Chapter Twenty

I obtained my legal entry papers in November of 1946 from the American Consulate at Aruba, Dutch West Indies. My Uncle Kris and his wife, aunt Julia, were my sponsors. I thus had obtained legal residence in the U.S. It seemed that my last step had been taken to sever relations with my former homeland.

The Chief Mate on the Peter Hurll was Norwegian, a former whaler in the Norwegian whaling fleet. He was married in Brooklyn. Some time after New Years 1947 I was invited to his home for dinner. His wife, Antonette, whom I had already met had invited a girlfriend, Josephine, to meet me. Both Antonette and Josephine had Norwegian parents who had emigrated from Norway. I would call on Josephine every time I returned to New York with Peter Hurll.

The Chief Mate’s name was Thor Kongsgaard, (Kingsfarm), Hansen. Two dissimilar items about Thor are worthwhile putting on paper, as it were. The first occurred on the first trip from New York. I came out on starboard boat deck peeling an orange before breakfast. Thor and the boson were standing on the bridge discussing the day’s work, apparently. Absentmindedly I tossed the orange peeling into the wind, and of course some came flying back onto the deck. Before I could laugh at my action the Chief Mate upbraided me for the ‘stupid’ act. I was tempted to ask if he were showing off for the Danish boson but retorted, almost sarcastically, -’doesn’t the Chief Mate ever make mistakes, absentmindedly? I remember getting almost hot under the collar because as quickly as the orange peels came flying back I recalled a scene from the "Mutiny on the Bounty". A scullery boy emptied a pail of wash water into the wind with the same results. The crack from the Chief Mate denied me the pleasure of that memory, including laughing at my own stupidity.

Thor and I became good friends later and as stated I was to meet my wife Josephine through his wife. (This friendship is still alive at this writing). I was somewhat intrigued by his middle surname. Thor went on to explain that there had been Viking grave in the form of a huge mound on his

grandfather’s farm, hence the name, Kongsgaard. One practice among the Vikings were to pull a king’s Vikingship up on land and complete his burial by placing his body including various effects he should need on his trip to Valhalla, the Viking, (heathen), heaven.

Amounts of dirt then was heaped up to cover the Viking ship. This particular mound was excavated. The Vikingship found there was restored and sits in its own museum in Oslo, it was over 900 years old, to my recollection. Among several implements left with the King at his burial, now on display, was a four wheel wagon, apparently so he could enter Valhalla in a style befitting a King. (I visited this museum with Josephine on out trip to Norway in 1978).

I was always fascinated by the workings of machinery, the timing involved and how power was obtained. Peter Hurll had two Diesel engines, hence two screws or propellers. I would linger on deck, whenever feasible, just to watch the docking procedure which is always easier, with a screw on either side of the rudder, even with tug boat assistance.

Digression:

Fascination with docking procedure might have been due to inadvertent recall of years as a youngster in Norway. The docking operation of the daily, local, passenger/cargo ship from Bergen was always anticipated. The ship, probably some 1500 tons, would approach the dock at an angle, starboard side. The AB on the foredeck would throw a heaving line ashore.

Two men on the dock would haul the mooring cable ashore and hook it around a capstan. As the ship continued moving slowly ahead, the steel cable would come taut with a twang. We had been warned, often, to stay clear in case this steel cable should snap. The engine on slow ahead, with the rudder turned to port, the ship pushing against the taut steel cable brought the stern towards the pier and the stern hawsers made fast.

A friend, Edvin, and I would often play in the dock area, both of us likely around 6 years old. Once playing in a wooden crate, near a stone stairway for small boats, the wooden crate tipped and I fell headlong down into the stone stairs, falling into the water unconscious. I likely would have drowned except for the quick attention of some young men, fortunately nearby. I was brought home to a thankful mother, and properly chastened, headache notwithstanding.

Back to Peter Hurll:

On a return trip to New York our port engine was malfunctioning. It was decided a ring job was in order on one of the pistons. My fascination was at a peak, a ring job at sea!. I was not even sure what a ring job really entailed. I spent every moment I could be away from the radio station watching the operation from the grating above the starboard engine now maintaining the ship at about half speed. The cylinder cap top was removed, then the about three and a half foot diameter piston was pulled out with blocks and tackle in every direction, seemingly, in order to hold the piston steady as the ship moved unevenly in a moderate sea. I was as if transfixed as the engineers and the motormen completed the ring job and got the ship underway at her normal speed. (The Second Engineer took the time to explain to the uninformed, me, the purpose of the rings in a combustion engine).

In April of -47 the entire crew of the Peter Hurll was discharged at New York, the ship was to change flag. I was able to move in with my Uncle’s family and attend the Institute class just starting. My friend John Baatnes also attended the same class.

