Charles Kuras and Gary Rose. I think Charles was from Michigan or Wisconsin and Gary was from Napa, CA.
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| I grew up around trucks and actually don't remember learning to drive. When I was very small Dad would stand me up in the seat behind the wheel and tell me to hold the truck straight between rows of sacks of potato's while he and his swamper loaded the truck. When I was tall enough to reach the pedals I could push the clutch in, put the truck in gear, take off, and then pull myself up so I could see over the dash and drive in the fields. As soon as I graduated from high school there was a job and a truck waiting for me. I'm sorry to say I don't have pictures of the first truck I could legally hit the road with. It was a '55 Chevy cab-over flat-bed with a 1929 Reliance pull trailer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I had one season of trucking before Uncle Sam invited me to go to work for him. After basic training Judy and I were married at Lodi,Ca. Then back to Ft Sam Houston for medical training. I was assigned to the 488 Med Det (Amb) and was in Thailand when our son Eric was born. The 488th had 6 3/4 ton Dodge ambulances 13 medics, the m151 and myself. If anyone that was in the 488th in '66-'67 happens to see this or if you know someone that was in the unit please contact me. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Here are three of the medics in the 488th. Louis G. Perez from Ventura, CA. Charles Kuras and Gary Rose. I think Charles was from Michigan or Wisconsin and Gary was from Napa, CA. |
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| 488th Med Det Amb | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| When I came home from Thailand I went right to work for my uncle Austin hauling tomatoes with this International and 1929 Reliance pull trailer. I also drove other trucks in the fleet when needed. One of my favorites was this '53 GMC 620. | |
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| When the tomato season ended we started hauling seed potatoes from Terminus, CA to Wasco, CA. I had been driving the '59 International COE pulling doubles near the end of tomato season. This was my first Diesel. It had a 220 Cummins with a 12 speed Spicer transmission. There were two sticks. One was for forward and reverse. The other one's main purpose seemed to be to keep you constantly confused. There was 12 gears, 3 positions with 4 gears in each one. You had to put the transmission in nuetral everytime you wanted to shift. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Me with my son Eric in '67, and (below) in about '75 my daughter Kelli with a '44 Peterbilt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| In '74 I went to work for J.M. Buckley at Courtland, CA. They started me out on a '59 Pete hauling wheat from the delta area south of Sacramento to the elevator at Stockton. Later I was moved to the '65 Pete pictured above. We hauled wheat, barley, safflower, pears, tomatoes, and ended the season with yellow corn. For the next few monthes I drove for an owner-operator hauling frozen food and dry freight between Sacramento and San Diego. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| In February of '75 I was called back to work at Buckleys' to train as dispatcher. It was a very good, but very demanding job. The term "pressure cooker" can't even begin to describe what we went through for the next few years. For all the bad stuff I still look back on these days with fond memories of the job and the people, especially the drivers who never let me down. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| In April of '77 Judy and I moved our family, including my Mom and Dad to Lenna, OK. This was where my parents grew up and started their life together. I went back to Courtland for two seasons til Buckleys' had a permanent replacement for me in the office. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In the fall of '78 I was working for Bob James at Checotah, OK. The truck was a '52 Pete called "Baby Doll." We hauled tomatoes from Muleshoe, TX to canneries in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Mississippi. The truck had a 250 Cummins with a 5 and 3 with 4-11 gears. The old truck would really run and after leaving several bigger and newer trucks in the dust I finally got a "cb" handle that stuck when a friend started calling me TrailBlazer. Thanks "Chopper." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 80s & 90s | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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