“Kids…Your Dad Got Orders”
Posted: March 15, 2024 Filed under: Appreciation, Brat Life, Memories, Military Family Museum Leave a comment–Mark Vosel
I’m reading ‘The Great Santini’ by Pat Conroy. It is hitting close to home, growing up as an Army Brat. My dad was nothing like LTC Meecham, however. Mine was the parent that snuck in a peanut butter sandwich on Sunbeam white bread when I was sent to bed with no supper.
But the military family culture didn’t care if the dad was a softie or a hard ass. The wheels painted in OD green and camouflage rolled over all of us in the same mobile manner. I have read the snippet from Conroy’s novel several times (see above image). While a Marine family, they shared the same Gypsy experience as we did. “The Army Goes Rolling Along” is a perfect song for our nomadic life.
Orders. It was a word that you just didn’t want to hear.
I remember Mom calling us into the living room of our rental home in the St Mary’s community in Columbus, GA soon after Pop got home from Vietnam in 1966.
“Kids, your dad got orders.”
“NO!” I cried and ran to my room.
The quote from Conroy regarding rootlessness wasn’t entirely true in my case. I had attended half of the 3rd grade and all of the 4th grade at St Mary’s Elementary. My excessively handwashing 4th grade teacher, a squatty soul with thick glasses and a thicker yardstick, left her reminder on my tricep. I had my first real fight with a real- life Scut Farkus. My first girlfriend was a cute, husky little thing named Cecilia. My best friend’s dad had been killed in action in Vietnam. My best dog, a Pug, had been hit by a car and survived. My brother and I shot up a couple snakes with our BB guns. My two-year old sister ended up in our tree house along with a tricycle. And Mrs. Dunn, my 4th grade teacher who constantly referred to us as a bunch of heathens? I showed her. I walked the aisle at Hillcrest Baptist during the alter call at high noon on a Sunday.
I had roots, dammit. We lived on McCartha Drive for a whole year and a half. We OWNED that rental.
Yeah, I had roots. The kind of roots that exist on the cursed Bradford Pear tree. It will hang in there for a few stinky springs, but eventually, it’s going down due to those shallow roots. Army Brats lacked the characteristics of a White Oak—solid, secure, steady. We were the ones with the weird last names. The local kids knew we would be gone soon enough.
The trip from Ft Benning to Ft Rucker was a short one. Still, we traveled those Southern state roads in tandem with a 1960 Ford station wagon and a slick little ‘63 Volkswagen ragtop. I hung my head and my hand out the window playing jet plane, catching updrafts and downdrafts as I moved my arm up and down in the humid air. We arrived to something new at our quarters on North Harris Drive, something so magical, so healing, so breathtaking. It was called central air conditioning. So…maybe this won’t be so bad.
It took about a week for my emphatic “NO!” to wear off. Jack Spradley became my new best friend. We could almost reach out and shake hands while standing on our carports. The next two years were great. Ft Rucker was filled with adventures. It was the best elementary school out of the five I attended. The woods surrounding the housing areas allowed us to experience the holy red clay that addicted so many military families to eventually retire in the area. Nothing could be better than life on Ft. Rucker.
“Kids. Your dad got orders. He’s going back to Vietnam. The Army is requiring us to move off Post. We are moving to Enterprise (a small town a few miles from the west gate of Ft Rucker) so get ready.”
“NO!” I hollered. Another year without our dad. A new school, new kids, another foul Bradford Pear ripped up by a squall via some unknown entity with scrambled eggs on his cover at the Pentgon, or wherever these damn orders came from.
What good could come out of living in Enterprise, Alabama? What good, indeed. Within a few weeks, there was Mike Tindol. Donnie Messick. Within a few years, there were hundreds. And in June of 2024, there will be a gathering of the class of 1974 from my beloved adopted hometown of Enterprise.
Ironically, I was born in Alabama (Ft Rucker), have spent most of my adult life here, and will probably be buried here. It would make one think that I’m just a local boy. But the ‘orders’ prove that wrong. Honestly I’m glad they stopped when Pop retired in 1975. He was being considered as the Liaison Officer to the Shah of Iran, just a few years prior to the Islamic Revolution.
