We had just come back from Germany and reported in to Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. We lived in Lampasas, about thirty miles from Hood, for several months, and then moved in to a better house in Copperas Cove. We extended my ETS (the day I was to get out of the Army) from October to December so that I could complete a course at Central Texas College. The Army paid for me to go to an air conditioning and refrigeration course under a program called "Project Transition". I completed the course and received a certificate as an HVAC mechanic and 8 credit hours. We got out of the Army in December and moved out to Arizona. It was an interesting time in our life, I think I have written about some of the things that happened there before, what follows isn't really a story, but more a free-floating memory jag...random memories and impressions...

In every place we've lived, and there have been a few, the music of the time is the main thing that brings the memories up for me. 1971 was a year full of great music. It was a time when the art of "protest songs" reached its pinnacle. But there was plenty of good sounds to "groove on". We lived in Texas, so Loudin Wainwright's "Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road" was dear to us..."stinkin' to hiiiiiiigh heaven". Every time I hear Roger Daltrey's scream in "Won't Get Fooled Again", I am transported to the utilities office in Copperas Cove, trying to get the utilities transferred over to us after the previous tenant left without closing his account...it took some doing. MamaCharlie bristles still when she hears Stephen Stills advocating "Love the One You're With". We bought and played the grooves off of some great albums: James Taylor's "Sweet Baby James", Janis's "Pearl", Zepplin's I and II, The Door's "LA Woman", Steppenwolf's 7th, Joanie Mitchell's "Blue", Judy Collins' "Whales and Nightingales", the Stone's "Sticky Fingers", and dozens of singles that were all over the radio at the time like Helen Reddy's "I don't Know How to Love Him", "Signs" by the 5 Man Electrical Band, Rod Stewart's "Maggie Mae", Bill Withers' "Use Me Up", Sammy Smith's "Help Me Make It Through the Night" and a gozillion others.

We didn't see too much TV;  we didn't have one. We listened to KRLD out of Dallas, a Top 40 format. Late at night we sat on our rented mattress and box springs (no frame, just flat on the floor) eating popcorn and drinking Pepsi and listening to Garner Ted Armstrong. Date nights were usually Dairy Queen, slurping Root Beer or Doctor Pepper Freezes with our cheeseburgers. DQs are popular rendevous for Texas teens and we liked to sit and watch the interactions.

There was a spillway on the creek in Lampasas (don't think I ever knew the name of it, still don't; there is a park and "river walk" there now) and we waded and splashed in it; our German Shepherd swam in it every chance he got. Summer was hot and humid; the swamp cooler in Lampasas just made the house wet inside. In the winter our water pipes froze.

We had some difficult times with the Sheriff in Lampasas,  had some challenges with neighborhood kids, and I had some hard going at work.  Fort Hood was not a fun place in 1971, it was a dumping zone for some of the problem children coming back from Vietnam.

All in all, Texas remains a sad place in my memories. There were some really good times, and we had a few really good friends; but it was not a great experience. There are a lot of things to write about from that year, some I have already written and some to come. We visited HBW and his family in Killeen a couple years ago and I didn't see anything that convinced me it was any better than it was in '71...bigger, newer, and louder...but still Central Texas.

Post Script:  In July of '71 our second son, Mike, or Humbordt if you are a JU user, was born at the Ft Hood Hospital.  I wrote an article about Lampasas a couple of years ago entitled, "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar" and in that piece I included the fact that MamaCharlie walked a couple of miles to get to a phone to call me and tell me that her water had broken and I needed to come home to take her to the hospital.  Thirty miles to get home, then thirty miles to get back to the hospital.  There were so many babies being born there that she didn't have a room at first;  after Mike was born they left her in the hallway until a room opened up.  It has been pointed out to me that this event should have been featured prominently in this article...by both Mike and his Mom.  In fairness to myself, I had mentioned it in less detail in a paragraph that I subsequently deleted because of some other stuff that was in it and just forgot to put Mike back in.  Xing Loi, MC and Humbordt.

Post Script:  In July of '71 our second son, Mike, or Humbordt if you are a JU user, was born at the Ft Hood Hospital.  I wrote an article about Lampasas a couple of years ago entitled, "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar" and in that piece I included the fact that MamaCharlie walked a couple of miles to get to a phone to call me and tell me that her water had broken and I needed to come home to take her to the hospital.  Thirty miles to get home, then thirty miles to get back to the hospital.  There were so many babies being born there that she didn't have a room at first;  after Mike was born they left her in the hallway until a room opened up.  It has been pointed out to me that this event should have been featured prominently in this article...by both Mike and his Mom.  In fairness to myself, I had mentioned it in less detail in a paragraph that I subsequently deleted because of some other stuff that was in it and just forgot to put Mike back in.  Xing Loi, MC and Humbordt.