Daily Local News! "70 Years of Bliss"

Happy 70 years of marriage to Colonel and Sara Busch!

Shortly before their wedding anniversary on February 27th, 2014, I contacted a few local newspapers to see if anyone would want to pick up the story. Indeed we had a few interests!

The Daily Local News ran an absolutely wonderful article found here:

Daily Local News: Couple Celebrates 70 Years of Bliss

http://www.dailylocal.com/general-news/20140226/couple-celebrates-70-years-of-bliss 

It perfectly captures them as a couple, their story, and love for each other over the course of 70 years. It can be found at the link above and it also made the front page of the Daily Local News on February 27th! Incredible!

Photo credit: Daily Local News

70 years! Can you even imagine?!

They were also honored by the Commissioners of Chester County with a Citation and short paragraph about their anniversary. I have seen Colonel give out many awards that looked very similar to this one, so I was so excited that he could have his own, honoring both his service to the U.S. and his dedication and love to Sara.

Colonel and Sara both said that it was a wonderful anniversary with a meal and then entire family. They had a wonderful celebration! Thanks to the Commissioners and Daily Local News to help make it a memorable 70th anniversary for them! 

Snipper Scouting

From the perspective of Pfc Joseph M. Mannix, Jr. on Captain Busch's efforts:

"About noon of that day, I began to realize that the rest of my squad was not coming to the point where I understood from the officer that we would meet. I decided to try and find the 2nd Battalion's CP and ran into Virgil Richard of Headquarters Platoon and Pete Zecchini, Lt. Parr's driver, who told me they were taking rations to Captain Busch. Suggesting that I accompany them, back into town we trotted dodging sniper and machine gun bullets which occasionally poured down the streets.

In the center of town we found Captain Busch, walking along a street looking for snipers. He listened to my story and told me to return to headquarters until it was possible for me to rejoin the squad. Then he took his K Rations and went on looking for snipers. The Captain's sniper hunting was just a part of the big job he did at Echternach.

He had been assigned to an observation post, which he and his driver, T/5 Bob Schaer set up in a tall building, formerly a university. For four days and four nights they never got more than a wink of sleep. They ran in their own phone lines and went out and repaired them when they broke. To some unity they used radio communication. Shells pounded the building, and it was here that Pfc Dale S. Forkner was wounded while on a mission to obtain information from Captain Busch.

From this position in the school, Captain Busch watched operations on the other side of the river and kept in contact between our troops, plus directing artillery fire on the enemy's installations. While all this was going on, the gun platoons were having some lively times also. "

Burger King

I missed the beginning of the story, but here is the story of a friend who served with Colonel at Fort Benning!

Colonel: He was the one with who was treasurer of Eelbeck Milling Company in that picture. He was in the Air Force, came back and he then worked for different people. The last one that he wrote to me about, we went to work for Burger King. Burger King had 6 stores in Florida - Miami. And he went with them as treasurer and he was with them during the expansion. And he would ask me to go to different towns and take pictures of places they called Burger King because they might want to sue them for taking their name and stuff like that and so on. The happy part is, he married and we were at his wedding in Atlanta and all that thing, he came down with Leukemia and it was fatal. Lost him.

He made the right decision because at one time he was with a clothing store. I have forgotten which one. Always financial, as a financial officer and so on. He told me in a letter that leukemia and I scheduled a visit to see him. And he knew it was going to be fatal, he knew it. He worked up until he could leave.

I was glad to see him become successful, he had worked so hard. He eventually wound up at the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania before he went to Burger King and all. He was good – worked hard.

Michelle: How did you meet him?

Colonel: At Fort Benning. Yeah, yeah. 

Michelle: What other famous people do you know?!

Colonel: Kenny Gardner!

Michelle: I remember him! Sang at your wedding!

Colonel: I’m trying to think if there are any others… I got to know General Westmoreland in Iwo Jima in Vietnam.

