Some time ago a family member asked if I had ever been physically close to any of the nation's presidents. I said "yes" and here's the story.
Prior to World War II, I was working at a large east coast shipyard. At that time, the Yard was building the battleship U.S.S. South Dakota. I worked as an estimator in the PLATE AND ANGLE SHOP, the shop charged with rolling the massive steel plates that formed the Dakota's hull and gun turrets.
Sometime in 1941(actual date is fuzzy), we got the exciting news that President Franklin D. Roosevelt was coming to make an inspection of the Yard and the Dakota and furthermore, he would be traveling by auto right through our shop, using the 20 foot wide roadway that was our entrance /exit area.
On that appointed day, and the precise hour (the president was a stickler for timeliness), the caravan of cars entered the shop. The band started playing and the crowd began to cheer. I was standing in the front of the line waving a small American flag. When the car got opposite to me, the president looked straight at me, smiled and gave me a "thumbs up" sign. I was so excited that I cried while still cheering. You could feel the president's magnetism as he rode by.
The Dakota was commissioned in 1942 and the ship and I left the yard for overseas service, never to return. When the war ended, so did the shipbuilding, and I guess that's the way it was supposed to be.
More, later.
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