MeInMaine Blog

Author: Andrew Mooers

  • My Dad Was A World War Two Tail Gunner In A B-24 Bomber Airplane.

    Maine Veterans Day, We Celebrate Year Round.
    Buppy, A Grandfather, A Tail Gunner In A B-24 Bomber Many Moons Ago.

    I am glad my four children were able to hear their Grandfather..called “Buppy” tell them about his service in the Army Air Force as it was called back in the early 1940’s.

    Veterans Day is special to me because of his service and the fact two older brothers are Vietnam era veterans too.

    On the way home from a trip downstate in Maine, as a kid I remember in the winter when we were driving a little slower during falling snow stories about my dad’s service in World War Two. It was not that Dad did not talk about the war…it just seemed the stories were told more while driving back from some where to pass the time or on porches on summer evenings, depending on the audience.

    My Dad served in the 15th Army – Air Force as it was called at the time.

    In the 882nd bombardment wing and his job? He wanted to be a pilot of a bomber but they had plenty of those so due to being pretty wiry and skinny, he was able to squeeze into the rear of a B-24 bomber to run the two rear 50mm machine guns.

    Imagine sitting for hours, feeling fear, anxiety. Jammed in the rear of a four engine noisy plane.

    Or as a waist gunner with open plane side causing a chill in the frosty high altitude. The drab green plane that smelled like a latrine, without a pressurized cabin. You wearing an oxygen mask in sub zero winter weather. Getting word on the sqauwk box. Approaching the enemy target you were briefed on before the sun came up this morning. Not knowing if the mission would happen or not due to the weather patterns as you tried to sleep the night before.

    Thinking of his girlfriend, my mom back home that he wrote to every day.

    (It’s fun to read the letters now between the two and realize mom and dad had another name…John and Marylou. )
    Serving in the war effort with ten other 19, 20 year olds and being superstitious to keep your flight crew in tact. Sleeping together in a tent with a gas heater in a field back in Italy. Playing cards, talking about home. A curvy not over clothed young lady painted on the nose of that bomber you flew in the back of.

    You got pretty close to the others you depended on to make the bomb run.

    Then to high tail it out of harms way in a sky filled with the smell of cordite from shells exploding at your altitude. All around you. That’s if the German 88 anti aircraft gun operators were doing their job with the help of radar.

    To mess up that radar, my Dad has a small chute to stuff tinsel, small metal strips into the air space behind him, beneath the Liberator plane they flew in. It confused, jammed that radar and bought them time to open the bomb bay doors to drop the 500, 1000 pound incendiary or percussion or whatever bomb type was needed for this mission. Bombs that had the pins to make them live pulled a few minutes before being over the target.

    The bombardier having a new Norden bomb sight that made more precision, accurate bombing possible later in the war.

    You had P-47, P-51 “little friends” Dad called them fighter planes to escort you like a date to the prom around the flying formations of B-17 and B-24 American bombers. But they bugged out close to the IP zone and are helpful to rid you of the raiding German ME 109’s or whatever other planes the German’s were putting in to production at the time.

    But you suddenly were by yourself without the fighter plane protection with enemy winged wonders buzzing like Maine black flies. Speedy, deadly accurate planes trying their best to blow you out of the sky. Before you dropped your present, the payload you were paid to leave behind, deliver. The whole country in America, England and the free world were behind the war effort after Pearl Harbor’s fleet surprise Sunday morning boat stinking sinking.

    They grew victory gardens, recycled copper for bullet casings, rationed gas, watched news reels about “Loose Lips Sink Ships” back home.

    In Houlton Maine, the local potato farmers benefited from German prisoner of war spud pickers at the local airbase where there were rows and rows of barracks.

    My Dad said the chatter on the intercom stopped as the target, a ball bearing factory or oil refinery outside Germany, the target of choice n today’s war menu approached.

    Secondary targets in mind and planned on depending on cloud cover that might roll in. And the most dangerous place in the plane? The ball turret operator underneath in a plexiglass bubble. He had two 50 mm guns too that hopefully did not jam and that bubble swiveled to track fighter planes. But it was not a good place to be when hydraulics were shot out and the lift mechanism stopped working.

