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>> This is a living history interview with George Roy the new class of 1937 conducted by Marilyn summers on November the 25th the year 2003 we are at his home in Cartersville Georgia and the subject of our interview today is his life in general his experiences at Georgia Tech Mr Bethune thank you so much for letting us come and visit you here we got another gorgeous day in Georgia sunny janitor we're happy to be up here cars though this is up yeah this is up here out here i still and I'm looking forward to hearing the story of George Ryan with whom we call you Broadway growing on every adult like George to right.

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Where did you meet again well the Shia against the big began when I was born in Atlanta in 1914 my parents were living in Sudan actually but I was born in Atlanta and no went back to the boarding half she detailed You asked me earlier where I got the nickname Bill enough to do that right now when they came back to the boarding house with me and the landlady asked what my name was or they told him George draw you a big thing.

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And she says that's too much name recall and be Ok but and that's so your family in the early days cuts at that family people call everybody covered Bill and I guess until I went to hask to the ham lot it Wow Tell me what your daddy was doing in Cedartown Why were your folks there what was his occupation my father was a traveling salesman he worked for several different companies and I couldn't tell you which one he was working for when when I was born but I know Later own he worked for a company had a room called Gibson and the journey there were wholesale grocers.

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And he travelled the roads of north Georgia in model t. forwards and so goofy that was a tough time that was the end of the Depression when people were really struggling no he yeah that in 1917 there was a dip Yeah there was a depression 1970 and he was having it that's a tough job to be on the road doing stuff he seemed to always have tough jobs but he always had one yeah that's great how many children in the family were you the only one injured had a brother older 3 year 3 years younger Ok so it wasn't a 1st or warm years and then your brother came alive so your mama would stay in whatever town he had settled in and he go off and come back and go off and come back that's right come back on the weekends Did you see a lot of him or not as much as you might have I guess well not during the week of course but always on the weekend and your mom coped raising your voice alone then Yep mine were how long did they stay in the city or town area did you go to elementary school there no.

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I think I was about. I'm not sure 4 or 5 years old but we moved away from there I didn't go to school we moved to Gainesville after that and I went to the 1st 3 grades of grammar school in Gainesville. And were you a good student probably thought I was the one we didn't mind going I don't know what the teacher is that.

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I just didn't mind going somewhere past your father and your family affected by World War One it all. If your dad have to go he didn't go to service in World War one though because probably because he had the Churchill I think so yeah do you have any recollection of that time and I'll very little I can vaguely remember when the war was over there was some kind of celebration and I remember some I gave me a little flag to wave but that's about there were a recollection I have of that just to know that it was celebrated in every level even in small town Georgia is not a nice i guess so you started off your elementary school in Gainesville and then your family moved again the city of moved to Atlanta next 0 to back to Atlanta.

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I went to. 3rd 4th and 5th grade wait 4th 5th and 6th grade you learn more when they have a new **** Ok and only those 3 grades and then those 3 get there we moved to Macon My goodness you're you were changing almost man that's got a lot of adjusting for you so that was to Macon Georgia Ok And how long did you stay in Macon I went to the 7th grade in Macon and then to ask to for 5 years and I've understood that that was a wonderful high school I think it was a pretty good high school you really gotta go to education there and in those days it was all boyish **** the boys who went to live near and the girls who went to a house who call Mila and Lanier really prepared people for higher education is what I've always been told that was a very good school I think it was pretty good scuba Yeah so you had a good high school experience I thought so unless a nice you could stay put for that anyway yeah by that time had your dad sold into a job in the make an area or did he continue to be a salesman and just roots there.

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At some time and I don't remember exactly when he got a job with the. Employment Service the whole reemployment sort of whatever the name of the government had to go and he retired from that job so that he was rather a regular stay at home dad and step on the road dad right there giving a little more stability to the family by being on stage I didn't ask you but when you were said you were born in Atlanta where you're born in a hospital in Atlanta you know which one not a hospital I was told that I was born in in my grandmother's home Ok that was very typical.

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That was probably why it was your mother's mother Yes Ok So yeah I think mom was often went home to have their baby so that was think that was the Cajun. So you're in Macon now and you're a Jew and your high. They don't call it that it was a 5 year high school 5 year high school who didn't have a junior high in those days of the age group that was the age group there so and did you take part in sports there I played on the varsity baseball team and also played on one of the football teams but we had a bunch of teams and there are only 3 that we called the varsity team and I didn't play on the top teams operate on some of the lesser teams but you got the activity end and that got played Syrian's Yeah that's great and you continue to like school.

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At that time yeah it was a good experience didn't think it was in the u. s. But did you ever know the thought did you at that time start to plan towards the idea of going to college or wasn't that something people did in those days. I guess I didn't think too much about it until maybe the 2nd the 3rd year in high school to and then I chatted out want to go to George tick why why did you make that decision.

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I'm not really sure I just don't that's where I want to go do you suppose it has anything to do with you hearing or reading in the papers about the. Golden tornado going to the Rose Bowl and all that kind of good stuff that probably has something to do with it because I'm thinking the timing was pretty good there since the Rose Bowl was January 1929 you would have been high school then yes you'd have been thinking about something that because I think pretty much everybody talked about you know it's a big deal in one town for Georgia school to go to the fire with you and did you ever ever ever go to Georgia Tech did I ever go yes not only to go to school but I'm just going to visit did you know I don't know if it's was not just that you read about the paper yeah I guess so heard about some.

