MEMORIES OF DAVID HAYWOOD MANGUM
1938 Jan 27 – My Birth -- It was 9:00 PM on a cold and stormy night in January when I made my entry into the world. My parents, (Grady Gardner Mangum, Age 31, and Hilda Hughey Mangum, Age 25), and Brother, (Charles Grady, born 17 June 1936 in Prentiss, MS) were living on a small cotton farm adjacent to Bayou Pierre near the town of Hermanville, in Claiborne County, Mississippi. This farm was in the flood plain of the Mississippi River just south of Vicksburg. Because living conditions were so harsh, particularly during the winter, my mother went back to her parent's (David C. Hughey and Marietta Westbrook) home in Liberty, Mississippi (population about 800) to give birth. Besides, there was no doctor in Hermanville. There was no hospital in the little town of Liberty, Amite County, Mississippi, but there was one doctor in town (Dr. G. Harrison Butler). Doctor Butler delivered me -- he was the only doctor in Liberty and, although he was a known alcoholic, the townspeople were very grateful that he practiced there. Mom said that Dr. Butler had been drinking heavily when he delivered me. I was born in the bedroom of my grandparent's small two bedroom home on Church Street at the fork of two dirt roads on the north side of Tanyard Creek. The house never had a street address, to my knowledge. I think that it is neat that I was born in the same room of the same house in which my mother, Hilda, was born (18 Jan 1913). Mom said that I was a very beautiful baby. However, I have learned that all mothers think their own babies are beautiful, but of course, my mother was correct in this case.
Spring 1938 When I was a few months old, my Mother took my older brother, Charles, and I back to the family farm near Hermanville, Mississippi. Hermanville was a very small farming community on Bayou Pierre near Port Gibson, which was a small town on the Mississippi River just south of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Mom commented frequently about how hard it was trying to raise a family on this farm. The small frame house did not have electricity, plumbing, or running water. There was an outdoor toilet supplied with corncobs to be used in place of toilet paper. We did not even have a water well. Mom said that she had to make many trips every day to the spring at the bottom of the hill to fetch water. The water had to be boiled on a wood stove and then cooled before drinking.
1939 – Hermanville, Mississippi. Sitting in Mom’s lap in a rocking chair on the front porch in the late evening, watching the moon come up over the trees. Mom said that one of my first words was “moon”. I do not know if this is a true memory or a vision that Mom planted in my head. But I do have a memory of the front porch and the kitchen table.
1939 My family farmed the cotton plantation for two years. The first year, the Mississippi River flooded the cotton fields and ruined the crop. The second year, a boll-weevil infestation was so bad that the crop was a total failure. Consequently, the bank repossessed the farm, the house, and all the farm machinery. My Dad loaded the family in the car and drove off, leaving everything of value to the bank and the remainder to the black families who continued to live in the sharecropper shacks on the property. He got a job as a salesman at a tractor dealership in Port Gibson, the closest town to Hermanville. This was near the end of the Great Depression and very few people in Mississippi had any money, particularly in this poor farming community. This was no time to be selling anything, so Dad’s job did not supply enough money to adequately support the family. Life was hard.
1939 - Sitting in a front room of our house by the doorway on the right-hand side of the house, using scissors to cut out automobile pictures out of a magazine. I remember being enchanted by a deep purple (almost black) sedan automobile. I thought it was beautiful because at that time, almost all automobiles were black.
1940 Port Gibson, Miss. I had a bad accident when I was 2 years old. I remember everything surrounding this accident like it was yesterday. I remember the top of the bathtub was about level with my chest. Mom had stripped my clothes and was about to give me a bath. I told her I had to go spit as I ran out of the bathroom and out the back screen door so I could spit through the porch railing. The porch seemed very high to me, but was really about 8 feet off the ground. It had been raining and the wooden porch was slippery. When I went to stop at the railing to spit, my bare feet slipped from under me and I slid under the bottom rail. I landed on a brick cistern below the landing. I had a deep gash in the top of my head. Dad was at work and, since we had no telephone, Mom asked a neighbor to call him (there was no ambulance in town). When Dad got home Mom was rocking me -- and both of us were covered with blood. Dad promised to buy me something if I would not cry while the doctor sewed up my head -- I asked for a store bought hamburger. On the way home from the doctor's office, I reminded Dad that he had forgotten to buy me that hamburger. The recovery from the Great Depression had not reached this part of Mississippi and it was a very rare event to get a store bought hamburger. I remember the details of this hamburger meal very well and the small cafe/diner where we ate. This was the only time that I can remember when Dad took me somewhere without Charles.
Another memory that I have about that bathtub in Port Gibson -- Mom was very upset because a large cockroach was in the bathtub and she was trying to kill it. I am certain that my Mother’s fear of roaches is why I am still somewhat anxious when a large cock roach flies near. No other bug bothers me like this critter.
1941 The Second World War was raging in Europe and some defense-related jobs were opening up in the larger cities. Later, Dad got a job with the U.S. Army Air Corp, helping to build Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. Dad later worked at Keesler AFB as Chief Engineer at Headquarters Technical Training Air Force.
December 7, 1941 Another scary accident. Again, I can also remember the events of this whole day -- both before and after the accident. I was almost 3 years old, but I can clearly remember my family, along with the families of Wilkin, Nell and Wayne standing in the front yard of Wilkin's home in Mendenhall, Mississippi. Aunt Nell was almost hysterical and some women were crying. It had just been announced that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor and the USA was now entering World War II against the axis powers, consisting of Germany, Japan, and Italy. Dad had to report to Keesler Air Force Base immediately, so our family, Aunt Nell and Uncle Louis hopped into Dad's 1938 Dodge and headed down Highway 49 towards Biloxi on the Mississippi coast. Dad was driving about 60 miles per hour and, again, I had to spit. (For some reason, I thought spitting was really cool -- I guess I thought this was a grown up thing to do -- tobacco and snuff was popular). I intended to roll down the rear passenger side window, but instead, I pulled the door handle. As the door opened, the wind grabbed the forward opening door and jerked me outside the moving car. I held on to the door handle as my feet dragged the pavement just inches from the rear wheel. Aunt Nell screamed and froze with fear. Dad had the wise presence of mind to slow the car gradually, so that I would not be thrown under the car. When the car stopped, I climbed back into the car. The toes of my leather shoes were worn completely through. This event almost scared me to death -- also everyone else was trembling. I rode in the front seat with Mom and Dad for the remainder of the trip.
1941 Playing on the Biloxi beach with my Mom and Brother. The swings, the surf, the sand, the beached sailboats, the smell (I love the smell of the sea.) We lived at a boarding house on West Beach Blvd. (It was called the Palmer House or the Blessing House?), just a block east of the Biloxi lighthouse. We all stayed in one room on the second floor, with stair access on the east side of the house.
1942 Moved from Biloxi, Mississippi to a rented home in New Orleans, Louisiana -- 911 Nashville Avenue, in the Uptown District. An "older lady", Ms. Efney, lived in the left side of the house. This was a furnished home and, later, we purchased all of this antique furniture. Scott got the Dining Room Table and the Buffet (Which he later gave to Daniel when he left Phoenix to move to Seattle). Doris and I got the lamp table, floor lamlp, sofa, and side chair, both of which Doris personally reupholstered).
1940's Before the age of eight, I probably ate at a restaurant less than a dozen times. I remember that times were very hard for our family. Dad was traveling for the War Department. He was an electrical engineer (non-degreed) during the war. He worked on several bases for the US Army Air Force (Manhattan Project and several bases near San Antonio). Dad was hardly ever at home.
1943 Kindergarten at LaSalle Elementary School, New Orleans, Louisiana. I remember crying when my mother left me at school -- I was not expecting her to leave me. I remember learning to write my name. I liked to color most of all. We took a nap on mats every afternoon. Singing Silent Night. The Prism hanging in the window. Afternoon naps on a pallet.
1944 First Grade. My teacher was Mrs. Edwards -- I liked her a lot. I remember learning to read a textbook about a dog name Spot. I liked to draw -- there was one drawing of a ship (an oil tanker) that everyone bragged on -- I thought it was really good (and it was). Our school had a fund raising campaign to raise money to purchase a P-47 Fighter Airplane. We would bring our pennies until we got enough to buy a War Bond. We kids really believed that we had purchased an airplane for the war effort. We were also encouraged to bring pots and pans to school "so they could be turned into helmets".
1944 Carol Weems
Peggy Sheppard
1942 I remember the iceman bringing us a daily block of ice, which he would chip from a huge block of ice that he carried in the back of his horse drawn wagon. We kept the block of ice in our wooden "ice-box" in the kitchen. (For my entire life, I have had difficulty by continuing to refer to a refrigerator as a icebox). The milkman would also come daily and leave the milk bottles on the front porch. We had to get the milk into the icebox quickly so that it would not spoil. I did not like milk – it was pasteurized and there were always lumps of cream floating on the top.
My Dad build a real refrigerator – it had a motor and compressor on top of an old wooden ice-box.
The Maxwell House Coffee man would also make a home delivery once a week. I loved the smell of the coffee and my parents would let me drink it if I wanted. I did not like the taste of coffee because my Father insisted that I drink it like he did -- without sugar or cream.
There was a neighborhood horse-watering trough in the next block, next door to my best friend's house (Oscar Hoffman). Oscar and I used to play with our boats in the horse watering trough nest door to his two story home on Nashville Avenue. Oscar, in my opinion was a very spoiled child. He has 100 times more toys than I had. All of my toys and my brother's toys fit into our toy chest, which was about the size of an apple crate. I loved to play with Oscar 's toys. Oscar had, in my opinion, an unbelievable number of toys - and they were very high quality toys. Charles and I together could fit all of our cheap toys into a fruit box. Looking back on this, Oscar had only a small fraction of the number of toys that my children have. One benefit of not having a lot of toys was that we learned how to make our own toys out of clay, wood and paper.
Oscar was also disrespectful to his elders -- my Dad would have beaten me within an inch of my life if I ever talked to my Mother the way Oscar talked to his mother and grandmother. Once my Grandmother was babysitting Charles and me while Mom was in the hospital and I deliberately disobeyed Grandma -- I was really showing off to my friend, Oscar. Unfortunately, she did not beat me or snitch on me, but I still feel bad about that to this very day.
1943 My German Shepherd, Butch, bit the mail carrier so we had to give him to some people in the country. After he had been gone for several months -- one day he miraculously showed up at our home. He was very excited to see me and I was very happy to see him. I thought it was possible that we could keep him since he, somehow, had made a this long trip back home. It was a big mystery how he was able to find his way from his new home in the country, through a busy city, and somehow manage to find us. I conclude that animals are frequently in tune with the Holy Spirit and, therefore, know a lot more than we give them credit for.
1944 While playing like I was bailing out of an airplane by jumping out of my high flying swing, I broke my right arm in several places -- it looked like a S curve. Dad was out of town, as always, during the war years. We had no automobile, so Mom did not have a way to get me to the hospital. There were no ambulances to transport someone with a non-fatal injury. Since we were in wartime, doctors were scarce, inexperienced and overworked. The hospital told my mom that she would just have to bring me to the hospital when the streetcars began operating the following day. My arm throbbed all night long -- it was very painful. The next morning, we walked two blocks to the streetcar stop on Magazine Avenue, then took a very painful ride on several streetcars to Charity Hospital. I remember waiting in the hospital waiting room until late in the day -- there were so many people waiting for medical attention and I had to sit on the floor in the hallway. My whole right arm was very swollen and the pain was intense. I was even glad when it finally came to be my turn. They quickly rushed me into an operating room and held me down while they put a black rubber breathing cup over my mouth and nose. This scared me almost to death -- I thought I was being suffocated. The ether quickly put me to sleep and I don’t remember anything after that. Mom took me home and I had many more painful days. Later, another doctor told us that it was an unprofessional job and my arm had not been set properly.
1945 Second Grade. My teacher was Mrs. Burns. She was ok. We played "war" every day at recess and lunch. We took turns being Germans, "Japs", and Americans. No one wanted to play as a Jap or as an Italian (especially a Jap), so we were mainly Germans and Americans. We would spread our arms and pretend to be airplanes, then chase each other around the playground and shoot each other down.
1945 I was struck on the cheek with a metal-edged seat of a playground swing. The corner of the swing penetrated completely through my left cheek. Had it been few inches higher it could have hit me in the eye and blinded me -- or possibly hit me in the head and killed me. This accident gave me a lifelong scar on my left cheek (it actually accentuated my dimple) for the rest of my life.
June 1945 Oscar Hoffman's father came home from the war and took Oscar and me to Audubon Park to fly model airplane. Because his father was a soldier, he was able to purchase certain items that were had not been available for the duration of the Second World War. He gave me one piece of bubble gum, which became one of my most prized possessions. It was Double-Bubble brand, wrapped in wax paper. I kept the pink wad stuck to my bed post each night for several months, even though it had lost its pink color and could not be blown into a bubble. I could not bring myself to throw away such a precious item that was the envy of my friends. Finally, in disgust, my mother threw it away.
1946 Third Grade. My teacher was Mrs. McMurder. We did not like her at all -- she was old and cranky and fussed at us a lot. We made fun of her name -- behind her back, of course. I remember her embarrassing me at the blackboard in front of the whole class because I could not work a division problem. From that point on, I remember thinking that I hated math and I also disliked my teacher. A couple of months before the end of the school year, Mrs. McMurder passed away. At first, I was glad, and then I felt guilty -- like maybe I had wished death upon her. For the remainder of the third grade, we had substitute teachers and I do not think we learned anything. This apparently put me behind in math, because I remember I that I had trouble in math in the forth grade and for the remainder of school, including college.
1946 Forth Grade. I remember that I was very good in geography. About halfway through the forth grade, my Dad moved us to Shreveport, Louisiana, where I attended Werner Park Elementary School near the Fairgrounds. I remember picking on an larger kid until he invited me to meet me after school to fight. I accepted -- which is the second thing that I should not have done. One good lick and I was ready to quit.
1946 Going to the circus under the big tent with my Mom and Charles.
1940s Going to Audubon Park - the animals, monkey hill, climbing the oak tree on the big branch that touched the ground. During the war, food for the animals was running short and the zoo was trying to out-place some animals. I remember wanting to take the elephant home as a pet -- my mom did not think that was such a good idea.
1940s I would sit for hours, using a switch to kill the armies of attacking ants on the sidewalk in front of my house.
Turning lizards into "alligator skeletons".
My white kitty with one blue eye and one green eye.
Charles was not allowed to hit me with his fist and, since I knew that was a rule, I took advantage of it by taunting him unmercifully. When Dad was home and noticed that Charles and I were having a dispute, Dad would get us to put on our boxing gloves and duke it out. I did not like that because Charles would beat me to a pulp. This kept me in line, or relatively so.
Charles talked me into hitting my dad with a ripe tomato while he was reading the newspaper. I threw it threw it through his newspaper. While this was funny in the movie cartoons, my Dad did not think it was funny. Dad calmly asked me to go get his thick pigskin razor sharpening strap. Both Charles and I got a good spanking for doing this.
Often (but only when I deserved it), Dad beat me with his heavy leather razor strap (This strap was 1/4 inch thick and it was specifically for sharpening his straight razor). Dad would make me go to the bathroom to fetch the razor strap, then ask me to grab my ankles or lean over a chair -- then he would let me have it. I learned that I was better off not to cry (because "boys do not cry - only girls are allowed to cry". Occasionally I would cry (particularly if Mom were around) but then he would always "give me something to cry about". Mom was often my savior, since it bothered her deeply to see me get a beating. She would beg him to stop, then ask me to promise to behave. I would promise whatever necessary, even to fly to the moon and back, during these crisis moments.
1945 September. The war was over and I went to work with my Dad at Camp Ploche', Louisiana, a port of embarkation. The German prisoners were being processed so that they could be returned to Germany. Dad would give me cigarettes to take to the prison fence and give them to the prisoners of war. They were very appreciative. In each office building, there was a salt pill dispenser. Everyone was encouraged to consume one or more salt tablets every day because it was so hot and everyone sweated a lot. The salt was supposed to be healthy. It is strange that what is good for you in one generation is considered unheathly in the next.
1944 December. Spending Christmas at Uncle Spurgeon's farm in near Hermanville, Mississippi. I would climb the Indian Mound on Spurgeon's property and dig for Indian artifacts. I never did find anything because I did not dig deep enough. However, I would get covered with chiggers -they were terrible, so I quit trying to find Indian artifacts. Later, this mound became a Historic Visitor's on the Natchez Trace and was called "Mangum Mound". I also found an old cemetery next to an old abandoned Gristmill on the Bayou across the Natchez Trace Highway from the Mangum Mound . There were many Patterson's buried there.
1944 I remember how upset my mother became when we got the news that President Franklin D. Roosevelt died. Harry S. Truman became President and I remember people saying that he did not have what it took to be President during wartime.
May 1945 Marching up and down Nashville Avenue, beating a pan with a spoon to celebrate Victory in Europe.
August 1945 Celebrating in the streets to celebrate Victory over Japan. Attending the Victory Parades on Canal Street in New Orleans with my mother and brother, Charles.
1946 Going to see the movie, Song of the South with my Mom. It was the first color movie that I had ever seen. This was my favorite movie and song for years.
1940s Mendenhall, Mississippi. Playing "Rover, the ball is coming over" with my cousins. The slingshot chinaberry wars. My cousins liked to shoot us on our shirtless backs, gosh, they hurt -- it was dangerous also. The chinaberry balls would leave a big red whelp wherever the hit bare skin.
1946 While overlooking a parking lot from a third floor window (on some military base) I promised Mom that one day, I was going to buy her the car of her choice. (I fulfilled this promise in 1987, by purchasing a new white four door Cadillac.)
1946-47 Mardi Gras in New Orleans -- catching the trinkets.
1946 Going to Ponchatrain Beach, swimming, the rides, the amusements.
1940s Beating up Oscar's stuffed animals.
1946 Flying model airplanes with Oscar in Audubon Park..
1946 The Christmas Charles and I got a model train.
1946 Going to the watermelon stand on Nashville Avenue with the family.
1946 Dad brought me a leather jacket that I wanted very much. I had only had this jacket for a few days and I went off and left it at a restaurant -- I never saw it again and I never got another one until I was married.
June 1947 We finally got back together as a family for three months in Shreveport, Louisiana. We had a two-bedroom house on Olive Street, which we had temporarily traded for our house in New Orleans.
1947 June. Mom and Dad took us for a drive on the military reserve near Barksdale AFB. We visited a family that lived on the reserve. They had a red-bone hound that recently had puppies. Charles and I begged to get one of the puppies. Charles and I both got a puppy. I named my Bucky and Charles named his Frisky. I do not remember what happened to Frisky, but within a month or so, we wound up with only Bucky. Bucky had puppies in 1948. We had to find a home for them so we put them into my wagon and walked the neighborhoods until we found a home for each of them, except for one male, which I really wanted to keep. When we moved to Illinois, we had to leave both dogs behind. We gave both of them to a friend who lived across the street. We were to “come back late to get them” but that never happened. After we moved to Dupo, Illinois, Dad got a Bird Dog Pointers, which became the family dog.
1947 July. Buying my first B-B gun by myself. I was 9 years old. I just had to have this B-B gun and when I realized that I had enough money to buy it myself, I took my money from my piggy bank, crossed a major intersection to get to the hardware store, and purchased the Daisy BB gun without discussion or getting permission from Mom or Dad. I had never done anything like this before. I hid the gun in my closet, so my parents did not know that I had purchased the gun until much later. When they found out, I got the standard "you could shoot someone's eye out" lecture from my Mom and Dad.
1947 Springtime. Our family made a trip to Bellingraph Gardens, near Mobile, Alabama with Aunt Nell. This is where she took one of my favorite photos of Mom and Dad and another of the family.
1947 June. Scorpions. Mom was stung on her toe by a scorpion while washing the dishes at the kitchen sink. She was wearing open toed sandals. Mom was stung again in 1958 while taking a tub bath in their new home in San Antonio, Texas. The scorpion had his tail sticking up through the drain cover and stung her in the heel. Both times she became nauseous, sweaty, weak and numb around her mouth.
1947 July Age 9. One night I was throwing torpedo cherry bombs against the cement retaining wall in our back yard. I had clay men stationed in cracks all along the wall. I used a flashlight to see what damage I had inflicted and discovered that the wall was covered with hundreds of scorpions.
1947 September. Moved back to our same house at 911 Nashville Ave. in New Orleans. This house is now in a part of New Orleans that had become to be called the Garden District, and is now a popular yuppie neighborhood. I still remember my telephone number - UPtown 2739W.
1948 June. Moved back to Shreveport (3016Woodford Ave - the west side of a duplex) so we could be back together as a family. This was really great to have Dad around most of the time, although I seemed to get into trouble more often. I think it was because I was not able to get away with as much mischief as I did with Mom. Mom hated to see me get beat with the heave leather strap -- she would often let me get by with something without her telling Dad, just so I would not get beat -- she protected me from getting a beating many times. I would promise her anything if she would just not tell Dad when he got home.
1948 My best friend in the fourth grade, George Culpepper, parachuted off the top of his garage with an umbrella -- the umbrella simply folded inside out and George broke his leg. Thank goodness, I did not try it first. George missed a few weeks of school.
1948 Forth Grade -- first time to play hooky from school. George and I went to a candy factory and obtained some candy rejects out of the trash bin. (I am certain that some of it must have been swept off the floor – but we ate it anyway.) We too a lot of it to school and gave it to our friends. We did not get into trouble -- no one even seemed to notice that we were gone. So, after learning that we could get away with playing hooky, there was not any fear in me that I would be caught. I did not get into trouble for playing hooky until I was in High School (see 1954)
1948 Going to see my first football game (Sugar Bowl- Ole Miss v. GA). Dad drove the family to New Orleans along with another family to see this game.
1948 Going fishing with my Dad on Lake Bistineau.
1948 Going fishing on Lake Caddo with Dad.
1948 Killing birds with my B-B gun. I am repentant for this now -- I think it was a terrible thing that I did. The adults all seemed to think that this behavior was quite admirable -- I would even pile the birds up where they could be seen by the neighbors, like I was doing a community service by killing the birds.