Steeplechase Chairs

I brought this out to show you: do you know what it is?

This was used at the steeplechases. They were used as a cane. And then you open it up, and this is dug into the dirt, opened up, and used as a sitting device.

Sara's Brotherly Protection

Sara: Show them James' picture. My older brother, Andrew... I think he was in it for a while, wasn't he, Howard?

Colonel: Andrew was in for a considerable period amount of time. Oversea's they sent him to the Fiji Islands. This was during WWII.

Sara: I would worry about my two brothers! Every time I went to a dance, guess who followed?

Michelle: Your brothers!

Sara: They were keeping an eye on their sister! Which I liked the idea. And especially James. Could dance so well! I loved to dance with my brother. He had reddish, blonde hair, almost red. Pretty hair! My other brother had black dark hair! But he was the one who could draw and paint. James is the one who loved the garden and the animals. They were so different! Here I am in the middle!

Televisions

Michelle: Do you remember when you got your first TV?

Colonel: Yes! We were living on Pottstown Pike. Our first stint in West Chester before we went to the mid-west.

Michelle: With your family or with Sara?

Colonel: No, we were married and the war was over. We were just back from the war.

Michelle: Sounds like a big deal!

Colonel: Oh yeah!!! Black and white, of course. We had four rooms in a house. You may know it now as a veterinarians house. Right next to a big stone house, next to the veterinarians place. Anyway we had four rooms in that house. Housing was not easy to find at that time.

Michelle: Why? No one was building?

Colonel: No one had been building. Building shut down during the war. And it had not recouped to fill the needs. So it was hard to find places. Yeah, Pottstown Pike.

Michelle: When did you get your first color TV?

Colonel: ... Do not remember. Do not remember. I have not the faintest idea. It was after we went to the mid-west. We were in Indianapolis 6 years before we went to Champagne. In both of those places we had houses, we had our own home and so on. Do you recall when we got our first color TV?

Sara: No.

Michelle: Was there a TV show you always watched?

Colonel: Yeah. I was never really, all that caught up with television. Penn State football game - yes! But the other programs which were on TV, I just never really got all that caught up in them. Some enjoy them - and thats good, i'm happy for them. But i'm just, yeah.

Michelle: Sara, was there anything you liked to watch?

Sara: None particularly.

Colonel: How about "I Love Lucy!"?

Sara: So-so. I used to watch it. I used to think that was the best one. But I don't know about now.

Michelle: They still show that now! Its a classic!

Sara: It was so good back then, everybody was watching it! But I haven't seen one in so long, i've sort of lost interest.

King Ranch

I was going to suggest to see the King Ranch. But i think it has undergone so many changes, it may not be in its original state. The King Ranch came out of Bob Kleberg in texas. And he bought out Buckendough Valley Farms which were owned by the Dupont family and he started shipping cattle from Texas to up here to be grass fed before going to the Boston Market. It was 10-15-12-15 thousand acres. So they would come up on box cars, go into the grass, and they were hungry and they would put on good weight. And they would be shipped to Baltimore for purchase. It worked. It was successful. But in due time, I guess Kleberg just became disillusioned with all the work involved in it and so on. Some of the land was sold off in 5-acre building lots. So I don't know what it is now. 

But the Santa Gertrudis cattle was a item within animal in husbandry that attracted many, many people. Santa Gertrudis was St. Gertrude for the mission in Texas where the cattle are bred. Its a different animal. Its a big animal. It has much more weight to it then the traditional preferred or some of the cattle that we have around here. 

But it used to be fascinating to see the cattle come in, and be unloaded and they were ravenous when they got a hold of some of this good, green grass!

I don't know what's happened down there lately.

Cricket Club

Colonel: The Marion Cricket Club had a steeplechase every year at Chesterbrook. So that was the only one to which I went.

Trish: Was it an all day event?

Colonel: Mostly.

Trish: With how many people? Big crowd?

Colonel: Big, big crowd. It drew people from all over, and came to it. It was a “name” event.