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And our ways you know I like to work with the. 2000 you still love erectus it when I was a young kid and I don't know it just seemed like George checkers play sourdough sounds like it was a pretty good match the problem was a big depression was coming in that round about the time you were thinking about going to school you were right and that must've had some effect on your decision to become a co-op Well it looked like I was not going to get to go at all.

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And no girl live in Atlanta and they said that actually come stay with them you know which would take care of my boy would be too but I also needed a $100.02 pay to reach and my family didn't have a $100.00 a lot of money in those days.

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But something happened well not that time and always think it was some kind of a miracle but the snow Dr cleaning company in Macon had some kind of a contest and my mother won the 1st prize of 50 dollars Wow So somehow they scraped up another 50. And also I went to Georgia Tech with a $100.00 isn't that wonderful that actually just came out of the blue out of the blue Nobody thought you were going to have any money and there it was so it was just get you started then because then you're going to come co-op and work and pay your own way through and had you heard about that co-op program when you were in high school do you remember being told about it yes yes I had heard something about it it was one of the earliest co-op programs in the country Georgia Tech and it had a pretty good reputation by that time.

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That you could work your way through school and not have to be a burden on your family but I knew that was you know that was not only a change to go to school what made you pick textiles because I got a job it Goodyear plant here So that was the for it was so everything was not necessarily your choices that I just happened to happen I was alone along the way yeah the aunt and uncle that you stayed with in Atlanta what were their names Cheney Frank and Phoebe Chaney So those were your mom's That was my mother's sister that was really nice that they happened to be in the right place for you know they were they were like another set of parents to me that was so good to me That's great Where did they live.

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Post a Little 5 Points No not that far away that how good place. So that wasn't very far I mean that you mean freedom from tech from tech that 45 miles away but doable Yeah with did you use the. Trolley car but yes. The Back in those days that the failure hole in the streetcar was 7.

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But they had a deal for students where if you borrowed a book with tickets you could get them for a nickel ticket for a nickel So here's the deal student ticket now let's go back in time you think back to those days what was your 1st experience at Georgia Tech to remember the 1st day you came there the 1st time you came and you said your parents gave you the money and sent you watch so that meant what did you take the train that you write to pass rain to Atlanta have about train to land and then went to stay a year and uncle's house and then the day came and those days did you write ahead to get admitted to school you said you took the $100.00 with you so when you got there what was the procedure did you have to show up and pay your money you can't really remember the details of that I do remember the class meeting in an unordered torun there and somebody talking to it you know and probably getting Yeah.

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I don't really remember giving divide the money but I'm sure I did and do you know if you went in the fall or the summer where you were a co-op that started the summer session or did you start in Sept are good in September and did you start with a job or with school started **** Ok so you got off on the right foot that was an easier way to go because you were at least got to establish yourself with other classmates so in the beginning the 1st when you 1st registered it it wouldn't matter what.

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The degree you were going after it's all the same things are pretty much the same the 1st year. The only thing that falls out is who's staying in the dorms and who's driving you know riding in on the street cars I think that was pretty common to riding on the streetcar but most of the people in much why she lived in the dormitory how might have been only one that didn't live in the Dome or 2 or did that way I'm wrong about that I remember one other fellow that lived in Atlanta but maybe just 2 of us did not live in the dome tools that make it hard for you to make friends because you out had transportation to worry about or not.

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Seem to have made friends all right I think it was kind of bad about it when you would go home with the homework you knowing you didn't know how to do a problem and there was nobody to help you sometimes yeah it's not like you just pick up the phone or something because they're big and have phones then did say there's a day everybody has a south phone but now I felt like there was a phone one phone in the dormitory and I would sometimes call that to you know to get somebody to help me reach them.

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But they usually wouldn't answer that phone may ring 30 or 40 times before a guy would answer. So that finally they just ignored it how do you think you know they did it was for somebody else what was your 1st impression of Georgia Tech did it seem like a big school or not so big that in like a big it did big hard school emphasis on hard hours I would use the word challenging where you challenged Yes academically challenged and yet you had a very good education common in better than most of the South Georgia boys because most of them only went to the 11th grade and none of them had what Lanier high school had you probably already had some the science experiences and some higher math some of them had never laid eyes 5 chemistry or physics or higher math off but it was still a challenge for you it was the idea was to get every let everybody and then get rid of those that couldn't make it I remember the 1st time I went to the math class and have forgotten the professors name but he was an old timer and he looked out over the class you know he's the you the don't wish looking bunch of students ever so I don't think any of your make it here I don't know why your prayers are wasting their money sending you here but well but I wanted them and demoralizing.

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But really we turned out really a pretty good kludge other he was just you know disappoint me spurs on the downs like something d.m. Smith would have said was that he was kind of a he was an old timer he'd been there a good time by then and I mentioned that so you had to remember that name and Smith know it acts that.