    Getting that crew member out of there if he was still alive was one of the biggest concerns. As a crippled plane on less than the four engines hobbled back to the friendly Italian airfield that it had taken off from earlier that day. One or both landing gears not operational now. The warranty from the factory void. And that ball turret operator bleeding, not talking. As the pilot, co pilot discussed how to land on the belly of that plane. But where is the can opener, how to get a valuable, injured crew member out of that trapped hole. Before running out of plane fuel and that ditched, forced belly landing caused all those sparks, dug up field before coming to a rest. Hopefully not engulfed in flames.

    Dad said every 55 minutes the Ford plant in Detroit rolled another Vulcan B-24 off the assembly line when production of cars shifted to airplanes.

    I have a 1941 Cadillac that a fellow stores winters at a farm I own. He told me that car his grandfather bought after the war and it was the last Cadillac rolled off the assembly line when production shifted to making tanks out of that GM facility. So on veterans day, I think of my Dad in a rattling plane, in an electric flight suit and with a survival kit for a crash landing or parachute jump in hostile lands.

    That kit having an ampule of morphine, some silk thread, a chocolate bar, a map of the area for that mission on that day.

    And silver certificate currency in case the Germans, or whatever country folks worried if the money was any good or not.

    I am sure a bible verse was in there to remind you to stay strong, to fear not that God was protecting you (Isaiah 41:10) in the fight for freedom and the American way of life.

    Have two brothers too that were Vietnam era Amy soldiers…but one was in intelligence in Germany, the other in the corp of engineers in California toward the tail end of the war as it wound down. They were lucky to have missed the recon walks thru a rice paddy with a gun over their head to keep it dry and all the worries of being “out of country” at a time when their efforts were not nearly as popular state side as the attitude during world war two my dad enjoyed.

    Thank a veteran, say a prayer for those in harms way around the country now.

    Men and woman, parents of children, sons and daughters of other veterans, civillians that know the risks. That are in danger and need our thoughts, prayers, support every day. Not just on Veterans Day.

    I am proud of my dad, brothers and some day before I die, want to squeeze in to the back of a B 24 when the Confederate Air Force flies thru and hopefully go up in flight. I want to sit where my dad did during the early 1940’s and imagine what it was like and how lucky my family is that he made it home alive, safe to raise a family of four boys on a farm with my mom.

    Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers
    207.532.6573
    info@mooersrealty.com

  • Unseasonably Warm In Maine Today..Got Outside Painting Done.

    Livining In Maine. You Would Think The Four Season Beauty Would Not Be Such A Big Deal Because it Is Here Day And Night. But The Setting And Uncrowded Surroundings Spoils Us.
    Livining In Maine. You Would Think The Four Season Beauty Would Not Be Such A Big Deal Because it Is Here Day And Night. But The Setting And Uncrowded Surroundings Spoils Us.
    And extra warm day when the calendar in Maine says, hey, fall is winding down, dig out your snow shovel. Used the day wisely to wax jeep. Finish mulching leaves at the farm, store another boat in the back shed and to paint parts of the barns needing a coat of white stuff.

    Tonight the stars are brilliant and thru out the day the sky was so blue. Maine blue without pollution from smog, contaminants, or lights.

    Where you live, do you do things around the weather outside or are there long long stretches of sunshine, no rain or heavy winds or snow to deal with? Or is the humidty so great that working hard to accomplish outside chores is a losing battle with the sweltering heat of the southern climates? Had a native Mainer and his wife, kids move back and found them a home to rent. He is a mason and he said the Florida heat meant electric bills of over $250 a month.

    So pick your comfort posion… heating bills or air conditioning bills?

    The local area has many snowbirds who leave around Thanksgiving and return the first of May routine. Many head to Florida, the Carolinas but others swerve west for Arizona and the dry climate of the South Western United States or further to places in California. More and more folks are discovering Maine though with 100 cruise ships parked off the coast with over 2000 passengers in each anxious to sample a lobster, see a lighthouse, catch a glimpse of a moose, eat some maine blueberry pie or to just buy a Maine t-shirt.

    Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers
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  • Maine Land Real Estate Buyer Has Been A Career Placement, Head Hunter.

    For the last 29 years, I have listed, marketed, sold Maine

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    And a recent real estate buyer who came in to the office from out of state has been at his job just as long. His job to find college graduates employment, hopefully in their field of study. He shared with me when I asked him how his job has changed over the nearly three decades one big basic shift. In the beginning, graduates were just anxious to get their first job, a job. He said they were grateful to be able to interview and most listed attentively as he described the entry level job. Most with hat in hat, and you really sensed he said that he ran the interview, asked the questions. Everyone on both sides of the interview table understood the exercise, the roles.