Some neighbors even made favorable comments to me -- I guess they were unhappy about the birds crapping on their cars. On one day, I remember killing sparrows by the dozen. I thought it was neat to cut a notch in my gun stock each time I killed a bird (the stock was completely covered with hundreds of notches). Times have changed -- I am glad that this attitude would not be acceptable now.
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EARLY HISTORY OF “CLAY MAN WARS”
By David Haywood Mangum
1944 – Age 6 – Santa Claus brought Charles and me some modeling clay for Christmas. As children, we did not have many toys. In fact, all of our toys could fit into a small footlocker about one-half the size of a standard military footlocker. I guess that Mom or Dad thought we could make our own toys out of the clay, which is exactly what we did.
1945 - I saw a movie that made a big impression on me. All I can remember is that it was a movie in which there was sword-fighting in a medieval castle. As a result of watching this movie, I made a castle out of sticks and mud. Then I made some little fat men and gave each of them a sword made out of straight pins. I bent some of the pins to give the impression that the clay men had curved swords. I remember the scolding that I got from my Mom – “David, there is war going on and it is impossible to purchase straight pins.”
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1949 Playing "clay man wars" with Charles under the Mulberry trees, Dupo, Ill. I was much more into clay man wars than was my brother. Perhaps he got discouraged because his little brother won most of the battles. Because my clayman army was much larger than his and, besides, I was a better shot with a BB gun. Charles stayed indoors reading comic books most of the time, while I was outdoors most of the time with my BB gun – shooting anything that moved. I became an excellent sharpshooter, which must have had a lot to do, later in life, with my wining the “high-scorer” trophy on the Rifle Team at the University of Texas. I also earned the sharpshooter metal in the U.S. Air Force. About age 10, I saw a western movie where a gun-slinger cut a notch in his pistol for every person he killed. I thought this was cool, so I began cutting little notches on the wooden stock of my BB gun. My gun had hundred of notches all over the stock. Later in life, I repented for the birds that I had killed.
I became an excellent sharpshooter with the BB gun, which must have had a lot to do, later in life, with my wining the “high-scorer” trophy on the Rifle Team at the University of Texas. I also earned the sharpshooter metal in the U.S. Air Force.
1950 – Age 12. I shot a BB very near Charles and it ricocheted off of a Branch and hit his eyeglasses. Some glass did get into his eye by Mom was able to get it out before it damaged his eye. I must have promised Charles the moon, because made Dad think the incident seem more like a true accident than it really was. (What a marvelous brother). This was another time that I almost lost my BB gun. Dad said that if I could not learn to be more careful, then he would destroy my BB gun. I truly was more careful in the future.
1950 – Age 12 Another stupid thing that I would do was to destroy a clayman city with fire. I made the buildings out of cardboard with cutouts for doors and windows. They would burn violently when hit with a flaming match shot from a spring loaded cannon (Because, like a little idiot, I had soaked the buildings in gasoline.) As an adult, I recognize that I am very lucky to be alive. I hope my grandchildren will use this as an example of how not to play clayman wars. (If their parents allow them to even read this.).
1950 – Age 12. I used my Dad’s 22 caliber rifle to shoot clay man soldiers and clay tanks. Insanely, I used our house as a backstop – the cement cellar wall would always stop the ricocheted bullets. Most of the time, I would shoot 22 caliber birdshot bullets because the regular bigger 22 caliber “short” bullets would completely demolish the clay men and severely damage the tanks. The birdshot would make really neat holes in the clay men -- and a good shot would take out a whole squad. Why my Mom did not catch me and punish me was a miracle. I guess Mom thought I was shooting firecrackers which I was doing almost all of the time. We had neighbors on both sides of us, so they could have easily seen me and reported me to my Mom. Perhaps, they too, thought I was shooting firecrackers and my BB gun. I had enough experience with shooting real rifles to know what I was doing, but this was still plenty dangerous for a 12 year old kid. Dad would shoot sparrows that were roosting in our garage and crapping on his car. Occasionally, he would let Charles and I shoot the birds.
Whenever we had a battle, the survivors would be automatically advance in rank. If they were very brave, they would advance more than one rank. And, of course, the highest ranking soldier on each side was the commander. I would put tiny colored stripes on their arms to identify their rank. I would make the best decisions for each commander, given his circumstances.
1950 -53 Age 12 to 15 - Because Charles did not play clay man wars with me very often, I would mostly play by myself. The few kids that lived nearby were not fun to play with, because they could not make decent clay men and, besides, they usually did not have any clay to make them with. I was not very keen on providing the clay, making the clay men and tanks, and then let someone else to shoot them up. JC Necaise played war with me a couple of times, but although he was a year older, he did not seem to appreciate the strategy of the game – he just wanted to line up the clay men and blow them away. I found more enjoyment to play both sides and doing the best I could with varying strategies.
I would use bricks for “heavy artillery”. The bricks would usually do a number on the tanks.
1951 Age 13 - I used a lot of lead in my construction of implements of war. I would use Mom’s gas stove to melt lead, which I poured into forms I made from plaster of Paris. The heavy lead shielding helped keep the tanks from being penetrated by BBs and from being overturned when they ran over a landmine (firecracker). I would make machine gun pill boxes and armor plating out of lead, because about one-eighth inch of lead would completely stop a BB.
As an adult, I recognize that handling lead was a very unhealthy practice. The dangers of handling lead were not well known in the early 1950s. I remember my parents commenting that this skill would be very beneficial if I ever wanted to become a dentist. I have often wondered if some of my ailments in later life had something to do with my handling so much lead as a kid. I certainly would caution all children and adults to completely avoid any contact with lead.
1951 - I got really talented at making things out of lead. I once made an anchor for my Spanish Warship out of a lead BB. I was also very good at making models out of balsa wood. I spent hundreds of hours making a balsa wood model of the Spanish Warship Hispanola. My parents tossed it while I was at college.
1952 – Age 12. Once, I began making counterfeit half-dollar and silver dollar coins out of lead. I never tried to pass one of my counterfeit coins for two reasons. 1. The coins were too heavy and 2. they were much too difficult to make. I figured I could make real money the honest way much easier. The thought never occurred to me that I possibly could get arrested. I probably would have gotten off easier than my parents – they could have gone to jail.
After my Dad concluded that I knew what I was doing, he never supervised my lead melting activities. And, yes, I did get some very bad blisters from not handling the molten lead carefully. My Dad always figured that he would let me do whatever I wanted to do as long as it was not likely to kill me or maim me for life.
David Haywood Mangum
More BB Gun Stories
1948 The BB gun wars. I remember that Charles rescued me from a dangerous BB gun war. I wanted to join the fight, but Charles told me that he would tell Dad if I did not leave with him. I knew that Dad would destroy my BB gun if he knew that we were shooting at each other with BB guns, so I reluctantly dropped out of war game and went home with Charles. As an adult, I am very thankful that he made me come with him -- I could have lost my eyesight. One of my friends, (Billy Crouch?) was struck just above the eye with a BB. I found out after we grown, that Charles actually told Mom that I had gone to the oil field pits to join a neighborhood BB gun war and she sent him to bring me home
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1948 – Age 10 Dad taught me respect electricity. He helped me repair and build certain electrical items, such as lamps, toasters, etc. He would tell me how not to get shocked and them allow me to get shocked when I would not carefully follow his instructions. He recognized that this was the best lessons that he could have taught me — and I believe that he was right. I only got shocked a few times and I learned my lesson well.
1948 – Age 12. I got shocked really bad because I was standing in about one-half inch of water in the garage utility room while I was feeling for the light. It was very dark and I could not see the light fixture. We had to twist a light bulb to make the light com on. Unfortunately, there was no light bulb in the socket and my right finger found its way into the socket. This hurt me so bad that I laid down in the back yard and groaned for about half-hour. The current went thru my body from my right hand to my right foot. Had it gone thru the left side of my body, it could have killed me. I really thought that I was dying on this occasion.
1948 First campout (in back year), Shreveport, Louisiana.
1948 Second Girlfriend, Judy Saltus was a cute blonde. I remember just liking to be near her. I liked her a lot and I think she liked me. She invited me to her 12th birthday party at her home.
1949 Moved from Shreveport to Dupo, Ill.
1949 Train trip from Shreveport to Dupo with Mom and Charles. Dad was already at Scott Air Force Base near Bellville, Illinois so we had to make this move without Dad. We had a room on the sleeping coach. This was neat – I couldn’t sleep. This the first and last time I got to ride in a sleep coach.
1949 Began the Fifth Grade at Dupo Elementary School. I remember all the kids making fun of the way I talked. They would ask me to say certain words and then everyone would laugh at my southern accent. We played kick-ball at recess (a baseball like game that used a soccer sized soft rubber ball).
1950 Sixth Grade. I played stick ball or cork ball at recess. The cork ball was about the size of a golf ball and the stick was the size of a large broom stick. Most of the time, everyone struck out.
1950 At the age of 12, I remember attending my first Boy Scout Meeting with Charles in the crowded basement of a building in Dupo. There was nothing about the meeting that I enjoyed and I do not remember ever attending again in Dupo. I only remember going to one scout function -- it was held at night in a cow pasture; Charles participated in a fire building contest.
1950 Exploring the bluffs at Dupo, Illinois. I would often explore the woods and cliffs alone. Once, I checked out a cave in the side of the limestone bluffs – I was afraid to go inside the cave, because I thought a wild animal might be inside and attack me.
1950 Building stick-and-paper model airplanes.
1950 Playing Flying Saucer wars. Played all by myself. Used coffee can lids and paint can lids. When one lid landed partially on top of another lid, that lid was knocked out.
1950 Searching for Indian arrowheads in the freshly plowed corn and soybean fields near Dupo.
1950 – I made arrowheads from limestone rocks on the electric grinder. I should have worn a dust mask, I we did not have one. (That was the culture of the time.)
1950 Making fishing lures out of wood.
1950 Trip to Chicago and the Military Academy east of Milwaukee, Wisconsin with Charles and the Woodhall family. Watched a mock Civil War battle put on by the students.
1950 Took Taxidermy lessons with Charles. I made a purse out of a seven-inch ground mole and carried my coins in it for many years, until the hair had worn almost completely off.
1950 Summer. My family moved to Pass Christian, Mississippi. Nights were hot and we did not have a window fan yet, so we stayed on the beach until the night cooled off, then we walked back to our house and slept on the hardwood floors. Our furniture arrived the next day.
1951 Playing clay man wars in the roots of the old live oak tree, Pass Christian, Ms.
1951 Eighth Grade. Dating Lily Etta Carco -- my first real date. Etta was my ‘steady’, although I never kissed her and we never had another real date. She was cute and a very nice girl -- I liked her a lot.
1950 – Age 12. Playing with fire and gasoline. I would build small cities out of cardboard boxes. Then I would spray them with gasoline (as if from a flame throwing tank) and set them on fire. Then my toy fire truck would show up and try to put out the flames with a hand held syringe. I am very lucky that I survived this.
1950 – Age 12. Used my dad’s .22 caliber rifle to shoot clay man soldiers and tanks.. I used the house as a backstop – the cement cellar wall would always stop the bullets. Most of the time I would shoot birdshot because the bigger bullets would demolish the clay men. Why my Mom did not catch me and punish me is not clear to this day. I guess she thought I was shooting firecrackers which I used most of the time.
1950 - Age 12. Charles and I took a course in taxidermy. I would stuff ducks, squirrels, a mole, but mostly small birds that I had killed with my BB Gun. I thought that they looked pretty good (considering that they did not have store bought eyeballs) but my Mom threw them away when we moved from Dupo, Illinois to Pass Christian, Mississippi. I did keep my mole, because I had turned it into a coin purse – I installed a snap in the mouth. I used it for years, until all the hair wore off and it got a hole in it. My friends thought it was cool.
1950 – Also, when we moved, Mom or Dad threw away all of my balsawood model airplanes. I spent many hours building these stick and paper model airplanes. I had built about 8 of them.
1951 – July? My family moved from Dupo, Illinois to Pass Christian, Mississippi. The first night, we slept on the hardwood floor. We never had any air conditioning in any of our homes and at times it would get very hot. Often, it would get so hot that I could not go to sleep because of the heat and resultant sweating. My Dad installed a large window fan in their bedroom and this fan kept some circulation moving through the house.
1951 August – It was very hot and, of course like everyone else,, we did not have air conditioning. To cool off, I would almost daily walk to the beach alone and swim in the Gulf of Mexico. In just a few minutes, I could be at the beach one block south of my home at 411 East Second Street. On one occasion, I had an encounter with a bull shark. I was standing in about 4 feet of water when I felt a strong bump on my right leg. Almost immediately, I noticed that a shark dorsal fin was circling around me – probably just checking me out. I estimated that he was about 4 feet in length. I slapped the water and got back to the shore as fast as I could. I told someone about this experience and I was told that bull sharks do not normally attack people. I later found out that this was incorrect information. The actual truth is that Bull Sharks are the most dangerous shark in the Gulf, because they are responsible for the most shark attacks.
1951 September -- Sue Ashford moved to Pass Christian. I thought she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. I was "going with" Lily Etta, so I never made an attempt to date Sue. Besides, all of the upper classmen were standing in line to get her attention.
1951 September – Met Doris Kowalski at a night beach party on the seawall across from War Memorial Park. She was Wallace Moran’s girlfriend at the time. Little did I suspect that this girl would one day become my wife and mother of my four sons.
1952 July 3 -- Bad accident. While delivering grocery ads, I was riding on the right running board of J.C. Necaise's dad's Chevy pickup truck when another truck backed out of a driveway and crushed both of my knees into the door of the truck. The crash left my leg prints in the door panel. Both vehicles were moving so my legs rolled as the truck moved – my legs looked like hamburger meat. . I did not walk for 6 weeks -- and then only on crutches. If Necaise’s truck would have had a working horn, the accident would not have happened -- J.C. had pulled his truck into the left lane trying to avoid the collision. The old flatbed truck (Model A Ford) was driven by an old black man -- of course, he had no insurance and no money. Necaise Grocery did not offer to pay my medical expenses and we did not sue anyone. It was looked upon as an unfortunate accident and that is what happens.
1952 August -- Doris and Shirley Scarborough (“my girlfriend”) came to see me while I was recuperating.
1952 August. -- While I was recovering from my leg injuries, I came down with a terrible fever that lasted for weeks. I felt awful during this time and for a time it appeared to be a chronic disease. Several doctors were consulted, but it was never diagnosed. Finally, I overcame this illness about the time I learned to walk again.
1952 August. While I was recovering, I read the book - Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. This book gave me a fascination with the sea. Also, I read many sports magazines, which made me decide that my ambition in life was to become a professional athlete.
1952 First time to kiss a girl -- Ruth LaFontaine, at a party at the Old Pass Christian Yacht Club. Ruth later became Charles’ girlfriend. Ruth and I were always just good friends.
1952 – My venture into the Pest Control Business.
1953 -- My Grass cutting jobs.
1952 – 53 – My job at the US Post Office, delivering Special Delivery Letters.
1953 First time to be caught playing hooky from school (Ninth Grade). Coach Hall caught us sneaking back into school after we had climbed out of the school window and went swimming at the beach, which was just one block from Pass Christian High School. The classrooms in the month of May, sometimes it got so unbearably hot that we could not focus on our schoolwork. So, Gerald and Wallace Moran, Leo Tillman, and I just did what we thought was the smart thing to do - we skipped out for a cool swim. Coach Hall did not think this was a good example to set for the rest of the school, so he did the smart thing and beat us with a 1/2-inch thick board paddle. We did not sneak off like this again.
1953 Skating in Memorial Park, Pass Christian, and Ms. Boys and girls would all meet in the Park -- no dates. Sometimes we would have a fire on the beach and roast marshmallows and wieners.
1953 Playing tennis on the courts in the Park, one block west of my home at 442 E. 2nd Street.
1953 Spin the bottle parties at June Necaise’s home.
1953 JC Necaise and I would often go fishing in the Gulf in my Dad’s 14 foot run-a-bout boat with a 10 horsepower motor. When it got hot, we would drop anchor in about 20 feet of water and go swimming. Once the tide was running fast and we were both down current and we had to swim hard to get back to the boat.
1953- Summer: I was swimming alone in about 5 feet of water at the beach about one block from our home and I noticed a shark fin cutting a circle around me. I concluded that it was about a five foot bull shark because they frequently feed in shallow waters. I began slapping the water and the shark swam away. Later, I learned that bull sharks are noted for being the most dangerous shark, because they are very prone to attack humans.
1953 After a Boy Scout Meeting, I was with JC Necaise in his 1050 Chevy Pickup truck and we were drag racing Daton Robinson along Saint Louis Road just east of Henderson Point. Because of the deep dust on the road, JC lost control of the truck and crossed the ditch and went out into the woods. Luckily, we passed between two large pine trees. Unfortunately, as we left the road, the truck bounced my head off the ceiling as the truck crossed the bar ditch. I should have gone to the hospital and gotten checked out, but I kept my mouth shut and never told my parents. JC’s parents would have taken away JC’s driving privileges if they knew that he was drag racing with the family truck. I had headaches for months afterward – and some of my neck issues today probably are related to that accident. Why wasn’t I wearing my seatbelt? – No cars had seatbelts at this time.
1953 Dating Shirley Scarborough. (My steady) She was an absolutely beautiful girl, but she had a somewhat stuffy personality. She was a good kisser and I did enjoy being with her.
1953 Met Shirley often at Jean Atchley’s beach home. Jean was sweet and wealthy but she was only a very good friend -- we never dated but we were good friends. I knew that she liked me very much but she was taller than me and we really didn’t fit together very well.
1954 -- I got my drivers license and I began to ask for the family car to go on dates. Our family had one car, a 1951 Chrysler New Yorker. It was two-tone grey with a revolutionary padded dashboard.
1953 -- Without my parents knowledge, I purchased a .22 caliber bolt action rifle with a scope. I ordered it from the same mail-order catalog that Lee Harvey Oswald order the rife with scope that he used to kill President Kennedy. I had saved up my grass cutting money to buy this rifle – so I did not feel that I had to get anyone’s permission to buy it. I did not get in trouble from anyone for doing this without my parents knowledge. Times have really changed.
1954 – We would often go rabbit hunting at night with flashlights. Once, JC accidently discharged my .22 caliber rifle in the rear seat of dad’s car. Fortunaly the bullet jammed in the door frame of the driver’s side rear door and did not leave an exit hole in the rear passenger door. I am certain that Dad would have confiscated my rifle. I never told my parents about this accident and they never noticed the bullet trail inside the rear door and the door post.
1954 -- I dated Barbara ?????, a pretty blonde girl from Longbeach. I dated her several times and had planned to date her more, but shortly afterwards, I dated Doris – and the rest is history. I still have one of her ear rings.
1954 I dated Barbara Breckenridge, a very pretty rich girl that lived in a lovely beach-front home on East Beach Blvd in Pass Christian. I also attended a birthday party at her home prior to asking her for a date. She attended a private girls school.
1954 Dated Alice Frank from Delisle. She was such a hot date that she scared me. I only dated her once.
1954 I dated Linda Bell from Pineville, Mississippi. When I took her home from our first date, her father was drunk and ran me off with his shotgun. This almost scared me to death and I never dated his daughter again, although she was pretty and a fun date. Later, I learned that she cried over this incident and had a big fight with her father.
1954 June – Dad helped me purchase a red and black 1950 Crestline Ford. (actually Dad paid for all of it and I was supposed to repay him – I never got around to repaying him before he sold it in 1957. Since, I had not paid for the car, Dad let Charles take the car before I went off to college at Mississippi State, so I had to go off to college without wheels.
1954 July 10. First date with Doris Kowalski - doubled with Wallace Moran & Shirley Scarborough - Drive In Movie - saw "Blood On The Moon". Wallace was my best friend and Doris’ ex-boyfriend and Shirley was my ex-girl friend. Doris and I hit it off right away. She was very easy to talk to and she made me feel special. She was also very cute and a lot of fun -- what else was I looking for? Within weeks, we were going steady.
1954 June. Working for Ratliff Oil Co - keeping the maps. Age 16. Throughout the remainder of High School and College, I worked after school and all day Saturday and many Sundays. I would work until very late most nights and then I would go see Doris, getting home after midnight most of the time. My grades suffered because I would only work on my homework during study hall, if at all. I make B's and C's with a few A's - high school was very easy for me. I paid for this later, because I was not ready for college -- particularly the math.
1954 Dreaming of drilling my own oil wells.
1954 Camp Salmon, Boy Scout Camp, Slidell, Louisiana. I earned the forestry merit badge.
1954 - Losing my friend, Jerry Noto, in the Wolf River. We often would go swimming in this river during the summertime at a place called Bells Ferry. I had just begun a new job with Ratliff Oil Company and did not go. J.C. Necaise and Corky Whitman challenged him to swim across the river with them and, although Jerry was an Eagle Scout, he was not a very good swimmer. He took the challenge and did not make it. Corky tried to help him but Jerry grabbed him and took him down with him. Corky was able to fight free but lost his swim trunks in the process. The police dragged the river and found his body later that day. I was a pallbearer. We wore our Sea Scout Uniforms. I usually went swimming with them, and I would have gone with them had I not had to work. It was common for someone to dare others to do something stupid.
In the same swimming hole, another teenager dove out of a tree, hit a submerged log, and broke his neck. He was in the hospital at the same time that I had my first hernia surgery. I visited him and was impressed that he had screws in his head to pull his neck vertebrae apart. Later, I heard that he died.
1955 Camp Salmon, BSA, Slidell, Louisiana. Earned my Forestry Merit Badge, and others. We borrowed Camp's whaleboat and rowed down the bayou to Lake Ponchatrain, where we anchored and went swimming off the boat.
1954 Listening to Dixieland Jazz after scout meetings. This was my favorite music during high school. When rock and roll became popular -- this became my favorite music.
1955 Sea Scouts - the sailboats, the crash boat, the gym, the initiation parties.
1955 Doris and I taking Ratliff to Mobile airport in his Cadillac.
1955 "Watching the submarines" at Henderson Point with Doris.
1955 Trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras.
1955 The Teen-age Canteen Dances.
1955 Building the Quonset hut on Wolf River. Digging the water well.
1955 Going squirrel hunting with Charles and J.C. Necaise.
1955 Parked at Hershal's cabin - date with Doris
1956 Getting bonus for good work at Ratliff Oil - the Leather Jacket, $100.
1956 Freshman Orientation at the YMCA Camp at Starkville, Ms. I got my head shaven and was photographed as I was being thrown into the swimming pool with all of my clothes on. The photo made the front page of the school newspaper.