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He had a very caustic sense of humor at the expense of the boys but they all liked him and their body liked him but he was he was attentive he used to coach the football players and that was down. Some of them were down me my god it was an interesting time and George attack That early thirty's where an interesting time you came in 1982 and when you register for KOAT then did you have to go home with family in the co-op Japs Where did you have to go to get your assignments or you are you knew you had an assignment was that it no you didn't know.

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There was a man and I can't remember his name but he was the head of the co-op Department and he worked hard to try to get jobs for the huge but there were no jobs to get home Mohanlal no time well there were grown family men who couldn't get to you 1932 I got a did you go register at his office that you were a co-op of yeah I'm sure we did all or did you know and the reason I got this job in Macon That was a 1st 1st co-op job ahead the fellow that was in charge of the Schofield I don't work I can't remember his name there but he was checked graduate and he kind of felt sorry for me and you know he gave me a job he really didn't need me he just let me have a job.

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So after you had completed your 1st semester quarter or up then you came back home to Macon and started working at the school so i or worked right even though they had nothing to do with text or engineering or I was just a job in fact I was not even thinking about textile engineering at that point I was thinking I was going to take the mechanical engineering sure I can see where you would do that with doesn't mean able to use your hands or what was it like to work in this Scofield's iron works hard.

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That was really experience to head this huge building it would be impossible to heat you know no no possibility of ever heating the bill at one end I remember they had some big doors down there that were big enough when they opened them they could drive a rail car in there in to the building when they close a dozer snow Froome under the bottom for somebody to climb and if they wanted to come and and they did have these 3 or 4 potbelly stove surround in the room and one of my jobs was to keep those going so people could come and warm their hands a little bit every once in a while so you were Hollywood and coal or whatever just broke as a general swanky 3 months of that.

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But out how what princely sum did they pay you you know I don't remember exactly but I think it was $0.15 an hour that would sound about right for the 9 what it what's amazing is how could that pay for school. You know you're going to have to earn enough money in that 3 months to pay for your next semester school you had a squeak but boy that was that's what's called Tough livin.

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I don't think people can even begin to comprehend it how conservative you had to be with your money to do something like that but you lived at home so your folks right age you right so you didn't have it on board had really no expense that I had to worry that.

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You'd have to have your transportation back to the school again again at the end of that quarter to ride the train you know that a lot in those days leaguers and maybe a $1.00 is cheap to ride it. Pin your mouth I remember the trains used to talk about the rates been one **** for my friend it was about a 100 miles from Macon to land that makes sense and then so that's pretty good transportation you know.

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Before you went away for your co-op job you were there that 1st semester 1st quarter for regular fall season so you got to go to football games right and did you wear Red Hat Yep so it was all normal freshman stuff that 1st quarter. How many kids were in your co-op class I think they were about 60 so it's a pretty good sized and when they did they come from all over all of them so you got to meet kids from other parts of the country 1st time to meet people from all over 1st so yeah I didn't know anybody in the classroom with this it's kind of nice in a way isn't it to bring a whole bunch of youngsters together given these opportunities to know each other so.

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You we were regular college guy the 1st quarter going to the football games wearing your red hat being part of all the traditions at Georgia Tech and that's the best way to get started so that you feel like you belong to the school some kids started in the summer and they were gone then in the fall and that wasn't nearly as neat yeah I had a word so often that you know the person that was on the.

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Other how would I say it was he was there when you weren't vice versa right in a way I was I was glad that I was on the schedule that I was so and you know you had that rather than the other those that started in the summer really never felt like they belong to school so much because they were left out of everything but if you didn't wear your red hat they treated you just like anyone else who didn't wear.

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The right and you had all those things to think about. What was the what was the every day in environment like in 1982 was football still a I mean they had one. Rose bowl so that was a big thing but I don't think they had really that good teams after that I know for a while I don't ever remember a while out of the 5 years that I was there we never did have a.

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Winning skid you don't think we may you may have won the few more games than we lost but you know it was never. Nationally ranked team but was there a lot of enthusiasm for you know we had a lot of phone and I don't care no what do you remember about that time because I wasn't there I don't know what was it like to be there and 321 thing I remember was so we played all but one day I think in those days maybe they were always played or been in Atlanta is a big rivalry I'm not sure about that but anyway this this was in Atlanta and it was raining started raining before the game it was started raining continually all through the game and I was sitting there with this trick coat raincoat you know canvas trench coat thing we would sit down and it would rain next while something would happen and we jumped up you know and about a gallon of water would pour out on my lap nobody left so they say Faraj to the whole game yeah I think Alabama used to come in by train and they'd have a parade.

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They were famous for parading into Atlanta. Alabama Arbor and they would always talk about wrecking tech right now if it came to rec tech yet and I've got some early photographs that shows them you know marching from the train depot Peachtree Street so I know the rivalry had be pretty fierce that's for so nice about meeting them and share.

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The old memories that I'm back south so you were you really I did enjoy those did you get involved in any social entertaining things at all during that period of time besides the football very little really that maybe I was not a real social type person to something but I just you know I just had my his food with taking care of my studies.

