(L-R) Seaman Recruit Gillespie; Wes & Marsha-'62; and 1997
(the following is an excerpt from an e-mail message to Fu and others) ....Went back to work for the old New York Central RR where I had worked before going into the Navy. They had maintained my seniority so I had a pretty decent job. In 1966 I enrolled at Indiana University to complete work on my degree. IU has an excellent Far Eastern Dept and I decided to switch my major to Far Eastern Language & Literature since they gave me 26 hours of credit for my language school training but I had to take several hours worth of Japanese Language to constitute a minor subject. At that time I had in mind to get my degree, apply for a direct commission and get back into the Naval Security Group. By the time I got my degree in '67 things had suddenly changed with the NSG. No more direct commissions. They would have gladly taken me back into the Navy but I would have had to go to OCS, probably do 18 mos on a destroyer in Antartica or someplace similar and then take my chances of getting back into NSG. Thanks but no thanks! I sent resumes around for about a year with no one wanting to pay anywhere near what I was making on the RR. I had two kids by then (son, Wade) and could not hack a 50% wage reduction. So I have been a rail conducteor and have logged many miles on the high iron between Indianapolis and N. Central Ohio since then. The money has always been above average and Marsha wtill works in the X-Ray department doing ultrasound so we do get by. Got three years to go before I retire, maybe sooner in view of the recent takeover of Conrail by the CSX and N&S. There may be a big buyout next year of old protected employees like myself. It would be like a going away gift since I'm more than ready to give it up as soon as possible. It used to be fun, but it ain't anymore. (To Dave Doyle: )I rembember you getting into photography while on Oki Dave. I did a little of that while I was there too. I dabbled with it for several years when I got back to stateside...even constructed a simple dark room in my garage doing slides and black and white. I guess I sort of lost interest in it years ago. I have all of my equipment to my son who is better at it than I ever was. My photography these days is of the video genre. I've got a pretty good Hi8 cameral and have done several weddings. I hope to upgrade in the near future to one of the new digital cameras. Sony's more than likely. I plan to do the processing and editing on the computer. I finally have a fast CPU with enough processing power to handle it. I would enjoy seeing some of your Oki prints. I can view any graphic file format you can send. JPEG preferred. Do you have a scanner? Well, Dave, I'll sign this off for now. It has been great to hear from some of the old gang. Sure brings back many fond memories. It's funny how people from such a short period in the history of your life and from so many years ago still remain clearly fixed in memory. I think it must have been because we were sort of thrown together in a foreign land and so far away from home. Such situations must encourage some sort of bonding. I think of it often. Matter of fact, every time I hear "Anchors Aweigh" I feel like shipping over!
Wes and Marsh Gillespie "Ge Lai Pi"
590 N. Washington St., Danville, IN 46122
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