Audio
Lee Kanof
Transcript
Unknown: 00:00 Hello? Chin: 00:10 Hello. I would like to speak to Colonel Kanof please. Unknown: 00:13 Who's calling? Chin: 00:14 My name is Brian Chin. I'm referred to him by Dick Mormon. Unknown: 00:19 Just a moment. Chin: 00:46 Okay. Unknown: 00:46 Lee. [inaudible 00:00:47] Lee: 00:46 What happened is I was assigned initially to the 56th over at Fort Cronkhite. Chin: 00:52 Yes. Lee: 00:53 We were only there three weeks. There were 17 of us, went in there at the same time. They needed two in the 6th. They blindfolded [inaudible 00:01:04] and gave him a pin, and he stuck my name. And that's how I got transferred to the 6th. Chin: 01:10 I see. Lee: 01:13 I was with them from August of '42 and I guess it was either October or November of '43, something like that. Chin: 01:13 I see. Lee: 01:31 In fact, I guess we had the rare honor of firing those 16s twice within the 14 months that I was there. Chin: 01:40 Yes. I think I do recall seeing your name on the official report. Lee: 01:46 In the old all Costar Artillery the Range Officer was the senior Lieutenant. John Ray was that. And then I had just come out of Munro and they had the brand new plotting equipment, and they made me the Range Officer instead downstairs. And I'm trying to think of his name, who was the Artillery Engineer, was a harbor defensive. Chin: 01:46 Wasn't Harrison? Lee: 02:16 It was Arthur. When you get to have Alzheimer's disease it doesn't work [crosstalk 00:02:26]. Chin: 02:28 It wasn't Colonel Jordan? Lee: 02:30 Kramer, Art Kramer. Chin: 02:30 Oh yes. Lee: 02:32 He was Artillery Engineer, and he had been the former Commander of 6th section. Chin: 02:40 That's right. Lee: 02:41 Before going again into Harbor Defense and Artillery Engineer. Chin: 02:47 Well, he says he devised... What did he... Lee: 02:51 I didn't devise anything. I undevised. When I got there, this was when all the equipment was quite new, changed, reflection board, arranged correction boards. They were all changed, they were all M1s. And in fact, we had the first Sperry computer that came into the artillery. Chin: 03:15 I see. Lee: 03:16 Sitting right in our casemate. When I got there, there were tapes all over these boards for the corrections. It looked to me that if you use that correction you threw the entire battery out of orientation. So I went to the Battery Commander, a Ken Cooper. And he says, well, I really don't know what to do about it because they were put on there by a Colonel Kramer himself. He says, we better talk to Colonel Mormon. And that's the first or the best advice I ever received in the army was from Dick Mormon. After we went through this entire drill, he made the statement. He says, if it goes right, General Haynes is going to take the credit. Kramer will take the credit, Mormon, everybody. If something's wrong everybody washes their hands and you're the one. He said, you best do what you think best to do. Chin: 03:16 I see. Lee: 04:18 So I took the tapes off. I knew what happened. Kramer came in one day riding through. And boy, he went through that casemate when he saw that, and wanted to know who did it. I said, well, I did it. And I told him why. And he threw us all out of the plotting room except one plotter. And he must've been there two, three hours. And he finally came out. He looked at me. He said, hell you do it your way. Chin: 04:46 Well. Lee: 04:48 And as luck would have it, I really lucked out. We got the highest score ever attained by the 16 inch guns when they practiced. Chin: 04:59 Was this the first practice when you got there? Lee: 05:02 The second one we did, that too was interesting. Because I always got my head knocked off 20 years later because of it. Chin: 05:02 Oh? Lee: 05:08 A battery hatch in Hawaii fired. And evidently they had a dispersion of over 2000 yards between the first and second round of the gun. These were all Naval guns. We inherited these from the Navy when the Saratoga and Lexington were turned into carriers, instead of battle cruises. And the guns had already been manufactured and they were Navy [inaudible 00:05:38]. They claimed that it was warming up effect between first and second round. So DA authorized a shoot and it wasn't a regular target practice shoot. We had to use pressure plugs. We measured the depth of the seating of the rounds and everything else. And then we came up and said, there was no warming up effect. Well that was in '43 and I'm in Germany. I guess this is about '55 and... No, no, this was in Okinawa '52 and we're at the firing point of Bolo Point. It was during Korea and they'd lost an aircraft. So we stopped firing because of the air sea search on it. Do you