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I had all I could handle and so you didn't need and have big date night sir no answers or movie I went to a few dances and they maybe every once in a while to a movie but not much of that now so we had a lot of movie houses around there you know it was easy to go in love yes did you ever get to the fox because that was a really big deal here and stays wasn't that hard went to 3 channel to the Fox for whom it was a big deal was so beautiful when it was new like that so it was even though times were bad it was still a good place to live there were plenty of good things going on in that land even though the monies were short here and the maybe because everybody was short of money I think that was it just the way it was in there but I just took it to court came.

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After you went back to school to make it and started working at Scofield you finished it you must be glad when that was over I think that doesn't mean you were there in the wintertime when the sound hole is a total Yeah so you were privately happy to come back to Georgia Tech for your next quarter you know I was always glad to come back to **** and I was always led to the **** in and go back to work so for you it was nice to have the change the change was always welcome welcome So where what happened with your 2nd job when Mr Schofield or whoever the gentleman was didn't welcome me back to Schofield or did you just go look for something else the man whoever he supported his name was it was head of the co-op department told me about this job.

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Card is real and actually I'm a peon interviewed for this job and they decided to to hire me so that's really not a left Go figure you know what they didn't. They would lead me to believe that you know they did ever do have a paper route so there was no you know no hard feeling you know about me leaving there and that wasn't a career job for you anyway that's right and you knew that but now Cartersville was in the other direction from home that's right so taken a job as a co-op where you didn't have family meant you had to have room and board to that so he had to make a little more money I got a big increase in salary when I took this job I was making 25 fish and actually our our you owe twice.

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But then you had to pay for yourself Yep I made $0.25 an hour and we work 60 hours week that was standard work week in those dancers was 60 hours on my word she used to live an hour was a day for 5 days and then 5 hours on Saturday My goodness so 60 hours I made $15.00 for the week's work.

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Had a lid and a boarding house for $3.00 in the high a week I decide ahead save $10.00 a week from the 2 issues so that left me a dollar on the high almighty dollar low anyway I'll just blow it. A dollar and a half for a whole week of entertainment that's actually what I do you know to maybe 50 show wowo I guess not and even though the movies were only like a quarter that was a little be a big investment.

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But your food came from the boarding Yes that was a pretty good deal that you got fed and bad that's fighting it much more not bad I don't imagine as a lot of folks doing that in those days there were boarding houses and all the towns so that you could do that.

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I don't know but everywhere else but you didn't have any trouble here I didn't have a knife. And was this work more interesting when she came to Goodyear. Well they put me on what they call a flying squadron which was supposed to I think they had several scuba always on this program and you spose to work at different jobs all through the meal you know to really learn the thing from the bottom up so I started out running a set of machines call call ribs on a few ever remember seeing a thing like to have brushes again yeah card the cotton and that's what this machine did and the set of the machine just said think was about 40 machines we had thought to operate and we'd work it 6 just 63630 was time to put in the moon except you don't list if you were not that fast 30 they thought you weren't coming in and they got to my **** and put on make up so why did it start 630 if you had to be there in $530.00 page started at $63000.00 but you had to be there you need to be there hour it to clean the machines out to clean up the bottom of the machine so you can you know anywhere in your honor in your privileged to do that right My boy Times just amazing what they expected of people that changed thank you to him wow so you know that was man's work you were working hard for years Mahan's work right.

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So no wonder you already come back to the school that now where you work the co-op you didn't just have the summer off then. Right you just every quarter every 3 know you were doing one of the others do the work this food yes no just sitting out the summer like some folks did notice that no no no Boy well no wonder you were going to go back to school and went once you went back to school again by the time you had finished a couple quarters of school you start to get the hang of it you weren't It seems like when you get through your freshman year it's that hard to go to school anymore right you learn how to study or you flunked out with what you have to thank you did you continue to go back to live with your aunt and uncle yes they provided you shall nurse and I lived with them the whole 5 years when that's great that they were so good you know what I was to that So once you came back she came back as a sophomore then in out in out yeah I was trying to think what they call it 5th the coded a Prejean knew it was freshman sophomore preview junior since Yeah they have to do that because it actually took 5 years to complete that kind right cycle.

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But you can't be you know you were a survivor that was the good family or as h.s. anymore I want to share when the no freshman and Yes yes give up the red hats and buckle down did you find that you had more opportunity to take part what was going on at school and you've got to be a mentor gentleman Well there again you know I was never that night so I had a really didn't get to take part like some of the other students did although I think most of the other students in my classroom as busy as our was steady and.

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So I don't think you know you joined the co-op group it was a cover Brier in society Yeah so did they have meetings ever here so that you could get to know each other a little bit yeah she was really goes she can remember no you don't think those meetings with night usually lot of maybe they're just late afternoon or something like that is that like that you could swap war stories about what was work and where you were always better off if making the most money off that kind of stuff let me ask you to pick your brain for a minute you had to take the lab classes when you took like woodworking I know you had woodworking and you know I never had to do to work working that kit that we had the chemistry labs and vision lawyer how about like the foundry or the did did the cops to this not have to take part in those kind of classes 1st as did you ever work under the heinie you know the names of 3 from our record go belly Van Houten or.

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They were some of the foremen that were in charge of the labs and see that's what I want to get distinguish or maybe co-ops didn't go into those labs maybe you were getting your hands on experience out the workforce but the students that didn't that stayed there had to learn those skills so they would go like to wood shop in the afternoons and they had 3 hour lamps of wood or 3 hour lab so foundry you know a neighborhood either want to get in you have to do that did you ever have to make an engine.