We’d had enough of “America where nothing was permanent and everything was possible” and God knows Pop had too. Those orders to Iran would have made him a Full Bird.
But finally, thank God, it was time to be a White Oak.
THINGS BRATS OF A CERTAIN AGE WILL REMEMBER ABOUT LIVING OVERSEAS:
Posted: February 18, 2022 Filed under: Appreciation, Brat Life, The Host Nation Leave a comment1. Stationary (and stamps) were a great gift; we could only stay in touch through letters. Those boxes of pretty stationary paper!!!!
2. Phone calls taking place after 7 pm or 9 pm, because of rates.
3. We all kind of had the same clothes – shopping at the BX (mail order took forever or didn’t deliver to APO/AE and no internet).
4. Unless you shopped a lot on the economy – we were ahead/behind in fashion when moving stateside, depending!
5. Unless you were lucky enough to go to London (or maybe Paris or Rome), no chain fast food was anywhere near. No McDonald’s, Burger King, etc. until we came “home.”
6. Thanks to DoDDS, we had a great education when we got “home.”
7. Although in some cases, when we took that foreign language in school stateside, chances are the teacher had never been to that country (Germany, France, and Spain – looking at you!), and we knew more about it than the teacher.
8. Listening to American Top 40 on the radio – a taste of home and Casey Kasim always sounded good!
9. One – just one – American TV station. But it showed the top shows of all three networks.
10. And – no commercials! Such a shock coming back “home” and having cable AND commercials!
11. Knowing what a lemon lot and American specs meant with cars.
12. Staying in a “zimmer frei” or gasthof LONG before AirBnB showed up!
13. Sometimes being the only Americans around… and knowing we needed to be on best behavior to represent well.
14. The world seemed bigger but our bubble smaller without the internet, but wouldn’t trade those days for anything!
These are my memories of living in Miesenbach while my dad was stationed at Ramstein 1982-1985.
Becky Morgenstern Jones
INTERVIEW WITH MILITARY BRATS REGISTRY FOUNDER MARC CURTIS
Posted: January 4, 2022 Filed under: Brat Life, Military Family Museum, Overseas Life, The Host Nation, Uncategorized 1 Comment
By Circe Olson Woessner
I’ve been friends with Marc Curtis for many years. Like many brat friendships, ours is a virtual one—we’ve never met, although we e-mail, text, phone and message frequently. We follow each other on social media and have collaborated on several projects, to include several Operation Footlocker, some podcasts, and the museum’s upcoming exhibit, “Host Nation Hospitality.” It’s a bit tricky to coordinate our schedules to talk in real time—Marc’s time zone is 18 hours ahead of mine, but we make it work.
I recently interviewed Marc via e-mail.
CW: You’ve had an interesting life. You’ve been a filmmaker, you’ve worked in tourism, you’re an entrepreneur, a teacher, and now you live permanently in China. Tell us about your brathood and early career.
MC: “Permanently” Is an odd word for a Military Brat. I’ve always had the intention of returning to the USA, but the timing hasn’t been right. I do like my life here. It’s friendly, peaceful (aka: no political arguments) and very affordable. I have wonderful friends here, both expat and Chinese.
I was born at the Presidio of San Francisco, what I consider to (have been) the most beautiful Army post In the Country.
When I was 3.5 years old, we moved to Yokohama, Japan (1954). I still remember some of the trip aboard the Simon B. Buckner troop ship, and the arrival in Japan. The sights, smells, and different appearance of the people caught my attention. We rode in an Army staff car from Yokohama port to the Navy base. My dad pointed out someone hauling “honey buckets” along the road. I have that picture in my aging brain. Fortunately, my dad took many photos while we were there, and that caused me to remember many events and places that we visited.
From there, we returned on the Edmund Patrick troop ship to San Francisco. We settled in the Bay Area for three years while dad was the Army recruiter. In 1958, we moved to El Paso,Texas, and lived off-base for 1.5 years and then on base at Ft Bliss. That was the first time I entered a school where everyone was a Brat, and understood me, and welcomed me. Those friendships left a lasting impression and was the catalyst for starting the Military Brats Registry. So far, I have located 15 of my 30 classmates from 1960-61 and met four of them in person.
