Random memories from a life well lived

[FISH]

Yup.
We would stop for gas and Mountain Dew because Mountain Dew had not made it to Canada yet.

Give me a mountain and nothing to do,
Give the sunshine, give me a Dew

Stupid commercial possessed my child mind!

Gas, the DEW and a snack at  Lum’s Lung's restaurant?

[GravitySucks]

There were two Howard Johnson’s in Plattsburgh. One on the other side of the freeway from Pyramid Mall and one on the highway on the north side of town on the way to Rouses Point. (22?)

4 of us zoomies would go every Thursday night for “All you can eat fried clams”. Eventually the manager by the one by Pyramid Mall came up to our table. “You gentlemen do know that there is another Howard Johnson’s in town, don’t you?  I can’t afford to keep letting you eat here.”

I have not eaten at a Howard Johnson’s since. That caused a butterfly effect and destroyed the thriving nationwide chain in a matter of a few years.

[Bart Ell]

Did your handlers ever take you over to Hinky Dinky or whatever that grocery store was in the same parking lot?

I thought it was Price Chopper.
I don't remember much about Plattsburgh.
I remember a jet on display, the mall, being disappointed in finally trying a Baby Ruth and not much else.
I may have believed that the Baby Ruth had something to do with Babe Ruth.
#FuckPeanuts

[Bart Ell]

Gas, the DEW and a snack at  Lum’s Lung's restaurant?

I have a vague memory of the sign but I doubt I ever ate there

[GravitySucks]

I thought it was Price Chopper.
I don't remember much about Plattsburgh.
I remember a jet on display, the mall, being disappointed in finally trying a Baby Ruth and not much else.
I may have believed that the Baby Ruth had something to do with Babe Ruth.
#FuckPeanuts

Last time I was there was 1980. Not 100% sure on the store.

I remember the B-47 on static display at the base gate. Every winter they would use a crane to lift a huge Santa Claus on top of it behind the cockpit. One year the Press Republican printed a nice big picture on the front page. The next day they printed a tirade that someone had written up as a Letter to the Editor.

It lamblasted the Air Force for violating the “separation of church and state” and went on to add that in spite of that “it was sacrilegious to have a religious statue mounted on top a weapon of war.”

#nottheonion

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[FISH]

I have a vague memory of the sign but I doubt I ever ate there

Did Lum's have pie? Ask Milton Berle!

[GravitySucks]

I have a vague memory of the sign but I doubt I ever ate there

I just looked it up. I couldn’t remember it. Now that I have seen the picture I vaguely remember eating there once.

[FISH]

I just looked it up. I couldn’t remember it. Now that I have seen the picture I vaguely remember eating there once.

At first the food was great..

[GravitySucks]

At first the food was great..

There used to be a little hot dog stand south of the base on route 9. They served some kind of chili dogs they called “Michigans”.

I have never heard of a chili dog being called a Michigan anywhere else.

Have you ever had a Michigan?

[FISH]

There used to be a little hot dog stand south of the base on route 9. They served some kind of chili dogs they called “Michigans”.

I have never heard of a chili dog being called a Michigan anywhere else.

Have you ever had a Michigan?

Never been to Michigan. 
Last summer we took a trip to Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Defiance--amazing view of Lake Champlain.
We would travel to Savannah for Saint Patrick's Day fun.
-Fort Rucker, Alabama for a graduation ceremony
-Fort Polk, Louisiana for a graduation ceremony.
I guess I like to visit Forts.

[GravitySucks]

When I joined the Air Force bobsled team in 1975 several members were already on the team that were from the Lake Placid area. They had been recruited specifically to be on the bobsled team.

One of the drivers was the son of the owners of the Maple Leaf Motel in Lake Placid. This is where we would stay every winter. He and I would train together. He helped me to learn how to drive the two man and I helped him how to learn to train to be an athlete.

He got out of the Air Force shortly after 1980 and became a Lake Placid cop. Once while looking up the news in Plattsburgh, I learned he had just been selected as Chief of Police there. He ended up finishing his career and retiring as Chief of Police. I met up with him at a mini-reunion in Jacksonville Florida - maybe 5 years ago.

I still keep in touch with several of the members of the team.

There are a few others from other teams I have fond memories of that I would like to run into again.

If you have ever watched bobsledding on TV during the last 30 years the chances are that the announcers included a guy by the name of John Morgan. He and two of his brothers were bobsledders and his sister competed in Luge. Their father was a famous bobsledder. “Dew Drop” Morgan owned the Dew Drop In in Saranac Lake. The only time I have ever been arrested was after 50 cent Molson night in the Dew Drop Inn.

The state police were going to arrest someone that night, and since the guy that was driving the Jeep happened to be the son-in-law of the Senior Zone Sergeant at the Saranac Lake Police Barracks, they arrested me. The charges were dropped by a friendly judge a few days later.

John Morgan stopped bobsledding after 1980 and began broadcasting the bobsled races. I was watching the World Championships in 1981 at Cortina, Italy. John’s brother, Jimmy was driving the USA 1 four man sled. He took the finish curve wrong and rolled over as he crossed the finish line. His head got caught between the cowling and the wall and he was killed while his brother was standing there announcing the race live. I never liked Jimmy, but that was a hell of a thing to have happen.