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See I bet that's because your car while you say that's a good thing for me I don't know the difference between Did you ever have any. As a co-op now they had different rules and regulations for I don't want to call it hazing but. What do you call that when you inoculate somebody into a program do you remember ever having pajama pro-grade or anything where you were taken out and hassle than any way shape or form.

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About getting there again I might have missed a little bit of that not living in the dormitory maybe some of that were all it could ignite in the dome a killer could have are on the weekends even when they did stuff like that the reason I'm asking is I see pictures from that time frame I've seen pictures of gentlemen dressed in very silly clothes in downtown Atlanta doing silly heinous and and it was in their obvious and or indoctrination or something of that sort that stop short of being hazing but it was still kind of ridiculous and I know the co-ops did take part in stuff like that but it may have been.

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That I think campus co-ops are not that commuters so you missed out on the foolishness you don't have any memories of anything crazy like that were not much not much were you able to stay with good your job then every co-op quarter after that and each time they groomed you with a different skill they were teaching you different things right that's pretty neat that so they were kind of teaching you how to be their employ is that the right thing to do was there any other Georgia Tech guys there with you or were you the only one well I had this alternate You know you would Robert.

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And he worked you know when you did he was working while I was in Stuart and vice versa but there were no weather on the teams that were Georgia Tech so you 2 were lucky to get in here right we were and you followed a routine after that you didn't have to go look for a job on the collapse say and it was no I guess you know unless they had fired us where we we had the job.

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And would and they didn't fire and I signed up pretty good. Finally the time in 5 years it was 5 years that it took to go through all that but finally the time did come for graduation and tell me if you can recall where your graduation was how the 19th process You were one of the facts right.

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Now the cost and have to do are o.t.c. or did you did you still do it are rotated out of here so did you get a commission to that at the end of that time so was a pretty big day that well this is I remember they had to graduation the 1st part of the summer and the co-ops had to go to summer camp in order to complete the are there o.t.c. so we didn't actually get out diploma we got some kind of fake diploma at the regular graduation because you weren't any We weren't quite finished so they mailed us out diploma after we had come back from the teach the camp but they didn't let you go through the ceremony yes the gym parents come they must have been so happy you know I guess so I mean it must've looked like Mission Impossible and then it finally happened you know so and you had your rent not going there to help you and so you had your own little fan club with your right so that whole summer was what 6 weeks in the boot camp.

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I believe it was about 6 weeks that one where did they send you. Up I was in the audience department and we went to Aberdeen Maryland to the Aberdeen Proving Ground and I think we were the 1st class that ever went there the story I heard about previous classes had gone to some place in Alabama south Alabama where it was nothing but.

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Sand and hot sun and maybe some toast or drilling and stuff like that very boring type program but we had the opposite you know going to the ever Dean proving ground it was just it was really great pretty exciting really it was only someplace special and you were up there for 6 weeks about 6 weeks and when you came back had a good year offered you a permanent position then so you your life is all mapped out you know what you're going to pretty much a home most of it's been in 1937 you're coming out of the fact state or with your family you've got a commission in the army but you're not going to take it instead you're going to go way up what will you have to live with a closure commission on that call 2nd lieutenant Ok we're 2nd lieutenant but actually we didn't get that until we completed this our t.c. came in yet truly you had to go through out that much it was a given you were going to get that out but you were going to go into the army you were going to go to work yes so you were passing on that if you had wanted to go into the military at that point could you have you have had to enlist here maybe so we were in the we were in the reserves.

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Ok I had a commissioned 2nd lieutenant in the reserves on my reserve because that was not consider war time there was starting to be problems overseas but the United States wasn't involved with that right so it wasn't considered war time and the depression was behind us pretty much we were still repetitions from it but the economy had started to turn around the w.p.a. had done its thing there were a lot of things going on so it was a pretty optimistic time in Atlanta so off you went to Aberdeen as we talked about pretty exciting for you you came back knowing you were going to permanently move to Carter's fellas that correct because you're going to take the job Yes So when you came back up the cards fell did you go back to your boarding house again or did you establish yourself more firmly there.

[00:39:18]
Actually I left the boarding house after about a couple years of that and several of us both wish to bowl as I think before it got a house of our own the company owned the houses there so we rented one of the houses of that car at the bachelor house Ok that sounds good and there it was $0.45 per week per room and we had a 4 room house so I ran it was a dollar and 80 cents week that included the water and the lights and they cut the grass and jam the shrubbery and painted the house and everything like that what a bargain so we had a bargain but who was cooking for you and well we got this black plated to come.

[00:40:08]
In the middle of the day and cook a new meal force. And then we just did the best we could retire the rest at your right time when you came back what was your job when you came back a full time employee but did they hire you in as I was in what they call the efficiency department and I had kept some bunch of records on the efficiency of the various machines throughout the mayor kind of an industrial engineering at that yet no one and by this time had you been in every part of the mails pretty much so you pretty much knew what it was doing very much knew everything it was going on and what was it doing bringing cotton fiber in and processing it right at that time we processed only cotton Later own ready on came into the picture and then now alone and then polyester after that but when our set to begin with cotton you see on the thing only thing that anybody used to tie fabric now we're manufacturing the material that actually got impregnated with the rubber that made the tires Yes So I understand and I understand that broadly often and was it done in production style manufacturing I mean with that did have a line assembly line that different parts got put together on it not exactly in the symbol of the land but we had several departments like the 1st department called the carving department and that's where the Harding machines it to leave that and then it went to the spinning why we spun it into a fine 3 wood and then several of those were twisted together that was in the twisting department ended up making a code and then the code was.