know Glenn Elliott? Chin: 06:32 No, I've not heard that name. Lee: 06:33 Colonel. He's the one that took the first corporal battalion over the Germany back in '54, I guess. Well, anyway, I'm telling him this story and he's about 6'3" and weighs about 230 pounds. I'm a 200 pounds. I find myself lifted in the air by the front of my shirt. He says, hell, I was Range Officer at that battery hatch and I almost got thrown out of the army as a result of our test firing. Everything goes around, that comes around again. Chin: 07:10 Yes. Lee: 07:12 What can I do within my memory that I might be able to help? I understand you're trying to compile a history of it. Chin: 07:19 Yes. Well, you've already given me some information there that's... Lee: 07:22 Right. I'm going back there on October 20th. Chin: 07:25 Oh for... Lee: 07:26 Well it's my 50th wedding anniversary. And we were married in San Francisco. Chin: 07:31 Oh I see. Lee: 07:34 And we stayed at the St. Francis. Got reservations there again. Chin: 07:39 Oh, well that's wonderful. Lee: 07:39 50 years later. Chin: 07:43 Okay. Lee: 07:43 I'll be riding out to look. I'm sure it's not a fort anymore. Chin: 07:47 No, isn't a fort. The emplacements are still there. Lee: 07:51 I imagine so. Chin: 07:52 You can go right up to them and look. Lee: 07:54 We had the longest range, by the way. I think you can check this out. Of any 16 inch gun that I know of is just perhaps the one up on Mount Tamalpais because of our elevation. Chin: 08:09 I see. Lee: 08:10 We were over 200 feet above sea. We could put a round from our Battery Davis and we could put it over the Farallon Islands. Chin: 08:18 Yes, that's correct. Lee: 08:20 So I don't know, that might be of interest. Chin: 08:22 Oh yes, that is. Lee: 08:24 And the armament itself, those were wire apps, they were made at the Foundry in Washington, DC. And they were made for the two carriers. They were then going to be battle cruisers. And then evidently there was a diplomatic discussion with Japan. They objected the battle cruisers. Didn't object to carriers. So the hulls were built and they converted those to aircraft carriers. And the army inherited the gun. Of course the gun was much larger than the army 16th. The army 16th was 16"/45 and these were 16"/50s. Chin: 08:24 I see. Lee: 09:06 And I always called it a gentleman gun because we didn't have to hand ram or we didn't have to swab or anything. Chin: 09:13 Right. Lee: 09:14 The Navy guns in the turret that they use in air evacuation system, to clear the tubes, they have a power rammer. So we were really gentlemen at the 16th, not like the army 16th. Chin: 09:29 Yes. So you had a compressed air for evacuating the... Lee: 09:34 Well, what happens is it's a breach that came down. Rotators came down and automatically when the breach opened, there were air jets that cleared the tubes. Chin: 09:45 I see. Lee: 09:46 I'd say, if you put a 25 pound youngster in there it would blow them out the front. Chin: 09:51 Oh my goodness. That's powerful. Lee: 09:54 That's how strong it was. Chin: 09:59 Did you see any of the other emplacements in that from Fort Funston in that area? Lee: 10:06 Well the only thing else there that I remember there was a 3" gun battery, AA, just below it. What we did is, our day room was the old Police Department Pistol Club. Chin: 10:21 I see. Lee: 10:23 And we were not very nice to the police. We took it over. And then right across the road from the post, they were building a new club, but they never had enough lumber because we helped ourselves each evening. Chin: 10:36 Took lumber from where? Lee: 10:38 Police department. Chin: 10:40 Oh I see. Lee: 10:40 To build a new club. Chin: 10:41 So you took apart their buildings to build yours. Lee: 10:44 Also, our men lived very well, different to most. All the men in our casemate. It wasn't built for that, but the men in the casemate all had big, heavy mattresses and beds. And we got two 40 mm for our own air defense. And they were put on top of the casemate of the guns. And we had built shacks beneath with tunnels up and all those men... I had a friend who was a Naval Reserve Officer and an armed guard Officer on a freighter. And he would come in about every three months. They had two gun tubs on the freighter out there. And he took me down to the Bethlehem ship yards and introduced me to the head of the salvage offices. That's where they were pulling all those President Lines apart and making them into troop transport. So all these nice berths off the President Line, as in rugs and everything else. Why they just gave them to us if we asked for it. Chin: 11:51 Oh, I see. So they... Lee: 11:55 And then of course the