Page 80 - Armstrong Bloodline - ebook_Neat

I never learned much about my father's family life, but he told me more than once that he never got along very
well with his father. He did mention, however, that he and his father shared one common interest – they both
loved to read. He said that he used to bring two books home from the library, and that he and his father would
take turns reading them. Although his father never went to high school, he had probably read every book in
the school library. The rift between my father and grandfather continued to grow until World War II gave him a
means of escape. In April 1940, at age 19, he enlisted in the Army and was stationed at Fort Snelling in
Minneapolis, MN (service number - 17 025 499). In 1941 he married Rosalie Romona Ross.

After a couple years at Fort Snelling, he was transferred to Fort Pepperell in St. John’s, Newfoundland. While
there he initiated and secured a divorce from Rosalie. When I asked my father what he did with the Army in
Newfoundland, he smiled and replied, not a damn thing. After a bit more prodding, I learned that he had
probably lucked into one of the best war-time assignments that any healthy young rogue could have hoped
for. His company was responsible for rotating through various outposts that were designed to protect the area
from potential assault from German U-boats that reportedly infested the surrounding waters. This was not a
particularly taxing endeavor, according to my father, but one which he was apparently rather good at. He
became a good drinking buddy of the Lieutenant who was also his company commander (he referred to him as
an alcoholic) and served as the acting company 1st. Sergeant for several months before his assignment was
finalized.

Apparently, he and several of his Army buddies spent much of their spare time hanging out at a bar at a place
called the Newfy Hotel. All of the young men of the area were serving elsewhere in the English Army and the
eligible young ladies of the town were willing and eager competitors for the companionship and attentions of
the American servicemen who they outnumbered several times over. Several of the mothers actively
encouraged their daughter's pursuit, hoping that they would be able to induce one of these rich Americans to
marry their daughters. For my father this must have been the candy store that most sweet tooth’s only dream
of, and he apparently applied himself to the chase with considerable enthusiasm.

He further provided some observations about the female population of the area that provides little of lasting
social value, but was of considerable interest to the fortunate young predators assigned to protect the
indigenous from the Hun. Apparently the water of the area contained elements that did considerable and
rapid damage to the teeth of the inhabitants. As a result, few of the young ladies referred to above had any of
their own teeth left and it was a rather common practice for them to share their dentures with each other
when fortunate enough to arrange a rendezvous for the evening!!! Safe sex had a very different connotation in
those days and a commonly held belief of the inhabitants was that making love while standing up was an
effective means of contraception. My father related how many a darkened doorway in nighttime St. Johns was
occupied by athletic couples putting this theory to the test. By the time he left Newfoundland he related that
he was in a state of near physical exhaustion, having very nearly (to use his own indelicate phraseology) “f-----d
himself to death”.

He concluded his reminiscing by describing an incident that very nearly sullied his otherwise unblemished
military record. Apparently, one day he and a couple of buddies had pursued their second favorite pastime
(drinking beer) and had downed a few more than usual. Somehow someone came up with the brilliant idea
that they should filch one of the Army's tanks and pursue unauthorized maneuvers in the abandoned
countryside. Using the wartime skills that the Army had provided him, he masterminded and carried out a
daring military insertion strategy that would have made the ancestral Scottish Armstrong border bandits
proud. Everything went like clockwork and they were soon careening over the countryside and toasting their
mutual success. Unfortunately, they neglected to pay much attention to where they were going, and out of
nowhere an ill-placed countryside cliff appeared over which the unwieldy metal behemoth plunged. After

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