“The Military-Brats Registry sprang from Marc Curtis’ 30-year search to find his friends from the fourth grade at Ft. Bliss in El Paso, Texas. After spending hundreds of dollars and countless hours online searching various Internet databases in vain, Marc finally decided to create a virtual “home” where military brats could connect with their childhood friends and classmates.”
(PRWEB) APRIL 26, 2002*
CW: What is Military Brats Registry’s main purpose?
MC: The main purpose is to bring people together. I knew that other Brats must also want to locate their long-lost friends. As Baby-boomers we didn’t have the Internet. No email, no web, no Facebook.
CW: Before you created Military Brats Registry, what did you know about brats?
MC: I hadn’t given It much thought. Then, I was going through a divorce and started searching the self-help section at a bookstore. There was a bright red book that grabbed my attention. The title was “Military Brat: Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress” by Mary Edwards Wertsch. I found myself in the pages of that book, and finally understood why I am who I am.
CW: I consider you to be one of the Who’s Who’s among famous brats, ranking up there with other brat “household” names. How and where did you meet Mary Edwards Wertsch, Donna Musil, and Joe Condrill? What collaborations have you done with them?
MC: I don’t remember when or where my first meeting with Mary Edwards Wertsch happened. She was a primary speaker at two Brat cruises that I sponsored, and a seminar in Phoenix. I met Donna at the 1999 Homecoming event In Dallas that Joe Condrill promoted. I helped her obtain music rights for her film, “Brats: Our Journey Home” and appeared in that film and promoted it heavily through my website.
CW: Let’s talk about Operation Footlocker: I know that there is documentation about its history on your website and we have a copy in our museum archive, but please tell our readers a bit about how it came to be and what the rationale was behind creating it. What did the team hope to accomplish with Operation Footlocker?
MC: Operation Footlocker began on the Compuserve and AOL groups. Mary suggested a mobile Brat monument, and everyone liked the idea. To me it’s more of a mobile museum and brings wonderful memories when it’s displayed at Brat conventions and local meetings. I hope it can be presented at more events in the future.
CW: What are you most proud of regarding Operation Footlocker?
MC: I think it’s great that people donated the footlockers, and so many have donated their items to fill them.
CW: Do you think your brat childhood influenced your choices to become a risk taker— an entrepreneur— and move half-way across the world?
MC: Moving half-way across the world was easy for me. I had traveled to 45 countries shooting video for news reports and always enjoyed new places. I’m sure that bug infested me beginning with that first move to Japan in 1954. I became fascinated by China after a trip to Hong Kong in 1997. I began traveling four times a year to soak in the culture and attempt to partner in business. Each time I left, I had the feeling I would eventually come here to live for one or two years. In 2022, it will be 11 years living here.
One reason I have stayed here is more personal. A friend of mine who I met occasionally for language exchange was sent to Vietnam by one of her fashion customers. The last time we communicated, she said she would be back in about three days. But the customer turned out to be a major drug dealer. She was handed a package by the customer’s associates. It contained 3kg of heroin. The police rushed in and she was arrested. The penalty for this was death, but I had gone to Vietnam for the sentencing hearing. The judges notice an American sitting in the courtroom with her family. The woman associate was given the death penalty, but Janny was given a life sentence. I made several trips to Hanoi to assure her that I support her. Her family is poor and can’t pay the $165,000 to pay for her release. The full story is at http://SaveJanny.org.
“A Nomad… A Gypsy… A Military Brat. Travel is the only “Home” I know.”
Marc Curtis
CW: Moving to a foreign country without a US military base as “home” makes this overseas assignment different than your childhood overseas postings. Have you assimilated into the culture, or are most of your friends Americans living abroad?
MC: I have assimilated as much as possible, though my Mandarin Chinese language needs serious improvement! Most of my friends are Chinese who enjoy learning English, or just being friends with an “outsider.” Growing up we spent more time living off-base. I learned how to “fit in” quickly so it wasn’t that difficult to fit in China, though the first year was quite an adjustment.