battery is a very interesting battery. We built our own mess hall with a tree growing through it. We had billies down our main post, kitchen and all, but we tried to live up at the case-based, the gun. When the men needed a shower, they went down to the lower posts, got cleaned up and things of that sort. But we had our own mess hall and we had a base end station up on Mount Tamalpais pious. And the California, I guess they were Forest Rangers or whatever they were, allowed us to shoot any deer that we wanted. As long as we didn't let them get away. Chin: 12:35 I see. Lee: 12:37 Every Wednesday, half that harbor, the fans ate in our mess hall. We built the mess hall ourselves, four men tables. The Officer's table was in the kitchen. And there was a grill that we used wood. We used to drive to Livermore to pick up dead oak for it. And I guess that grill must've been about, or at least eight feet across by four feet deep. And every Wednesday we served venison. Chin: 13:10 Oh my goodness. Well, that's very good information. Lee: 13:13 It got so bad. We had too many people who just happened to be dropping by. And the old man wanted to know what to do. So we served Vienna sausages two Wednesdays running and they got the hint. Then we only had those people we invited. Chin: 13:30 By the old man, you meet the Battery Commander? Lee: 13:31 Battery Commander, Ken Cooper. He was a lawyer. And I believe that he was out of Selma Alabama. Chin: 13:38 Yes, that's correct. The mess hall, where was that located? Lee: 13:42 Well, if you remember the post, you know where the 16th were? Chin: 13:46 Yes. Lee: 13:48 As you go down the Hill, you then saw to the left was our little small arms firing range. That's the old Police Pistol Club. Chin: 14:00 I see. Lee: 14:01 Before you got out, there was a gate, a security gate. And just before you got out of the gate where the guns were, we had this mess hall and it was built in two sections. We could seat perhaps 30, 40 people at a time. It wasn't very large. And we didn't want to disturb it, and we built it right around a tree. A tree grew right through the mess hall. Chin: 14:29 I see. So this was far from the battery itself then? Lee: 14:34 Well, no. It was right close to where the guns were. It's far from lower posts. It's within our own security fence. Chin: 14:41 I see. Lee: 14:42 It was built right into the hill. If you're going down the road, it's on the left side. Chin: 14:47 I see. So you're saying the police pistol range was near? Lee: 14:53 I have pictures of it. Of course there was a big picture of a nude that one of the fellows painted. And I'm sure I have a picture of that, if that would help you. Chin: 15:01 It certainly would. Because I'm trying to put as many photographs... Lee: 15:06 We had a very unusual thing. One day a week we had a Chinese meal. At that time we used to get money for our rations. Chin: 15:12 Yes. Lee: 15:13 And we six bases and stations off the post all the way from Half Moon Bay up to Stinson beach and Bolinas. Each one had four men in it. They got ration and a half. A mess Sergeant would do the buying for them. We had a Chinese boy who was from San Francisco and he was a cook. And once a week we had a Chinese meal that he prepared for us. Chin: 15:41 Oh I see. I've seen a Chinese fellow's name on some of the menus that were issued. You don't remember his name? Lee: 15:47 I don't remember his name. But one of our cooks was Chinese. Chin: 15:52 I see. Lee: 15:52 We had a very close unit. The mess Sergeant wanted to learn to be a baker and he'd go down half the night baking in town at one of the big bakeries. And as a result, they would let him bring stuff back to us. Chin: 16:07 I see. Lee: 16:09 And then do you remember the restaurant Omar Khayyam's? Chin: 16:12 Yes. Lee: 16:13 Well, we had an Albanian in our unit. And the Mardikian owned Omar Khayyam's and every week an Albanian, who was one of our soldiers, he told them to bring three of the EM as guests. And he would sponsor them to a big meal and a night out. Chin: 16:34 I see. That's... Lee: 16:34 Once a week that happened. Chin: 16:35 That's the type of information that I'm looking forward to round out the book. Lee: 16:42 And the mess Sergeant would bake downtown. And as a result, we had very good bread. In our mess hall down at lower post, which we did not use, but they had a walk-in refrig. We always had three or four deer hanging, so that they could prepare the meals. It was very close-knit and enjoyable. The only problem was you couldn't get a promotion on that unit. My promotion was sent in four times, turned down, they said overage and gray. And General Haynes got so mad that I got