by Curtis | Volume III
We had our second three month home leave in the spring of 1952. We flew to Beirut in the ARAMCO Convair and checked into the Normandie Hotel, our operating center the whole time we were in Lebanon. Roger owned the hotel and took care of the guests with nice rooms, a...
by Curtis | Volume III
The Army and Navy Academy was located in Carlsbad, CA, right on the beach. The enrollment was small, about 235 students in the lower and upper school. The dress was modeled after West Point, and the thing about this military school was, every minute of the day was...
by Curtis | Volume III
After the American Community School (ACS) in Beirut, Lebanon, there was still life but the distance from home in Dhahran became huge. Now, I was separated from my parents and sister by half a world including a vast ocean. At times, my home in Dhahran was more like a...
by Curtis | Volume III
My sister had not been to school in the States, so when I went off to my freshman year at Iowa, my folks rented a house for a year; it was down the street from E. F.Lindquist, my dad’s cousin, a professor. His family helped us get situated. JK went to junior...
by Curtis | Volume III
These days, International air travel is met with a host of controls since terrorists look for soft targets, air travelers being a good example. But, in the 1950s, the restrictions on air travel were minor to the traveler. The limits were mostly about your passport...
by Curtis | Volume III
In the spring of 1970, I learned to fly. It was March and the winds blew most afternoons. My flight instructor, Marv Knipp, and former B-58 Hustler pilot and Air Force major, took me from ground school through my commercial ticket with instrument rating. I took most...
by Curtis | Volume III
Dhahran was a different place in 1982. It was bigger! It was busy! It was growing and it was missing the main ingredient, my old friends. All the buildings and memories were in place, but my friends had gone off to start their lives elsewhere. Steve Furman was a...
by Curtis | Volume III
In the fall of 2013, after being away from Dhahran since 1985, an email arrived from a Saudi ARAMCO pilot- Court Gunderson. Court was tasked with re-writing the 2008 ARAMCO aviation story along with his regular flying duties. Court saw our Dhahran Diary website and...
by Curtis | Volume III
Going to Misawa, Japan, was not one of my expectations for teaching. Our son Curt went thru his senior year of high school and told us one day, he was not ready for college. He was going to the Navy. He tested well and when a billet opened he was off to boot camp in...
by Curtis | Volume III
I received the terrible news that my father had passed in Escondido, California, after a brief illness. He was 85; it was December 7th, 1994. I was teaching at Sollars Elementary School in Misawa, Japan, when the news came from the Red Cross. I hurried back to...
by Curtis | Volume II
We were all a little nuts in junior high. Many events occurred in school that were not about class. One student supposedly hypnotized a popular girl from our class. He was a grade or two ahead of us and when classes changed, all he had to do was snap his fingers in...
by Curtis | Volume II
We had Brownies, Cubs, Girl, and Boy scouts in Dhahran. These were organizations from which a number of activities were launched. There was always someone in the community interested enough to be a scoutmaster or a volunteer. Frequently, these people had professional...
by Curtis | Volume II
My first recollection of A. W. ‘Bobby’ Head was at the pool one summer in the early 1950s. Bobby was a handsome Texan with a big, squinty-eyed grin. He was the dependent stepson of ARAMCO driller M.H. Burt. They lived on Fifth Street. I recall Bobby...
by Curtis | Volume II
I know that life in Dhahran was more tolerable because of the gulf. As an expatriate dependent in the late 1940s, one had to seize upon any opportunity for diversion. ARAMCO’s recreation department did a good job in camp but the gulf was a big draw too. We went...
by Curtis | Volume II
In late March and April, the weather turned warm almost overnight. We exited the rainy season with Dhahran being washed and green from the average annual rainfall of three to ten inches, closer to three, of which most fell in March. Some year’s it was more...
by Curtis | Volume II
South Administration Building started with just one wing but this was quickly modified into a ‘U’ shaped structure by 1950. The Admin Building, referred to as the Ad building became the hub of ARAMCO’s oil business as well as its passenger...
by Curtis | Volume II
Malcolm MacKenzie lived in the house (1148) catty corner from Steve Furman (1151-B) on Eleventh street. It was first home to Rule Cochran and his family and sometime after the MacKenzies left it was turned into an executive guest house by ARAMCO. Malcolm and I were...
by Curtis | Volume II
Lou Killian’s jeep became a primary focus to junior high students and returning summer students. The Killians lived on seventh street and we used to visit because their daughter, Linda Lee, who was popular; we all liked her parents. I think Lou was in charge of...
by Curtis | Volume II
In my memory, the Arabian seasons were punctuated by bouts of moisture. It seems odd that I think of that desert region in terms of water but the rainy season and the August humidity were two annual milestones. The humidity was intense. Many westerners suffered. The...
by Curtis | Volume II
There is plenty of leisure time in Dhahran. We do not have the same lifestyle as in the states but ARAMCO arranges many activities to help fill the void. So do parents and their children. Someone is always having a party. Proms and the Tri-District dances were high...