1956 The Mississippi State Rifle Team. I was an expert marksman, but I did not make the team because I did not attend enough practice sessions .
1957 Pershing Rifles - the initiations, the Memphis Cotton Festival Parade. Hitchhiking back to Starkville from Memphis with Arthur Logue. Arthur and I wanted to hang around Memphis for a few more hours, so we decided to let the bus leave without us and we would simply hitchhike back to college. It was turning dark by the time we left Memphis so it took us most of the night to get back to Starkville. A lonely woman picked us up and invited us to her home. Arthur wanted to go because he was convinced that this would turn into something very excited. I insisted that we try to get back to the college before morning. In 1974, I read in the newspaper where Arthur killed himself. I had no contact with him since 1958. Later, I went to visit his mother in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
1957 The trip to Baton Rouge for the LSU game. I stole a large rotating beer sign off the wall of a crowded nightclub in West Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I do not know how I kept from being caught. I had been drinking heavily or I would not have done this stupid act.
1957 Doris visiting to Miss State for the PiKA Sweetheart Ball.
1958 Doris coming to Miss State for Homecoming game.
1959 During the summer, I worked as a roustabout and roughneck for Crusader Drilling and Well Servicing Company. I met Rosemary Gill, a beautiful girl who was also attending the University of Texas. She was a majorette . Rosemary was visiting relatives in Springhill for the summer. We dated frequently - and on weekends, we would drive to Bossier City to go dancing. This was the first and only time that I ever considered leaving Doris for another girl. Prior to meeting Rosemary, I dated two other girls. One was beautiful, but too young and the other was not quite as pretty, but a hot number. I received a studio picture of Doris in the mail and realized then that she was the one for me.
1960 Worked for Tenneco in Oklahoma City during the summer. I was an engineering assistant. I traveled almost everyday to oilfields all over the state. We shot fluid levels in pumping oil wells, did surveying and miscellaneous fieldwork.
1960 Dated Mary Ann Brown, very pretty brunette. We made a trip to Tulsa together. Blew out a tire.
1960 Attended summer night school at Oklahoma City University - studied Management.
1960 Going hunting with Dad, Luling, Texas. The last time we went hunting, Dad's l951 Chrysler through a rod and we had to leave it by the road, hitch-hike to Luling, and call Mom to come get us.
1961 Tour of the mountain west on the way to Air Force Summer Camp. Jerry Mc? and we spent each night under the stars in a different National Park. Visited Meteor Crater, Sunset Crater, Painted Desert, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion Canyon. We heated our canned meals on the motor block.
1961 Air Force Summer Camp at George AFB, in the high desert near Victorville, California. I did not ever sleep under the covers -- I slept on top of the covers. When I woke up in the mornings, all I had to do to pass inspection was to pat my bed until the ironing board springs under the mattress made the covering blanket so taut that they would easily bounce a quarter. (I was the only one to do this and I did not advertise it). I also had two sets of socks, toothpaste, etc. (one for display and one for daily use). One the display set, the toothpaste cap was clean, and the socks were neatly rolled with a smile facing up, etc. Our barracks, Flight E, pitched in and purchased a floor buffer, which was twenty times faster polishing the floor than doing it by hand. Orientation flights included jets (F-80 shooting star/T-33 trainer), and a C-29 flight over the Grand Canyon.
The decompression chamber.
The high altitude blackout training.
Near the end of the Summer Camp, they gave us a dress blues dance, where all the local young women were invited. Those with excessive demerits could not attend. Most of us had to get up an hour earlier to march off demerits (around the parade ground) before daylight -- this was hell.
The last week was an "escape and evasion" exercise, where they dropped us off at dusk in the middle of the desert and we were instructed to make it to an objective before daylight. We had to make it past the scorpions, snakes, the search lights, police dogs, and military police riding around in Jeeps trying to capture us. Those captured were treated like prisoners of war (The Military Police were also getting their training in capturing escapees).
1961 Sept Jerry and I took a week to drive back to Texas. We went west to Los Angeles, Newport Beach (attended a big dance -- the girls in California could not jitterbug -- all they wanted to do was ‘twist’, which I thought was a rather stupid way to dance I thought that holding a girl was an important part of the dance), San Diego, Tijuana, Mexico (attended a Jai-lie game). Police waking us up with their boot before daylight and kicking us off the beach at Newport Beach, California.
1961 Sept 9 Marriage to Doris Pauline Kowalski - my high school sweetheart.
1961 Sept 10,11 Our honeymoon - during Hurricane Carla in Houston, Texas. Visited Doris’ family, since none of them attended our wedding.
1961 Sept Our first apartment in Austin. This was a very modest garage apartment on Ethridge Street. Doris could see that it was my car pulling into the garage because she could look through the floorboards and see my car.
1962 Graduation from the University of Texas in Austin, June 2. Received B. S. Degree in Petroleum Engineering. Mom, Dad, and Doris attended. Charles was in the US Army in Germany, serving as Captain in the Corps of Engineers. This was a great day in my life.
1962 June 2. Commissioned as Second Lt. in USAF at University of Texas - Austin. I had served for 3 years in Air Force ROTC. Previously I had served 2 years in Army ROTC at Mississippi State University. I got into Army ROTC as a Freshmen because I was simply following my brother’s lead. He had gotten into the Army because his eyes could not pass the Air Force exam. In addition, one had to go to a lot more effort to get into the Air Force. ROTC was mandatory at Miss. State, and unless you made the effort, you wound up in the Army Corp.
1962 June Reported to work for Mobil Oil Company in Hobbs, New Mexico. After the first day of work, we looked for an apartment. Found one in southeast Hobbs, signed a lease and moved in the following day. After working a few days in Hobbs, the district Manager decided to transfer us to Kermit, Texas. Therefore, we packed our stuff in another U-Haul Trailer (by this time we had purchased a cedar wardrobe and a few other household items.)
1962 June. Moved into our first rented house in Kermit, Texas. Our front door opened directly into an oil field junkyard!
1962 June. Worked at a gas processing plant. I helped to overhaul a large Cooper-Bessemer Gas Compressor.
1962 July. Staying at the Temporary Officer's Quarters, March Air Force Base, with Doris. Our first night there, we made our first attempt to conceive a child. We were successful and our first son, David Britt, was born nine months later.
My first assignment was to the 15th Reconnaissance Technical Squadron, where we made Air Target Charts for the B-52 Strategic Bomber Crews. We used photography from U-2 spy planes (Code name Antone), Reconnaissance Satellites (Code name Chess) and, later, the SR-71 Blackbirds (Code name Oxcart). Incidentally, these ultra-high security areas inside an already Top Secret area, were behind a green door (presumably after a popular song, What is behind the green door.)
Background: Shortly before I was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the US Air Force, I took a battery of intelligence exams which were designed to determine where I would be placed when I went on active duty. When I was interviewed by the examining officer, he told me that I had scored high generally, average in some areas, but in a particular area I tested extremely high -- so high in fact that I maxed out this portion of the exam. I was told that it was not possible for me to have scored higher. This extraordinary ability that I have is in the area of spatial orientation, visual acuity, and pattern recognition.
Of course, the military always asked for personal preferences, and all my requests were ignored -- I was assigned to Strategic Air Command as an Intelligence Officer (specifically working with the Spy-in-the-sky Program (U-2, SR71 Blackbird, and Reconnaissance Satellites). I spent three months in ACIC photo-cartography school and, out of a class of 30, I finished with the highest grade of all the officers. After serving six months, my performance evaluation showed that I ranked in the top one percent of officers of my rank. I was selected to attend Air University’s War College, where I was the only Lieutenant in a class of thirty officers. There were only two Captains: all the rest were Majors through Colonel. Because of this, I was selected to serve in the Air Force Headquarters Intelligence Directorate, where I was the Chief of the Target Development Branch, a position normally held by a Captain or Major. I reported to a Lieutenant Colonel., named Col. Redmond. My personal assistant was Senior Master Sergeant Cox, who had as many stripes as it was possible to obtain. He lost one stripe because he could not locate a Certificate of Destruction on a top secret document, which he was positive the had destroyed. While he was working for me, he had part of his lower lip removed because of cancer (he smoked about 3 packs of cigarettes every day
We obtained a one bedroom apartment in Sunnymead, California, a very small community that was mainly a wide place in the road with a service station and no place to shop or buy groceries. The place is now the city of Moreno Valley, California, which is a very large, modern and busy community. The whole area was just a big dry desert when we lived there. There was not even a grocery store. We bought groceries at the March Air Force Base PX.
1962 I was assigned to Aeronautical Chart and Information Center in St. Louis, Mo. for three months of cartography training. I made the highest grade in the class of about 30. We stayed in private housing, in a boarding house that catered to the students at ACIC. Doris went back to stay with her folks in Pass Christian, so we could save money on rent.
1962 October. The Cuban Missile Crisis. My most frightening military experience was the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. I was convinced that we were going to war with the USSR and I believed that, once it started, we were as good as dead. Was I ever surprised and relieved when the Soviets turned their missile ships around. We were actually going to sink them and launch an attack on Cuba and quite possibly launch our nuclear force (28,000 nuclear warheads) against the Soviet Union and China if they had not backed down. There was no question in my mind at the time -- we were going to war with the Soviet Union and we were all going to die. All the food products, batteries, toilet paper, etc. disappeared from the grocery shelves within a few hours. There were only a few items on the shelves, like salt, baking soda, magazines – not much more.
1962 December -- Doris visited me in St Louis, buying Christmas presents & playing in snow. We walked on the ice of the park Lake. Looking back on this – it was not very smart of me to allow Doris, who was pregnant at the time, to walk on the ice.
1962 January -- When we returned to March Air Force Base, we moved into a small four room (two bedroom) duplex house at 21753 Auton Drive, Riverside, California. This was in Arnold Heights Officer Housing on the base. We visited the place in June 1998 with Darin's family and the homes were completely run down and overgrown with weeds – but the electricity was still on in the houses – strange situation. It was sad to see it so run down.
1963 Apr. 27 Birth of our first son, David Britt Mangum at March Air Force Base Hospital, Riverside, California.
1964 I was promoted to First Lieutenant and served as Chief of the Target Development Branch (DITD) of Headquarters Intelligence Directorate, 15th Air Force, Strategic Air Command, March Air Force Base, California. A better name for my group would have been Target Destruction Branch, since our job was to destroy targets. I was the one and only Reconnaissance Technical Officer for 15th Air Force. I received a Top Secret Security Clearance; in addition, I received some other clearances, which were so sensitive that I was forbidden to even acknowledge their existence. I was made to understand that my very life would be in jeopardy if I should ever compromise these clearances.
I was in daily contact with the entire Emergency War Order (EWO), which was regularly printed out by computer. The Senior Master Sergeant (Sergeant Cox) who was responsible for preparing this computer document was on my staff. Immediately prior to being assigned to my staff, he had been assigned as the main Non-Commissioned Officer assistant to the Cournel in charge of Fifteenth Air Force Intelligence. Sgt Cox had been demoted because, during an security audit, he was unable to produce a ‘Certificate of Destruction’ certifying that a particular classified document had been destroyed. About once a quarter I would be assigned to ‘Burn Detail’ -- I would spend the entire day signing Certificates of Destruction on documents that I personally witnessed their being burned in the huge incendiary oven at the rear of the Reconnaissance Technical Squadron (Recky-Tech) Building. We burned U-2 film, SR-71 Blackbird Film, and Spy-in-the-Sky Satellite Film by the ton. We collected and recycled the silver that melted out of the film.
One of my security clearances (CHESS) had to do with the reconnaissance satellites that were then orbiting the Soviet Union and China. This was also referred to as the "Green Door" clearance (there was a popular song about that time "What's Behind the Green Door"). We received excellent photos on a regular basis showing missile sites, military installations, and cities.
Another clearance that I was given had to do with the SR-71 spy plane. A very few of us were briefed on this plane, but we were forbidden to discuss any detail of the plane with any of our associates -- even those who had also been briefed on the plane. This plane could fly at 80,000 feet at Mach 3 and take aerial photographs that were outstanding.
One of my jobs was to assure the quality of the Strategic Air Target Charts and Combat Crew Study Folders (CCSF) being produced by the 15th Reconnaissance Technical Squadron (the "Recky Tech"). I would visit Air Force Bases throughout 15th Air Force to determine if the B-52 bomber crews were finding the CCSF's to be effective. Fifteenth Air Force Bases were located in the Western part of the USA, Alaska, and Guam. Our responsibility was to destroy China and the Western half of the Soviet Union in case of nuclear war. We were also called upon to plot B-52 bomb runs to Vietnam. We would simply receive a set of target coordinates, which upon examination of the photo intelligence (U-2, and RF-102 low level reconnaissance) showed only dense jungle. We were occasionally told that the targets were underground Viet-Cong bunkers, so the fuses on the 1000-pound bombs were set to go off after deep penetration of the soil. We never did post analysis of the damage - this was done by ground grunts. My friend, David Noble, later told me that this was one of his jobs and that our work was highly effective. This project was called ARC LIGHT. The project, called IRON BOMB, was the refitting of the B-52s to carry conventional bombs in addition to Nukes. B-52 pilots assigned to the ‘Southeast Asian Milk Run" would fly temporary duty (TDY) from March Air Force Base to the island of Guam and for two weeks would make a daily trip to Vietnam and deliver their "eggs". A B-52 could be configured to carry 108 750 pound bombs. From time to time I would have to work late hours to help prepare the bombing plan for the B-52 crew.
About once per month, I would be called to serve as overnight Intelligence watch officer. I would spend the night in the Intelligence Center, gathering intelligence coming through the security service, which I perceived would be of interest to General Archie Old and his staff. I would give a stand-up flip chart briefing to the entire staff about 7am, then I was off for the rest of the day -- unless something very "hot" was going on.
Occasionally we would be put on full alert, which we had no way of knowing if they were real or just for practice. This exercise would keep us on our toes so that we would always react the same way, whether the situation was real or not. The fact that we were still alive, helped us conclude that there was not a real attack, so we could relax until we got ‘destroyed’ - then we could go home. Sometime, these alerts got very scary, because there was either a real crisis going on or the Soviets were having a practice event, and we would go on full alert (DEFCON 4). This would usually be when the USSR was having a periodic practice events. We had no way of knowing whether or not if the enemy was actually attacking the USA and/or western Europe. We would scramble all of our operational B-52s and B-47s, fully loaded with nuclear weapons and headed for the Soviet Union. Even during calm periods, we would keep a sizable percentage of our planes airborne, flying CHROME DOME. This was the code name for our program of keeping our a varying percentage of our bombers flying a pattern in the Arctic Ocean - just waiting for the signal to make a swift strike against USSR and China. There would be a code transmitted to all aircraft in the air that would let the bomber crews know if they should continue and actually attack their assigned targets.
As an Intelligence Officer with Strategic Air Command, I was the Chief of the Target Development Branch in charge of, among other things, coordinating our post-strike program (Codename FACELIFT). At the time, this was a seemingly impossible task, but we did the best we could with primitive computers. At least, I understand the problem, which has not changed. I was cleared for Top Secret, including a special clearance to work with the entire Emergency War Plan for all branches of the military.
I am also a cartographic specialist -- I graduated second in my class from Aeronautical Chart and Information Center. Another special ability that I have which may be applicable to your work, is my Spatial Intelligence Rating of 99 percentile (highest possible). I still have this demonstratable ability, which may somehow be useful to your Rapid Target Modeling and Intelligent Map Understanding Projects.
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Previously, Dr. Cesar Abeigne and James Fisher have both worked for David Mangum on a wildcat exploration venture in Central Texas, where aerial photography was used to locate potential hydrocarbon deposits in fractured reservoirs.
Additionally, regarding the specific skill of aerial photograph interpretation, David Mangum has an extraordinary “gift” that is second to none. When he was tested prior to his entry into the U.S. Air Force, the testing determined that no one had ever scored higher on that section of the test. Partly because of this skill, along with his other leadership abilities, David was selected to become the Reconnaissance Technical Liaison Officer between Headquarters Strategic Air Command Intelligence Directorate and the only U-2 Spy Plane Squadron in the United States Air Force. David later became the Chief of the Target Development Group in the Headquarters Intelligence Directorate, where he was responsible for the quality of the B-52 Air Target Charts produced from photography taken by “Spy-in-the-Sky” Satellites, U-2, and SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance. David demonstrated that he could quickly locate camouflaged Russian Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Silos on spy photographs when a normal person may not be able to find them at all. This particular skill has direct correlation with the ability to find hydrocarbons.
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1965 - An examining eye doctor told me that only one in ten-thousand people have eye sight as sharp as mine. He said that my vision tested 20/12.
1964 Had TMJ very bad - could not even open my mouth at times. Dentist helped. Later Dental surgery - wisdom tooth on upper left had to be pulled - it broke off and it had to be chiseled out.
1965 Apr. Grandmother Marietta Westbrook Hughey died, Port Arthur, Texas. Buried in cemetery at Liberty, Ms. I was unable to attend because of Air Force obligations.
1965 Apr. Released from active duty from the US Air Force. I accepted a job as a Petroleum Engineer with Mobil Oil Company in Wichita Falls, Texas.
1965 April As fate would have it, I met another Mormon, David J. Cherrington, who was the District Geological Manager for Mobil Oil. I found it unusual that a geologist could believe Mormon doctrine. So, I asked him questions about how could he could have such fundamental beliefs and function as a geologist. When he suggested that I meet with the young missionaries, I concluded that he did not know much about the Mormon Church. As it turned out, later I found out that he was the Bishop of the Wichita Falls Ward. He was just following policy by letting the missionaries teach investigators.
1965 May. I began to meet with the missionaries of the Mormon Church. I met with various missionaries and I deliberately gave them a hard time. Very early in my investigation, Doris met with us during the discussions. In our first meeting with them in November 1964 at March Air Force Base, Riverside, California, I found that their “canned” presentation turned me off. So, I asked the missionaries not to return -- with the instructions, “don’t call us – we will call you”. As instructed, they never returned.
1965 September – On one occasion, when I was being taught by Elders Teike and Elder Charles E. Kalin (from Pullman, Washington) I responded to Elder Kalin in a manner that made him start crying. Specifically, I told him that I could not accept his proof statement from the Bible because I did not accept the Bible as the Word of God nor did I accept Jesus as a “Savior” – I thought that Jesus was simply a Teacher of Righteousness and that “God” was simply a creation of the human mind – because mankind felt inherently insecure and he needed a father image to cling to. (It was an interesting meeting when I ran into Elder Kalin again in Midland, Texas in June 1966)
1965 Oct I accepted a challenge from the missionaries (Specifically Elders Mortenson and Richard Charles Larson) to begin praying about the things they were teaching me. Prior to this time I had steadfastly refused to pray about anything, because I believed prayer to be a form a hypnosis and I certainly did not want to hypnotize myself into believing that something is true when it was really false.
1965 October. The very first night that I said my personal prayers in years -- concerning all the things I had been studying this past year -- I received a spiritual confirmation (as a knowing or a burning in my busome)that the Book of Mormon is true. All of a sudden, I knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. Now that I knew this, I felt that I must therefore accept the testimony of Joseph Smith that there is a God, and the Holy Bible is true and that Jesus is the Christ. I had not accepted this prior to this date. I was very anti-organized religion and I believed that the Bible was just another good book of stories and that Jesus was just another Teacher of Righteousness. I now accept Him as my Savior. Although I really did not want to join the Mormon Church, I recognized that this is something that I must do, simply because this was something that Jesus wanted me to do. I also accepted the fact that I also must quit my use of tobacco and alcohol and I knew that this was going to prove difficult. However, I also knew that this was the very best path for me to be on. Alcoholism runs deep in our family; my father and his brother Howard was an alcoholic and I know that, as much as I love the taste and feel of alcohol, I could easily become addicted also.
1965 Oct 16 -- Baptized at the Wichita Falls, Texas Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Elder Richard Charles Larson, from Williston, South Dakota. This was perhaps the best decision of my life.
1965 Dec -- After several confrontations with Elder Ballard (from Montana) Doris ask that she be taught by another Elder. She was then taught by Elder Mick Jardine Doris was baptized in LDS church while pregnant with Duane. She was baptized by Elder Thomas Watrous from Ski Resort Area east of Salt Lake City, Utah. We had dinner with his family in September 1967 and Thomas attended our Temple sealing on Sep 7, 1967)
1966 About Feb -- I baptized Monte and Agnes Monzingo, Wichita Falls, Texas.
1966 Mar 11 -- Birth of our second son, Duane Grady Mangum, Wichita Falls, Texas. Bethany Hospital. He had a lot of hair. All went well.
1966 Mobil Oil transferred me from Wichita Falls to Midland, Texas. Rented a house on Pecos Street, just south of the big drainage ditch.
1966 December Accepted a job with Shell Pipeline Company in Houston, Texas. Left Doris and the two boys with my parents in San Antonio, Texas. I stayed two weeks in a rented apartment while I searched for a home to purchase. I bought an almost new house at (3515???) Hinds Street in Sun Valley Subdivision, just south of Edgebrook Drive in the southeast part of Houston.
1967 Tent camping with Doris, Britt and Duane at Camp Liahona, the LDS Church Campgroung northwest of Cleveland, Texas. I foldly remember the midnight home run.
THE FIRST PIPELINE POWER OPTIMIZATION PROGRAM
1967 -- was responsible for programming the industry’s first Pipeline Power Optimization Program. This was applied to the Rancho Oil Pipeline, which runs from west Texas to Houston. This program saved Shell a lot of money.
While at Shell, I baptized Cherry Cloud, my boss’s secretary. This was a golden experience, but not well received by fellow employees. My boss, Jim Duele reprimanded me for discussing religion in the work place. I had to dunk her three times because she was extremely afraid of the water. He fear was so great that she almost decided that she could not be baptized.
THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY’S FIRST MWD SYSTEM
1968 I quit Shell and went to work as Manager of Applications for a new company, The Analysts Petroleum Engineering Service Company, which later became the AnaDrill Division of Schlumberger. We were on the leading edge of a new technology called Measurement While Drilling (MWD). We had many other Petroleum Engineering Computer Programs which we sold. Looking back, it is clear to me that I had become involved with a new technology whose time had not yet come. The petroleum industry was not ready for this quantum leap. As of this writing (1999), MWD is a well accepted technology used throughout the industry and it is highly profitable division of Schlumberger.