[GravitySucks]

Never been to Michigan. 
Last summer we took a trip to Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Defiance--amazing view of Lake Champlain.
We would travel to Savannah for Saint Patrick's Day fun.
-Fort Rucker, Alabama for a graduation ceremony
-Fort Polk, Louisiana for a graduation ceremony.
I guess I like to visit Forts.

I arrived at Plattsburgh AFB in May, 1975. It couldn’t have happened at a better time. The Bicentennial was approaching. The summer Olympics were scheduled for Montreal. The Winter Olympics were scheduled for Lake Placid.

I attended the re-enactments at Fort Ticonderoga. I have pictures of all the reenactors but don’t have any online. One summer I explored the abandoned “Ft Blunder” which had been abandoned after it was discovered it was built on the wrong side of the border just north of Rouses Point. I have pictures of my 1972 yellow Mercury Capri parked inside the remains of the fort but now I don’t think you can drive there. I think it is surrounded by swamp now.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Montgomery_(Lake_Champlain)

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[FISH]

When I joined the Air Force bobsled team in 1975 several members were already on the team that were from the Lake Placid area. They had been recruited specifically to be on the bobsled team.

One of the drivers was the son of the owners of the Maple Leaf Motel in Lake Placid. This is where we would stay every winter. He and I would train together. He helped me to learn how to drive the two man and I helped him how to learn to train to be an athlete.

He got out of the Air Force shortly after 1980 and became a Lake Placid cop. Once while looking up the news in Plattsburgh, I learned he had just been selected as Chief of Police there. He ended up finishing his career and retiring as Chief of Police. I met up with him at a mini-reunion in Jacksonville Florida - maybe 5 years ago.

I still keep in touch with several of the members of the team.

There are a few others from other teams I have fond memories of that I would like to run into again.

If you have ever watched bobsledding on TV during the last 30 years the chances are that the announcers included a guy by the name of John Morgan. He and two of his brothers were bobsledders and his sister competed in Luge. Their father was a famous bobsledder. “Dew Drop” Morgan owned the Dew Drop In in Saranac Lake. The only time I have ever been arrested was after 50 cent Molson night in the Dew Drop Inn.

The state police were going to arrest someone that night, and since the guy that was driving the Jeep happened to be the son-in-law of the Senior Zone Sergeant at the Saranac Lake Police Barracks, they arrested me. The charges were dropped by a friendly judge a few days later.

John Morgan stopped bobsledding after 1980 and began broadcasting the bobsled races. I was watching the World Championships in 1981 at Cortina, Italy. John’s brother, Jimmy was driving the USA 1 four man sled. He took the finish curve wrong and rolled over as he crossed the finish line. His head got caught between the cowling and the wall and he was killed while his brother was standing there announcing the race live. I never liked Jimmy, but that was a hell of a thing to have happen.

This John Morgan?

[GravitySucks]

Yep. That’s the one. His sister, Bridget, is much better looking.

His little brother Sean is ugly as all get out.

He had another brother, Terry that tried bobsled but concentrated on Luge. Terry was the best athlete of the family. He played college football for a couple of years.

[GravitySucks]

This is what a trip down the bobsled run looked like in 1980. The rider calls out the curves.

Halfway down is Shady. At the end of that straight a way is little S, 12 and then zigzag.

My last run down in 1980 we rolled over gently in the second part of little S. I got away from the sled as we slid through 12 with the sled on its side. Coming out of 12 the pushbar snagged my clothes and the bobsled beat the shit out of me on the straight away before zigzag. I remember telling myself to relax and go limp.

We were doing close to 80mph when we rolled over. Our sled weighed 660 pounds. The other 3 guys weighed close to 600 pounds. I was 153. I was going down feet first on my stomach and could feel my clothes starting to melt and burn I was on the wrong side of the sled going into zigzag. The sled slid up on top of me and crushed me into the lip that you see above the curve in the film. The sled kept going and I dropped down into the belly of zag and came to a stop.  I rolled onto my back. For a split second I had 1200+ pounds on my back. I remember it getting very dark.

I couldn’t move my arms. I had a scratch across my goggles where the push bar tried to skewer me through my head. My clothes were literally smoking. The nylon track suit had melted.

I had crushed both ulnar nerves and had 3rd degree burns on my left elbow, 2nd degree burn on my right elbow and 3rd degree burns and lacerations where my hip bones had taken the brunt of the weight in Zig.

I made a few attempts a few days later at pushing the sled on the hockey rink in Lake Placid and I still firmly believe I could have competed in the Olympics. We had the fastest push starts on the mountain and we had just rented the fastest sled in the US to use in the Olympics. I am not sure if the entire decision making process but I think my driver lost his nerve or my coach wanted our sled for his brother to use. If it had just been a case of me being injured they could have replaced me. But no one on my sled competed again.

My hands were paralyzed for about 18 months before the nerves finally regenerated. Maybe I should have taken up Team Handball and went to the 76 Summer Olympics.

BTW - if I hadn’t reinforced the camera mount and put a strap and duct tape over the brackets that CBS used to get this footage they would have lost a very expensive camera and we wouldn’t have this footage.