Fort Eustis, the Wright Brothers, and Cape Hatteras National Seashore

My Dad landed in Fort Eustis in September of 1968. He was there to receive training from the Army's top-rated transportation division.

His MOS (Military Occupational Specialty code): 67N - Aviation Maintenance Training
A gunner on a Huey helicopter.
His training details: Crew Chief on a UH-1 "Huey" helicopter

Now, it rarely snows in this part of Virginia, but it snowed at Fort Eustis that winter in 1968 - just as it snowed for us. Dad said the base didn't have snow plows, and the only way to move the snow was to use shovels. And that is just what they did in 1968. Since then, the base has managed to get snowplows.

My cousin James and I have been swapping travel stories and photos over the past year. His dad (Uncle John) and my dad (Clyde) are brothers. One served in the Navy, the other in the Army. One is naturally bald, and the other is bald by choice. But both have stories from their service in Vietnam.


James was visiting his dad one evening - and Uncle John was sharing Navy stories. James mentioned our visit to Fort Eustis and the conversation below occurred.

Note: I hope you find it just as amusing as I did - I even laughed out loud. I couldn't get over the fact that my dad and Uncle John were talking on the phone while James sent it all via email. Gotta love technology!

From James:

I just mentioned your father to him [Uncle John] (because I'm typing to you now), and Dad is telling me that your father came from Fort Eustis to visit him on his ship in Little Creek, Virginia, in 1968, and then he told me that cousin Wayne came from Camp Pendleton to visit him in San Diego. I had not realized that Wayne had been in the USMC.

Anyway, Dad said that after your father came to visit him, Dad tried to find Uncle Clyde at Fort Eustis but could not find him.

Okay, now he's telling me (and now he knows I'm typing to you) about the "weirdest coincidence between the two of them." "One time I came in to the New Orleans airport, and if I remember this correctly, Aunt Laura and Uncle Warren came to pick me up, and by sheer accident, Uncle Clyde came in on another flight," and the four of them rode back to Raceland together! Wow! (He said that our grandparents couldn't pick them up, for some reason.)

Okay, now this is getting funny! My father just said, "Give me the phone," and he's calling your dad's house to get details!

Okay, I just heard "Michele and Richie" through the phone, and your father is saying that Fort Eustis is very near where you and Richie are near there now.

Your father says that he doesn't have any memory of that accidental meeting at the airport. My father said "dust your memory off," that it might come back in a few days!


Heehee. Isn't this the way it happens to everyone? And that is why I love my family, ladies and gentlemen! On our visit to Cape Canaveral (which you will read about in a February entry), Dad said the reason he didn't remember that incident was because he and a fellow Army bud spent 2 days driving (without a break) - and everything was a blur.

So, we drove to Fort Eustis in honor of my dad's training. It is still an active military base and security is tight - - well - - sort of.

We pulled up to the gate and were greeted by a mall cop. You've seen the movie, so you know what I'm talking about. The military seems to be doing a lot more outsourcing these days.


He took down our license plate number and checked our IDs, then he asked us what building we were going to. I told him that my dad was here in '68 and that we just wanted to drive around to check out the base. He told us that he couldn't put that down in his notes and he needed a specific location. I asked him if there is a museum on base. He said "Yes." And I told him "Well, that is where we are headed." and he let us through. Funny thing is that it was a Monday and the museum is closed on Mondays. How is that for security?

Even though the museum was closed, we were able to enjoy the leftover holiday decorations tacked to the fence surrounding the Army tanks and aircraft. I'm glad we were able to view and photograph them. Two NCOs (non-commissioned officers) showed up with a pick-up truck to take them down. The companies were clever and well designed. Here are a few of our favorites...

_________________________________________________________

After a short drive to Virginia Beach, we crashed at a delightful B&B called the Beach Spa Bed and Breakfast. Every B&B has a hook (breakfast, a hot tub, close to activities, etc.), and their hook was a spa shower which looked an awful lot like the beaming devices in Star Trek. "Beam me up, Scotty." Unfortunately, I think they spent a whole lot of money on a multi-headed singing shower. But if you are ever in Virginia Beach and want to be a block from the water and "get away from it all" - this little B&B is it.

And now we are off to the coast of North Carolina which is locally known (and pridefully called) as "The Outer Banks" or "OBX." A less pleasant name is the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" - so famously named for the 2000+ documented shipwrecks on her seashore.

The area is very fragile, but beautiful. It is a set of barrier islands known as Cape Hatteras National Seashore, where "Land and sea work in an uneasy alliance." It is less than a mile wide in most places and 100 miles in length. I was surprised to see the dunes!

Many people don't realize that The Outer Banks played a significant role in the beginning of the Civil War and in protecting the U.S. from German U-boats in WWII.



Most books list December temperatures between 40 and 55 degrees. Of course, we managed to experience the lower temperatures... 45 in the day, 32 degrees at night - and windy!

