Grandpa DeWees

This blog is about me. However, there are events that shaped my being long before I was born, so I don't feel too bad about going back to decades before I was born. I want to introduce you to my maternal grandfather, Earl Cyrus DeWees. He was of Dutch extraction and Pennsylvania Dutch by upbringing. DeWees means "the orphan," or so I am told. Most Pennsylvania Dutch are actually of German extraction and are often called Pennsylvania German. The Dutch is a perversion of Deutsch, which is what the German people are called in German. Grandpa and Grandma DeWees, however, were both of Dutch Ancestry.

Grandpa DeWees was born in the Autumn of 1897 and was about 21 years of age when this photograph was taken. He lived a long life, passing away in the Summer of 1972.

I had little interaction with my mother's father. He visited the family home several times, especially after my mother was injured in an automobile accident. I remember him well. In the 1950's he was somewhat heavier than he was in the photo above. He also had a wine birthmark or facial scar (it doesn't show in this picture, which may have been retouched) that was quite large.

I know that he had been an electrician and worked as a lineman at one time. I am told he was once knocked off a power pole.

I did not see him again until after I had joined the Navy. In fact, I was in my second enlistment when I visited him in Richmond, Virginia. He was then 77 years old and failing in health. It was a nice, but short, visit.

While I know little of him and his story I know that without him I would not be here today. I still have a few relatives alive who knew him well. I think I'll ask them to fill in the large gaps of my knowledge.

The Barracks Are on Fire!

While stationed at the Fleet Anti-submarine Warfare School in San Diego during the summer of 1964 a neighboring barracks had caught on fire.

All sailors are trained in basic firefighting skills while in boot camp. We learned to fight shipboard fires using water and foam, 1 1/2 inch fire hoses, 2 1/d inch fire hoses, and with extended nozzles. A barracks fire, caught in the early stages, was a piece of cake to put out.

All the years that I was in the Navy, there was a rule that if you were aboard a ship or station you were on duty — no matter what. On this particular day classes were over, I had eaten dinner and received my precious liberty card — my permission to leave the base. I had gone back to my barracks after dinner and changed into my dress white uniform. I was on my way out the door and would have headed toward the gate but the alarm was passed. Before I could make myself scare I was thrown a coil of 1 1/2 inch hose — I was now a firefighter!

The fire was extinguished quickly and then came the cleanup. Fire damage includes lots of smoke, water, and soot. My dress whites now looked like chimney cleaner black! I was filthy and so were my clothes.

I inquired later about being reimbursed for the loss of my uniform. I was told that got a uniform allowance ($7.00/month) to take care of that. It was several months before I was able to afford to replace my whites.

While financially disconcerting and emotionally exasperating, the experience taught me a few good lessons about the Navy, one of which is to never depend on the Navy to pay you for your losses (also true for Navy civilian workers).