[00:42:05]
Woven into the fabric. And the fabric is what they were actually had a wearing department head weaving Department so they were producing the bulk material that was going to be used to assemble the tires and the tires were not made here No no ties here Ok So that was shipped off and so this is just one of the parts of the Goodyear right so it was shipped off and put into tires and some other location.

[00:42:32]
So was this one of the few or one of the many that they had doing it for good years we had 3 picture plants one was in Cedartown one was and Rockmart and the one in Cartersville 0 a full and then there was one in Decatur Alabama so 3 of them were in Georgia one is out there right and all of that was shipped was that all shipped up top I o. where Goodyear was headquarter some of it was shipped Goodyear had several other rebel plants one big one was in Gadsden Alabama that was a closest one in this area where they had good company for you to work for very good company so you wherever you were comfortable enough with them that you actually got going here in that this is probably a good career.

[00:43:18]
But something happened you were with them for one year and then what happened what made you change your mind about them staying steady straight out of the military but but why the military while a military. Let's see I was I was in the reserves all of us were that got the commission we were in reserve subject to be called to duty you know and I was called to active duty for one year what year was that was a dish some 1940 I was ordered to active duty for one year of supposed to be.

[00:43:57]
Released from duty the end of the year which would have been like. December the 27th I think 941-1410 your timing was lousy when. Pearl Harbor came around December the 7th 1941 so everybody that was in automatically got their time extended so you know you weren't going anywhere so I was in for 4 more years to the end of the war when Where were you when that when pro Harper took place I was at Fort Bragg North Carolina a member of a bunch of us from Iraq one Sunday afternoon that we heard about it and we were riding out on the ought to arrange just you know just having something to do I really don't the radio and he didn't hear me right now me on the you weren't going anywhere and he awake that's right at least not home extended.

[00:44:54]
And what was your responsibility then in the military when you're working with there on time. I was always in the ordinance department. To see that 1st job 1st an exciting job I had it Fort Bragg my company it was ordered to clear up the artillery range Fort Bragg was an artillery.

[00:45:19]
Post and they had this huge range it was about 25 miles long where they fired that gun Juno would be used and a good minute the shales didn't burst on Impact of us post too but some of them did so there were live Shales after all over the range we were supposed but then clean that up.

[00:45:43]
So we would send a detail of Usually one officer and 3 or 4 enlisted men to go out and work you know and gather up these smaller shells make a little pile out of them put a stick of dynamite by light the fuse and run back out of range you know the explosion and they'd explode and do away with those ships one day we were out there and.

[00:46:10]
The company commander I sure wish I could ruin his name in a way he wanted me to go back to the post to look at something and you know I had to go back to the headquarters for something so while I was gone they exploded a phosphorus Shero that they had found there and it blew up and threw the burning phosphorus around and started some little grass fires and they were taking their shows and saying and putting out these 5 and they came upon the fever's that was on the shale and it had not exploded and it had a fire going by it and he had to show was get raped some dirt on it when the fuse blew.

[00:46:55]
Blew the showboat all the pieces sent him to the hospital nearly killed him he but he did survive. In a way if v.n. sent me back to the headquarters had probably been there with him by all my but I ask 8 that and I was then made company commander since he couldn't perform any more we have to have been injured so badly so we followed the rules a little more closely after that and that fact we were more careful about him and though sure.

[00:47:29]
And that's a routine thing that has to be done fast to be done every once in a while something we never hear about. That we just don't hear much things like. How long did you stand for. They have about a year here and a half I guess. And then went.

[00:47:49]
Well they had put to call the Carolina maneuvers it was scheduled about that time and it was a. Quite a few troops involved in this maneuver exercise it lasted about a couple of months I guess in a way while we were doing that mit this major hit it was from New York actually he was my boss but I never had seen him until we got don't need maneuvers but anyway he was kind of a goofy guy and after we went back from got through with maneuvers and went back to regular assignment that Fort Bragg he went back to New York he called me one day said get in a car and come up here I said You mean right name he says well you need to learn 1st.

[00:48:42]
Ate my lunch he got in the car and went to New York and his headquarters of the 1st army headquarters was on an island called Forward j. it's Little Alan in the New York Harbor and Alan was man made the dirt that they took out of the when they were digging that tunnels for the subway system in New York City it took his dirt and dumped it out and Harben made this out on that so that was where the army headquarters and a lot of dirt lot it or you know hear those small out on the coast anyway I was up there for about 3 months Jones special assignment he had me own.

[00:49:27]
But that was enough for me I was glad to get away from there that was your New York adventure here. Only while the war is raging on here you were in a safer place at least you were doing domestic duty as they say this stateside studio and how long it but 4 years as a long time so what happened next.

[00:49:48]
Was she had knocked around 2 very different places. Left Fort Bragg I think I went to. Fort Jackson South Carolina and was there for a while and then we we were ordered to go to Honolulu Hawaii so we went by train from Fort Jackson to Portland Oregon Whoa that's a long train ride while you got to see the whole countryside Yeah I guess we did and back then they weren't paying much attention to the trains you know I guess some of the train people had gone into the army and the air conditioning didn't work in the tent cleaned up the cars and everything was pretty much mess in a way I remember we stopped in Chicago they were going to change engine something and some of the men got off of the train and found a hose nearby and they washed the windows.

[00:50:52]
Car that way and so we can see how the wind is another matter that you had a washer on the window so that helped a little bit industrious folks take care of the salvia and you got out to Portland and then what did you board ships stayed in Portland 2 days and then got on the ship one late one afternoon.

[00:51:14]
That ship I think set say of about midnight went down the river was it the Columbia River maybe it seems to me it was several miles I don't remember how far but several miles down the river before we actually came to the ocean. But then we were 10 days on the ocean on the way to Hawaii you know traveling in what they call a victory a ship when the ship you know they made in a hurry and part of the lawnmower engine in there and went put.

[00:51:50]
It wasn't right to go anywhere fast one then in big hurry took us 10 days to go to what would have sea legs are where you say I was not sick on that trip I thought I guess that boat was so slow maybe it didn't. In any way years or something but I had noticed they were going to came back I was sick coming back rougher water me came back on the aircraft carrier and it was flying and I was.

[00:52:21]
Stuck on the ride up in the very back out of the ship you know where I was bouncing up and them pretty bad and I thought I was going to die right it's a terrible feeling it is a new house. And then somebody got the ship's doctor to come.

[00:52:39]
Have to have been thinking of you and that's about a day he came in Ito it says you will die if you don't get up and and make yourself get up and go make yourself eat something so you know a plane thought made me Is it happened Triton and he was over at got over Yeah so you could literally feel yourself sorry to death as I could go and out of all what did you do and how why what was happening over there why did you go.

[00:53:09]
It was kind of a. Couple of. Well you get ready to do something else staging area staging here we have guests and I don't know where we might be going from there. It was all going to depend on where the war was going to be right now this was toward the end of the war it was 1945 so we are you know had 45 so we already had had ve day we were through with that right here are right and that was the big worry about what was going to happen with the right everything was concentrated in the Pacific at that time and of course we're talking about the possibility of having to in invade the island of Japan and have bad that was going to be and course atomic bombs came along then was Hiroshima and Nagasaki so that and I think that your life then I think that saved my life along with maybe a 1000000 others.

[00:54:10]
I remember writing the story about that one time enough said in the years to come. I'm sure the people who blame Truman for making that decision of usual to tell me there but people objecting to it were not be people that were in service in the Pacific at that time because you guys were pretty much aware of what you were going into yes I've heard the story from many servicemen who you know anticipated being just a massacre because they would have it was such an unknown terrain he would have been going and was definitely disadvantaged where the Japanese soldiers to you know were so.

[00:54:54]
What is the word. They didn't mind given their lives and they felt that was the right holding hammock Ozzy's they were already here right and so it really would have been a tough tough fight so when did you actually become aware of bombings did you all get word of that right away and.

[00:55:16]
You know I don't remember exactly but I'm sure we we heard about it about like you Buddy Ebsen did just show me and we had we did have an especially you know advance notification about it yeah time has shown you know there's been so many reports back and so much investigation of the papers that have been released that it was the wise thing for Truman to do cost great loss of life but you know it also say you're seeing the enemy here the same piece you know.

[00:55:48]
So it's so the trip coming back should have been a happy trip if they hadn't got to say was that. But back to stateside and your intention of course was to come back to Goodyear and take up your life again that's what I did and that's what you did.

[00:56:03]
How many different positions did you hold with Coach Goodyear over all those years you were with good year for a long time long the job most interesting job one of the most ancient jobs I had was with them was they called it the development engineer. And I just saw they had a free reign to do what I wanted whatever I wanted to do but.

[00:56:27]
That change every day anything you want you kept the plant going now I got ahead 3 patents. While I was some all that's crazy and you know and like I say very interesting in the gave me a free reign to do what I wanted to and they did to get patents on machinery that were in relationship to the production line and of the mail right and that's great that's that's what they were encouraging people to do the hands on folks that knew how to make things go make them go better.

[00:57:01]
So this was a very comfortable place for you to work and you never thought about changing to someplace else really never thought about going into places you. Were the entire time at this Carver plant with the exception of about 8 years and I was transferred to the plant in Decatur Alabama and I was over there fall I think it was like from 1960 to 68 came back here came back here and ended up being the plant manager here I retired to plant manager so it's a pretty good career for you a good year couldn't ask for anything better.

[00:57:39]
Now you established a family here in Paris that did you meet your wife here cars Yes Tell me about her namely Ruth Gaines and I don't remember exactly how we met but anyway really we did meet and that after the military or before before Ok so did you get married before you went in the military got married about a year before that and she went with me at some of the places where I was stationed and stayed a while.