CW: The last I heard; you were involved in the Chinese wine industry. When I think of wine production, I don’t readily think about China. What’s going on in the wine trade there? What should we know?
MC: During my third trip to Shanghai in 2006, I was at a restaurant where they offered some local wines. I didn’t know China made wine, so I bought a bottle, took one sip, and spit it out. But my curiosity took over, having tasted some of the best wines around the world during my travels. So, I asked around and discovered the best Chinese wine was from Grace Vineyards in Shanxi province. I bought two bottles and took them back to the States where I shared them with an expert. We both were amazed! On my next trip, I visited the winery and tasted everything they had. I looked for winery tours, but there weren’t any. I discovered that [the domain] ChinaWineTours.com was available, so I grabbed it.
Then I promoted it with press releases and was interviewed by magazines, newspapers, TV, and radio stations around the world. The first question was always “There’s wine in China?” The second was “leaded or unleaded?” Over the years, Chinese wines became recognized. There are some incredible wineries now, mainly in the Ningxia region.
CW: You were living in China during the the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic… What was that like? What’s it like there now?
MC: We were locked down for two weeks. One person from a house could go buy groceries, but couldn’t enter the market. They had to tell the employees at the doorway what they wanted, and wait for them to be delivered. The person was allowed to be outside for a maximum of two hours. The government has done an amazing job of keeping the virus in check. If even one person tests positive in a city, the city is cordoned off and everyone gets tested. Imagine a city of 16 million residents and everyone is tested over a two-week period! My city has four to five million people and has only had one case in the past two years. I feel quite safe here.
CW: What is one unexpected thing you have learned about living in China?
MC: It’s not the heavy-handed approach by the government that I expected. There is an amazing freedom, and the people are quite happy. I don’t like the censorship though, and the blocking of news from outside.
CW: Our museum has amassed quite a collection of military family-focused books—one of them is your 2009 book titled, Growing Up Military: Every Brat Has a Story. It’s a collection of essays by different military brats. How did you reach out to people to ask them to contribute a story and how did you select which stories to print?
MC: I sent an email newsletter asking for stories because I knew there were so many Brats with incredible experiences around the USA and the world. All the stories submitted were interesting, so it wasn’t hard to choose the ones to include.
CW: As an editor, how far do you think you should go to edit an author’s contribution? What do you owe the author and the reader?
MC: I’ve changed my opinion on this since the 2009 book. I had left the stories largely unedited so the personality of the contributor could be seen. If I do a sequel, I’ll edit grammar and spelling more, and add a little sentence structure. But– I still want people to tell their stories their way.
“The emails I receive on an almost daily basis from people who have connected with their friends through the registry are tremendously rewarding. The stories often bring tears to my eyes and give me a real insight into what it is like not having a place you can call home.”
(PRWEB) APRIL 26, 2002*
CW: Why is it important to gather stories from military family members, especially the brats?
MC: We live(d) a very different life from our civilian friends. It’s hard for someone who grew up in one town and still lives there to understand why we’re so different mentally and emotionally. These stories help people understand us a little more.
CW: What did you learn from the book experience?
MC: It isn’t easy! But it’s quite fulfilling.
CW: Any new projects in the works?
MC: I just published a screenplay that I’m hoping someone will pick up for the big screen, Netflix, HBO, or any other. It’s a wild west story. Titled “Booker” it’s about a freed slave in 1868 who attempts to clear his name for a crime he didn’t commit.
I’ve been working on a book titled “Zhuhai 202: Tonight, I want to die with you.” It’s an action-packed true-life story. But, it has been in the works since 2012 and will probably take several more years to complete.
CW: Both sound fascinating–I look forward to learning more about your projects! Thank you so much for taking the time to interview!
For more information about Marc, his writing projects and life abroad, check out his blog at marccurtis.com.
Military Brats Registry is more than just a searchable database. There are podcast interviews, blog posts and memories by other military brats and a store selling brat merchandise. Click the link to visit it: https://www.militarybrat.com
*https://www.prweb.com/releases/2002/04/prweb37551.htm
We Served Too 