Updated June 7, 2010
I am writing this because I want to tell you how touched I am to be able to see your child hood lives. I grew up an Air Force brat. Anchorage High was only one of five different schools I attended. Probably, I could legitimately attend five, 50th Reunions.
Until accepting this responsibility, I assumed we were all grew up like this. What a surprise it is to me to learn that many of you actually grew up together. You go way back together.
You played with each other. You got to know each other. You cared about each other. You married each other.
I had no idea. I was busy fixing motor scooters and building flying machines. I hardly knew anybody. I hardly cared about anybody.
But things are changing. I am truly touched to see little Cindy Cruver in front of the Quanset huts. I love seeing Jeanne Waite as a little girl... Dale Sellin as a little boy.
Even tho I have 5 groups of school classmates scattered around the world... and I can still name some of them... you are the most special to me.
It is an honor to be assembling your stories.
'military brats' have a lot of experiences that most don't get to ever know,
we also come equipped with some demons. You were lucky in that you only
went to four schools. I attended three 5th grades alone. Until I arrived
in Anchorage as a freshman I had never lived in any one place for more than
two years and never developed a single life-long friendship. That's the
reason I value so much the 4 years I lived in Anchorage and the fact that I
attended AHS for my entire high school career. I finally sort of had a
home. You have no idea what coming back to see folks for the first time in
50 years that I really cared a lot about makes me feel. I have really
missed being there and can't wait to return.
Terry Berkshire added: We Army Brats have a special connection, that is true. I too attended many schools--9 different ones through 8th grade. I too felt very lucky to have 4 years in Anchorage. It was so neat! Mike, Craig, Lash and Kenny are part of the wonderful memories at AHS.
Vetter responded: Looks like my little note last night has generated some very nice, personal kinds of responses and reflections. As military brats, you understand what I was saying. I just did not make friends in high school because I knew I would not be around very long. Funny how - the way we grow up - is the way we assume everyone grows up.
I am amazed at what most students really did. There was a big train ride to Fairbanks. Everyone was on it. Not me. I didn't know or didn't care. We have a lot of pictures of it in the PowerPoint Show.
There was a big chunk of high school life that I knew nothing about.
Now I am seeing what I missed and it is pretty special to me.
Isn't it interesting how high school is the era that really has the most meaning? I guess it because we were becoming adults and knew it.
No Grade 13.
This was it.
You will see it all on the PowerPoint show I am fussing with. It is getting so big, it loads too slowly. I gotta break it into two shows to continue.
Terry said: Can't wait to see it. I didn't know about the train trip to Fairbanks. I have a feeling that moving so much while growing up has made me stay where I am for so long. It's nice to have connections and "close" friends.
Judy Leise Stein wrote: And the thing that I missed more than anything was the cohesiveness and friendships of being in any school for more than two years. I went to 15 schools in 12 years all in Alaska.
Barbara Foote McCarron wrote: I am one of those students who did not have the opportunity to grow up in Anchorage. I arrived in Anchorage on May 21, 1954 with my mother, sister, and step-father who was by then a conductor on the Alaska Railroad. Previous to our move from Hayward, California to Anchorage, my mother, sister, and I lived less than two years in any one place, with many of those places hotels in New York where my father met with associates before returning to South America to meet with folks at large industrial complexes throughout South America. Our longest stays were in Hayward, California, Toronto, Canada, Saint Petersburg, Florida, Tucson, Arizona, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Montevideo, Uruguay, Cali, Colombia, and Lima, Peru. Once I got through junior high school, I found my special place in Mr. McGuinn's organization taking twirling, flags, drug majorette, and attending all the home games and some on the road games with the band, players, and supporters. Having Louis Garcia as my special friend and dance partner made these years especially meaningful and wonderful. I thank my mother for her willingness to live in a very different environment and circumstance in order to give Alexis and I the opportunity to learn and thrive in a stable home environment, and I thank all my friends, teachers, and school administrators who cared for us and helped us on our way. Those were very special years.
Kathy Queer adds: Well, I guess I'll join in the Army Brat parade .. I went to 1st grade in Anchorage then ... 2nd grade on Elmendorf (then called Ft Rich) ... 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th on the new Fort Rich. 7th - 12th in Anchorage. I lived in two camps all my life, military and civilian.
So, Nancy if someone gave you measles in 2nd grade it wasn't me .. I was on Elmendorf then...
As for Ft Rich ... remember when they plowed the trail 100 ft wide, so we could go to the movies without the bears eating us. That was before environmental studies had to be done. Or how about running away from home to the Jello shaped Mt .. I told an MP a few years ago that that was what kids did and he said "They still do!" Or how about the dinner we all went to on Elmendorf on a meatless Friday. Unless you were a military brat or the guest of the military you had to eat the canned tuna fish. Being a former military brat I called the chaplain and he said, "Eat away - be my guest!" ... We military brats knew how to survive in a restricted or meatless area. Another great benefit was when the GI's would go hunting ... shot something really big then have no place to store the meat ... my Dad kept us in wild game and he never left his desk in the Headquarters building.
The military taught me how to get along with all kinds of people, make friends quickly, and be able to let go when friends transferred to a new post. So instead of life long friendships I had a string of life long friends ... they just were not around for very long.