transferred to an AA mobile unit. Never left my unit. Promotion came back approved and then I was re-transferred back to Battery Davis, and never left the place. Chin: 17:37 I see. Lee: 17:38 Because in the Harbor Defense itself, every time they put in for a promotion of an Officer, they would send somebody in that grade that was a call back from World War I, I guess. Chin: 17:52 I see. So they had to transfer you out and promote you at another unit [crosstalk 00:17:58]? Lee: 18:00 I got the orders. Send me to the 130th AA headquarters. I never left and I got the promotion. At that time DA had a problem with the promotion order. And when that came back, I was transferred back to the unit, but I physically never left the unit. Chin: 18:14 I see. What other things do you remember about San Francisco itself? Lee: 18:21 Well, of course we had the zoo right next to Funston. If you remember, that was the Fleishhacker Zoo? Chin: 18:21 Right. Lee: 18:33 It was right on the water. We had base end stations for ourselves. We had one at Half Moon Bay. No, not at Half Moon Bay, we had one at a place called Milagro and another one Montara. And we had one right at Sutro Baths. There was a Coast Guard Navy station that monitored the harbor. They had sonar devices. And we had a base end station there. Had one on top of Mount Tamalpais. And we had one at Stinson beach and one at Bolinas. Chin: 19:14 Right. Lee: 19:15 I used to do that two to three times a week. Chin: 19:18 You would make the... Lee: 19:20 It was so bad, in the jeep we'd put the windshield on because you couldn't see through the fog. We'd come back dry in the back and soaking up front. Chin: 19:30 So you were out making your weekly inspections then? Lee: 19:35 Well, we did it more than just weekly. We tried to break up the times, but it was at least once every other day. Chin: 19:43 I see. Lee: 19:43 Well, we had three men sitting out there alone in the middle of nowhere. Chin: 19:48 Right. So they'd get no relief for how long? Lee: 19:52 We would rotate. The big base end station was right at Davis. We had about eight people there. And we would rotate them, they'd take the turns out in the outer station to come back in. They loved the duty because they got paid ration and a half. They would order their own meals. The mess Sergeant, I don't know, there were about 20 of them all involved. And they would take all the money, pool it. He would do the purchasing for them. And then they would divide up what was left. And he got part of the division. So he was interested in doing it as well. And it was economically possible. Chin: 20:37 I see. Now was the food prepared and then trucked out to them? Lee: 20:41 No. They prepared their own meals. The meals had to be such so that they could prepare it. Chin: 20:46 I see. Lee: 20:47 In other words it could be something they could fry, something cold. And somebody was making a run out to the stations each day. When I went it was at night, as an inspection, we tried to surprise them and see if they were awake or not. Chin: 21:04 So they had little stoves in there. Lee: 21:06 Yeah. They had just like... You've seen these one burner Coleman? Chin: 21:12 Mm-hmm (affirmative). Lee: 21:14 It looks like a tube, aluminum. I'm trying to think the equivalent. About three inch diameter, the cover and all. And put gasoline in it. It's really a little gasoline stove. Chin: 21:31 Tell me more about the station at Sutro Baths. Where exactly was it situated? Lee: 21:36 What? Chin: 21:36 Tell me more about the station at Sutro baths. Lee: 21:39 Well, it wasn't in Sutro Baths itself. It's right at that point where Sutro was. Chin: 21:45 Yes. Lee: 21:47 There was a station, I believe it was the responsibility, either Navy or coast guard. And they had listening devices. And we had as a base end station. We could fire with a vertical baseline, but it was not near as accurate. We tried to get as wide a baseline as possible. Chin: 22:16 Right. Lee: 22:17 Because then for triangulation you got a more accurate location. In fact they helped us a lot. You know these Navy dark blue sweaters with turtleneck? Chin: 22:33 Yes. Lee: 22:34 The fellows down there, the Navy personnel, got one of those for every man that we had in our base end station. Chin: 22:40 I see. Lee: 22:40 It was a combined unit. Chin: 22:43 I see. Now this wasn't on [crosstalk 00:22:49]. Lee: 22:48 I'm trying to think of the name. It had a name. Fort... Chin: 22:53 Miley? Lee: 22:53 Was it Miley? Chin: 22:54 Yeah. That's the nearest fort. Lee: 22:54 Is that the one at Sutro? Chin: 22:55 Yes. Lee: 22:55 Then that's Miley. That's where it was located. Chin: 23:00 So this was pretty close