Through the Years

• The Brownie
• The 126
• The 110
• Army Years - Part 1
• Army Years - Part 2
• Army Years - Part 3
• Army Years - Part 4
• Army Years - Part 5
• Army Years - Part 6
• Working in a Photofinishing Lab
• Industrial Era - Part 1
• Industrial Era - Part 2
• The 2nd Career
• Into the Fine Arts - Part 1
• Into the Fine Arts - Part 2

Photography Hardware

• Cameras
• The Darkroom - Part 1
• The Darkroom - Part 2
• The Darkroom - Part 3
• Other Photo Accessories

Processes and Projects

• Main workshop page
• Camera Building
• Pinhole camera
• Camera obscura
• Cyanotype project
• Sabattier effect
• Posterization
• Time Shifting

Photography Galleries

• Old Gallery 1
• Old Gallery 2
• 2017 - Gallery 1

Photography Class Galleries

• 2017 - Photography 1
• 2018 - Photography 2

Links

• Main Photography Page

Army Years - Part 4

The missle crew had to do a special training every other year where they went to a NATO base and fired a real missle. By a stroke of luck, I just happened to be there in one of those years and by a second piece of luck I was selected to travel with them. The base was on the Greek island of Crete and it sounded warmer than what I experiencing in Wackernheim so I was glad to go. The idea was that myself and the two other MPs they selected would pull security duty there, while mentioning that we'd have a few days to sightsee while there. I packed two cameras, my Minolta SRT-100 and my new Rolleicord VB, twin-lens reflex, and about 50 rolls of film. So, in March of 1975 we loaded up our gear, see the photo to the right, went to the Air Force base in Weisbaden, boarded a Lockheed C-130, flew over the Alps, and landed on Crete. As it turned out, we three MPS were being rewarded for our good service and since this base had it's own security people, there was nothing for us to do. They turned us loose. 10 days on Crete. The only instructions we were given were to stay on the island and don't miss the plane that would take us back to Germany. We grabbed a cab and headed to city, Chania.

Crete	Crete
Crete	Crete

After 5 days of sightseeing in Crete, and taking lots of photos, I went to the travel agency next to our hotel and inquired what it would take to get to Athens. The agent said it would be $37.50 round trip on Olympic Airlines. Passport required? No. Orders required? No, just the $37.50. The other guys I was with said "no, way" since we were supposed to stay on Crete but I wasn't going to be $37.50 away from Athens and not go. Finally, one of the guys agreed to go with me and off we went for a few days. It was great. We swore each other to secrecy about our excursion.

Over those 10 days I shot 43 rolls of film: black and white, color print, color slide, 35mm and medium format. I had plenty to keep me busy in the darkroom on my return to Germany.

Athens	Athens
Athens	Athens
Athens	Athens

We returned to Crete without incident and a day or two later were joined by the rest of our company who has successfully fired their missile. We caroused around town for a day or two before returning to Germany. Of course, I got busy in the darkroom on my days off and started processing and printing what I had shot there. I had one partuculary nice color shot of the Parthenon which I printed up as 12" x 16" and matted. I hung it in my room. During our next room inspection, my lieutenant glanced at the photo and then at me, then at the photo and then gave me a quizzical look. I grinned and said that I'd bought it at a souvenir shop in Crete. He nodded and nothing else was ever mentioned about it.

Next up, snapshots documenting army life.

Click to goto to the next page: Army Years - Part 5


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Updated December 2020.