As Manager of Applications, it was my responsibility to take the data collection system to the field (on a Texaco well west of Freer, Texas). It was imperative that we get a good recommendation from Texaco , so, I had to make it work. Fortunately, we did get an acceptable recommendation from Texaco which helped us get orders from a few other companies. The trouble was, we were being funded with monies from each company’s research and development budget. When they had used our service once, they said that they had learned a lot but elected not to use our service again. I could see the handwriting on the wall -- our company was heading for disaster.
After this first field application, it was painfully obvious that the hardware data collection device that we had built (by Martin Decker in Southern California) needed to be completely redesigned. I quickly learned that we could not use rig power because it was not clean enough -- too many power surges and brownouts. Additionally, the data collection box on the rig floor was water resistant but not water proof from high pressure hoses (The roughnecks would spray the box with high pressure hoses when no one was looking). Also, the data analysis procedure left a lot to be desired. Each time the driller stopped drilling to change bits, it was necessary for me to gather the collected data (a large roll of one-inch paper tape from an old Model 33 Teletype machine) and drive like crazy to the motel in Freer, dial up the computer in Houston (via a 110 baud telephone handset modem), perform my computer analysis of the collected data, and rush back to the well site with the drilling recommendations for the net bit. The telephone operators would often disconnect the telephone connection because they thought the high-pitched tone meant that something was wrong with the telephone. All this was highly innovative, but we were light years away from where we needed to be to have a highly effective tool that everyone would want.
Our investors (ComShare) were not too happy when we told them that we must redesign the system from the ground up. We selected one of the new Data Automation Mini-Computers. With this digital computer, we could do our analysis on location; we did not have to drive to the nearest telephone to transmit the data to Houston. The mini-computer was also highly flexible; a feature that was non-existent in the old analog hardware.
The President of the Analysts called a company wide meeting and said, ‘If sales do not improve, the company will go out of business, so, from now on, there are no more managers in this company, there are only salesmen -- everyone, including himself, must get out on the street all day, every day, and sell something’.
1968 July The Analysts were having financial difficulty and my job was eliminated. I talked management into sending me to California to take over as Manager of the company’s West Coast Division. The entire staff there had been terminated before I arrived so I had an empty suite of offices all by myself. My main challenge was to make enough sales to keep the company in business. This was like climbing a vertical cliff and all of us were highly discouraged. I spent all day, five days a week, out on the streets, calling on oil companies from Bakersfield to Los Angeles trying to find business. When I did find new business, I was also expected to teach the customer how to use the Petroleum Engineering Online Software. I would have to do my paperwork at night and on weekends so I could be productive during the day. I carried a Model 33 teletype terminal with me everywhere I went, so I could demonstrate the programs online. (the speed of transmission was 110 Baud, which translate to 110 characters per second. This was painfully slow, compared to transmission rates that became commonplace a few years later). I was allowed to fly back to Houston once or twice a month. I was not totally unsuccessful, in fact, my Division was the leading Division in the Company. However, the entire company was fast going down the tubes.
A SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE
1968 I was offered a wonderful job with significantly higher salary with ICCC, a well funded (by Neiman Marcus) computer company in Dallas. It seemed like such a logical choice that I accepted the job almost immediately. I noticed an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach, so I thought that I would pray about my decision. When I prayed, I continued to experience a stupor of thought, rather than the warm feeling that I thought that I would feel. The more I prayed, the more disturbed I would become. Finally, in exasperation, made a decision to turn down the offer and I presented this decision to the Lord. Upon doing this, I felt a warm comfortable feeling sweep over me. I felt unable to call the ICCC president and explain to him why I wasn’t going to take his offer, because I did not know what reason I could possible tell him that he would understand. So, I sent him a telegram that I had changed my mind and would not be accepting the job – I offered no reason. He search firm that found me that job called me and said that my name was going to be mud throughout the industry. After turning down that job, I felt absolutely stupid -- particularly since my current job was so uncertain. Sure enough, my job situation did get worse and I was days away from termination when I finally got another job -- but in Los Angeles, not in Houston. Many times over the next few months I concluded that I had made a poor decision, however, about nine months later, I happened to read a very small newspaper article that said that ICCC had filed for bankruptcy and was shutting down. Had I taken that job, I would have moved my family to Dallas and found myself unemployed. I do not know the reasons why I should not have taken that job, but I do know that I made the right decision. (See DECISION MAKING in the WISDOM section below.)
1968 Oct 20 I knew that the The Analysts were about to fail, so I accepted a job with headquarters Xerox Data Systems in El Segundo, California. I negotiated with Xerox to agree to move me to Houston after I finished an assignment as Project Manager responsible for testing their Functional Mathematical Programming System (FMPS), which was the very best linear programming software available anywhere. This software was developed by Bonner and Moore Computing Systems in Houston. It was commonly used to optimize production from refineries.
This assignment in El Segundo was supposed to last only a few months, but it actually lasted much longer. I would continue to fly to Las Angeles and work for two weeks, then I would fly to Houston for a weekend. Then I would fly back to California and work for another two weeks. During this time I live in various motels or Hotels around the Los Angeles Airport.
This was my first experience of earthquakes. Once, I was awakened in the middle of the night with my bed bouncing around like someone was jumping on it. It was very frightening. There were numerous small tremors, which were not scary, only apprehensive – wondering if this was the “Big One”.
1968 October 22 My first Nephew was born in Houston, to my brother, Charles and his wife, Judy Woodhall (our childhood friend). His name is Scott Woodhall Mangum. (Make an entry about their first child, Shannon Mangum).
1969 Xerox finally reassigned me to Houston where I had a wonderful job as Regional Technical Specialist, reporting directly to the Regional Manager.
1969 Apr 3 -- Birth of our third son, Darin Hughey Mangum, at South East Baptist Memorial Hospital. Darin was a caesarean delivery and all went very well. We had casually gone to the hospital in the morning and by afternoon we had a new baby.
1969 – Winter – Regional Xerox Data Systems Kick-off meeting in the French Quarter in New Orleans. This was a very good period of my life – I had a good job, I was highly respected by all, and my family situation was great.
1971 May 26 -- Birth and Death of my forth son, Douglas Westbrook Mangum. Doris almost died from loss of blood due to placenta-previa. Bishop Hopkins and Therald Ward came to the hospital and gave her a blessing. She was unconscious for days but fully recovered. Looking back and applying my current day knowledge, I think that the Excedrin tablets that she took earlier that day thinned her blood to such a degree that her blood would not clot -- this almost cost her life. Also, it was not too smart of me to have grabbed a red towel to take with us to the hospital -- this made it difficult for the ER people to know just how much blood she had really lost. I have often wondered if I would have grabbed a white towel (instead of a red one), would Douglas be alive today? Also, I think I made a mistake in not insisting that I stay with Doris until the doctor arrived. It was a long time before he got to the hospital – apparently, the doctor must not have though it was a real emergency. What if I would have stayed with Doris and raised a ruckus, would that have made a difference? I recognize that it is not wise to play these “what if” games. It is like beating up on myself.
1971 Xerox Data Systems (Formerly Scientific Data Systems (SDS))was widely recognized to have much better scientific computers than IBM. However, IBM had better commercial computers. IBM also had better connections in top management of large corporations. Xerox made a decision to go head-to-head competition with IBM for a larger share of the commercial market. This turned out to be a big mistake for Xerox. IBM kicked our butt in the commercial computing market and Digital Equipment Corporation began to capture a larger share of the technical computing market, which was our strength. Xerox began to place less emphasis on the main-frame computing business and to use the computer manufacturing facility to make computer components for their smart copiers.
1972 My staff position as Regional Technical Specialist was eliminated and I was assigned as the Systems Engineer for TRW Systems, who was one of largest customers. I replaced a guy who had just been fired. This was a very high pressure work environment. As long as things went along without any problems I was not given any recognition. However, occasionally something would crash and all eyes were upon me to get the system functioning. The company was dependent on these computers to make payroll, in addition to the huge aerospace technical load they were responsible for. On one terrible occasion, the system failed and as I kept trying to upload corrections to the system, the Hollerith Card Reader kept chewing up the cards in a huge deck (thousands) of cards. I had been awake most of the night before and it was about 4 AM on the following night when I experienced what felt like a thousand bees stinging me in my mid-back. I ran to the restroom and stripped my clothes, expecting to find fleas or something eating my flesh. I found no bugs – only huge red and swollen whelps all over my back. I didn’t know what it was but I knew that I could not possible continue working. I ran to my car and drove home as fast as I could – this took about 45 minutes – the pain was excruciating. At Doris’s insistence, I drove myself to the hospital emergency room. The doctor diagnosed my condition as “Hives” – due to nervous overload. Simple Benedryl caused the hives to go away about daybreak.
1972 – As things got worse for Xerox, I was asked to take a technical support job in Dallas, Texas. Again, I found myself working in one city and my family living in another city. This was another difficult period in my life. I would drive to Dallas on Monday morning and drive home Friday night. Xerox wanted me to relocate my family to Dallas, but I was very nervous about this because of Xerox’s financial problems. What I later found out is that Xerox had made a high level corporate decision to reduce their commitment to the mainframe computer business. Ultimately Xerox Data Systems completely stopped making mainframe computers and used their El Segundo manufacturing to make computer components for their intelligent copiers.
1973 Xerox then reassigned me as the Tech Support Manager for the District Office in Jackson, Mississippi. After I found a home at 110 Meadow Lane in Clinton, Mississippi, the company moved us from our home at 10315 Hinds Street in Houston. As the Technical Computer Specialist for an area covering several states, I was also the Xerox Company Representative responsible for the computer system at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. This assignment had an added benefit of allowing me to get to know our relatives in Mendenhall and McComb, Mississippi.
Uncle Wilkin took me to the old Mangum homestead east of Magee, where my dad was born and raise. The house was still standing and we were able to go inside. Wilkin showed me a bullet hole in the door frame where a rifle had accidentally discharged at the kitchen table.
Uncle Oliver took me to the old Hughey homestead in the eastern part of Amite County where my Grandmother Marietta Westbrook Hughey was raised. Again, the home was in terrible condition and about to collapse – however, I was able to go inside. Oliver also showed me the tiny cemetery where several of my great grandparents were buried.
1974 Xerox finally announced that they were getting out of the Computer Mainframe business, so again my job was eliminated. Fortunately, I interviewed for and was given the job as the Telecopier (facsimile) Communications Specialist for the Southern Region (an area from Texas to Georgia). I did very well in this job, however I felt out of my element and I had secretly made the decision to quit Xerox and get back into the oil business.
1974 Xerox sent me to Rochester, New York, where they sent me through their communications school. This allowed me to visit nearby Palmyra, New York, the birthplace of Mormonism. I also visited Canada, and Niagara Falls.
When I quit Xerox, I was on top -- I was given many awards for my performance in helping the sales force market fax machines. I was responsible for greatly expanding the statewide EKG Network. Many lives were saved because a GP Doctor could fax an EKG to the University Medical Center in Jackson and get an interpretation from the experts . I also installed the first fax machines in the US Corps of Engineers for use by all Mississippi River Monitoring offices.
1975 May 12. Birth of our fifth son, Daniel Gardner Mangum (Dan-G). When Daniel was less than 10 days old, he began crying hysterically and Doris was truly inspired to take him to the Hospital Emergency room in the middle of the night. A spinal tap revealed that he had meningitis. The doctor said that if we had waited even a few hours longer that Daniel probably would not have survived. As it was, the doctors only gave him a 50/50 chance -- and if he did survive, he would likely have brain damage. Doris has O Positive blood and Daniel and I both have A+ blood so the Doctor questioned me privately whether or not I had been using drugs or other substances that might prove fatal to my son. Thanks to my commitment to my temple covenants, I was able to give Daniel a direct vein-to-vein blood transfusion. Had it not been for Doris's inspiration, Daniel would not alive today. Also, had it not been for the healing power of the Priesthood, I believe that Daniel would not be alive today. I fervently prayed that, if God would preserve Daniel’s life, I would do all within my means to raise him so that he would have a desire to serve the Lord. He was blessed that he would grow to manhood and be a valiant servant in the Kingdom of God. The Lord answered our prayers and Daniel was completely healed – and remarkably, he had no brain damage. This blessing absolutely came true -- Dan grew to manhood without causing his parent the least degree of concern. At one time or another, I blessed all of my children that they would be righteous disciples of Jesus Christ and they would do a great work in the Kingdom of God. Of all of my children, I am extremely pleased with the way Daniel has matured into a God-loving Member of the Church of Latter-day Saints and how he and Dawn are passing on this heritage to his children.
1975 December. Accepted a new job as Manager of Technical Services with the Coastal Corporation in Houston, Texas. About every two weeks I would drive back to Clinton to visit my family for a weekend. This continued from December, January, February, and March. All this while, I was looking for a home to purchase and trying to sell our home in Clinton. Finally, I lowered the price of our Clinton sufficiently that it sold.
1976 April -- I signed a lease with an option to purchase a home at 25602 Pecan Valley Circle and we moved into our home on xx April 1976. Coastal paid for the move. The population of The Woodlands was about 2000 at this time and it was the common wisdom that The Woodlands was destined to fail, because very few people would want to commute 30 miles to Houston. This was a bedroom community and there were very few companies located in South Montgomery County. I concluded that I liked the area so much that it would be ok with me if The Woodlands would fail.
1976 It was very important to me that our family live at least 30 miles outside of Houston. Why? I had concluded that it was inevitable that the USA would one day have to fight the Soviet Union in a Third World War. As a former USAF (Strategic Air Command} Intelligence Officer and graduate of Air University War College, I was trained as a Nuclear Weapons Employment Specialist. After determining that the USSR would employ a 20 megaton on a city the size of Houston, I calculated that a frame house would actually survive the blast. The calculations showed that the blast would char the paint and break all the glass but it would not initially kill us. We would actually have time to throw the kids in the car and drive north before the fallout began to rain down on us. And there would be few, if any, cars rolling north on I-45 out of Houston. I am happy to say that this was one of my major assumptions that did not happen the way I had concluded. No one was more surprised than me when the Iron Curtain came down in 1989.
1978 Began working towards an Executive MBA Degree by Attending Pepperdine (Houston Campus)on weekends and evenings. I studied approximately three hours per day for two years.
1979 March or April - Ski trip to Steamboat Springs with the family. The kids did very well, but Doris fell and said that she would never again go skiing -- and she meant it. I did not have time to ski, because I was attending a training class. This was the first time that Duane Grady and Darin had seen snow. And Britt was too young to remember the snow we had in Wichita Falls, Texas. This was the first time that I had ever seen a double rainbow (in Colorado) -- it was beautiful.
1980 Graduation from Pepperdine University with a Masters of Business Administration. I did not attend graduation ceremonies because we were broke.
1981 D. Britt graduates from McCullough High School.
1982 Formed the Energy Exchange, Inc., the petroleum industry's first multiple listing service.
1982 Also served as Vice President of Investment Banking for Pocari-Fearnow. An inventor, Eggleston, came to me to get me to help him fund his invention -- a pizeo-electrical generator. An agency of the US Government approached me about using this invention for a Top Secret military project. They updated my Security Clearance and briefed me on the project. (I had been previously cleared for Top Secret -Emergency War Plan during my Air Force days). The military plans to use this device to provide long-term electrical power for an underwater application. The plan is to place nuclear weapons into merchant or fishing vessels and stage an "sinking accident" just offshore of Soviet coastal cities. The vessel, with its nuke, would just lie on the bottom of the sea until war breaks out. The nuke would then be detonated by a transmitted signal and the result would be the destruction of the coastal city by a gigantic wave from the sea. The agency took over this project.
1982 July 13 My Father died. I have since often wished that I would have spent more time with him. He was a very intelligent man. Before he died, he told me that he loved me. I did not doubt his love for me, but throughout my life, he never told me that he loved me. That was something that men of his generation were not comfortable with. Once, shortly before his death, he began to cry when I told him how proud I was that he was my Father. He said that he did not feel like he had been a good father because he was not there for us as much as he thought he should be when we were growing up. I never felt resentful about him being away for so much of the time while I was growing up. I remember a few hunting and fishing trips that meant a lot to me. It is true that, compared to the amount of time that I spent with my children, he did not give me much of his time. Also, before he died, he told me that he believed that the Book of Mormon was true. He said that he would never join the Church because he was anti-organized religion, and besides, he did not want to give up his alcohol. He was hooked on alcohol and sometimes he knew it. Earlier, he had said that he could quit drinking anytime he wanted to -- he simply did not want to. Later, he realized that he could not give it up. At times, he was in denial and would get extremely angry when Mom suggested that he go to AA.
My Father had ceased going to church with my Mother when the pastor of Terrell Hills Baptist Church took the building fund and purchased a plot of land on the outskirts of San Antonio and built the new church there instead in the neighborhood of the longstanding church. This left the older people in that part of town without a neighborhood church -- they now had to drive to the suburbs to the new church location. Most of them in the older neighbor did not drive this long distance, but rather began going to other Baptist churches. Dad thought this was a self-serving action the pastor’s part and declared that he would never attend church at the new location -- he came close to living up to this declaration. He was a very honest and righteous man -- I never knew him to take advantage of another person. Mom went to church alone every Sunday and she was a Sunday School Teacher for as far back as I can remember -- at least from the late 1950's.
1982 Learning to play the Harmonica
1984 D. Grady graduates from McCullough High School.
1985 Duane Grady Mangum begins serving 2-year LDS mission in Fresno, California.
1985 D. Britt graduates from Univ. of Texas in Business Administration.
1987 Darin graduates from McCullough High School.
1987 Bought Mom a brand new Cadillac - as I promised her I would do back in 1944. Paid cash.
1987 Bought Doris a brand new 2 door Cadillac Eldorado -- white with red leather upholstery. Paid cash.
1988 Darin Hughey Mangum begins serving two year LDS Mission, Ogden, Utah. He served in Salt Lake City; Ogden; Tremonton; Malad, Idaho & Green River, Wyoming.
1988 Scuba diving trip to Florida with Duane to get our certification. Dived into the limestone sinkholes and underwater caves. Huge eels in the caves.
1989 Marriage of D. Britt to Pamela Carol Collins Cox, New Waverly, TX. Brandon Kent Cox, age 2, becomes our first Grandson. Pam used to work for me (and Britt) at Woodlands Energy Corp. She is a very intelligent girl who knows what she wants in life. She will make Britt a good wife and mother to their children.
1989 Learning to play the guitar.
1989 Feb 19. Completed Silva Mind Control Course with Doris and Dan. Our family began saying "Cancel -- Cancel" whenever someone uttered a negative "program".
1990 Eagle ceremony for Daniel - all four sons are Eagle Rank – another one of my major goals achieved!
1990 Scuba diving trip to Cozamel, Mexico. Dived the "wall" and the underwater caves. I was almost scared to death in the back of the dark cave when my flash shined on two very large fish. Instantly, when the light hit them, they began swimming right toward me -- I thought I was being attacked by what I thought was either sharks or barracudas. They were actually making a break for the cave opening behind us. Same trip -- traveled alone across the channel on the catamaran to visit the Mayan ruins at Tulum south of Cancun, Mexico. Snorkel dived with large stingrays in the beautiful coastal pools north of the ruins.
1990 Bought Mom a new Mercury. The new Cadillac I bought her was stolen from her driveway. It was dragged up on a flatbed truck and they drove away with lights flashing. She never got it back but the insurance paid enough to buy her a new Mercury.
1991 Trip to Hawaii with Doris and Darin. This was a sales contest by Cherry Energy, of which I was a half owner. We had purchased a block of 25 tickets on a charter flight. Visited the Polynesian Cultural Center and the LDS temple.
1991 9Sept Open-Heart surgery - quadruple bypass.
1991 Birth of first grandchild - Harley Elizabeth Mangum (Britt & Pam Cox). She is beautiful.
1991 Marriage of Darin Hughey to Shannon Elizabeth Larsen, LDS Temple, SLC, UT.
Doris and I sponsored the Rehearsal Luncheon at Brigham Young’s Lion House.
1991 Bought New Chevy Hi-top van. Paid cash.
1991 Serving on the High Council.
1992 Working with Darin at Prospector Petroleum.
1992 Going floundering with Dan and Wilber Miller -got our limit.
1992 Drilling the Austin Rice Farms #1 wildcat well. I was a dry hole. Angie's visit to the rig. Ate in Brazoria? Visited Douglas’s grave in Pearland Cemetary.
1992 Darin and Shannon's stay with us. Darin learned the value of self-employment.
1992 New trailer on Duane's property.
1993 Daniel graduates from McCullough High School.
1993 Visit one week with Darin and Shannon on Provo, Utah
1993 Took Dan to Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho
1993 Three-week vacation with Doris. Yellowstone, Victoria, Washington Park, Oregon Park, Watching seals and whales off California coast, Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, Juarez. Bought Clarinet.
The Canadian Border Guards took my 38 Special S&W Revolver away from me. I was furious.
1993 Learning to play the clarinet. I learned to play a few tunes by ear, but I need to practice a lot.
1993 Learned to play the banjo.
1993 Bought 1994 Dodge Pleasure-Way self-contained Van (paid cash).
1993 Bought Doris a new Lincoln Cartier Town Car - paid cash.
1993 Ratliff came to work for me as President of the Energy Exchange.
1993 Dallas Temple trips with Doris on chartered bus.
1993 Financially helped the Rice Family and the Robertson Family.
1993 Drilling the Guerra #1 (Wildcat -- dry hole.
January 1, 1994. This past year was a very good year in all respects. The highlight of the year was my learning to play the violin, which I can only describe as a very spiritual experience. There is no other way I can explain this experience other than a miracle. Learning to play the violin was one of the easiest things I have ever done. It was as if I already knew how to play and music came out of it with no effort on my part. It seemed as if another spirit possessed my body and took control of the violin. Whenever I would concentrate on which strings to play, the worse I would do. The harder I would try to play the right strings the more complicated it seemed. I could play the best when I would just relax and let the music flow with no conscious thought as to what I was playing. I could play the best when my mind and body was exhausted. I even found that the violin would play a tune that I had never practiced (without missing a note) even when I would focus my conscious mind on a newscast on television.
