a lot about how my Son might be scarred by his forced role in all this. He wasn't. I'm extremely proud of him, his accomplishments and his great family.
My second wife is Renate Hannalore Vorberg (June 23, 1939-?). Long after deciding that romantic love was a myth, I fell in love. We were married in Kassel, Germany in December of 1968. Renate is pronounced ruhnahtuh.
While in the Army I served at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri; Mineral Wells, Texas; Frankfurt, Kassel, Augsburg and Berlin Germany; Viet Nam; NSA at Ft. Meade, MD and Thailand. After retiring from the Army in 1982, I worked for an Army Contractor in Augsburg, Germany for over 12 years. I spent a total of 25 years in Germany.
In 1994, at 56, Renate and I retired to Pensacola, Florida where we now reside. From this base we've spent a princely sum traveling the world, mostly in the form of ocean and river cruises. This has given us enormous pleasure.
Summary of sorts: Most of my extended family always seemed to see the accumulation of wealth and property as major goals in life. They viewed property as fun projects. From the early years I rebelled against this idea. I always saw property as maintenance items which restricted my freedom to travel and adventure. I don't wish to imply one perspective is any better than the other, only that they are different and everyone should pursue his or her own interests in life.
Getting philosophical now: "Old age is like a shipwreck, you keep bail'n water and sing'n hymns till it gets away from you." I told Mother at the last (when she was feeling low) that, " At least we got old. I wish my Father, Brother and Daughter had, but it didn't turn out that way".
Using the above for reference, this story awaits another's perspective. Try to be kind. :-)
This was probably taken around the time I was born. Judy and Pat were also born here: