Last year I wrote about the day I was drafted in the military. I tried to convey the atmosphere of that day, the feeling of getting into something scary and unknown, leaving one’s home and family, and realizing that there is no way back after one crosses the gate. Yesterday, when the photos of a modern day military draft in Ukraine went around the Internet, I realized that besides the new uniform not much has changed since the day when I showed up at the draft processing location.
The military didn’t allow to keep the civilian clothes, so whatever possessions we had were either thrown away or taken by older soldiers who were allowed to bend the rules a little. I thought I was being clever when I showed up with a short but not bald haircut, like some of the recruits on this photo. Clever wasn’t one of the desired qualities in the military, so I was told to cut my hair again.
Here we see a group of “fresh meat” and a group of soldiers already processed. Typical barracks on the left.
I never looked this good, nor was I ever a fan of walking around naked around people I don’t know. When I was taking my pre-draft medical test, I was lined up together with 5 or 6 more recruits in front of the table with several doctors; we were told to drop our pants down all at once. I guess they were trying to see that all of us had correct equipment down there, they were sitting a few yards away and couldn’t have possibly determined anything else. The arrow-sign on the wall says “doctor”.
In this shot the recruits are united with their new long underwear. In summer it was usually blue boxers and who-knows-what-color tank top. Winter season came with long underpants and long-sleeve undershirt. Every week at the showers the dirty underwear was taken away and the clean underwear was brought in a big stack. If you were slow you’d end up with a wrong size underwear for the whole week or even worse – see the streaks from the previous owner.
Somewhere along the way they were issued a piece of soap.
Now on to the uniform.
Boots are a definite improvement from what I had to wear.
Hats stayed the same but there is mo emblem on the front.
Last look at the old life.
And now all ready to go. I have no idea what’s in these boxes.
What stands out in all these images is a scared look in these kids’ eyes. Some things never change.
So I was driving around yesterday, getting some bugs embedded in my windshield on the rural highways of Kansas. Now is a time to do it: it’s not too hot to roll the windows down and let the smell of prairie spring fill the stuffy cabin of your car, turn the radio full-blast and hit full speed hoping that the local Barney Fife is relaxing after the church on Sunday. The sheer size of Kansas is hard to comprehend, several hours of driving is still a local trip and although it’s mostly endless farmland, there are many points of interest along the way.
But first things first – a Lawrence strip-club now features an Ed Hardy room. Gentlemen, start your engines!
Little further down the road there is an establishment called “Tee Pee”:
One of the “tee pees” is marked with flood marks from various years on the nearby Kansas River.
Turning North on Hwy 59 it’s a short drive to Oskaloosa, KS – home of the Old Jefferson Town – a collection of old buildings and structures moved to one place from all over Jefferson County.
There is a school and a church, a lonely bandstand replica…
…a rusty bridge…
…and a jail where a local Otis Campbell could’ve spent a night or two.
Today Sam Peppard would’ve been able to sail right to the next fence. Kansas ain’t what it used to be…
Oskaloosa City Square is not very different from other small Kansas towns like Burlingame or Ottawa.
People in the 19th century believed in stability so much that they didn’t hesitate to chisel the word “Bank” on the building. Bank wasn’t moving anywhere.
They would be surprised to see a “Chunkie Dunker’s” diving pig occupying one of the windows.
Although “lending with a heart” is still residing in the building.
An old water tower dominates every view.
Masons built this building in 1886.
HWY 92 is being guarded by the local post of the American Legion (brought to you by Coors).
Overlooking the shores of the Perry Lake , the city of Ozawkie,KS is mostly famous for its sign.
Nearby you can grab a monster burger…
… and get a New Kids on The Block -styled haircut from the stylist/owner Gail Dillenbeck.
Is it me or is it really the State of Texas hanging over the cowboy on the right?
Valley Falls turned out to be a neat little town, with its own downtown…
…where “Buy American!” turned into local “Shop Valley Falls 1st”.
No New Kids on The Block here, Punk cuts hair in this town.
Valley Falls has its share of historic buildings…
…but many are no longer in use…
…and wrenches are not clanging anymore behind the friendly window signs.
Here is a piece of unsolicited advice to the KC Star: you want people to buy your paper? Name it “The Vindicator”. You can’t not subscribe to “The Vindicator”.
Nowadays there is no time for battle, Kansas Farmers are busy feeding “128 people + you”, or did “Kansas Agri Women” figure this out when we were all still skinny?
And why fight if this is what you see out of your window every morning.
Besides the name of the doctor -Frank J. Strick and the year these photos were taken in Kansas -1949, I wasn’t able to find much about this set. One photo shows a road sign with distances to Burlington, Yates Center and Iola, KS so that somewhat outlines the general area in the Southeast Kansas.
I spend too much time browsing through recently posted Life Photo Archives. I hope they will eventually improve the way it’s tagged, add all the necessary meta-data and more importantly remove what seems to be a limit of 200 results for a search. In the meantime I will post the shots I like for whatever reason.
On this day 22 years ago a young German pilot Mathias Rust landed a small Cessna in the middle of the Red Square in Moscow, bypassing all the “impenetrable” air defenses. In the aftermath a huge shake-up was conducted in the Soviet Army leadership, and Rust spent 432 days in jail. Just 35 years before that it would have been a bloodshed. Times, they were a-changing…
I spend too much time browsing through recently posted Life Photo Archives. I hope they will eventually improve the way it’s tagged, add all the necessary meta-data and more importantly remove what seems to be a limit of 200 results for a search. In the meantime I will post the shots I like for whatever reason.
