One of my oldest memories goes back to a time in the mid-1950s. I can’t recall exactly how old I was at the time, definitely around the seven or maybe the eight-year mark. Television technology was still very new; we did not have one in our home, so we listened to the radio for our news and entertainment. The announcer said that the weather that day would be another hot and humid summer day, typical for the Texas Gulf Coast at a time when cool conditioned air was just beginning to become affordable and was still a luxury.
Most people, like us, depended heavily on window and ceiling fans to maintain a comfortable home environment.
It was decided one day that we should travel down the LaPorte Road and visit the San Jacinto Monument and the battleship TEXAS. Secularly moored there along the shores of the Buffalo Bayou. Only recently have we come to learn that “permanent" doesn't always mean forever, but that’s maybe the subject of another story.
Always, the highlight of any visit to this park in those days was manning the guns on the old dreadnought and exploring all her spaces from the bridge and all the way down to the engine room. Once below, Dad would try to explain to me the intricacies of steam reciprocating engines and boiler mechanics; after all, he was a licensed marine engineer and thought that his son should be fully trained in the job as well by the time he was ten. After inspecting all the gauges, levers, and hand-wheels, my Dad, “the Chief,” was satisfied that everything was in its proper place and was as it should be. I explained to him, to his disappointment, that my dream was to be a sailor, shooting the big guns up on the main deck.
Eventually, we made our way back up to the hot, fresh air and the bright daylight on deck. I was then allowed to “man” a deck gun, where, in my 1950s imagination, I aimed, shot at, and sank two enemy towboats and a T2 tanker making her way up the Houston ship channel to one of the refineries producing the fuel that kept everything moving smoothly as it should be.
In those days, one never knew when North Korea would try to attack Pasadena or Deer Park, and it was up to us eight-year-olds to be ready to jump in and protect Texas.
This was a very long time ago, and when I stop for a few minutes and try to remember how life was so very different then from today, and how at the time we thought how modern and new we were. So, in the year 2075, what are the wonders my kids are going to remember from today?
November 22, 2025
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