I continued to call on Josephine and was invited out to their cottage on Long Island during the summer with her parents. Josephine’s mother served a particular Norwegian dish for supper that Saturday. I would always state later that with that particular supper, at their cottage out on Long Island, my fate was doomed. Josephine and I were married about a year later, (actually, October 23, 1948).

Completing a six month course at the Institute, John and I went to work for the RCA Service Co. in Brooklyn, in the then burgeoning TV installation and repair business. John also married in Brooklyn, settled on Long Island with his wife Grace. The two former Radio Officers would maintain contact during the next 35 years. I left the RCA Service Company in -52 and obtained a position with the Allan B. DuMont TV Manufacturer distributorship in New York City as a -field engineer, actually as a factory representative to the TV dealers in the Metropolitan, Long Island, and Westchester areas.

Early in 1955 I obtained a position with IBM and moved to upstate New York, first to Poughkeepsie, then to Kingston. That work entailed the final testing of a large computer system. This system was to receive information from the Early Warning radar stations across the northern United States and Canada. A total of 39 systems were built in three test areas.

Family-wise, Nora Helene was five when Josephine and I moved ‘upstate’, in late April of 1955. Linda Karen was born a year later followed by Randi Jean about a year and a half after that. We bought a small house in a newly built development, Mt. Marion, near the town of Saugerties, just north of Kingston New York.

We drove to Cape Elizabeth, Maine, to celebrate Christmas holidays with Jo’s sister Agnes and family in 1960. Returning home alone the day after Christmas, I received a telegram from Norway that my Mother had passed a way from a heart attack. It was unexpected, no indication in any of the letters. The letters had been few and far between mostly, I learned later, because they had difficulty with my handwriting and syntax, (in Norwegian). She was in her early seventies.

I flew to Florida in August of 1967 to interview for a position with IBM at the Kennedy Space Center. On my return we received a telegram that my Father had passed away at age 89 after a stroke, also unexpectedly for me. In both instances there was a passage of time, being involved primarily raising a family with my wife, as well as a distance, ‘an ocean apart’. I was involved with work and family. Being able to talk with my mother’s younger brother Kris in Queens, N.Y. allowed me to cope. Kris reminded me his parents had passed away while he was living in the U.S.

Subsequently, in September -67, IBM, ("in house" joke: I’ll Be Moved ) transferred me to Cape Kennedy, Florida, as a safety engineer on the Space Program. To be able to be a part of the Moon Landing Program was both exciting and heady. The first Apollo rocket, Apollo 5, was being readied to be moved from the Vertical Assembly Building, (VAB), about a mile from the launch pad as I reported for duty.

The first week, or so, I would tag along with one of the two other safety engineers to get the feel of the vast area comprising the "Cape Kennedy Launch Facility", at Cape Canaveral. About a week later I found myself in one of the bays, or sections, in the VAB after an errand. This building was large enough to house four 364 foot Apollo "vehicles"‘. I was unsure where our office location was, not sure whom to call, and it took some time before I located our office. I always felt NASA did not adequately promote the immensity of this space installation on Cape Kennedy.

My arrival at the Kennedy Launch Facility was just prior to the first test of the (unmanned) Apollo vehicle, or rocket, Apollo 5, from launch pad 39A. The Saturn 1B rocket which had lifted the space capsule for the first orbital series, did not have enough lifting power to lift the command module, moon landing vehicle and return rocket, and service module necessary for the moon flight.

After my baptism into the space program with the launch of the Apollo 5 vehicle it was necessary for us four IBM safety engineers to attend school to become thoroughly familiar with all aspects of the launch system. Secret clearance was necessary. My secret clearance was transferred from Kingston, N.Y. where I worked on the Air Force Sage computer system at, 1955 to 1967.

A three badge system identified each individual working within the space facility. A picture badge identified one’s company. A second picture badge was to be left in a rack to identify everyone present on the launch pad, important during hazardous operations. (The badge rack was located at the guard station at the entrance to the launch pad area, 1200 feet from the launch pad on the "Apollo" side). A third badge identified necessary facets of training by number to allow access to specified areas. With a vehicle on the launch pad, a glance at the IBM section of the badge rack would show all "our" personnel working at specific tasks identified by work schedules issued daily. This was a convenient method for us in the safety department to know which areas to visit according to types operations that could be in progress. Uniformed NASA guards enforced all badge regulations to the letter. NASA Pad Safety engineers enforced overall safety; each major contractor, like IBM, had their own safety sections. Safety procedures for IBM personnel was detailed in a general IBM Plant Safety Manual.

