SGIG Matthews: No, I think that's wiser, or sweeter, or kinder. All those things, more blessed that's for sure. Your wife is she from where? SGIG Blue: Toledo, OH. SGIG Matthews : Oh okay. So, you started off in Pennsylvania. But how did you end up with your wife from Ohio and you are now in California (CA)? SGIG Blue: Well, my first wife was from Middletown, Pennsylvania. I was stationed at Olmstead Air Force Base. I arrived there in January 1958 and we got married in 1959 and then we separated in 1984. I remarried in 1987 and I met her through Prince Hall Masonry. I was on a local committee when the 1984 or 1985 Grand Session (Annual Conference) of Prince Hall Mason's took place in Sacramento, CA. She was serving in the nurse ’ s unit. And then, you know, she learned that I was from Pennsylva- nia, and she was from Ohio and that's how we basically met. SGIG Matthews: Alright, that's a lot of good info right there. So, I think that kind of sets up some of the foundation we will touch on as I ask you to reflect on some of the people, you grew up around and how they in- fluenced your life. But let's first talk about the mili- tary. After you graduated from high school you went directly into the military? SGIG Blue: Yes. But prior to going into the military, I joined the Air Force Reserves in 1954 in Pittsburgh, PA. The reason I joined be- cause I had learned that you could make some money by being in the Reserves, and since I had no intentions of going to college and I didn't want to go to work in the steel mill I joined the Reserves. I then went on ac- tive duty a year later in 1955 and stayed until I retired. I did two weeks of Basic Training in the Air Force Reserves in Dover, Delaware. Doing those two weeks of training shorten the time that I had to be on duty to get 20 years to retire in 1975. They counted those two weeks that I did in basic training, in the Air Force Reserves, along with my other active - duty service, and it gave me 20 years and two days. When I started my career in the Air Force, I did not think I would stay until I was eligible to retire. However, I did discuss joining the Air Force in my high school yearbook. So, I always knew I wanted to serve. I went to an integrated high school and in my class, I think it was three hundred students and about 30 of us were black. SGIG Matthews : Oh, that's interesting that you had that kind of an experience before the Civil Rights Act. And so that kind of takes me to what was that impact? Like in your neighborhood, if you were able to have that kind of a high school experience, how did the Civil Rights Movement influence the area where you grew up? Because by the 1960’ s, you were in the military. SGIG Blue : And I was overseas when the Civil Rights Act and the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. occurred. It didn't impact me like it did people who are back here in the United States. In my hometown there was segregation, places that we didn't go or weren ’ t allowed to go, but we part of the reason why
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