A number of the guests hadn't seen each other for close to fifty years. Willie Suzuki, George James, Maurice Morales, Howard Warner and myself met at Connor Evert's home/studio for a reunion and lunch, a magnificent Mexican feast prepared by Judy Everts. The men had all been art majors and friends at Long Beach State College in the middle fifties. Among many other bizarre and outrageous tales, George James told a story about his army experience which triggered a memory of an event in my air force experience.

foto of lunch

1956
Herford, Arizona

"After Maurice and I were drafted in 1956 and sent to Fort Ord, we completed basic training and found ourselves out of 200 or so other troops as the only ones with masters degrees. In the army's great wisdom to use their resources wisely, Maurice was kept on as the Fort Ord craft shops resident potter and I was shipped off to Fort Huachuca, Arizona as an Illustrator. Leaving from Union Station in Los Angeles on the train and after a 15 hour trip I arrived at Herford, Arizona. The train slowed  but did  not stop, the conductor threw my duffle bag off and told me to jump. Well, there I was in a place that looked a bit like the moon and just as austere, except for for a yellow Southern Pacific train station. Inside the station, a little man with a green eye shade, cats everywhere climbing and sleeping on a huge roll desk, asked me who I was and what did I want? I explained why I was dressed as a soldier and and further disclosed my name and destination. He cranked up his phone and called  Fort Huachuca, which I later found was referred to as a 'post.' Several hours later that evening, the 'post' sent a car to Herford to pick me up. The little man and I waited and shared a sandwich and a Pepsi. As we waited  we could see way off in the distance the headlights of the car twisting toward us across the desert toward Herford." George James

Headquarters at Fort Huachuca

The following text was copied from Fort Huachuca's web site:

Fort Huachuca is a product of the Indian Wars of the 1870s and 1880s. In February 1877, Colonel August B. Kautz, commander of the Department of Arizona, ordered that a camp be established in the Huachuca Mountains. This camp would offer protection to settlers and travel routes in southeastern Arizona while simultaneously blocking the traditional Apache escape routes through the San Pedro and Santa Cruz valleys to sanctuary in Mexico. A temporary camp was established at the post’s current location on March 3, 1877, by Captain Samuel Marmaduke Whitside with two companies of the 6th Cavalry. The site was selected because it had fresh running water, an abundance of trees, excellent observation in three directions, and protective high ground for security against Apache tactical methods. Camp Huachuca was redesignated a fort in 1882.

In 1886, General Nelson A. Miles designated Fort Huachuca as his advance headquarters and forward supply base for the Geronimo campaign. Geronimo’s surrender in August 1886 practically ended the Apache danger in southern Arizona. The Army closed more than 50 camps and forts in the territory, but Fort Huachuca was retained because of continuing border troubles involving renegade Indians, Mexican bandits, and American outlaws and freebooters.

Barracks at Fort Huachuca

Is that Private James at attention second from the left?

Is that Private James being chastised by Post Commander
Brig. Gen. Emil Lenzner for jerky braking?

Is that Private James being directed by Geronimo to a landscape location
for an illustration assignment for the post magazine?

Is that Private James being mustered out of the U.S. Army at Fort Huachuca?

July 22, 1948
Pacific Electric Building
6th and Main
Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Times headline and story read as follows:

YOUTHS SWARM TO RECRUITING STATIONS HERE

The vanguard of an eventual 156 Army and 16 Air Force applicants for the period starting yesterday and ending August 31 swarmed into the 6th and Main Street, office as one-year enlistments for 18-year olds as an alternative to the draft were offered. The first applicant was Richard (my first alias) Matheny, 6530 Cerritos Ave., Long Beach, who was interviewed  by 1st Lt. George G. Troutman and sent to Ft. Mac Arthur for physical examination leading to probable enlistment of a one-year hitch Aug. 5.

Richard Matheny on the left, first man to be
processed, is congratulated by Lt. Troutman.

August 10th I reported to Union Station in Los Angeles for the no Pullman service to San Antonio, Texas to start basic training. The Southern Pacific cars looked like they had been used in World War I and were packed with eighteen year olds from Washington, Oregon and California, all heading for Texas. Tom Lyon was on board, a school acquaintance from Jordan High School in North Long Beach, who  had been attending school in Eugene, Oregon.

Union Station - Photo credit: Gary Friedman http://www.friedmanarchives.com

During the long wait at Union Station waiting for all the troops to assemble, some troops got over-heated and bored, left the train and brought back cases of beer. The party became so boisterous and outrageous, the military police was called in to restore order. Tom and I were assigned to the same flight and after one week at Lackland Air Force Base we were sent to Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas to participate in its reactivation. After that mostly "mop the barracks and clean the windows" experience I was flown to Mather Field in Sacramento in a DC-3 to complete my one-year enlistment in special services as a poster painter and a pitcher for the base baseball team. There were two memorable losses that season against Folsom and San Quintin prisons.

Do ya wanna know how I became the first enlistee?

I was working as a mail room clerk that summer for the Pacific Electric Railway right down the hall from the recruiting office and was acquainted with Lt. Troutman. My father Earl worked for Pacific Electric as a motorman and diesel  engineer for some thirty years. My brother Deane worked for PE as a yard clerk for about five years. My first full-time job after graduating from high school was at 6th and Main with PE as a file and sort clerk (for 67 & 1/2 cents an hour). I commuted from Long Beach every day on a PE "red car" street car on a track running thru Watts and I wondered about those strange towers. I worked numerous summers for PE as a vacation relief station clerk all over the system while attending Long Beach City College.

The following two sections of text were copied from the Coles Restaurant web site:

The Pacific Electric Building has been designated by the State of California as a State Point of Historical Interest. It was designed for Henry Huntington and was constructed between 1902 and 1905. At the time it was the tallest business building west of the Mississippi. The Pacific Electric Building was the main terminal for the Pacific Electric Railway, which eventually became the largest interurban electric railway system in the world. It served as the hub of a network of lines running from Owensmouth in the west to Redlands in the east, and from the top of Mt. Lowe in the north to Newport Beach in the south. The last "Big Red Car" rolled out of the 6th and Main Terminal in 1961.

Cole's is the oldest continuously operating restaurant and saloon in Los Angeles. It first opened in the Pacific Electric Building in 1908 and served the commuters of the Pacific Electric Company. Cole's became the city of Los Angeles' historical landmark number 104 in 1974.

Harry Cole established the restaurant in 1908. It has been recognized for originating French Dip Sandwiches. Customers still form long lines at lunch time to get a taste.

In addition to the restaurant business Harry Cole opened the first check cashing service. Customers would form a line one block long to cash checks at the tiny cage in the back corner of Cole's. The company operating statement in 1936 shows 176,000 checks deposited for a value of $7,150,000.

In every corner of Cole's an aspect of the city's history is evident. The massive mahogany bar, the Tiffany shades, the old oak tables and the saw dust on the floor bring back touches of charm of turn of the century Los Angeles. Some of the tables are actually made from the sides of the old wooden red cars.

On display are photographs of the building during it's construction and a map of the rail system. One could also see photographs of beauty pageants dating back to the post World War I period.

The customers keep the tradition alive; some have been "regulars" for over forty years. Jimmy the bartender is a wonderful source of information. He had worked at Cole's for over sixty years until his recent retirement. He often frequents the restaurant.

Cole's Pacific Electric Buffet
6th & Main