Monday, October 15, 2012
Root Beer Floats - A History of the Making.
The "Black Cow" or "Root Beer Float" was created on August 19, 1893. Frank J. Wisner, owner of the Cripple Creek Brewing Co. in Colorado, served the first root beer float. Inspired by the moonlit view of the snow-capped Cow Mountain, Mr. Wisner added a scoop of ice cream to his Myers Avenue Red root beer and began serving it as the "Black Cow Mountain". The name was shortened to "Black Cow" and later "Root Beer Float". Yes, I like Root Beer floats!
Casual Friends: Battleship Missouri
Three separate story-tellings about the same friend:
A friend of mine was the Engineering Officer on the battleship Missouri and took a whaleboat into Tokyo Bay the night before the Japanese surrender to be sure that the Japanese did not have any surprises awaiting us - all part of WWII. So I have some knowledge of the responsibilities of an Engineering Officer.
One of my best friends int he reserves is a Navy Captain, Retired. ROTC Georgia Tech. He was an Engineering Officer on the Missouri. And the night before the japanese surrender, he was given orders to take a Whaleboat with 18 sailors into Tokyo Bay to check it out to make sure those Japanese did not have any surprises waiting for us the next morning. So he did. In the dark of the night with 18 sailors and a Whaleboat, circling Tokyo Bay. And he has the orders, the original copy of the orders, which he received to carry out that mission. Imagine that! That was 1945! And he was able to retain those orders! I never saw the original, I saw a copy that he showed me. I don't know where he keeps the originals, probably somewhere for his family, that kind of a thing. When I got to know him, I thought he had a speech impediment because he talked somewhat haltingly and with effort and so on. It was not, I learned later a speech impediment, it was a problem which had happened in his vocal chords. And he has had recent surgery. It will take 6 months for it to clear up, but he says it will. So he'll be back to normal. But he did a masterful job of talking! Georgia Tech.
A friend of mine was the Engineering Officer on the battleship Missouri and took a whaleboat into Tokyo Bay the night before the Japanese surrender to be sure that the Japanese did not have any surprises awaiting us - all part of WWII. So I have some knowledge of the responsibilities of an Engineering Officer.
The night before the Japanese surrender, he was told to take a Whale Boat and 18 seamen and scout out Tokyo Bay. So when the sun went down, he went out into Tokyo Bay with a whale boat. They wanted to be sure that the Japanese didn't have any surprises waiting for us on the day of the armistice and signatures. He didn't find anything! But it was an experience for him.
One of my best friends int he reserves is a Navy Captain, Retired. ROTC Georgia Tech. He was an Engineering Officer on the Missouri. And the night before the japanese surrender, he was given orders to take a Whaleboat with 18 sailors into Tokyo Bay to check it out to make sure those Japanese did not have any surprises waiting for us the next morning. So he did. In the dark of the night with 18 sailors and a Whaleboat, circling Tokyo Bay. And he has the orders, the original copy of the orders, which he received to carry out that mission. Imagine that! That was 1945! And he was able to retain those orders! I never saw the original, I saw a copy that he showed me. I don't know where he keeps the originals, probably somewhere for his family, that kind of a thing. When I got to know him, I thought he had a speech impediment because he talked somewhat haltingly and with effort and so on. It was not, I learned later a speech impediment, it was a problem which had happened in his vocal chords. And he has had recent surgery. It will take 6 months for it to clear up, but he says it will. So he'll be back to normal. But he did a masterful job of talking! Georgia Tech.
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