Michelle: Did you ever work at one? Did you normally work at them?

Colonel: Mhmm. I worked exercising the horses before the race. They had big barns. And so the horse just came in during the week before the race and I would exercise them. It was fun. I must have been 11 or 12 years old.

Paris, France

Colonel: You'll find some interesting customs in Paris.

Michelle: Like what?!

Colonel: Dogs. Sitting on the bench. In restaurants. You take the dog in with you and the dog sits on the bench next to you.

Sara: Why that would be nice! Wouldn't that be fun! I'd love to do that! I love my dog!

Colonel: I know you do!

Michelle: When did you go to Paris?

Colonel: I went in briefly at the end of WWII. That was a very limited, restricted and so on. I don't remember the year that we went, hmmm. But it was part of a tourist group that we went to Paris and spent time there. During the war, it was after the war actually, I was scheduling a truck from where we were, loaded up to GI's going to Paris. Go to the city, spend the day and so on and so on. So they had the experience of seeing Paris. We got up to the first level of the Eiffel Tower. I saw the first level, ya know, it goes up and then up - that was as high as it went. It was undergoing construction.

Sara, Country Gal.

Michelle: I'll be going to New York City with work in January.

Sara: I'd like to take out New York City. Put something better in!

Michelle: Why?!

Sara: I just don't have a good feeling about New York. Its too much of a city! I'd rather have the country any day. With a swimming pool, and water, and a lake. New York - I don't want any of that stuff. Put me in the country!

Department Stores

Colonel: Litz and Wanamaker’s. These and one more were all the major stores at the time we were growing up. And my mother would take my sister and me into Philadelphia from Valley Forge and we would see Santa Clause and in the meantime, she was somewhere shopping in the store, having presents delivered to the house by mail.

Michelle: How old were you?

Colonel: I don’t remember. I might have been 10, my sister might have been 6, something like that.

Michelle: Did you ever go to the parade?

Colonel: Thanksgiving Day parade? Just once. It’s a great day! At the time it was sponsored by one of the Martin’s stores, but I’m not sure which one. It could have been Wanamaker’s – they were the biggest of the stores. January the 1^st – New Years Day, the Mummer’s Day Parade. It was great! All the bands, and everything, the fancy parades. They put a tremendous amount of effort into that parade. I think they’ve changed it somewhat, I don’t know. I think the fancy divisions are now held inside in the convention center or something of that nature, because of the weather. They put a lot of effort into preparing these fancy costumes. They use the convention center I think!

Uniforms: 24/7

Colonel: 

When I went into the service, you NEVER wore anything but a uniform. I had just military clothes, thats all. Everyone! When I went in the service, I kept one suit, gave all the rest away. When I came back, and dug that suit out of my mother's and father's closet in the bedroom... didn't fit! 

Meeting the Parents

Michelle to Trish: Did you know Colonel didn’t meet Sara’s brothers before their wedding?

Sara: Andrew or James?

Colonel: I know I didn’t not see Andrew. I’m trying to think if I saw James. He may have gotten off… They were both in the service and Andrew was in the Fiji Islands. And uh… I don’t think James had yet gone to Attu. I think he was at the wedding. But military, you don’t know when you’re going to get off. I’m trying to think – yes! Yes! James was at our wedding!

Michelle: But you didn’t meet him before that?

Colonel: No, no. heh! Heh!

Trish: Do you remember meeting her parents?

Colonel: Not reeeeeally. I know I did!

Trish: You weren’t too nervous?

Colonel: No, heh, heh.

Sara: My parents would have never made him nervous. They were just so sweet and good. They wouldn’t have made him nervous. Probably not as nervous as I made him!

Colonel: It was wartime and we were pretty much deciding things ourselves. But like I told you – the Army decided when we were going to be married. If we wanted to take a vacation or trip or honeymoon to Florida and they determined when I could have the time off! I just didn’t take it except when they said I could!