IBM had the responsibility to build, test, and maintain the Instrument Unit, (IU). It was built at Huntsville, Alabama, and transported to the Cape Kennedy Facility by a specially built airplane, the "Guppy", so called because the IU was almost 22 feet in diameter, and about three feet high. The IU contained the onboard Ascent Guidance System with major components: the digital computer and data adapter; analog flight control computer; inertial guidance platform; emergency detection system control gyros and control accelerometers. These units with the cabling systems were mounted on the inside wall of the IU. A necessary cooling system comprised of 16 cold plates were cooled by circulating a coolant mixture of methanol and water.

The cooling unit was situated on the "IU" level at 260 feet of the Launch Support Structure; (also the same levels the IU in the Apollo vehicle, 365 feet total height).

The vehicle was assembled on the "Mobile Launcher", about 125 by 80 feet, with three levels, A,B, and C, comprising the launch count down computer and other necessary electrical support equipment. The mobile launcher, with the 365 foot high vehicle, was transported from the VAB to the launch pad by the "crawler", made up of four huge diesel powered belted tractors. The trip to the pad took a whole day, a one mile distance. There was a slight incline from the guard station fence enclosure to the pad proper. The crawler was constructed to be able to raise the rear section of its platform to adjust the vehicle to remain vertical during the "climb" to the pad, lower the platform again and anchor the mobile launcher to the pad supports.

The crawler next would move a huge Launch Support Structure in place behind the vehicle, the upper part of which had an adjustable "clamshell". This would completely enclose the top section of the vehicle with a "white room" necessary to complete the work on the moon landing system before launch. Watching the huge launch support structure, all lights blazing, being transported up the incline to the pad, people working, elevators going up and down, was like a fantasy during the evening darkness. It was necessary to get the clamshell in place and enclose the moon landing sections in case of inclement weather.

An incident with the operation of the "IU" cooling system is worth while reporting. The Saturn 1B rocket, about 260feet high total, was being readied for launch from the "B" side, launch pad 34B. The "IU" was at the about 160 foot level of this rocket, or vehicle. The purpose of this launch was to perform an orbital evaluation of the redesigned command module, after the fire in January of -67. Walter Schirra was as commander on the test flight. The pH of the coolant liquid was taken regularly prevent corrosion of the cold plates. This task was always scheduled at 0300 hours, time allotted according to system test cycles which could "slip", depending on test problems encountered.

It was my turn to attend a pH test. I arrived at the IBM trailer for the Mechanical Engineering section at 0245 hours, John was the engineer in charge of the test. He had been reported for a safety infraction by one of the other safety engineers prior to my arrival at the Cape. He barely acknowledged my arrival, would let me know when the test was to be performed. (He did not invite me into the trailer for coffee). I arrived at the elevator when the test time was announced. John held the elevator door but I said I would walk up to the IU level. This involved climbing a winding stairway, then a straight ladder, another winding stairway, another ladder, continuing in this manner till I arrived at the IU level at the same time as the elevator which had made several stops.

The test was completed. On the way down in the elevator John asked why I had climbed up in the dark. I reminded him that the elevators are shut down in any emergency, and: "Now I know you can walk down". John invited me into the trailer for coffee and told me that during future tests I should remain in bed till he telephoned me in time to get up and drive to the pad and not have to stay and wait in case the pH test was delayed.

At the 39A Apollo vehicle pad the IU cooling unit was at the 260 foot level of the launch structure, (Same level as the IU in the vehicle). Lingering at this level in good weather after the test, leaning on the railing watching the dawn arriving one was offered a panoramic view of the ocean, the beach just about a thousand feet away, the vast surrounding shrub area, and including the VAB about a mile away.

But one January, attending and being involved with the installation of the four Flight Power Batteries, about 100 lbs each, (28 volt alkaline silver-zinc, 350 ampere hours), the temperature was 30 degrees with a 17 knot wind. I found this level about as cold as any place I could remember. Special equipment was required to transport each battery in turn out the about twenty foot swing arm and into the vehicle. The job completed, I couldn’t wait to get down to the B level in the launcher for some IBM coffee. This level "housed" the IBM maintained RCA 110 computer system that would run the test of all the systems during the about 110 hours "countdown time". The "count down" was the time needed to test all systems in the vehicle.

Because of the computer’s limited memory storage capacity it was necessary to halt the countdown after the "hypergolic" fueling in order to install additional program tapes. (The two hypergolic fuels, when mixed, allowed spontaneous ignition for propulsion once the spacecraft was in orbit). After these fuels were onboard it was necessary to enter the pad complex and access the computer area in the B level wearing protective suits and carrying gas masks. The fuels were highly corrosive. Possible exposure to fumes, in case of leaks, could be life threatening.