Just for the record, I took the violin as a partial payment on an automobile that I had sold to a friend, Robert Weilmuenster. As a Father's day present, Doris sent the violin to the repair shop to have new strings installed. I went to my friend Mel Dupaix to give me a brief lesson. Mel had been playing the violin for about 45 years and, although he is very good, he must play from sheet music or he cannot play. Mel re-tuned my violin since new strings get out of tune very quickly. He showed me how to hold the instrument and drew the layout of the whole notes on a piece of scratch paper. Mel said that I should practice every day, so, for the next few days, I began to practice making the notes without much success in making meaningful sounds. One week later I took the violin back to Mel, who said that it was no wonder that I was unable to make it sound right -- two strings had stretched and were mis-tuned a whole note off. He also played a couple of tunes for me, one of which was "We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet". That was on a Tuesday night.
I picked up the violin again on Thursday night when I got home from an oil and gas seminar, which I had given in Houston. It was about 12:30 AM and I was mentally exhausted. I thought that I would practice for a few minutes before retiring. I had no sooner started practicing the scales when the tune "We Thank the O'God for a Prophet" came out of the violin without any conscious effort on my part. I played the song all the way through without missing a note. I was astonished -- but I began thinking that this must be some kind of luck or coincidence that I had remembered what Mel had showed me a couple of nights before. Then, without a break in the music, the tune "Shenandoah" came out and I played that song through without missing a note. I really got excited at this point and began focusing on my playing. When I tried to think about how to make the correct notes on the violin, I was unable to play anything. I was so excited that I was unable to go to sleep until about 3:30 AM. I continued to practice, even though I was making many errors and having difficulty making it through either of these two songs again.
I took one more lesson from Sonja Walker, a very accomplished young Violinist. Sonja was impressed that I could play as well as I could, even though I was unable to play even one complete song for her (I have noticed that when I try too hard that I cannot play at all -- I can play anything if I just focus my attention on something else and just let the music flow). Sonja said that she would be unable to teach me because I could not read music and she didn't know how to deal with that. Several other violin teachers turned me down because I could not read music. Now that I have had a little more practice, I can play any song that I can hum -- even when I think about what I am playing. Sharps and flats do not cause me any difficulty.
This whole experience is a mystery to me. How is it that this ability came to me so easily? I had always heard that the violin was a very difficult instrument to learn how to play. I did learn from my Mom while she visited us for Christmas, that my grandfather, David C. Hughey, could play the violin. Do you suppose that his knowledge was passed to me through my genes? Perhaps some musically talented spirit took over my body and began playing. That is the feeling I had when I was playing. Now, when I play without thinking about what I am doing, that is when I play the best.
I am convinced that the typical music teachers of today are focused on teaching with a left brain orientation. I believe that music should be taught as a right brain activity – teach them the scale and just the music flow from the heart or spirit. I believe that the Holy Spirit knows how to play the violin (and other instruments) very well and if we will just let ourselves be taken over by the spirit, we can learn much faster. Indeed, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can learn anything.
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1994 July. Attended a society of Petroleum Engineers meeting and listened to a talk on the this new medium called the Internet. A government funded software package called Mosaic had just been released into the public domain. I immediately recognized that the Internet was destined to become a very big communications medium. I went up to the guest lecturer and made an appointment to visit his office the next day and put up an Internet site for the Energy Exchange on the World Wide Web. I did not realize until later that my website was the very first energy site on the World Wide Web.
1994 October. Started new company - "InfoHighway International, Inc.". I was co-founder and Chairman of the Board. I sunk over $100,000 into the company. We were the third Internet company in Houston -- in 1997, there were over 100. We later purchased South Coast Computer Services, Inc., the oldest and fifth oldest Internet Service Provider in Houston. They had assisted up in getting up and running and then tried to take up over. We refused their earlier offers. Then, when we became stronger than they, we began to try to take them over. InfoHighway finally won out and we took them over. Their President became our Vice President of Engineering. Later we purchased Houston's fifth oldest Internet Service Company -- then we purchased Internet Service companies in San Diego, Fort Lauderdale, New York City, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio.
1994 August - 1996 Daniel Gardner Mangum began serving a two year mission in the California Sacramento Mission.
1995 Played good Samaritan at auto accident. Received Thank You card from Andy Childers, who said that he would have lost in court if I had not testified that it was the other car that ran the red light. .
1995 January 5. Birth of second grandchild, Christian Chandler Mangum (son of Darin & Shannon).
1995 November. Trip to Utah for blessing of Christian Chandler Mangum
1995 D. Grady graduates from Sam Houston Univ in horticulture. He went on to Texas A&M to work on a masters in entomology.
1995 Birth of third grandchild, Bridget Nicole Mangum (Britt & Pam). She is very pretty.
1995 Darin graduates from Brigham Young Univ. in Political Science. He applies for Law School.
1995 Made trip to California to visit Elder Daniel Mangum.
1995 Pamela and Britt join the Episcopal Church. I am pleased about this, because I believe that this is a move in the right direction. Britt has rebelled against the LDS Church and has been inactive since he was about 19 years old. It is very painful for me to see him making some decisions, which I believe, are endangering his soul.
1995 Attended the blessing of Harley Elizabeth & Bridget Nicole Mangum in Episcopal Church.
1995 Christmas in San Antonio with Mom, Charles & Judy, Duane & Bonnie. Mom was in hospital because she had fallen and broken her left shoulder socket ball and her right wrist. She also hit her head on the concrete, which cause her to loose short-term memory.
1995 Learning to play the mandolin.
1996 Trip to Provo to visit Darin & family for Easter.
1996 Trip to Provo to visit Darin & family for July 4th.
1996 Received a blessing from Bishop Mourik prior to my brain surgery - a miracle occurred. A Ping-Pong ball size tumor was removed from the center of my head. It was non-malignant. This tumor had been causing unbearable pain for the past year. This painful condition is called Tic-dolerou? or Trigeminal Neuralgia. and or Trigeminal Neuralgia -- according to the textbooks, nothing, including childbirth, is more painful -- I agree. The attacks were hitting me several times a day and would wipe me out. Sometimes, the pain in my face would be so severe that I would become completely unable to function. It felt worse than someone punching me in the face as hard as they could. It was somewhat like an electrical shock being applied to my face. When I first saw the shadow of this tumor on the MRI, I concluded that I was a dead man. The tumor was on my brain stem the center of my head and wrapped around the right Trigeminal Nerve. I concluded that there was no way that this tumor could be surgically removed -- and if it were to be tried, I would certainly become paralyzed in my right face -- possibly my entire body. I had already felt numbness in my right lower lip and tongue However, the surgery was successful, and I came out of it with all of my faculties. I could not drive a car for over a month and I wore a black patch over my eye because I was seeing everything double and it would make me disoriented and nauseous. For the next two years, I could touch several places on my face and I would feel it on another part of my face. For example, I could touch a spot on my right ear and it would feel numb but I would feel it on my right upper lip -- weird sensation. I am thankful to report that I have not problems resulting from this serious surgery.
1996 Trip to Internet-96 in S.F. - w/Darin & Shannon. Dawn had won the InfoHighway sales contest so she went also. I knew that Mac Davis was bringing Lisa because she worked for Continental Airlines, but I did not know that Tony was bringing Cynthia and Darin was bring Shannon. Needless to say, I got in trouble with Doris.
1996 August. Dan returned from his mission in Sacramento, California.
1996 Dan and Sean Hammond living with us and working with InfoHighway in the Finance Department
They were very successful in helping us to raise about a million dollars for InfoHighway.
1996 Duane married Bonnie Diane Barron. Bonnie is one of the sweetest girls I have ever met. I can certainly see what Duane sees in her. I am very proud to have her as my third daughter. Bishop Mourik married them in Houston in the Louetta Chapel, one of the most spiritual men I have ever known. Bonnie had been baptized less than one year ago (June), so they could not be sealed in the temple.
1996 Visit to Provo to visit Darin & family.
1996 Dec 31. Purchased home on South Dakota Street in Provo, Utah. I paid cash, which I got from a tax-free exchange of the sale of 3 wells in Brooks County, Texas (The Proven Gas Developmental Drilling Project).
1996 Trip to NYC and New Jersey. I helped the Goodkind Law firm prepare the technical case against an oil company in Houston. Attended the Metropolitan Museum of Science and other museums.
1996 Learning to play the violin. (See my notes describing the night I learned to play the violin)
1997 Learning to play the Piano.
1997 Played the mountain dulcimer - the first time I tried. On a break, I got one of the performers to show me how to run the scale on the dulcimer. I practiced for about 10 minutes and the next thing I knew I was drawing a crowd. When the group started back up, I just continued to play along. I could follow the others very well. (Huntsville Folk Festival)
1998 Oct 8, 5th grandchild born to Darin and Shannon - Samuel Westbrook Mangum. I am so pleased with this little boy -- he is the most contented baby I have ever known. He hardly ever cries and he seems to be happy all the time.
1997 October 28. Retired after three years as Chairman of the Board of InfoHighway International, Inc.. The stock has been selling for $1.60/share. I own 2.3 million shares. Our revenues in October were over $140,000 and the company is growing rapidly. We have been offered $6 million cash and another offer for $10 million in stock of an Initial Public Offering. I am going to start spending my time on my company, Energy Exchange --particularly on foreign countries.
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September 7, 1997
Dear Sons –
As part of my anniversary present to your mother, she requested that I write out, as best as I can remember, the words that I spoke at today’s fast and testimony meeting and email it to each of you. How can I argue with that? -- So, to the best of my memory, here it is what I said.
***
Thirty years ago today I took my beautiful wife to the Salt Lake City Temple, where we were sealed for time and all eternity - and I want to publicly express my love for her and my appreciation for all that she has meant to our family and me. She has been the light of my life and I love her very much – I could not do without her. She has been a wonderful wife and she has been a wonderful mother to our four wonderful sons and I want to thank her for all she has done.
It was almost a miracle that we got to go to the temple so soon after we joined this church. We had been married for about four years when I joined the church and Doris followed me soon thereafter. One year after baptism I had been ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood - and one year after that, I received a highly unusual job assignment which sent me to Salt Lake City for one week – during which time we were sealed in the temple (Sept 7, 1967), along with two of our children.
I was twenty-seven years old when I joined the church. I had been searching for truth in many different religions and had concluded that there was no true church on the earth. I had become an agnostic when I encountered Mormonism and my first reaction was that it sounded too good to be true – therefore it could not be true. That attitude is why it took me so long to join the church. But that is a long story and we do not have time to get into that.
What I have learned after 32 years in the church, is that as I study the scriptures, the more beautiful truths that I stumble upon. For example, I have taught many Sunday school lessons on the atonement and it was only as I was preparing to teach my current class a lesson on the atonement, that I feel like my eyes have been opened to a beautiful understanding of the atonement. I only recently came to a deeper understanding as to why it was absolutely necessary that an atonement be performed – and Jesus himself elected to do it. I am eternally grateful to Him for His sacrifice. I know that Jesus is the Christ and I accept Him as my savior and I love Him for it.
I am thankful for the Prophet Joseph Smith for his work in restoring the gospel to the earth in these, the latter days. I am thankful that we have a living prophet at the head of our church today. I am thankful for our stake and ward leaders – they are truly great men. I leave you with my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
***
I hope that each of you, my sons, will find value in my testimony and that you will continually work on developing and growing your own testimony. A strong testimony is perhaps your greatest possession.
It is extremely important for us to be close as a family – both here and in the eternal worlds. Families are the building blocks of the Kingdom of God on earth and in the Celestial Kingdom. I love all of my family very much – my wife, my children, their wives, and my grandchildren.
DAD
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1997 November Doris and I went to Provo to attend Samuel's Blessing. Darin blessed him and I stood in the circle, along with Don Larsen, Chad Waddel, and Grandpa Larsen.
1998 Dec 20. Daniel married Dawn Michelle Bailey in the Dallas Temple. Dawn was in the singles branch when I was called into the Bishopric of the North Harris College Singles Branch. She was a wonderful asset to the Branch and I was impressed with her dependability, positive attitude, and charming spirit, so I offered her a job with the Energy Exchange as my secretary. She did a marvelous job, but she really wanted to be in sales, so I allowed her to spend part of her time as a Sales Rep for InfoHighway. She did very well and eventually went full time and became InfoHighway's number one salesman on a consistent basis. I was very impressed with her, so I tried several times to set up a blind date with Daniel when he returned from his mission. She refused and asked that I not press her on this subject so I completely backed off. She was going steady with _________________ but said that she would really like to marry her lifetime best friend, Steve Molen, who was also serving a full time church mission. When Steve returned from his mission, Dawn dated him a time or two and soon determined that he was not the right mate for her. Steve was crushed but continued to be her friend. He also began working for InfoHighway, first as a salesman and, later as a technical rep but Dawn changed her mind about Steve and she became engaged to her long time boyfriend, ______ ____. Dan returned home from his mission and began working for InfoHighway. Dan and Dawn, as fellow salesmen, would go to lunch together and soon they became good friends. One thing led to another and Dawn called off her engagement to ____ and began seeing more of Dan. They both, along with Sean Hammond, decided to help open the Utah office of InfoHighway, so the three of them moved to Provo, Utah. Next thing you know, they were engaged.
1998 January. Doris and I visited Darin and Shannon in Provo. Dan, Dawn, Chad, Mari, Darin, Shannon, kids, ate with us at the Homestead in Heber, Utah.
1998 February. Earned my Concealed Handgun Carry Permit.
1998 February. Darin and Shannon visited Houston and Austin to interview for summer work.
1998 February. Notified that my La Pas, Bolivian Internet deal now has $11 million dollars in the bank to establish an Internet network in Bolivia. There are some confidential aspects to this transaction, which I will discuss here but should not become common knowledge. I have been working with some operatives of the CIA, who want to have access to monitor Internet traffic in countries of South and Central America. The CIA is not going to provide any money to cause this to happen, however, they are being very helpful to open the right doors for us to get money from private sources. We now have the ability to use some Paraguayan Gold Bonds to back up loans from a funding source and then piggyback these funds onto some large international bank trades. This allows us to buy commercial paper at one price and have it resold at a higher price -- thereby generating money to use in the development of projects which will help lift some of the unstable third world countries into the modern world. Although we could use these funds for ourselves, we would be in violation of their expectations of us and I am not sure what would happen if we were to use all of these funds for our personal gain. The objective is to provide jobs and infrastructure in Bolivia and other countries thereby reducing the possibility of them going communist and become another "Cuba" in Latin America. Of course, they want to get their "ears" into Internet traffic in the region. I feel good about what we are about to accomplish in Latin America. I have also looked into doing a similar thing through the Energy Exchange to cause oil and gas development Projects in the region. I am using this "system" to fund a $13.9 million dollar oil field reworking program in Bolivia, a $10 million seismic study in Honduras, and a refinery project in Kazakhstan (which our contact in Washington is saying my be impossible to accomplish because of Russian Mafia involvement). These projects are in the beginning stages and I cannot possibly accomplish all of this. I have unsuccessfully tried to do oil and gas projects in Bangladesh, India, and Thailand. Also, I failed miserably with my "Energy Investment Opportunities in the Former Soviet Republics" Seminars during 1995..
1998 June 1 Dr. Don Butts (really) reamed me a new butt-hole. I had built up a lot of scar tissue from many years of fissures caused by chronic dehydration. Like my mother, I developed "suppressed thirst syndrome" -- I drank very little water. I have learned my lesson the hard way and I am now doing better in this regard.
1998 July 10 -19 Doris and I visited Darin, Shannon, Christian, and Samuel in Los Angeles. We stayed in their small one bedroom apartment (Oakwood Terrace?) in Hollywood Hills. Darin is serving as a legal intern with the Securities and Exchange Commission - great experience for a young securities attorney. We visited the Museums at Exposition Park, the Libra Tar Pits, Liberty Hall, and Disneyland. Christian and I visited the Railroad Museum and rode the merry-go-round - which was very exciting and slightly scary for Christian. Doris and Shannon attended the Jay Leno Show -- I babysat. I worked out in the workout room every night. July 18 - Doris and I did the hot-tub at 2 am. I gave Christian a bottle of beach sand -- he liked that a lot.
1998 August. Duane began working as a teacher for the Sheppard Independent School District. He is teaching Auto CAD. I am very proud of him. Duane has always followed his feeling and done whatever he wanted to do. He wanted to become a teacher and he did When he was in High School, I never would have guessed that he would become a teacher -- he was very hard on his teachers. I think that I would like to be a teacher -- I love to teach Sunday School.
1998 August. Caleb and Hazel had puppies and Duane and Bonnie gave us the largest male, "Rommel". With Socrates, we now have two Weimariners.
1998 Sept 12. Helped Jewelry Richardson, a black lady who had recently joined the Church, and her family move closer to work and into a more affordable apartment. We also let her borrow our car for a week so she could get to work. Doris was recovering from vaginal surgery and was not supposed to drive. I drove the RV van.
1998 Oct 6. Attended a A.R.E.(Association for Research and Enlightenment) meeting for the first time. This non-denominational group focuses on the reading of Edgar Cayce. Met Tamera Gaye Morris, who was able to tell me where I had pain in my body simply by holding my watch and rings in her hand. She placed her hand on her left shoulder and said that this is where she felt that there was pain in my body. One hour earlier, I had just been to visit Dr. Ghazi to treat the stabbing pain in my left shoulder. On Oct 27 she did this again and said that she felt that there was something going on in my right ear. I had been unaware that there was still some tenderness in my right ear because of the brain surgery that I had back on 9 July 1996.
1998 Oct 21. I awakened after having had a very meaningful dream. By the time I went to the bathroom, I forgot the details of the dream, with the exception of a Bible reference that was given me by an entity in my dream. The reference was Acts 6:7-8, which I looked up the evening of Oct 22. The subject material of this verse convinced me that, either an incredible coincidence had occurred, or some entity from the spirit world had passed a Bible verse to me to help me better understand a subject that I had been studying (FAITH as related to the Holographic Universe Theory). This was a verse that I do not recall having read previously. I believe that the message to me here is that I should endeavor to achieve the level of faith as the apostle Steven.
1998 October 7 Attended a seminar on Healing in Huntsville. I learned how to read the human aura. Supper with Duane afterwards.
1998 November Came to understanding of the holographic model of the universe. This model explains many spiritual principals from a scientific viewpoint. The LDS scriptures are full of references that support this concept. I use the scriptures as a standard of truth to evaluate all new concepts.
1998 December Bonnie graduated from Sam Houston State University. She accepted a job with Sheppard School District – teaching the fifth grade.
1999 Jan 22. This is a letter to Sean Hammond addressing his forthcoming marriage (Sean is one of my ‘semi-adopted’-sons who lived with us for a few months).
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Dear Sean and Amanda -
I am real happy for you. Sean, it is not good for us men to be alone in the dark and dreary world. I understand your fear -- I was 23 when I got married and I was scared to death (kind of numb, really). I knew I was marrying a wonderful girl yet I was still scared. As I look back over the 38 years we have been married, I know that it was the second best decisions I ever made. Joining the church ranks first -- because if I had not joined the Church, I know that I would have lost my marriage. My oldest son Britt provides me with a magic mirror to see how much heartache I would have endured without the Church in my life.
As your "Dad", I cannot help but offer advice to you at this major milestone in your life. Never forget the following --
NEVER CONSIDER YOUR MARRIAGE A FAILURE
WHEN IT FAILS TO MEASURE UP TO A PERFECT SCORE.
Sean, here is another piece of advice just for you --
AS THE PRIESTHOOD HOLDER IN YOUR HOME
DO NOT CONSIDER THIS AUTHORITY AS A CALLING TO RULE,
CONSIDER IT AS A CALLING TO SERVE.
Temporal marriage is a wonderful institution -- celestial marriage is a quantum leap more wonderful. Get to the Sealing Room as quickly as you can -- let us know when that occurs. Come stay with us on your second honeymoon. May God bless the three of you.
Love, DAD
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1999 Feb 16. Birthday luncheon at ARE meeting in Conroe. Tamera Morris held my watch and rings and did a sychometromy reading for me. She sensed that I had a problem with my lower abdomen (intestines?) and my right ear and right neck (this apparently was caused by the trauma of my brain surgery). I told Tamera that I had no problems with my lower stomach that I was aware of. Later, I recognized that she was tuned in to the fact that I have an unrepaired hernia on the right side of my lower abdomen. I am amazed that she can become aware of trauma in my body that I am not even aware of. I need to become more informed concerning this ability of hers. She said that it can be learned -- that is the way she obtained this gift.
1999 March 1. I awoke this morning with the distinct impression that Darin and Shannon should stay in Provo until the Y2K storm clouds blow over. I believe that there could possibly be a financial meltdown later this year. The scenario that could happen goes something like this. When 01/01/2000 rolls around, there could be a lot of press concerning the computers that shut down around the world and the resulting problems caused thereby. While these shutdowns will not be catastrophic, a lot of attention will be focused on the big event called Y2K.. There should be no major problem, provided people keep their cool and look objectively to what happening, however, the thing that concerns me is that people will not be rational. The negative scenario goes something like this: A housewife goes to the grocery store and notices that that the shelves are not as well stocked as usual, (perhaps the truck is late, or a lot of people are steadily buying more than they normally would) she could panic and purchase a lot more that she normally would. Then, as others pick up on her panic, this could precipitate a run on the store. This could be the beginning of a self-perpetuating panic. Panic begets panic and the local panic could sweep the entire country -- then around the world. There could follow a run on the banks, and then the government would exercise a recently passed banking law that limits the amount of cash that may be withdrawn. I understand that the US Treasury Dept has a huge amount of paper currency already printed to stem this rush on the banking system. If the government doesn’t handle everything extremely well, the fabric of law and order could fall apart, and those that have-not will be angry with those that have. A trait of human nature will be to blame some organized group for the problem, such as the LDS church. This will be the beginning of localized attacks on LDS families and later on Bishop Storehouses. Sometime during the meltdown, Church leaders may evoke the Law of Consecration and ask that all stored food over a certain amount, be brought to bishop storehouses to be distributed to the huge number of LDS members that are not prepared -- either through negligence or because they could not afford to prepare. This will be test of faith and I hope that I will be Christian enough to bring my food to the storehouse. This will be one of the greatest SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES of modern times. Therefore, I am laying away additional food and water and asking my family and friends to do the same.
