Sgt. StCyr, my boss, and I went to the Gap Fillers in Charlotte Center (which we called Cherry Creek) and Brockport, NY. These two sites were assigned to Lockport AFS.

Cherry Creek was farther away than Brockport. We would sleep on cots in the site if we had to stay overnight for a test or whatever. We had an Outhouse if we had to go to the bathroom. That was fun in the winter.

We would go to the motor pool in Lockport, which was run by Sgt Pickard (I think) and sign out a pickup truck, station wagon or 3/4 Ton truck (Or something like that. The front windows could open and you could operate the windshield wipers by hand). Sometimes we would take the 3/4 ton in the winter because we had to go up a huge hill (mountain) to get to the site. Several times, in the winter, if we took the pickup or station wagon we would land in the ditch and the farmers had to pull us out. We would have to get a running start and cross an intersection at the bottom in order to get up the hill in the winter. Thank God no one was coming on the other road. I always got the impression Sgt. StCyr looked forward to driving up that hill in the winter to see if he could make it.

Many times I went alone, which I`m sure wouldn`t be allowed now. I was scared of heights and many times the micro switch would act up on the antenna and we would have to climb up to the antenna and check it out. There was one day I went out to the site because there was a problem. Sgt. StCyr was back at Lockport. I would be on the phone with him as he directed me what to do. We narrowed it down to the micro switch but I wouldn`t go up there to change it. He had to come from Lockport.

We would eat in a small restaurant in Cherry Creek. At lunch time the farmers would come in and the place smelled like manure. After awhile you got used to it and it actually added flavor to the meal. In the evening we would go down there and have dinner and a few beers and watch TV at the bar.

Sgt. StCyr at the GFA PPI scope. Circa 1960

Ed Drydol, the contributor, in front of one of the GFA radar cabinets. Circa 1960