[00:58:17]
How many years were you married from 39 and 2. She passed away in 96 I think if you do think there's a lot of time for the good line I'm going to leave and that yeah that tell me about your children how many children would you have had 3 children tell me about the others 5 handlers the oldest Beth was 2nd and Bill let's roll away the 3rd was the 3rd child.

[00:58:52]
We called him belly even though he was George right that's right heard right exist and herder that Nick and his there wrote about that in that idea. Well let's talk about Anne and her family Ok they live by the land and lives in Logan They're right here in Georgia in Georgia other side of Stone Mountain.

[00:59:14]
Has been is Jean Jean worked for the Macon war works for when he worked here for the at the war works for a while then went to Macon then retired from the water works in Macon about a year or so ago and went to work with the UK consulting firm that works with water works and I don't know exactly what he did but he's kind of upand so often he's going with him is hokum right hokum right now how many children they have they have had 3 children Libby was oldest and baby will be real name now we have about.

[00:59:56]
William Robert. Was a 2nd child he is now in Las Vegas he's a professor a doctor with the University of Las Vegas a unit of the wouldn't that's right he's here. In sports medicine and he's the director of that department out there that's great and what does live a do Libera.

[01:00:23]
Is a full time mother. She has 2 children. And their names Dylan and gains and they are both professional soccer professional. Soccer players their baby until at how big the interior. And and what is the 3rd grandchild same after Libya and Belle Julie to duty Ok and what is Julie Julie lives in Wyoming and her husband is Ian a little and he's the soccer coach at the University of Wyoming.

[01:01:00]
Who we'd like to bring to Georgia who needs to be back in Georgia right and Julie has children Julie is expecting a child in February so we have. 2 great grandchildren through and and 3rd when I was well I think now let's move to Beth back there Elizabeth Ok best lives in Alabama Beth tales the way Beth tells it is we carried over there and then moved off and left us.

[01:01:31]
Saying that born during that time Decatur time though she was born here but she has enough memory to think that there is a out and she's married to. Wallace saying While day while I was the basketball coach at the high school for many years but he's been retired for 23 years so they have any children have 2 sons high oil and Kirk and what does what do they do I think grown up are they still you know grown both grown up Hal is married and has to pay him and has 2 children Joe and Ella Kirk is still unmarried and that brings us to George Ryan the 3rd who we call bell.

[01:02:21]
Yeah. And that's your son that's my son and what does he do he did work for the cable company in. North Carolina the place just north of Charlotte he is at this moment on his way down here and make sure appearing to me great and then all of us to go in tomorrow over to Beth's half to spend Thanksgiving because it's time to do that and you know you'll be going away for the holidays right are everybody's not coming to Wyoming people while many people are not making it instead they're probably already snowy and they've had for terrible weather.

[01:03:00]
But the rest of you will be here well no libbers family will not make it this time they didn't they have to take turns you know go in there in there the direction I have to time. But you get some pretty lively family reunions here we have a mighty good.

[01:03:18]
That's great you got a wonderful family all these 3 has a great grand and very proud of my family you do there they do very well by you when you buy that right now since you have retired What year did you retire from live here. 680 you've been retired for a long time what is your Hardly happy What's your passion when you go wouldn't possibly have time to go back to work and you know you've got a little bit busy tell me what you do with your time where a lot play tennis played this morning really you're still an active tennis player but he had major 3 times a week wow what do you find to play with this bunch of all retired mean that we get that then have a good time then other days is a bunch of late is it play out there and we also have a good day you don't have any lack of partners No you're nearly 90 years old and you still don't have any trouble finding tennis partners That's right that's a bad thing that's a basic It's good to have a passion for something and what else are you doing well let's see I have a little bunch it.

[01:04:31]
Comes over on Sunday afternoon we play croquet in the backyard here how great that we have fun doing there that's a very civilized 4th as they say it's over last not do we play No I thought. And I have a computer and have a good time with that and like to fiddle with the stock market you live online trading stops.

[01:04:58]
Keeping your mind busy is an important part of growing old gracefully and I do that yeah I can tell I can tell you're very alert and very involved in what's going on every day and that's because you make an effort to be involved in what's going on every day right well I wish my memory was a little better than that which a lot of thank you is better I think you're doing pretty good I think you're doing very good you're still stay connected to Georgia Tech and that's really how we found you you were there just a few weeks ago and visiting with folks and still very interested in Georgia Tech keep your attachments I hear from the folk but I really don't you know I don't come to many football games anymore dished with this Saturday that I was down there but that 1st time I guess I had been in maybe 10 years really but you had to find a good bit different that it was here it was quite different you know campuses change yeah my Yeah I imagine people coming from the past looking in don't even know where they are I mean you have to look for what familiar right the right the tower still there yeah but stadium it's changed a lot a lot sure is did you have a good time.

[01:06:13]
If you had to do it all over again which is still picked or just that all year you know you made the right decision I think so. We're glad you made that decision and we're glad that you were kind enough to give us some your time today I'm glad you can work that out with your schedule as you were mad a candidate it's been a great pleasure coming in hearing your story staff wishing the life of a co-op student at Georgia Tech in the 1930 s. was an important piece of information for us to have so we thank you for giving us your time and it was just interesting is it could be in this case that they were thank you for coming you so easy to work with and glad to hear that thank you sir.