1999 March 1. Met with Martin Cowburn, a genius inventor in Provo, Utah. I had heard that he had invented an electric generator that generated more electricity than it consumed. He and I exchanged a mutual non-disclosure agreement. I explained my proposed ceramic piezoelectric generator invention to him first. He then explained his saucer contraption with wheels turning inside wheels (he likened it to the wheels-within-wheels flying machine described in the book of Ezekiel.) I am somewhat skeptical.
1999 March 8.
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1999 April 2 Letter to Shannon Mangum Sunderland
Shannon --
Thank you for wanting to know what is in my head and my heart. I have wanted to share that with you for a long time, but whenever we have been together there has always been a group and certain topics are taboo. Email is perhaps an ideal non-threatening media to discuss the subject, because emotions do not cloud the issues and we can put some thought into discussing our beliefs.
Now that you have asked what I believe, I am more than willing to share them with you. If you find fault with any of them, please do not hesitate to point out what you believe to be the error of my ways. I have reached poor conclusions in the past -- I pray that I may always make good choices in the future. Specifically, if you do not know the story, from the age of about 20 to 27 I had concluded the following:
1. The Bible was just another book of nice stories and some history. It was not to be acknowledged as "holy writ". I believed that it was written by the hand of some well meaning, but misguided men.
2. Man created the concept of God because he was inherently weak and needed a father image to hold on to.
3. Jesus was simply a teacher of righteousness. I rejected the notion of His resurrection. I thought the Jewish explanation was probably the correct one.
4. The Miracles of the Bible were akin to fairy tales for children – they did not really happen. If something could not be explained by science, then I rejected it.
5. I had concluded that prayer was a form of self-hypnosis, which if practiced, could cause someone to believe some weird doctrines. Therefore, I had steadfastly refused to pray.
6. I did not go to church, because I thought it to be a waste of time. Occasionally, Doris and I would go to the Unitarian Church, because my beliefs were accepted there and I enjoyed the educational content of the sermons. Particularly the book reviews (on books such as "Status Seekers, etc.). Doris did not feel like she was "going to church" so we compromised and did not go at all.
7. I thought that organized religion was a curse on humankind. The more organized a given church -- the more evil I believed it to be. Organized religion, so I thought, was simply an instrument created and directed by the power establishment to control the masses
8. I subscribed to the doctrine that one person’s beliefs were just as valid as the next person’s beliefs. Truth was relative and it was totally up to each person to find his own way. If it felt good and did not injure other people, it was ok to do it. Morality was open to personal interpretation.
9. I totally accepted Darwin's theories on evolution. He was one of my heroes -- I would have given that name to one of my children if Doris had not rejected it outright.
10. When I was 26, I was actively seeking mind-expanding drugs (LSD) to do some experimenting with the various channels of the mind. I was (and still am) fascinated with the experiments of Ram Dass, Timothy Leary, Carlos Castaneda, etc. Fortunately, I was hampered in my search because I was an Intelligence Officer on a SAC Base and I knew that certain disclosures would not look good on my record.
11. The tendency to alcoholism runs in our genes and those genes were dealt to me. I loved alcohol like a pig loves slop. I also enjoyed tobacco and all stimulating beverages.
I could go on, but you get the idea. I would bet that you never knew this about your Uncle Dave, did you?
I am eternally grateful that, while I was in the Air Force, a subordinate officer in my squadron took the time to explain the doctrines of the LDS Church. At the time I totally rejected everything he told me about the Book of Mormon, the Bible and the doctrines of his church. I concluded that all this was just more religious poppycock. Because I was curious, I met with the missionaries, but I invited them to not come back. I continued to read the Book of Mormon to find obvious deceptions. The more I studied the book, the more questions it opened and the more I was attracted to it. I was able to read it with more of an open mind than I would have if I was coming from a perspective of a fundamentalist Christian. However, there was no doubt in my mind that I would soon discover enough error to be able to be able to convince myself and my Mormon friends that the book was the work of a fraud.
To simplify a long story, the end result was that I came to an absolute conviction of the following:
_ God had called a 14-year-old farm boy, Joseph Smith, to be his Prophet during this dispensation of time (The Last Days). Joseph’s mission was to restore the original gospel of Jesus Christ to the Earth and to prepare the people for the Second Coming of the Messiah.
_ The Bible and the Book of Mormon are both true – they complement and testify of one another. The Book of Mormon is another testament of the divinity of Jesus Christ -- a religious record of Christ's ministry to his people in the Americas.
_ There is a God in Heaven and he listens to and answers the prayers of the righteous.
_ Jesus voluntarily performed an Atonement for our sins, and He is the Savior of all humankind, if they will simply accept this gift, repent, accept baptism, etc. (You know the rest; this is pure Baptist doctrine).
_ I know that I will be blessed if I follow the Lord’s plan of salvation, obey His commandments, etc. Therefore, I do not use alcohol, drugs, etc. I am faithful to my wife, honest in my dealings with my fellowman. I try to follow His example.
_ And Yes Shannon, I have been “born again” – and I worship the same Jesus that you worship. I have accepted Him to as my Savior. You are absolutely correct – no one else can do this for me – we each have to make this choice by ourselves. I am not at all concerned about your salvation, but have learned so much about the Plan of Salvation that I would like to share with you. I have watched examples of Mormon doctrine making bad people good and good people better (I am a living example of that). I have not seen one example of a person being damaged either spiritually or temporally by Mormon doctrine. I think you are following a correct doctrine that will get you into “Heaven”. If you would like to learn more about our Savior, I would love to share with you some of the beautiful truths that I have found. I promise you that these truths will strengthen your faith.
_ Although I believe all of the scriptures that you quoted in your email, you are harboring some misconceptions about Mormonism. I have a letter from the Jewish Anti-defamation League that says that much of what is being taught by anti-Mormon groups is not a proper representation of what Mormons really believe. I will try to clarify those points of doctrine at some later time.
It is late now and I am tired. Remind me if I neglect to answer
any of your questions.
I love you, Shannon; you have always been a good example and an inspiration to me and everyone who knows you.
Uncle Dave
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May 20, 1999
Dear Britt –
I think your survey is interesting, but I would question what conclusions can be drawn. I believe that someone can read the entire Bible and conclude that there is no God -- or he can read only part of the Book of John and conclude that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ. Likewise for the Book of Mormon. How someone reads a book is the important thing -- if he reads it with a sincere desire to discern truth and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the truth of it will me made known to him. (Moroni Chapter 10)
While a student at the University of Texas, I took a three-semester-hour course in the New Testament and, later, a similar course on the Old Testament. These courses were taught by the Baptist and Methodist Chairs, respectively. The instructors were great and I learned a lot. I took these courses because I felt myself slipping into agnosticism and I was concerned for my spiritual welfare. However, within one year, I became an agnostic -- completely rejecting the Bible as a divine book and I became very anti-organized religion.
Years later, I read only part of the Book of Mormon and came to the conclusion that it was true. Since the Book of Mormon testifies that the Bible is true, I accepted the Bible as the divine book that it really is. The difference was that I had asked for the guidance of the Holy Ghost, who leads us to truth. At the time, I had also not read all of the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. Since then, I guess that I have read these five "Standard Works" several times. For example, the first few times that I read the Pearl of Great Price, I got very little, if anything, out of it. However, each time I read it, I learn something new -- it is one of the most beautiful books of scripture that I have ever read and it has opened my eyes to many of the mysteries of the universe. I can say that I know, beyond any doubt, that these latter day revelations are from God -- they are not the works of an uneducated young fraud. In these works, I find harmony with the Bible, with history, with modern astronomy, and with quantum physics. I am very thankful that God called a prophet to our generation – I shutter when I think what would have become of me and my family had He not done so.
I have a strong desire to share this knowledge with everyone, particularly the people I love. Soon, when circumstances permit, Doris and I will be going somewhere on a full time mission. That will not be a burden or an obligation -- it will be a joy. I have learned that true happiness is only found through SERVICE.
I love you, Dad
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1999 Mima (Hilda Mangum) fell and broke her hip. Her hip was repaired with steel pins, however, she never was able to walk by herself thereafter.
1999 Doris and I were called to be Stake Missionaries.
1999 Took on consulting contract with DateWatch.com, Inc. Earned 100,000 shares of stock valued at $1.00 each.
Oct 4, 2000 – Dawn and Dan are pregnant with their second child. I am very pleased.
Oct 21, 1999 Birth of my sixth grandchild, Hannah Elizabeth Mangum, to Dawn and Daniel Mangum in the hospital in Huntsville, Texas.
Feb 15, 2000 – Birth of Mary Kathryn Mangum, my seventh grandchild, to Darin and Shannon Mangum, in Provo, Utah hospital.
Sept 2, 2000 – Doris and I were called to be Temple Ordinance Workers at the Houston Temple. We will serve four days per month.
October 10, 2000 – Picked up a check for my stock in InfoHighway. (I sold out for $450,000 cash – about one-tenth what the stock was worth 3 years ago.) Darin gets $90,000.Oct 12, 2000 – Mima has been under hospice care for a couple of weeks now and her condition has been deteriorating daily. Parkway called today -- said that Mima is not doing well and that we may want to see her tonight. Charles, Judy, Doris and I went to see her after work and found her to be in almost a comatose state -- not really acknowledging that we were there. She is on oxygen and pain medication. Yesterday, she stopped eating and is, therefore, becoming extremely weak. Sadly, the end appears to be near. To see her in such a pitiful state is disturbing and we accept the obvious conclusion that, should she recover, life would not have much meaning. We recognize that she has lived a good life and there is a better estate waiting for her. For that reason, we are not praying for her recovery but that she would be comforted and, when she is ready, pass peaceably to the other side. Let your conscious guide your prayers. Hospice and the Parkway staff is there to see that she does not suffer. Charles, Judy, Doris and I went to LeMonte’s to eat supper.
Oct 13, 2000 – My Mother died at about 4:15 AM at Parkway Place Nursing Home in Houston, Texas. She died peacefully in her sleep. The funeral services will be at Sunset Memorial Cemetery on Austin Highway in San Antonio, Texas at 11:00 A.M. on Friday, October 20. She wanted to be buried next to my father, Grady. Britt, Duane Grady, Darin, Daniel, and their families plan to attend. There will be an opportunity for anyone who wants to say a few words in her memory. Most of the family will be driving to San Antonio Thursday afternoon and there will be a viewing at 4:30 P.M. At about 11:00 PM, while preparing her funeral program, I finally broke down and cried like a baby. I had not become emotional all day and that seemed to release a lot of pent up emotions.
Thank God for her wonderful life, which made the world a better place. Better mothers are not found on the earth.
4July 2002 I would like to relate two experiences that happened to me last night. These are small things, but the principle of synchronicity seems to be demonstrating itself to me more frequently lately.
I was in the locker room of the Houston Temple changing into my white clothing preparatory to serving as an ordinance worker, which I do on Tuesday evenings for about 5 hours. As I tucked my shirt into my pants, I broke a finger nail down to the quick -- the nail got hung in my clothing and I partially ripped it off, leaving a sharp nail protruding. I commented to Frank McLane, a fellow ordinance worker who was just coming off duty, saying " I sure need a finger nail clipper", as I showed him my broken nail. He commented that he did not know where I could get one. No more than 3 seconds later, as the two of us were still looking at my broken nail, another worker walked up, opened his locker, reached in to get something off the top shelf and as he withdrew his hand, two objects fell to the floor. One item bounced across the floor and stopped within six inches of my left foot -- it was a fingernail clipper. Frank and I turned and looked at each other in wide eyed amazement and he said, "We should not be amazed when something like this happens in the Temple".
This event resulting in my engaging in conversation with the other worker. His name was Michael Page, a maintenance engineer at the Temple. His accident revealed that he was from England -- he had come to the USA to work as an Engineer with Shell, my previously employer. I discovered that he had a PhD in Engineering and an MBA and was looking for a better paying job. He also spoke French and German. I have been looking for someone with exactly those credentials to manage my International Division, so I asked him to visit my office and interview for this position. I don't know where this may lead but the synchronicity of it all makes the hair rise on the back of my neck.
Why do things like this continue to amaze me. In my workshop, I teach that our thought forms create a holographic template in the spirit world -- then the intelligences (Creative Forces) come along and cause the thought forms to manifest into what we call reality. Applicable references are as follows:
The spirit is the life, mind is the builder, and the physical is the result. (Edgar Cayce Handbook p8)
Everything that seems to be happening now, is really the past. (Cayce, Exp in a SFG, p. 76)
This is also LDS doctrine; “All things created spiritually before they became natural.” (Moses 3:5)
All things were created spiritually first, then temporally -- then they return to the spiritual. (D&C 29:31-32)
26July02 Jonathan Mathews Mangum, my eleventh grandchild is born in Provo, Utah. He has a severe skin condition, which apparently cause him to be born three and one-half months pre-mature.
26Sep02 I have been selected by Dr. John Juncal and Richard Graham (Australia) of the Great Siberian Pipeline Corporation to be the Liaison Engineer who will coordinate the activities of the Houston area contractors that will be working on the Trans-Siberian Pipeline.
1Oct02 I attended the US-Russian Energy Summit in Houston. I got to meet the US Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Commerce, James Baker, former Secretary of State, the Russian Energy Minister, and the presidents of many US and Russian oil companies.
18Oct02 Signed an agreement with US Petroleum Corp to fund the drilling of a deep wildcat well in San Saba County, Texas. James Fitzsimons, the controlling shareholder in Switzerland, said that coming up with $3 million would be no problem.
22Nov02 I found a Jewish investment banker in London (Arthur Rosenthal) who said that he could finance the entire Siberian Pipeline. ($50 billion)
23Nov02 EMT (Early morning thought)- This morning some things about my life became very clear to me. I now understand that certain abilities that I have is what has given me such a profound appreciation of the harmony between science and religion. (I really struggled with this when I was a teenager and, by the time I was in college, I was an agnostic.) In the scriptures, it talks about the “gift of discernment” -- I believe that I was given this gift. I feel motivated to share my understanding with the world and that this should be with the help of Sidney Kirkpatrick, with whom I already have a signed contract to write a book on the subject of the “Technology of Oneness”. Sidney is a New York Times Best Selling Author. (See the outline of my 28 hour presentation in C:\...\DavesLectures\Workshop\HolographicUniverse\ …) .
21 July 2003 Here is a goose-bump producing psychic experience.
On the morning of 6 July 2003, I wrote down my dreams (as is my usual custom). I had a dream about being at some type of religious social function where I met two women. One was a middle age woman who was very pleasant and slightly taller than me. I remember that in the dream this woman had something important to tell me -- but she did not tell me what it was. The other woman was young, very light frame and about my height. She was dancing with her arms in the air. That was the essence of the dream.
Then, on 8 July 2003, I flew out to Monterey, California to attend a 5 day retreat at Asilomar State Beach, a Conference Center located on the beautiful Monterey Peninsula on the California Coast. The retreat was sponsored by the California - Nevada Region of the Association of Research and Enlightenment (founded by Edgar Cayce). I had been asked by the main speaker, Sidney Kirkpatrick, to attend the retreat and give my lectures on Quantum Physics and Spirituality. I gave two two-hour lectures to the adults and one two hour lecture to the teenagers. When I asked about their religious beliefs, I was surprised when all of the teenagers (about 15) claimed to be agnostic.
After my lecture on Friday, 11 July, a lady named Susan Dorey came up to me to discuss the material in my lecture. I immediately recognized her as the woman in my dream but initially kept this to myself. As we talked, a group of us walked down to the beach and continued the discussion while sitting on rocks overlooking the Pacific Ocean. During this conversation I felt impressed to tell Susan that I had dreamed about her the previous week and that she was supposed to have something important to share with me. She was somewhat surprised and said that she had no idea what she was supposed to tell me. I asked her to think about this and let me know if anything came to her. Susan did not have any information to share with me before the conference ended.
After the conference, Susan continued to think about what it was that she was supposed to tell me. Since she had not come up with anything, she discussed my dream with her gypsy psychic friend, Paul Goodberg, who had been trained as an Indian shaman. Paul responded, saying that he knew what she was supposed to tell me. Paul then proceeded to tell her precisely what she was supposed to tell me. Not knowing the meaning of the message, Susan dutifully called me at home on Sunday evening, 20 July, to deliver the message from her psychic friend. When Susan called me, she started out by saying that she now knew what she was supposed to tell me. She said that Paul had instructed her to tell me the following:
1. The ground is sacred.
2. It is an Indian burial ground.
3. Treasure is buried there.
4. There were 1700 Indian slaves that worked there.
5. Be careful of the “Guardian of the Treasure”.
6. The area must be “cleared” before we proceed.
I had no idea what this message meant -- it had no meaning for me what-so-ever. Susan said that she did not know what it meant either -- just that this was the message that she was supposed to deliver to me.
The following day, Monday 21 July, two new clients, Joe Brimline and Sharon Stickel (they were living together) from Burkburnett, Texas (near Wichita Falls) drove to Houston to meet with me at the Energy Exchange. After they had purchased an interest in a low risk drilling venture, I walked them out so I could unlock the doors and let them outside into the parking lot. Outside the door, as we were shaking hands to say goodbye, Joe said that at some time he would like to talk to me about my San Saba drilling venture, which he had noticed on the Energy Exchange website. I told Joe that this project would not meet his stated investment criteria because it was a high risk wildcat well with about a 10% probability of success. Joe said that even though this project did not meet his usual investment criteria, he would consider purchasing an interest in the well at some later time. Based on this high level of interest in the San Saba Project, we went back into the building to get him more information on the project.
Back in my office, Joe then asked if I had ever heard of the Legend of the Lost San Saba Gold Shipment. I said that I had heard of the legend back in December 2001 from Ric Puglisi, a friend of mine from San Saba, Texas. Ric had his own oil company when I met him in 1995, but he recently had a stroke and was now unable to work. I had helped Ric financially (about $800) and he said that he wanted to tell me about the San Saba Legend -- he said that he had a pretty good idea where the Indians had buried some Spanish gold and he wanted me to finance a search for the gold.
As the story goes, back in the 1700’s, the Spanish had been mining gold at a site west of San Saba and were in the process of moving a large amount of gold to the Texas Coast where it could be put on Spanish Galleons and taken to Spain. Apparently, the Indians were very angry with the Spanish and made plans to kill them. As the pack train was preparing heading to the Texas Coast, the Indians attacked and killed all the Spaniards, and then buried the gold along the banks of the San Saba River.
I told Ric that I had an interest in pursuing the Mother Pool of oil that Edgar Cayce said, in one of his readings, was located just northeast of the town of San Saba, Texas. I had little if any interest in undertaking a project to find this gold; however, since Ric also said that he had some knowledge (based on a psychic named (______________) about the location of a potential oil field in the same area, I signed a mutual non-disclosure agreement with Ric, which included both the gold and the oil. Ric drew two circles on a map, saying that these were the locations of two oil fields. Shortly thereafter, Ric completely disappeared (none of his telephone numbers worked) before we got around to exploiting whatever knowledge he may have had about the gold. This encounter with Ric did lead to my doing a 50/50 Joint Venture with Jerry Conser, the owner of Millennium Minerals out of Denton, Texas. (This well, the Horne #1, was drilled in April 2002 and was a dry hole -- but that is another story. Incidentally, the Horne #1 well was not drilled within either of Ric’s two circles.)
Meanwhile, back to this Monday night in my office, Joe Blimline revealed that he had invested some money on a gold search in San Saba County. He said that he knew the exact location of the mines where the San Saba gold had been mined. In fact, Joe had partnered with Doug Spurille, the son of a drilling contractor that, while searching for a way to gain access to a new drilling location, had accidentally stumbled upon some buried caverns where gold had been smelted and stored by the Spaniards in the 18th century. There were numerous Indian and Spanish writings on rocks in the area. Doug took a lot of photos to document the site and he said that he actually tried to enter one of the caverns.
This is another story, but Doug had previously partnered with some unscrupulous men that, he believes, tried to kill him. While Doug was digging in a pit at the cavern entrance, he was severely injured by a falling rock. The large rock glanced off his head and crushed his shoulder, putting him in the hospital for weeks. Doug thinks that his partners deliberately dropped this rock on him. Doug claims to have extensive information about the lost gold mines, some of which he obtained from records in Seville, Spain. According to an Internet search, these mines have been called the “Jim Bowie Mines”. Apparently, the legendary Texas Alamo hero Jim Bowie had been told about the old gold mines by an Indian chief while he was living with the Comanche Indians in the early 1800’s. It has been said that Bowie actually saw the buried gold and wrote about it in his journals. Bowie did not pursue recovery of the gold because, to do so, would have been suicidal – the Indians would have killed any white man that tried to do so. I do not know if there is any truth to the Jim Bowie story, but it is an interesting side line.
As a side note, sometime later, I personally visited the remains of the old Spanish fort, called Presidio de SanSaba. It was basically just a jumble of rocks with a wall and arched entrance on the west side. I studied the graffiti carved the wall on the south side of the gate and I found the name “Jim Bowie” engraved into the rock in beautiful penmanship.
Back to the main story. After signing a mutual non-disclosure agreement, Joe and Sharon talked with me for several hours about the project, then we went out to eat. Doris went with us but did not go back to the office to continue the discussion. Specifically, Joe shared the following information with me:
1. The Spanish had enslaved a large number of Comanche Indians to mine the gold. The Indians were also forced to dig the gold ore, smelt it into gold bars, then turn it into jewelry. These artifacts were then stored in underground caverns.
2. After a long period of enslavement, the fort eventually became weakened because the war with England prevented regular resupply shipments to the garrison.
3. The Indians rebelled and killed all of the Spaniards. Many of the Indians were also killed.
4. The Indians buried he dead Spaniards, along with the gold and silver, in the caverns and covered all the entrances with rocks and dirt.
5. Doug Spurille was severely injured by a falling boulder as he dug a pit entrance to gain access into the mines. Doug swore that this was an attempt by his partners to kill him. He spent about a month in the hospital.
6. This was a sacred Indian burial ground and that Joe believed was haunted.
7. One night, Joe had a very realistic “vision”, in which a very angry Indian medicine woman spirit appeared to him and threatened him.