    Now, he went on further to share that today the attitude is different. The atmosphere of a majority of the interviews can make him feel he is the one being interviewed. Grilled, pressured and put thru the test by many interviewees who feel entitled, demanding, expectant.

    When some current day interviewees are told this is what the job entails, the pay scale, the “package” from vacation, sick days, advancements options, some look shocked. Other grin and ask you can’t be serious. Many question how can I live on that, pay off school loans or have a BMW, a ski side condo at some mountain they figure they will be spending weekends at winters. How will they pay for fun and games at somewhere else exotic during the other seasons?

    He starts to feel an attitude come to the front and center stage of interview. And often has to remind the person needing the job that many folks are being interviewed. That there are only so many open slots and that the interviewee is not a prized athelete being chased, caught by the highest bigger. This is an entry level job in a time when having a job in your field of study, to use to start paying off those student loans and to begin living on your own, not off your parents is the key point here. Career advancement starts with an entry level first career job.

    Some job applicants get silent, looking downward. Inwardly wondering how the bright promising high income future they planned on and expected was not to be. Some go in to denial and become arrogant, snide and outright rude to the fellow with the keys to the new office building and a job. A job beneath someone of their character, pedigree, that can be the best in their profession they remind any one who will listen. A reminder that a cocky attitude, or lack of a team player spirit or gratitude to just be on the team and maybe to settle to just watch, listen, see the game plan from the bench for starters sometimes goes in deaf ears.

    How am I going to live on that and have all the toys, the life style and fun and games outside of work on that puny salary? You call that a salary?

    This fellow said he always, always tried to find folks from northern rural climates, especially from farming, agricultural or wood timbering backgrounds like Maine for many of his job assignments. He said the tone of the interviewee is one of listening, asking practical questions. It was always obvious he was running the interview and not the other way around. There is politeness, being thanked for the chance to just interview and see what this job being offered is all about. They are excited to be considered for a job, their first job and will do what it takes to land it, secure it. Anxious to start right away and indicating, they need a job and will do whatever is expected and yes, they could start tomorrow if need be.

    He has found that young adults who had jobs, lots of them growing up and they know how to work, like to be industrious, just want a chance to prove themselves. Not full of themselves, but realizing they have to pull their weight and not to expect anything for nothing. Parents, teach your children well. My kids were lucky to have grown up picking potatoes, managing that money and using much of it to buy worthwhile items like a winter coat that was taken care of. Old school, hokey, so Walton TV show like? Child abuse? Not at all. The jobs on the farms growing up, the lawns to mow, household responsibilities did not hurt them and they all know how to work. They had entry level jobs leading up to the career starting first employment in the degree they earned at college. The do not expect someone else to take care of them.

    I remember asking a nephew from Massachusetts what he had planned for work one summer during his junior year. I asked if he planned to flip burgers, be a lawn expert in the neighborhood and this was his response. “Uncle Andy, I don’t want to flip burgers, I want to be the supervisor.” Right off the bat. Said like a stroke of genius that he had this employment gig figured out. Just by pass the entry level part, the working down in the ditches. Head right to the top, and have lots of other folks working under him, for him. A stint in the Navy after floundering in and out of school did this nephew wonders. He learned responsibility, a healthy attitude of appreciation and had his eyes opened on how the world runs, or is suppose to.

    His parents, who were both from Aroostook County and raised with the same potato picker, work ethic background were not home when he landed after school. They live north of Boston MA. And to coax him to study, they “paid” him to stay off the computer. Hello? I would take the modem with me to work if fear of being parked for hours after school on line was the problem. Too much free idle time and not enough to do around the home for chores, or outside to earn spending money. If kids are handed twenty dollar bills, where is the incentive to work for them or to learn to be more caution with spending, planning use of the money they earn?
    Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers

  • Maine CO2, Smoke Detector New Law Effective November 1st, 2009

    Renting in Maine, selling a home or buying a ME residence…suddenly new law means you need to have co2, certain kind of fire smoke detectors installed. If you have an old battery operated smoke detector upstair that you can not remember when you changed the battery last, that unit is a patch and not going to cut it anymore. And they work a lot better with a new fresh battery that with the approaching time change, is a good time to replace as a habit. You need hard-wired units and certain kinds. Read more about the new Maine state law going in to effect November 1st, 2009.

    Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers

  • Ricker College In Houlton Maine Had Ricker Dollars…

    After the Vietnam war, a lot of colleges that were busy during the hay day of the war as a way to keep from going overseas, suddenly were scrambling to attract or enroll students to keep the doors open. Ricker College in Houlton Maine was one of those. In the last days of the school, the people who worked at Ricker College were paid with money marked to point out to the local community and merchants what an economic impact the well know college established in 1848 had on the area. The exercise was to showcase the involvement the college had in everyone’s day to day lives by illustration with the money you spent, currency change you received in the Southern Aroostook County area. Ricker closed its doors in 1978 but stills awards college scholarships to deserving area students that apply for tuition help, as long as they attend a Maine college.

    Meanwhile, have you heard about “Where’s George?”

    The exercise in tracking currency and it’s winding pathway around the globe was something the fellow in front of me at breakfast told me about while waiting for the Big Stop restaurant cashier.

    This big rig driver was holding a bill with a red circle around the currency stamp. He explained how he had tracked the serial number of a dollar he once spent and even had the same dollar come back to him in change! The exercise or study allows you to go on line to track a bill with the designated logo stamped on it by dialing in the serial number to track the bill’s movements from wallet to purse and beyond. In Canada, same exercise with a sister website called “Where’s Willy?”. The truck driver I met at The Big Stop Restaurant on US Rt 1 near Interstate 95’s exit 302 for Houlton Maine said he has had fun looking up serial numbers on the bills he has had pass thru his fingers over the years.

    Maine Licensed Real Estate Broker Andrew Mooers
    This is a typical track of currency and how the reporting works.

  • Technorati Overhauls Website, 5th Largest Social Media Property.

    Where’s a fellow or a gal to find a good blog post? One that does not waste time, has some beef in it? Technorati’s job has not changed, but the way they do it has.

    The Technorati website redesign promises new features, some of the familiar and more of the familiar being added back in.

    Why the Technorati changes? The company says “We decided to talk less and put our noses to the grindstone. We tried to boil the ocean, and burned ourselves in the process.”

    The changes were predicted, bloggers given a heads up about. Wow, Technorati 5th largest social media property.

    When our first Maine real estate website went up back in the 1990’s, I always thought you stock the shelves about property, weave in the flavor of the area with images. But it was still static, like a portrait you stepped back from to see it in a snapshot state. Or sure new properties were added, others sold and prices on them modified to make them sell. Those little changes happened and tie in with the season opening copy to make it appear fresh, up to date. But with blogging, vidcasting, podcasting, you can add more instant, right now happenings for today. Not just reflect the season or approaching holidays and some sprinkling of your brand.

    Today, I can blog about Maine green real estate and if it is market rewarded in Northern Maine. Or point out we already have been building along those lines for decades due to the back to the farm / woodlot training. Or on another sister blog with links back to the primary mother real estate site, post with images, video, web links helpful information about what you need to know today about Maine’s waterfront market and shoreland zoning’s latest regulations. Hot off the press from the state legislature and fine tuned, dialed in to today. Not three months ago. Fresh, no preservatives, information without a mothball smell, formaldehyde protection added.

    Think the social media explosion is happening too fast, making your head swim? Hang on, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Instead of the days when the media told us what we needed to buy, for services, what to drive, drink, and which brand to eat or smoke, we are no longer cattle being herded. Cattle that did what it was told, did not know what it needed until the tube, the newspaper, the billboard hammered it in to our wallets and the hand that controled them.

    Now you, I and little Jimmy, all of us are holding a mouse, doing the research, homework. Comparing notes from blogs, social media sites and sharing what works, what is a waste of money, time and not a good experience. The 60’s song warned “there’s something going on around here..and what it is ain’t exactly clear.” No, but the fuzzy is taking shape, formulating and you and I are way way more aware, of everything.

    It’s our life, we are going to live it, take it back and head out on to the open highway making our own decisions. What’s fun and worthwhile done by poll, counting hands and voices raised by the masses. Doesn’t that reflect the market..the folks that drive it, buy from it and shape it? These friends on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, Youtube have sampled this and that and can tell you what to try, what is awesome, sweet, happening. Feel it? Can you say affirmative. Sure you can. I knew you could.
    Maine Real Estate For Sale