Our first stop was the Monument to a Century of Flight, just off the highway. It was created and dedicated during the First Flight Centennial in 2003. There is a time capsule that should be opened in 2103. It is amazing to think about life in 100 years...

The highlight was the entrance to the monument - a large piece of granite with the poem "High Flight" engraved on it. This poem has a special place in our hearts. Richie and I memorized this poem while in Civil Air Patrol. When we saw the title on the granite, we immediately began reciting it in unison.

"Oh I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter silvered wings..."

Anyhow... the monument (about 100 feet further) depicts the human odyssey of flight in one century - from earthbound into the mysteries of space. It has 14 stainless steel, wing-shaped pylons ascending in height from 10 to 20 feet and are organized in an orbit of 120 feet (symbolic of the length of the Wright Brothers' first historic flight). The black granite panels chronicle 100 of the most significant events in aviation's first century.



Our next stop: The Wright Brothers' Memorial.

Orville and Wilbur Wright were brothers living in Dayton, OH, and successfully running a bicycle shop. Due to a combination of restlessness and probably being too smart for their own good, they turned their attention to creating a machine that would allow humans to fly. They spent most of their time in Dayton, but used Kill Devil Hill in Kitty Hawk, NC, for "flight training" because it provided isolation, high dunes, strong winds, and soft landings. Each year from 1900 to 1903 they returned with an improved design, gradually developing their flying abilities and figuring out new techniques of controlling the plane. They invented the concept of wing-warping (the predecessor to modern ailerons), designed their own propeller and gasoline powered engine, and even built a wind tunnel.

Stones marking the first 3 successful flights (actually, landings).

Finally in 1903, the first brother to attempt "manned, controlled, powered, heavier-than-air" flight was Wilbur on December 14th. The flight was cut short when he over-steered and crashed shortly after take-off. Three days later, after repairs were complete, Orville gave it a go at 10:35 in the morning and succeeded, flying for 12 seconds for a distance of 120 feet. They flew three more times that day, with the last flight lasting 59 seconds and flying 852 feet.

Unfortunately after this 4th flight, the plane was caught by a gust of wind, rolled over, and was badly damaged. But the Wright Brothers had succeeded: "For the first time, a manned, heavier-than-air machine left the ground by its own power, moved forward under control without losing speed, and landed on a point as high as that from which it started."

60-foot granite monument on top of Big Kill Devil Hill (a 90-foot dune)

FACT: Kill Devil Hills are named after the foul tasting rum that washed
ashore after shipwrecks, which locals said "would kill the devil."

Just over "the hill" is a beautiful full-sized replica of the 1903 flyer the moment the flight began (photographs above and below). We couldn't get over the scale and detail of the sculptures. We must admit that we put bunny ears behind a few of the statues, but we couldn't resist. It was a fun place to photograph.

_________________________________________________________

A visit to the coast is not complete without searching for at least one lighthouse. The OBX has five, and we were able to visit two.



Bodie Island Lighthouse

• Documented as both "Bodie Island" and "Body's Island Lighthouse."
• 156-foot tall horizontally-striped lighthouse.
• The lighthouse you see today is actually the third Bodie Island Lighthouse, built in 1872. Her daymark was applied in 1873.
• It is in much need of repair, but is getting the funding from the 2009 Omnibus Budget bill (Thanks Barack!).
• The First order Fresnel lens is being dismantled, taken to ground level, cleaned and repaired, then put back in the tower once all renovations are complete.

The highlight of Bodie Island Lighthouse was meeting John, the son of the last lighthouse keeper at Bodie Island Lighthouse. In 1934, John was 18 years old, and responsible for painting the lighthouse. He volunteers at the lighthouse every Tuesday and Thursday, and he is a neat man to talk to.



And Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

• It is also known as "America's Lighthouse"
• It has the tallest brick beacon in the nation - standing 208 feet.
• In the 1980's, the lighthouse was in a "move it or lose it" state due to erosion.
• And in 1999, the lighthouse was moved a half-mile inland to save it from the encroaching sea.
• It is now as far from the ocean as when originally constructed in 1870.

Some facts on the move:

• The lighthouse weighs 4,800 tons (That's more than the weight of 2 space shuttles!)
• Hydraulic push jacks moved the lighthouse five feet at a time. After each push, the jacks were reset - for a total of 580 pushes.
• It took 23 days to move Cape Hatteras Lighthouse 2,900 feet.
• It should be safe for another 100 years.

This is the original foundation of the 1870 lighthouse. Names of the lighthouse keepers are engraved in the stones.



Doesn't this look like a toy cannon? It is actually called a Lyle Gun and was designed (post Civil War) for lifesaving. Yes, lifesaving! But how can a gun be useful in lifesaving, you ask? This little guy could fire a 20-pound projectile 700 yards to a distressed vessel. A line was attached to the projectile, and the line was used to guide crew members (usually on buoys) to safety.