8. This dream frightened Joe so much that he said that he would never go near the San Saba mines.
9. Joe called this spirit the “Guardian of the Treasure.
Later, we called Doug, who was very upset because Joe was not following up on his commitments to provide funding. Before we called Doug, I told Joe and Sharon about my dream and the message that I had received from the psychic on the previous night. Needless to say, by this time all of us had chill-bumps. I now understood the meaning of the message that Susan had given me the previous night.
***
The second part of this story is that I also recognized the second lady in my dream. On the last night of the Asilomar retreat, there was a group inside the recreation hall doing some type of traditional Jewish Folk Dance -- where the participants were lined up in two large concentric circles. I had not planned on taking part in this dance instruction, so I was outside of the building talking to some people about my lectures, when Sidney Kirkpatrick came out and said that he had some CD-ROMs of his presentation to give me. We walked inside to get the material out of his briefcase and, since there were more women than men, the dance instructor, Ilona Marshall, asked us to join the circle -- which we reluctantly did. Coincidentally, I was paired up with Liane Nikitovich, a very pleasant lady that I had previously thought reminded me of the younger lady in my dream. Then, when the music started, everyone began dancing in a circle -- turning with their arms held up in the air. It was at this point that I became aware that Liane was the second lady in my dream. This realization gave me chills.
I have not told Liane about this dream, but perhaps I should. What meaning this may have, I do not know.
One of the teenagers, a boy about 15 years old came up to me the next day and gave me a small wooden cross. He said that the information that I presented to him meant a lot to him. It helped him to realize that there really is a God. His mother came up to me the next day and told me how impressed her son was with my presentation. Later, Sidney sent me a letter from the boy’s mother, telling Sidney what a difference that I had made with her son. Results like this, make it worthwhile for me to fly to the West Coast at my own expense to present my free presentations.
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(This file is saved on the hard disk of our family computer in a msword datafile called mydocuments / davesdoc /Personal/memories-davidmangum8Nov09.doc -- the date will differ, of course.)
IMPORTANT BELIEFS AND CONCEPTS THAT I HAVE LEARNED
* The Holographic Model of the Universe answers many of my questions concerning the nature of the universe. .
_”Separateness” is a construct of the human mind, i.e., you and I are not really separate – we are one, just different perspectives of the same unified energy field (the light of Christ)..
* Service is the key to happiness.
* Jesus “became the Christ (Savior) because he provided more service to more people than anyone who ever lived.
_ The Atonement was a necessary and voluntary event. God the Father cannot “save” us – only our acceptance of the sacrificial gift of Jesus Christ. Without the “honor” that the infinitesimal intelligences afford to Jesus, we could not attain the Celestial Kingdom.
LOVE – SERVICE --HONOR – FAITH -- POWER - GOD
_ “Life” or intelligent matter, begins at the subatomic particle and not at the cellular level.
_ These infinitesimal intelligences are free and independent agents that act according to their own will.
_ Honor is the key to spiritual power.
_ God gets His power from the honor of the intelligences.
_ Without the honor we give to Satan, he too would have no power. (Pearl of Great Price, Moses 4:1)
_ Without the honor of the intelligences, Jehovah could not have created the earth. (Abraham 4:18 – the Gods watched until the intelligences obeyed)
_ Without the honor of the intelligences, Jesus would have no ability to save us – or to accomplish any miracle.
_ Without this honor, we have no power. Without this honor, our prayers will not be answered.
_ Honor is earned through service.
_ Service is given because of Love.
_ Without love, there is no service (John 21:17; D&C 112:14 -- If ye love me, feed my sheep),
_ Without selfless service, there is no honor earned,
_ With honor from the intelligences, there is tremendous potential power (Moses 4:1),
_ This potential power is unleashed through faith.
_ Heavenly Father has earned ultimate honor of the intelligences, therefore He has ultimate power.
_ Jesus Christ has achieved oneness with the Father, therefore He also has ultimate power.
_ We have the potential to become like Jesus, so therefore, we have the ability to gain ultimate power also.
_ Without Faith, this potential power is useless.
_ This honor and faith is source of God’s power – His power is based on Love, Service, Honor, then Faith.
_ Therefore, without love, there is no God. (John 4:16 – God is Love.)
Evolution
_ Our early ancestors came to this planet from elsewhere in the universe.
_ I do not believe that “we descended from the apes”, however, I believe that we do have some common ancestors. We are more closely related to our primate cousins than most people would acknowledge. Some of our ancestors were probably “aquatic primates”. Furthermore, I believe that we are related to all forms of life.
(see Word datafile “lds-beliefs.doc” for more details)
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WISDOM FOR MY POSTERITY
Here I am in my 60th year and I feel compelled to write down some of the tidbits of wisdom that I have accumulated during my lifetime. I would hope that all of my children, grandchildren, and their posterity would read this in search of some knowledge that might help them from having to learn things the hard way, as I have. I learned a lot from my Dad, Grady Gardner Mangum, but not nearly as much as I could have learned if I would not have been so hardheaded. If I had just expressed more interest, I'm sure that I could have learned a lot more, because he was a very intelligent person. My Dad always looked for teaching moments so I guess I came by that same trait honestly -- my children had many more teaching moments thrust upon them than they would have chosen.
I'm certain that future generations will question the wisdom of many of my beliefs, nevertheless I am equally as certain that they will find this quaint and interesting -- perhaps of some value in understanding the thought processes of someone steeped in 20th century American culture.
I am writing as the thoughts come to me and by subject rather than chronologically. Perhaps one day I can rearrange them in a more logical sequence. Well, here goes an alphabetical approach.
ARTHRITIS
My joint pain, particularly in my thumbs, is much better now than it was 5 years ago. I believe this to be due to:
Taking one ounce of Knox unflavored gelatin daily
Taking a herbal preparation containing glucosamine sulfate
Drinking sufficient water to keep my joints hydrated.
ASSET PROTECTION
With the proliferation of lawyers these days (excuse me Darin) it is very important to protect your assets with either a business trust (Based on British and American Common Law) or a Family Limited Partnership. This is even more important if you have any appreciable assets. The larger your target, the more people will want to take a legal shot at you.
BOWEL HABITS
I have learned that it is extremely important to have a good bowel movement every day and, preferably, at the same time every day. I had heard this for years, but I completely underestimated the importance of this. The way I accomplish this is:
Eat plenty of fiber (I use about 1ounce of presoaked psylium hulls daily.)
Drink plenty of water daily (one-half ounce of water for every pound of body weight – 85 ounces for me).
If constipated, insert a baby syringe full of warm tap water -- this always works. (Never use the store bought chemical preparations – it is irritating and acts too fast. )
BLUFFING
In the business world, it is important to bluff occasionally, but when you do you must be prepared to live with the consequences if the bluff goes against you. Case in point: Info-Highway was in the process of acquiring South Coast Computer Services, Inc., the largest and oldest Internet Service Provider in Houston. They had a telephone bill that they were unable to pay and Southwestern Bell had given them a deadline to pay the bill or their telephone lines would be shut off. If this happened, SC would lose service to over 2000 customers, thereby putting the company out business. The presidents of SCCS and Info-Highway had concluded that the only thing to do was to pay the $10,500 with monies that were desperately needed elsewhere. As Chairman of Info-Highway, I called a Vice-president of SWBC several levels higher than the manager that had given us the ultimatum (until 4 pm on January xx, 1997 to pay the bill). I explained to him that we were not going to pay the bill by this deadline and that if he wished, he should go ahead and pull the plug. The consequences would be that SC would lose enough customers that they would go out of business and I would see to it that SWBC would never get paid (since, at the time, we had no obligation to pay them). Info-Highway was paying off SC's obligations out of profits from SC's customers being managed by Info-Highway. This would have been a huge loss to Info-Highway, however I was prepared to take this loss because the alternative was a win-win solution for everyone. SWBC knew that it would hurt us, so they were playing hard ball. I knew that it would hurt SWBC, so I played hard ball right back. The management of both companies were shaking. Then SWBC backed off at the last second and gave us a payout schedule that we could meet. When bluffing, the best rule to follow is to not bluff.
CHURCH
It is important to go to church every Sunday -- not because you will hear something new, but because you will hear something for the um-teenth time and maybe it will sink in this time. The best reason to go to church is to worship God. It does my soul good and I feel better about myself. I now go to church every Sunday because I know that if I didn't go, my carnal nature would overtake my spiritual nature and I would begin to spiral downward spiritually. One of the best reasons to go to church is to become aware of opportunities to serve.
COLD
It is amazing, to me, how many people do not understand that when their feet are cold they can help by putting a hat on their head or gloves on their hands. Once, I suggested to someone that he button his jacket when he complained about his feet being cold. His response to me was that his chest was not cold, but only his feet. Stupid?
DECISION MAKING
I endorse the prophet's counsel to listen to the spirit. The world or even all the family may not endorse your answer, but if you will always follow the spirit then your confidence will wax strong in the presence of God. The following counsel is described in the 9th Section of the D&C. I have used this methodology many times in my life and I can testify that it really works..
1. Make a written list on one piece of paper folded in quarters, listing on one side the pros and cons for a proposition (i.e., start your family immediately)‑ and, on the other side, the pros and cons of the alternative (i.e., wait for X years before starting your family).
2. Fast and pray ‑ Ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
3. Study the pros and cons diligently, writing thoughts in the margin. Gather data from those who have been down the road before you (Prophets, scriptures, parents, family members, bishops, friends, books, etc.). The best advice always comes from those who truly love you.
4. Make your decision.
5. Ask God if you have made the right decision.
6. "Read" what the spirit is telling you. If you experience a stupor of thought (i.e., you are still confused), then you need to loop through the process again. If you have a warm feeling (i.e., a burning in your bosom) about the decision you have made, then that is the right decision for you.
7. Follow the spirit. Carry out the decision you have just made and don’t look back.
(Each person directly effected by the decision should exercise this procedure independently and compare conclusions. If you disagree, then do it again and again until you both come to the same conclusion. If you continue to disagree, then no action should be taken). If you have followed the above procedure, you can defend your decision before God, family, and the world. More counsel here -- be sure that what you are feeling is truly the spirit and not emotions masquerading as the spirit ‑ or worse yet ‑ the spirit of the adversary.
I could share some examples where some very close associates of mine in the church shared with me what they strongly believed was the spirit guiding them. In one business case, I went along with him because, at them time I had concluded that he was considerable closer to the spirit that I believed my self to be. Logic told me it was a bad decision and the spirit seemed to be telling me to oppose his plan. Unfortunately, he did not follow my counsel and, in retrospect, I was right and he was dead wrong. His decision killed a successful company. Later, he went on to make some other decisions which caused me to believe that he was indeed following a spirit that was not of the Lord. (Sept 29, 1997.)
DRUG ALLERGIES
The drug Tetramyacin causes an extremely painful sore to appear on the head of my penis. I went to the doctor with this and he did not connect the sore with an allergic reaction with the antibiotic I was taking for a sore throat. He said that he did not know what caused it but the Tetramyacin that I was taking for the sore throat would probably clear it up, whatever it was. After the third time I experienced this problem, I made the connection myself. Then, months later, I read in a health magazine that this specific reaction is one of the side effects of Tetramyacin. Experiences like this cause me to lose confidence in the medical establishment.
EARS
Never take a bath without using toilet paper to remove the water from your ears. Children are very prone to ear infection if you do not do this. Also, get a simple ear scope and learn to recognize what a common ear infection looks like.
EMERGENCY ESSENTIALS
I believe that it is imperative to have an emergency preparedness plan and follow it. There is much wisdom to be gained by watching the common squirrel - he will store up many times more nuts than he can use during a typical winter. The fact that he never uses all of them does not mean that it was a waste of his time to store them. Food storage is somewhat like an insurance policy you hope you never have to use it, and even if you don't, you will sleep better because you have it. The Prophet is absolutely inspired when he admonishes us to store up enough food, water, fuel, clothing, medicine, etc. for at least a year ahead and two years if you can afford it.
GOD
I have not always believed in God. I came to a belief in God when I became convinced that Joseph Smith was a Prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true. I believe that Jesus became the Christ because, throughout His existence and His atonement, he rendered more service to more people than any person that ever lived on the earth. I believe that it is only through service that one can achieve exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom. And if we were ever in a position to render as much service as did Jesus, we would become a god, just like he is -- he set the example for us to follow. In other words, no service -- no glory! February 24, 1997
GUNS
I believe that the government should follow the example of the Swiss -- issue a rifle to the trustworthy head of each family. Of course, each adult would be trained in its use. The penalty for safety violations and mis-use would be extremely heavy. This should result in a reduction of crime. I also believe that certain members of air crews should be required to carry several types of weapons.
HEADACHES
I suffered from terrible headaches (in the 8-9 range on a 10 scale) most of my life, and now, I hardly ever get a headache, and when I do they are very mild (3-4 range). I am not completely sure how I have been able to overcome these headaches but it must be one or a combination of changes I made in my life -- these are:
Better Nutrition - I now understand how important nutrition is to good health - particularly trace minerals.
Less caffeine (i.e. Dr. Pepper - since I haven't drank coffee or alcohol since 1965)
More water - I believe that many of my headaches were caused by chronic dehydration..
Less Stress - Stress is indeed a killer.
Less Sugar
Very little red meat
LOANING THINGS TO FRIENDS
When you loan money or things to friends, do not ever expect to get it back. My experience demonstrates that in the majority of instances the money never comes back. When they get a little money they will pay you last - because, as a friend, you will understand that they simply need the money for other more important things (like TVs, vacations, etc.)
MEDITATION
Meditation and prayer works. I am a believer in Transcendental Meditation -- this causes a relaxation that is very restful and healing to the mind and body.
MOTHERS
There is no stronger force in the world than a mother's love. A father loves his children deeply also, but the emotional element is weaker than it is in Mothers. The most important things in the world, to me, are my children and grandchildren.
MUSCLES
I think that I have a condition called fibromyalgia, because my muscles hurt for no apparent reason. I have all the symptoms listed in a brochure from the Arthritis Foundation -- Adequate sleep and relaxation helps this condition. Also taking powered magnesium (CALM) helps a lot
MUSIC
My experience with music leads me to conclude that the traditional method of teaching music is flawed. The orthodox teaching method works mainly on the left brain, and unless the person can make the crossover to the right brain, the musician never learns to play by ear. The standard teaching method is "see the note - play the note". The best way to learn music, in my opinion, is to "think the note - play the note". Using this technique, I have been able to learn to play many musical instruments without knowing how to read sheet music. (I can, however, determine which note to play by studying the sheet music.) I have learned how to play the following musical instruments by ear (in order of proficiency): harmonica, banjo, violin, guitar, mandolin, piano, and clarinet. If I can hum a tune, I can play it on these instruments. I have a flute but cannot play it. If I live long enough, I will learn to play the flute.
MSG
It took me many years to realize that the flavor enhancing chemical additive Monosodium Glutamate in foods was the source of many of my headaches and tight neck muscles. Doctors were no help whatsoever in helping me arrive at this realization. Either they were uninformed themselves or they just don't tell us the possibilities. I read about this in a health magazine. Things like this cause me to lose confidence in the medical establishment.
NUTRITION
This obvious fact finally soaked in -- I am what I eat. Think about what you eat, does it do you good or harm?
RELIGION
It took me about 21 years to conclude that the organized religions with which I was familiar, were created by the hand of man as a means of controlling the masses and/or for financial gain or for power. Religions were endorsed by the government and the leaders of the church were given their authority from the government or from the very wealthy families that controlled the government. This belief caused me to be agnostic until I investigated the Mormon church and became convinced that God really does live, Jesus is the Christ and the LDS Church possesses the authority of the Priesthood on the earth today. (See my datafile called testimony.dhm). Since about the age 20, I have believed that organized religions were more of a curse on mankind than they were a help. I know realize that Satan and his angels simply use the churches of the world to carry out his plan. Only the LDS church is structured such that it is more difficult (but not impossible) for Satan to make his influence felt. The Jewish church of 2000 years ago was controlled by the government and by a group of mostly evil men who were unable to recognize the Messiah. Likewise, in the third century, the Roman emperor Constantine stopped persecuting the Christians and began using the Christian Church to unify his kingdom. He gave power, wealth, prestige, and authority to his appointed leader of the church. the Pope. The Roman Catholic Church then used fear and intimidation as the means of keeping the people in bondage. The priesthood of God was lost from the earth because of unrighteousness. I believe that the LDS Church is God's true church -- it is a standard by which all other truths can be measured. 20 Apr 1997.
SKIN
I have come to realize that our natural skin oil offers the best protection for our skin. My skin feels dry itchy and itchy when I take a hot bath -- particularly if I have used commercial soap which contains driveway degreaser (sodium lauryl sulfate). My skin feels much healthier when I use the old fashion soap, or soap which is made with a glycerin base. I have begun to rub my skin with a mixture of various oils before I take a bath. The oil works into the skin and a the slight residue which remains helps keep my skin pliable pliable. This mixture usually contains castor oil, peanut oil, olive oil, almond oil, sesame oil, grapeseed oil, hazelnut oil, canola oil, walnut oil, and others. I do not use baby oil -- I feel that this is a marketing ploy which results in parents using non-digestible petroleum based oil on their babies instead of the more natural vegetable oils. Also, use your finger to place some oil in your nostrils to keep them from drying out during the night. When you wake up in the morning, the night boogers are easily removed. Do this for kids and it will help the finger picking problem. 23 Nov 2002
SPANKING
Parents that do not spank their children when they need it, are doing a great dis-service to the child and to society in general. I am witnessing a generation of spoiled children.
FEET
Never wear the same socks two days in a row. Athlete's foot must be attacked with bleach, hot air from a hair drier and anti fungus cream at the very first sign of itch. Rub your feet with oil often and use sandpaper to remove the rough callouses.
STOCK MARKET
Don't look at the short term charts, they can be very misleading. Look at the 100 year charts and it becomes clear that the market is in deep trouble. It is operating on the "bigger fool theory". About every 50 years, the Kondratief wave kicks in and the market overheats to an enormous degree. That is where it is now and I feel very strongly that it is about to break over. I am looking for a "correction" (which will later be referred to as a crash) of over 50%. Brokers continue to sell stocks based on the track record of the past 20 years or so (and that looks fantastic). The DOW is over 10,000 now. It may go much higher before it falls, but when it falls, the higher it goes the faster it will collapse. I have put my money where my mouth is -- by converting my entire portfolio to ASA (a Gold stock holding company). 22 Mar 99
STORED EMERGENCY ESSENTIALS
I believe that the only sane country in the civilized world is Switzerland -- they require that every able bodied male receive compulsory military training. They can take care of their entire population in the event of a nuclear war. I strongly believe that we should follow Prophet's admonition to store up enough food, fuel, medicine and clothing for at least a year ahead -- and two years if you can afford it. This is wisdom, follow it. 16Feb97
SWIMMING WITH BUSINESS SHARKS
I have concluded that most investment bankers are sharks -- not that sharks are evil creatures -- but you must realize that they will eat you, given the chance. Therefore, when you swim with sharks you must carry a bang stick and be ready to blow them away when they are about to eat you. Case in point: We were about to break escrow on the seed money offering ($480,000), which was to be used to buy some much needed things, but primarily to take Info-Highway public. Our investment bankers announced that they would not release the money from escrow unless we selected them as the investment bankers to take us public. It was a Mexican standoff - we did not back down. They finally gave in.
TRAFFIC TICKETS
Traffic tickets go on your driving record and increase your insurance premiums. Therefore, it becomes necessary to keep them off of your record in the State files . The way to do this is to give the ticket to an attorney who specializes in taking tickets to the judge and paying an agreed upon amount to have the judge dismiss the whole lot. The judge will do this to avoid having to contest all of them individually in open court. 15Feb97
TRUST
My experiences in the business world have confirmed to me that the author, Robert Ringer, was correct when he observed that there are three types of people in the world - first, the guy who will cut off your hand when you reach for the chips you have earned, because he simply lied. Second, the guy who cuts off your hand because he warned you that he would do so if you gave him a legal option to do so. And third, the guy who cuts off your hand, because, although he sincerely meant to give you your chips, circumstances made it impossible for him to do so (this is the most dangerous kind). The safest, of course is the second type. The author claims that there is no such thing as the forth type - a person who will give you your chips you have earned when you reach for them, and not attempt to cut off your hand. I would like to believe that a forth type exists and I once thought that I had found one. I formed a business partnership with this person and when he was in a power position, he (figuratively) cut off my hand when I reached for my chips. What was a fair deal when he needed me was no longer a fair deal when he no longer needed me. I am still looking for that forth type. Having said, I believe that you cannot go through the business world without trusting people. When I formed the Energy Exchange in 1982, people warned me that my trusting policies would get me screwed -- they were correct, I did get screwed many times. I had to sue American Exploration Company to get paid a multi-million dollar commission -- we won the suit, but they appealed and we agreed out of court that they only pay us $350,000 (we were hungry and they knew it). However, because of these trusting policies, I made a lot of money that I would not have made if I had not been trusting. My biggest screw jobs have been from close friends, relatives, and "good" upstanding Christians. I am not bitter towards anyone - I just realize that this is human nature and I just feel sorry for them. (I wonder if I am any different).
WAR
Unfortunately, wars will probably continually be with us until the millennium. Therefore, since I have been a conscientious objector, I believed that I would be well advised to put myself in a position where I could accomplish the most good at the least risk. CASE IN POINT: While I was in college at Mississippi State University, I became very disenchanted with Army ROTC and began looking for an alternative other than the straight draft. I had a case of temporary insanity when I allowed a couple of Marine recruiters talk me into signing papers enrolling me into the Marine Corp Platoon Leaders Class. Upon completion of this program and my college degree, I would become a 2nd Lieutenant in the Marine Corp. I had three days to change my mind. During this three days I gave this a lot of thought and my sanity returned. In fact, it became clear that what I really should do was to switch into Air Force ROTC. The only reason that I spent two years in Army ROTC was my brother, Charles, was already in the Army ROTC, and he was in it because his eyesight was below par for the Air Force. I followed his lead because, 1) I had no counseling and 2) that was the path of least effort for people who didn't care. I did switch to the Air Force, but it cost me an extra year of ROTC. Looking back on this decision, it may have saved my life. Had I switched to the Marine Corp or stayed in the Army, I may have found myself as a Lieutenant Platoon Leader in the Vietnam War -- a position that many found fatal. I fought this nasty and useless war as an Intelligence Officer (Reconnaissance Technical Officer, working with the U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird spy planes, and also the spy in the sky satellite program). This was a relatively safe and highly effective position, considering that the cold war did not turn into a hot war. (See my memories.doc file for more on this). If you have a choice, stay a civilian. Do not fall for the promise of an education in return for 5 years of your life.
