By Lee Henry
The Sunshine Girls visited an Army veteran and learned he is celebrating his wedding anniversary on Flag Day, June 14.
Paul D. Daugherty is from East Tennessee in a little town near Oak Ridge. He said he registered with the draft board at age 18. After high school he worked in a nuclear plant and then went on to Detroit to work for the auto industry in 1954. Daugherty was on the assembly line for Chrysler Corporation and would pick up some summer jobs when he got laid off. He also worked for Burroughs Corporation on the assembly line and this time it was adding machines.
Between General Motors and Burroughs, Daugherty was always called back after being laid off. It was fun listening to Paul tell us one story of his first vehicle he bought that was an old gray 1936 Oldsmobile, which he said had probably never been out of Detroit. One of his long trips to Tennessee, he said, there was no interstate back in those days, so he and his buddies drove through the night to visit his grandparents. He had lots of laughs when he described his road trip going through all the little towns driving in what they called the old gray buzzard. Paul had met his wife Barbara while working at Chrysler with her uncle.
They were married in 1958 and four months later, the draft board called him to the Army. He then went to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., to process there, and then went on to Fort Benning, Ga., for six months of training. Paul went on to Swineford, Germany and tells us he sold his 1955 Ford to his brother so he’d have money to send Barbara to Germany. Paul’s duties were part of the NATO occupational forces from 1958-1960.
Daugherty said close to 50,000 U.S. troops were training in all parts of Germany at that time. We asked Paul what was his duties and he said he was a forward observer. He was to scout out, looking for the enemy and responsible for directing artillery, an 81mm mortar fire support onto a target. He showed us his 1959 yearbook of the first battle group, the 11th infantry. We enjoyed hearing his stories of the special friend who he had met in boot camp, who was from Essen, Germany.
Paul said that during maneuvers, they would go to different places to train and they would see a lot of Germany. He described historical places that were destroyed during World War II, one being a ball bearing plant, and places along the Rhine River. Barbara tells us that she spent time with ladies in southern Germany having tea and even had lunch with the mayor in his castle in Hart, Germany. They told us about Oktoberfest, the many restaurants and, of course, the good German beer.
Photos courtesy of Lee Henry
Daugherty made sergeant and after two years was discharged. They asked him to go to Korea, but he declined. He went back to Plymouth, Mich., to work for Burroughs. They tell us they even rented the house that they were in years ago from the same lady homeowner who was happy to have them back. After several years, Burroughs downsized and Paul went to Wayne, Mich., to work at the Michigan truck plant and ended up being a supervisor there.
The couple tells us it was Paul’s brother that brought him to the area, but Paul ended up retiring from the Coca-Cola bottling plant on Shenandoah Avenue. He was bottling Coke, running the filling machines, and it was interesting listening to the whole process of the mixing, bottling and shipping the soda.
Paul and Barbara will be celebrating their 66th wedding anniversary on Flag Day June 14. They told us that on their second year anniversary while traveling thru Germany, they celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria. Barbara said the flags were all flying and even the American flag.
They said the people were very nice to the Americans as the GIs spent a lot of money visiting these towns. It was interesting hearing about the historical sites and they even saw Hitler’s mountain house. They said it beats their first year anniversary, as he was in boot camp and they just talked on the phone.
Paul said he’s been blessed with two sons, two grandsons and one great-grandson. He credits his two grandmothers who were the most influential people in his life. One in particular would read the Bible to him and gave him guidance to live a godly life.
Paul and Barbara live in Troutville and he’s a member of the Gideons for over 15 years. They attend Rainbow Forest Baptist Church and we were pretty envious when he said he was actually baptized by Pastor Rick Via, whom we all know well.
The Sunshine Girls thank the Daughertys for their time and hope everyone honors the holiday flying their flag high to observe Flag Day on Friday, June 14.