Entrance was only under direct control of NASA pad safety. One IBM safety engineer would accompany the tape replacement group. once at their stations each individual would "plug in" his headset to assure continuous contact till the tape replacement procedure was complete. We then left the pad area as a group returning to the VAB. The Launch Support Structure was moved back half way to the VAB where the launch emergency support group crew was stationed.

The "count down" would be restarted. Providing no other unscheduled halts occurred, at a predetermined count, usually with 23 seconds left on the count down clock, the computer program would initiate automatic sequencing igniting the five main stage rocket engines for the "lift off".

We had moved into a new four bedroom house on a canal, just off Sykes Creek, "three miles South of Launch Pad 39". The three girls and I would fish from a small dock I built just 40 feet from the back patio. Redfish and Sheepheads, 18 to 24 inches were often taken; Linda, just 12 and petite, had to have help to pull the largest Sheephead in. Randi reminded me I had helped the girls up onto the roof so that might have a better view of a night test flight of the Polaris missile from a submarine just off the coast.

Once Apollo 11 was landed on the moon, in 1969, IBM reduced its Cape work force. I flew to North Carolina to be interviewed for a position as safety Engineer at "our" plant at the Research Triangle Park, near the city of Durham. We moved into a new house in Raleigh in October.

The IBM Club, an in-house club arranging affairs for employees, arranged a charter tour to Frankfurt, Germany, in August of -71. I flew with the tour and continued to Norway for my first visit since 1939. That roundtrip, with unexpected emotions for a "world traveler", is detailed in an appendix to this narrative.

In 1975 IBM transferred me to San Jose, California, where I worked as a safety engineer. Jo and I moved about the state enjoying visiting places from Monterey to Yreka and the Klamath river on the Oregon border, to Lake Tahoe. San Francisco was fascinating for both of us. It was almost tiring to try to see and visit this city. We happened to pay a visit to the Norwegian Seamen’s Church the same Sunday that the future king of Norway, Crown Prince Harald visited the church on an official tour. Jo endured the sermon in Norwegian; I told her I was almost in the same boat, language wise.

I enjoyed fishing in the rivers and skiing around Lake Tahoe area while Jo was sightseeing. Salmon fishing with cousin Charles outside San Francisco has been noted as well as the opportunity of being with my Uncle Louie. We moved back to Raleigh, N.C. in 1977.

Retirement;

Mid-April time of 1982 the girls were making mention of my up-coming 63rd birthday on May 31st. I mentioned that it could be time to retire, which Jo thought was OK after I showed her our finances would be adequate. Now, thirteen years later, golf just about every weekday morning is keeping affairs on an even keel, a status quo. I took over all the meal preparing when I retired. On Sundays the girls, at least two of them and their children, all the girls have a girl and boy each, arrive for Grandpas’ dinner. Everybody, always, for coffee afterwards. All of them live within 10-15 minutes from our house; kudos for the meal, even from the grandchildren. Jo once voiced concern about me having to cook all the time. When asked if she thought it was because I was being so "good"?, she answered quickly: "No, you just have to have something to do!".

I would call on John Baatnes on frequent visits to the old Nelsen, (Jo’s parents’), summer cottage on Long Island, New York, from North Carolina. John was to pass away sometime in the eighties after a heart attack and complications from a diabetic condition. The last time I talked with him on the ‘phone he told me he had lost his sight; sadly, I did not get to meet him after that. His daughter, Ruth, advised me he had passed away the last time I tried to ‘phone him. Thoughts, and questions too, about life’s different allotted travels, byways even, leaves one pondering...

Jo and the girls threw a real surprise 75th birthday party for me at Linda’s house in -94. over forty people attended, friends from IBM and the golf course. That I was flummoxed is an understatement. Gifts were to be of the 3/4 variety, as in 3/4 century. My skiing buddy Henry from IBM brought a 3/4 bottle of scotch. My first thought was, -really, an opened bottle?. The hit of the evening occurred when I held the bottle up, amid opening sundry gifts, and admitted the 3/4 idea finally dawned on me, (after a couple of drinks), amid resounding laughter. Nora had rented a video camera and we have a 25 mins. tape of the spectacle.

And so it is. Four or five ski trips a year to New England are like a habit, I usually stay with Jo’s niece in Concord, New Hampshire. Yearly Spring and Fall trout fishing trips to the Kingston area, New York, fit in nicely. Attention to, and of, our three daughters and six grandchildren also tend to keep things lively. Weekdays, golf with other retired IBM’ers is great both for companionship and humility.

Christmas Eve dinner at our house, with exchange of gifts for the young, is a tradition. Should this generally "play" towards the end of my "odyssey", it will be OK. Celebrating age 50 in Florida I thought I likely would not see the year 2000. But at 76 now in -95, that, too, seems a possibility. So mote it be...