GENEALOGY
Genealogy is not only interesting, it is essential. Without this work, the whole earth will have existed in vain. (Malachi 5:4). I found myself very interested in genealogy back in 1963, two and one half years before I joined the Mormon church. My interest in genealogy had no influence on my joining this church -- it was only afterwards that I realized the importance of this work.
WATER
The tendency to develop a condition known as "suppressed thirst syndrome" runs in our family. My Mom, Hilda, drinks less than one glass of water per day, along with a coke and a couple of cups of coffee. I have reason to believe that lack of moisture plays a role in her dementia. She continues to argue that she never sweats, therefore she does not need water, and furthermore, she does not like it. I believe that this the reason her skin is dry, her lips are always chapped and the general long term moisture deficiency in her system may be a reason for her dementia (Her short memory has almost completely failed.) I likewise have gone through life drinking less than one half the quantity of water than I now know that I require. I have to force myself to drink water, because, like my mother, Mom and I both have a condition known as Suppressed Thirst Syndrome.
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MERGE THE FOLLOWING INTO THE ABOVE:
What was my favorite fast food when I was growing up?
We didn't have “fast food” when I was growing up. All the food was “slow food” and 99.9% of the food we ate was made at home..
Where did I eat?
We hardly ever went out to eat -- I always ate at home. We always sat down as a family at the kitchen table, and if I didn't like what Mom put on my plate I was allowed to sit there until I did like it or until everyone else was finished. I was not allowed to leave the table just because I did not want any more food -- and I dare not to complain about the food. I would often hear about the starving children overseas, so, I would then quip back -- “why don’t you send this food to them”. That made sense to me -- they wanted it and I didn’t. Then I had to have permission to leave the table. I soon learned that no one left the table as long as Dad was still eating. When he finished and began to drink his coffee and read the newspaper, then I could leave the table.
My parents never drove me to soccer practice, or any other place for that matter. Besides, I never heard of soccer until I was 11 years old. If I wanted to go someplace, I walked, rode my bike, or caught the bus or streetcar (then only in towns that had public transportation -- which most of the towns in which I lived did not have). I got my first bicycle when I was 9 years old -- it was an adult bike and I crashed on it often because my feet would not reach the petals. It was very heavy and only had one speed, (slow).
I saw my first television when I was l1 years old -- watched it through the screen door of some neighbors down the street. We didn't have a television in our house until after I left for college. It was, of course, black and white. I did not feel deprived because very few people in town owned one. Sometimes I would watch it through the show window of a store in town that sold them They would leave them on all night -- but of course the programs stopped about 9 PM. Some people had a lens taped to the front of the TV to make the picture look larger. My dad was an electrical engineer and could afford to purchase one -- but he thought they were “time wasters”. When I was 12, the next door neighbors would invite us to come over and watch wrestling. I enjoyed it until I realized it was all fake and just for show.
I was 20 years old before I tasted my first pizza, it was called "pizza pie."
I never had a telephone in my room. The only phone in the house was in the dining room and it was on a party line. Before you could dial, you had to listen and make sure the neighbors weren't already using the line.
At Mississippi State University, my dorm had no telephones. About once per week I would call Doris and Mom from a pay telephone in the hallway of a nearby dorm.
Pizzas were not delivered to our home. But milk, coffee, and ice was.
All newspapers were delivered by boys and most boys wanted my paper route, even though it was about seven miles long. I delivered The New Orleans Item newspaper, seven days a week. On Saturday, I had to collect the 35 cents from most of my customers. The rich ones paid by the month. And some of them would skip town and not pay at all. (This later turned out to be very valuable business experience for me.) My favorite customers were the ones who gave me 50 cents and told me to keep the change. My least favorite customers were the ones who seemed to never be home on collection day.
Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least, they did in the movies. Touching someone else's tongue with your tongue was called French kissing and they didn't do that in movies. I don't know what they did in French movies. French movies were considered dirty and they were not shown, (At least no where that I knew of).
Growing up isn't what it used to be, is it?
Mom used a Royal Crown Cola bottle with a cork stopper with a bunch of holes in it to "sprinkle" water on clothes before she ironed them. There were no steam irons.
I remember when:
Doctors would promote cigarettes on the radio and TV.
Medicated Kool cigarettes were promoted as being good for your “T-zone”.
Head lights dimmer switches on the floor.
Ignition switches on the dashboard.
Heaters mounted on the inside of the fire wall.
Real ice boxes.
Pant leg clips for bicycles without chain guards.
Soldering irons you heat on a gas burner.
Using hand signals for cars without turn signals.
Blackjack chewing gum
Chewing dried sap from the sweetgum tree
Making root bear from roots from the sassafras tree
Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water
Candy cigarettes
Soda pop machines that dispensed bottles
Coffee shops with tableside jukeboxes
Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers
Newsreels before the movie.
Cartoons before the movie.
P.F. Flyers and Keds Tennis shoes
Butch wax for my flat-top haircut.
Telephone party lines
Telephone numbers with a word prefix and a letter suffix
(I still remember my number in New Orleans when I was 5 years old, UPtown 2739W. It was a party line.)
Peashooters
When slingshots were called “Nigger Shooters”. I never considered that I would ever use it to shoot a black person. I did not consider ‘nigger” to be a derogatory term -- that is simply what we called black people. It was years later that they began to be called Blacks” or “Afro-Americans”. Also, I never thought that one day we would be able to buy a slingshot in a store. Like everyone of my friends, I made mine with old inner-tubes and a forked stick.
75 RPM Records (some were ¼ inch thick disks 12 inches in diameter), then 45 RPM records, then 33 RPM records, Eight-track Tape Players, then Cassette Tape Players.
S&H Green Savings Stamps
Hi-fi's
Metal ice trays with lever
Mimeograph paper
Blue flashbulbs
1953 -- Packards. When I was 15, I wanted to purchase an old black 12cylinder Packard for about $100. Instead, since that was out of my range, J.C. Necaise and I went in together and bought a 1938 Dodge four door sedan for $25 each. The brakes leaked brake fluid and we had to fill it up several times on each trip. We knew to add more fluid when we had to pump the break petal to activate the brakes. Also, the rear doors were missing so we bought it cheap. A few days later, we took it on a squirrell hunting trip and, when we came back to the car, it would not start. So, we just left it in the woods and hitch-hiked home. Back then, a stranger would even pick up two teen-agers with guns.
I got my second car when I was 16 -- it was a 1950 Two Door Crestline Ford painted maroon and black. It was the hottest car in town and I was Mr. Cool Dude. I was working about 40 hours per week when I was attending high school ( I worked every night and every weekend and I was making 75 cents per hour, a very good wage for a high school student. During the summers I would work about 12 hours per day and 7 days per week. I think I was earning more per year than some of the teachers.
Roller skate keys. When my shoe leather got thin, the clips would not stay on my shoes.
Cork popguns
Drive-in Movie Theaters (These were the rage in 1947)
Studebakers. I was 9 years old when I saw the first one.
I had to study it closely to tell which was the front and which was the rear.
Wash tub wringers with a hand crank.
Then, later, the motor driven wringers that would take your hand off if you got your fingers caught in the rollers.
I might be older than dirt but these memories are the best part of my life.
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Add the following stories:
1948 My friend, David Culpepper, broke his leg when he jumped off the roof of his garage while holding on to an umbrella.
22May2004 Walking alone at night down the river trail at Colorado Bend State Park. The fireflies, the river, slept on a large log overhanging the river. Later, I saw a big black cat about the size of a German Shepard along this river – so I wont be hanging out around this river at night any more. .
May 2004 Received a letter from Martha? Grisham thanking me for the giving my lecture at Palestine on Quantum Physics and Spirituality. She said that this information changed her life.
26May2004 Attended The Course in Miracles, as I have been attending for the past year. Kathy Killean got very upset with me after the meeting. She did not like what I had said about the possibility that her “stinking thinking” may have had something to do with her breast cancer. She said that her doctors told her that her cancer had nothing to do with her thought processes -- it s a physical condition and needs to be treated with radiation and chemotherapy. She then told me that she really disliked me. I asked her why and she said that it was because I had the audacity to think that I could go around like some kind of know-it-all guru lecturing on quantum physics and spirituality -- quote: “you have the audacity to think you can teach about quantum physics when you do not have a PhD in Physics -- you at least spend some time reading about Albert Einstein.” (I did not tell her that I had spent at least six hours the previous week reading the recently published book “Einstein and the Cosmos”). I did tell her the reason that I did not hire her when she interviewed with me last month was that she radiates with anger and I did not want that negative hostile attitude in my office. And I asked her if it were ok if I believed that her cancer and her long period of unemployment may have something to do with her negative and angry attitude. I also told her that she has taught me that it would be a big mistake to try to help her again, since the first two times she reacted angrily. She is like a wounded animal that bites the hand of those trying to help her. We ended the conversation on a polite note.
Dec 2008 -- Received a gift (three pounds of different exotic coffee) from Minerva Salazar from Corpus Christi. When she was about to leave Mo Ranch, she fell and could not walk or get in the car for the four hour ride home. Several people came looking for me to come and give her a blessing and heal her, which I did. In her card, she said, “I thank God for putting you there to help me that day. Wow! You are good! Thank God for you”.
1944 – Age 6. Pepper Eating Episode
1944 – Age 6 – Banana Peel Eating Episode
1943 – Age 5. Killing ants on sidewalk with stalk.
1946 – Age 8. Capturing Lizards
1946 – Age 8. Harnessed locusts with thread and glue and got them to my pull toy cars.
1947 – Age 9 Broke Rib while walking porch banister.
1953 – Age 13. Riding bicycle off end of pier into the bay.
1953 – Age 14. Hitchhiking to Henderson Point to swim in the bay.
1945 -- Age 7. Got choked on a nickel.
1947 – Age 9. Used my B-B gun to shoot a live 22 Caliber bullet to try to get it to discharge. Fortunately, I kept missing and decided to quit. If this bullet had exploded, I very likely could have lost my eye.
1947 – Age 9. My Dad kept a .38 caliber pistol on the top shelf of their closet. Occasionally, I would stack chairs and boxes so that I could get the pistol just to play with it or to show my friends. I am very lucky to be alive.
1947, September – Age 9. Just before the 1947 Hurricane that hit New Orleans, Louisiana, I heard that the levees were in danger of overflowing. So, when school was out, I went to check out the levees. This was a very exciting experience for me and I was very late getting home from school. Needless to say, my mother was very worried about me and had not she been so glad to find me, I would have gotten into a lot of trouble for not telling her where I had gone after school. During the storm, Mom was very worried because Dad was out of town on government business and she had never experienced a hurricane before. I didn’t anything to help her nerves because I kept running to the window to watch the big oak trees sway back and forth. Fortunately, our house survived and the levees held, or we would have been flooded (as happened later during Hurricane Katrina).
1948 – We moved from Shreveport, Louisiana to Dupo, Illinois (Just south of East Saint Louis).
1949 – Age 11. Playing UFO Wars with coffee can lids. This was after the Roswell, New Mexico UFO sightings and everyone was talking about visitors from outer space.
1950 – Age 11 Went ice skating by myself with borrowed skates.
1950 – I found an Indian arrowhead in the field behind my house
1948 Dad encouraged me to read the books called “The Laws of Success” by Napoleon Hill.. He promised to buy me a new red wagon if I would read this set of about 10 books. I spent most of the summer of 1948 reading these books. My Dad was a very positive thinker. He also encouraged me to read “Think and Grow Rich”. Dad took me downtown Shreveport to the Western Auto on Texas Avenue and bought the very best wagon for me. Actually, I wanted the cheaper wagon, because that was the wagon that most of my friends had. Incidentally, because he bought me the better wagon, I still have this old wagon in 2009. Doris uses it as a plant holder.
1951-52 Age 12 – 13 I built model sailing vessels (i.e., the Hispanola) out of balsa wood. These also got thrown away when my parents moved. I made parts for these ships out of lead. I would melt lead tire weights on Mom’s stove top and pour the molten lead into molds that I had created. I hammered an anchor out of a lead BB and connected it to a small jewelry chain. This chain was a part of a spring loaded roll up device, which I embedded into the side of the ship. .
1952 – Age 14. Started a Pest Control business using creosote and water. Dad paid me for spraying around our house, and this really did reduce the mosquito population around our house. I solicited the entire neighborhood and did not get any customers. However, the local Area Manager of the New Orleans Item Newspaper admired my initiative and offered me a job as the newspaper delivery boy for Pass Christian, Mississippi. This route was about seven miles long and I rode on my bike in all sorts of weather. My parents never offered to take me in the family car. .
1951 Dad purchased a new 1951 Chrysler New Yorker. It was two-toned grey, it had a padded dashboard, which was a very forward thinking innovation. .The Chevrolet dashboard was similar to a metal blade.
1953 – Collected old bicycle parts from trash. Built bikes from these parts and then sold them. Also purchased old bikes and overhauled them and sold them for a profit.
1953 – Cut grass and cleaned yards to earn money. I went door to door trying to get yard-cleaning jobs. The first job I got was a real learning experience. The owner of the home offered me a very low price and I took the job. I must have worked for about 10 cents per hour. I later learned to focus on the very expensive beach homes.
1953 -- Because of my Paper Route, I got to know a lot of people around town and I got the reputation for being a hard working ambitious kid. I had sold the Postmaster’s son a very nice Schwinn bicycle which I had built from old parts. Worked for the US Post Office delivering special delivery mail.
1954 – 55 Sea Scout Intiations.
While blindfolded, we “branded” their bare backsides with an Ice Cold Branding Iron, after showing them a red hot branding iron..
Again, while blindfolded, we made them eat buttery spagetti after showing them a can of slimy earthworms.
We staked them out on a sandbar in the middle of Wolf River and pretended to abandon them there -- after telling them that the river was rising. Two new scouts that I remember were Billy McAllister and Frank Labigang.
On one initiation night, we had driving Billy? McDonald to Wolf River where we were going to throw him in the River. McDonald panicked and began punching – I caught a fist in the face, which took the fun out of the occasion for the rest of the night. As I recall, McDonald never came back to Scout meetings again. I wonder why?
On initiation night, we occasionally would tie up new Scouts and throw them off a bridge into the bayou. Of course we had a rope attached to them so we could pull them out before they drowned. Michael Moffett told his parents that we had done this to him and they were very angry – so angry, in fact, that they would not let him attend scouts any more. Mike’s parents told other parents and soon the whole town was very upset. This effectively ended our creative initiation ceremonies, so we were much more subdued with future initiations.
1988 – I put together a Private Placement Memorandum to help David Noble raise money for a Dive Boat Venture.
2008 – Initiated into the Tao.
2008 – Relationship wise, 2008 was a disastrous year.
Rick Hatala, my best friend and business partner turned on me and took maximum advantage of me. When I first met him, I thought he was an answer to a prayer. Not only was e was a Petroleum Engineer, but he believed in the Edgar Cayce Readings. – Darin gave Rick Hatala the impression that I had no power and authority in Integrative Energy and Rick took maximum advantage of me. Although Rick’s actions are illegal, he has effectively moved me completely out of Integrative Energy – I company that I founded.
2009 Dec Earlier in the year, I sold some of my IE stock to Ken Kurz, my best friend at the time. Rick did not issue the stock certificates to him in a timely manner (it took 8 months). I thought that this had been taken care of until Ken presented me with a demand letter asking for the return of his money. He said that he would settle for my RV. Darin got Rick to sign the stock certificates and the issue was dropped. However, with friends like Ken, one does not need enemies.
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For latest version of my memories, see data file called ‘memories-DavidMangum10Apr2010.doc’ in My Documents/DavesDocs/Personal/ (in David’s Dell computer).
ADD THESE STORIES:
199X - I put together a Private Placement Offering Memorandum to help Norman Haynes search for buried Japanese War Treasures in the Philippine Islands.
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My Memories of Judy Ray Woodhall Mangum
By David H. Mangum
For Judy’s 70th birthday surprise dinner party at Carmello’s Restaurant on April, 10, 2010, Charles asked me to write some of my memories of Judy. Here are a few:
June 1947 – First time I met Judy – I was 9 and she was 7. Charles had just turned 11. We had a bar-b-Q cookout at her house just outside Shreveport. This was the first cook-out that I can remember. This is when I quickly learned that it was very easy to push Judy’s buttons – it was such a fun thing to do. Judy had a whiney little sister named Sharon. It was also easy to push Sharon’s buttons – but she was quick to run tell her parents and I would get in trouble. So my focus of attention was mainly on Judy.
Judy gave me my first music lesson. She taught me how to play Chop-Sticks on the piano. Little did she know that this was to launch me, some 60 years later, into the shade tree musician that I have become today.
Spring, 1948, Judy was age 9, Collinsville, Illinois. – Playing Croquette in her backyard. I loved to chase after her ball so that I could hit it with my ball and then and knock her ball off the playing field. This was much more fun than winning because she would become so upset each time I did that. Then her dad, Ray Woodhall, would give me a taste of my own medicine and he would knock my ball off the playing field.
1949 – I was in the fourth grade – I can remember trying to decide whether Judy was my number one girlfriend – or was it Veronica? After some deliberation, I decided that Judy was my girlfriend – but I never got around to telling her.
1950 – I remember on one occasion, we were playing in Judy’s basement and I was in the process of doing my usual terrorizing of both Judy and Sharon. Judy, in her efforts to protect herself and/or Sharon, attacked me with a broom handle. Then got into a big argument because I said that it was possible for her to ram that broom stick completely through me and kill me – and she said that this was not possible. I learned then, that it was not possible to win a argument with Judy.
1951 – Judy parents invited Charles and I to go with them to their cousin’s graduation from Wisconsin Military Academy, just sough of Milwaukee. We stayed at a cabin on the shore of a very clear lake.. On the return trip home, we stayed overnight at the Morrison Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. Charles and I got into a pillow fight. We also stopped in Springfield, Illinois to visit the tomb and log cabin of Abraham Lincoln. This trip was a blast, except that I was forbidden to tease Sharon.
1954 – I visited Judy at her home in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was shortly after this that I met Doris and the rest is history. Judy moved to Texas about this time, where our paths would cross again.
1958 – My parents moved to San Antonio, Texas, where Judy was already living. I had not seen Judy since she moved away from Mississippi, so I called her and took her to a movie. I was going to school in Austin and she was in San Antonio so I did not see much of her.
Then in 1959, Judy shows up again going to the University of Texas. I met with her occasionally for coffee. I remember one interesting story where she had met this guy named Al Brady, a handsome pre-med student that she really liked – but he would not give her the attention that she expected. So Judy connived a plan for him to see her at this coffee shop with me and this was supposed to make him jealous. Apparently, this plan backfired on her, because when Al saw Judy with this other handsome stud – he concluded that he didn’t stand a chance. And as far as I know, he never asked her for a date again.
1960 – University of Texas. in Austin. I would get Judy dates with my fraternity brothers at the PiKA house. I felt it was my duty to protect her, at least from the known sex predators. So, I remember telling her that I refused to get her a date with my roommate, Jack Shannon, even though he had said that he would like to date Judy. Jack was a handsome Aeronautical Engineering student with a flashy red MG Sports Car, who ultimately went to work for Boeing in Seattle. Jack prided himself with his acrobatic exploits in that tiny two seated sports car. Who knows – perhaps if I would have gotten her that date with Jack, Judy would have had her first child 6 years earlier and she would be living in Seattle instead of Scott.
September 1961 – The night before I got married to Doris – Judy and I got together for the last time as a couple and we went dancing at a club on Austin Highway in San Antonio.. I remember thinking that I had never kissed her and if this was ever going to happen that it should happen that night. Both Doris and Charles should be happy to know that this kiss never happened – I guess it would have been too much like kissing your sister.
It was about this time that Charles took over the job of looking after Judy Woodhall – and Charles became the “fox that was supposed to protect the dove”. And now you see what he did – he got her pregnant – not just once, but twice. Judy, forgive me for not being there to protect you from Charles.
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Charles,
You may have forgotten that I was long ago promoted from roustabout to roughneck -- having worked as a rig floor hand on several wells in the swamps of Louisiana.
Safety was not a big issue back in the 50's so I am lucky to be here with all my fingers and toes (I worked both lead-tongs and back-up tongs on a very slippery rig floor without hard-toed shoes). We muscled drill pipe around with chains and winches. Today, “sissy” roughnecks use mechanical tongs. Back then, a roughneck had not been "initiated" until he had lost at least one toe or finger.
I watched a fellow worker get a piece of steel embedded in his eyeball -- which would not have happened had he been wearing safety goggles while someone next to us was using a sledge hammer on a steel pin. If there were safety goggles anywhere on the rig, I never saw them. It is also interesting that we never did have a porta-potty on location. The "bathroom" was the back-slope of the mud pit.
I personally plugged some depleted gas wells in the Monroe gas field in 1959 after salvaging the casing string. One of these wells blew out on me after we shot off the production casing. Fortunately the well did not catch on fire -- and we just let it blow until it quit. Then, after the rig moved off, I took a trunk load of cement sacks out of the trunk of my car and poured the dry cement into the surface casing and dumped some water on top. This was not what I was later taught to do at UT, however, this was standard procedure and I was just following orders. I was the guy in charge -- maybe because I was the only person on location that could read. Besides, I had a whole year of college -- I was hot stuff.
I could tell some other stories that would cause Ralph Nader to vomit. Times have really changed haven't they?
Thanks for the information that you have been sending me on the spill. I was surprised that they had already cemented casing (set pipe) when the blowout occurred. This is highly unusual. That explains why there were no supervisors around. I have never heard of a case like this before.
Here is my early guess as to what happened:
The driller was trying to get the rig off the well as fast as possible by pulling out of the hole as fast as he could. This swabbed in the cement from around the bottom of the casing. The cement must not have completely set or perhaps it was an inferior cement job. Perhaps the cement was contaminated with formation fluids. With the loss of the cement, the oil blew around the bottom of the casing and it quickly became "jump overboard time".
The blowout preventer still should have stopped the blowout -- maybe the drill collars were in the BOP at the time -- and they were not sheered. In time the truth will come out.
Keep me posted.
Luv,
Dave
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