Vetter and the prized '52 Chev Bel Aire Hardtop (and Mustang scooter)
To be fair, (Miss Berkshire... Mr. Duggan) your webmaster lived at 21-463A Sunshine Rd, Base Quarters on Government Hill from November, l957 to February, l959.
I know about bus rides. Well... short ones from Government Hill.
Mike continues... but we were able to get our homework done before we got home or take a short nap in the mornings (5:30 came a little early for most of us).
Terry/Kenny: Glad to see you're coming up. Where are you staying? Pat (my wife) and I will be at the Capt. Cook. (I think Lash and Craig are, too.) We're getting in on Wed., the 23rd, and staying until Tue., the 29th.
I really look forward to seeing all of you. It's been a long time. Lash is one of 5 classmates I've seen since we graduated (Dave Martin, Stewart Barnes, Jim Scarborough, and Bruce Nash). Craig, Terry and Kenny are three of the 5 I've talked to (Judy Jett and Jay Stonebraker) since then. It's really hard to describe how excited I feel about finally getting to make this trip. I've missed my friends and classmates very much. I only wish I could see them all.
Suzanne (Keisel) Bradbury - driving our RV up the 'Alcan': What a beautiful dialog of thoughts and feelings you have opened up for all of us in the Class of '60! I feel privileged to be included in the interchange. And I feel pained for those who I know about that have rejected the whole idea that we were ever a "group" and feel ostrasized. I am sorry they will never see these shared expressions. As one of the 'military brats' I guess I never thought much about life being any other way. In our later years I think we have learned a lot. Having been in one spot for over 40 years now, that seems normal too. I like to think that my military upbringing is a great deal of the reason I am somewhat adjustable. I will come down on the side of: "it was a positive experience for me". I am so glad that we are all different and have different experiences, that is what makes us all so dear to one another.
I am in Edmonton, Canada now, driving our RV up the 'Alcan '(as I did in 1957) on the way to our reunion and all these messages makes me even more excited to get there! See you soon.
Kathleen Wilson
Our kids changed schools often and my daughter especially had a hard time in grade school; by her fourth school in four years the school reported that she was not interacting with her peers, wasn't participating in class and we learned that Lisa had changed her name as "Jo" to the teacher and her classmates (we had no idea). That's when the guilt poured in. To give her stability we switched her to school in England where she attended from age 11 to 16. So I admit to parental angst as we traipsed around the world for our jobs and I was never sure we'd done the right thing but it's one of those family things that sometimes doesn't get talked about.
Thanks to your shared experiences I just had a great conversation with my kids!
I asked them lots of questions (now that they're in their 40's)
"Do you wish now that you'd grown up in one place making lifelong friends and connections? Do you feel you "missed out" on anything?" They both looked at me in horror and have assured me of many consequences they feel benefitted them - including the ability to walk into any room anywhere with "poise" and confidence that they can solve any problem and meet any new challenge and especially the ability to feel "at home" and comfortable anywhere with anyone from any culture. They are adamant that they wouldn't change their growing up experiences and from what you all say it seems you wouldn't either. So it seems there might be silver linings in every cloud, that the adage that it's not the experiences but what you make of them that counts.
My son Nick, who returned Monday from China where he and his wife spent weeks working with the pandas at the national panda preserve thinks nothing of trips to Europe or Africa, and my daughter who hates to travel further than her office 8 minutes from her home (but who jumped at the chance to come with me to Anchorage in June), assured me they wouldn't have changed their experience for anything. My son uses a website called Overseas Brats to connect with classmates from schools in Japan and Europe, my daughter is a regular visitor to the website of "The Towers" in Sussex, England still exchanging e-mails with her former headmistress, teachers and classmates.
It's obvious that many of us are happy to have shared the experience of our teen years in Alaska. I look forward to seeing you all this month.
I do feel especially grateful for our own experience at AHS because we had the unique experience of growing up in a very special place during a very special time. I occasionally substitute teach at a charter school now and am relieved that we didn't have the challenges that kids have now. Though at the time I didn't much appreciate leaving a comfortable city life to live in a three room cabin with no running water, waiting in subzero weather for the bus, and especially the fourth grade in Denali School where I spent most of that first year after arriving in December sitting in the hall because I couldn't get the teacher's name right (I'd never met anyone "divorced" so it made no sense to me that someone went from being Mrs. Watts to Miss Chappelle - every time I'd call her Mrs. Watts I ended up confused on the floor in the hall...it's funny...now.
Jo Ann Bantz says Hello All: It's been interesting to read these many comments. I thank you all for sharing. As I think back, I remember feeling fortunate to be in classes with so many military students. You people added much to class discussions as well as personal discussions. I have been in Anchorage since I was 6 so my horizons were expanded because of you. Thank you!
During the 41 years I taught elementary school here in Anchorage, I've come across some of our high school teachers professionally. They all remarked to me how much the military kids added to the high school educational experience. Terry Berkshire--I still remember my excitement spending the night with you and your family on the military base. This was outside my environment and helped me be more aware of other life styles. Thank you. Jo Ann Bantz
Lash Hansborough writes: Don't forget sitting three to a school bus seat that were only 5 cheeks wide...
Mike Duggan writes: Craig never had the pleasure of taking the bus 25 miles to and from Ft. Rich....he was an Air Force brat and if my memory serves me correctly (these days it's questionable) he lived in town.....
plus I recall he had a 51 or 52 Chevy to drive around.......
Easy.