to the water or was it way up on... Lee: 23:04 Oh it was right on the water. Chin: 23:05 Oh, it was right on the water. Lee: 23:05 On the water, yeah. Chin: 23:07 I see. That is one I had not heard of before. Lee: 23:09 That was right on the water. And as I say, it was a joint usage. Chin: 23:14 Yes. So it was... Lee: 23:15 We were really the tenants. Chin: 23:18 Yeah. Right. So it was a concrete structure of some sort, with visions on? Lee: 23:25 Everything. We had 35 for the concrete above, as on the ground. We were casemate. Everything was casemate over there. Some good mafia concrete manufacturer, it had a name or something. I'll tell you something very interesting, I don't know whether you're aware of. Were you aware about the incident that they had on the bridge? Chin: 23:50 No. Lee: 23:51 Oh, okay. The Golden Gate anchors on a military reservation. Both on the North and on the South. Chin: 24:00 Yes. Lee: 24:01 And General DeWitt was the CG of, I guess it was called Western Defense Command at that time. Chin: 24:07 That's right. Lee: 24:09 The agreement with the civilian authorities were that no military vehicle would have to pay or soldier would have to pay the toll on the bridge. Because I was stationed at Cronkite. You'd have many installations across it. It was one defense. And evidently one day some GI in a vehicle was coming across and the toll keeper wanted money. Well, you can imagine what the GI said and turned around and went back. They called headquarters and they got hold of DeWitt, And he called an exercise on each side of the bridge. And traffic was piled up, I'd say most likely down to San Jose in the South, and Bolinas in the North. And they were trying to get him, and he just wasn't available. After about an hour or two, he took the call. And the story goes that he said, oh he wasn't aware he was wrong. He says, by the way, I understand one of my soldiers was turned back. And that you had violated the agreement by trying to charge a toll. He called off the exercise. After that, boy they used to flag us through. Chin: 25:30 So this was during... Lee: 25:32 This was back in the beginning of '43. Chin: 25:36 I see. Okay. Lee: 25:38 And he was CG of Western Defense Command. I don't know his first name, last name was DeWitt. Chin: 25:44 DeWitt. I'll have to look at some old newspapers. Lee: 25:48 General Haynes's son was a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy. He was Harbor Defense Commander. And he was a submariner. And his submarine was one of those that escorted the city of San Francisco back when she was hurt. Chin: 26:08 Right. Lee: 26:10 And sealed up with the bodies. And we were all invited to general Haynes's home, overlooking the Bay. And that was a very touching incident. Three submarines on the surface escorting the cruiser. And of course his son was one of the Officers on the submarine. Chin: 26:31 I see. Well, you certainly remember many things. Lee: 26:36 Well, I can't remember what happened yesterday. I remember what happened 50 years ago. Chin: 26:43 Well, that's the period I'm interested in. Lee: 26:48 I do have some pictures. If you want one that's amusing, of that mess hall somewhere with the painting of this nude over the fireplace. Chin: 27:00 Yes. I am. Lee: 27:02 I can look through and see what I have, if you're interested and we can always make a copy of it. Chin: 27:09 Yes. I certainly am most definitely interested, in anything that shows how the men lived. Lee: 27:17 If there's anything I could help out there, because I will be there. I'm going back to San Francisco on the morning of the 19th and we expect to leave four days or five days later. Chin: 27:32 Oh, I see. Well, I don't think so. I think everything you've told me over the phone is... This is all new information to me, especially the more personal stories. So I don't... Lee: 27:48 When you write up, you can make it look like an inventory. All listed one, two, three, four, or you can put a little humanity into it. Chin: 27:56 Exactly. And that's the angle. Lee: 27:59 Anybody can write on that. I even have an old... Look that wouldn't help. An old book put out, I guess it was by Department of the Army at that time, of all artillery weapons. It's a big red fat book, it's about three inches thick. I'm a saver of things. Chin: 28:22 That's... Lee: 28:22 Well I said, sometimes it's... I sent my original bill to the St. Francis, that's for the reservation. My original bill was $6 a night. The cheapest room they have now, and this was in the old building, not the new one, $195 a night. Chin: 28:40 That much? I didn't know that. Lee: 28:42 I got a letter back from the Manager. I wrote it to him. And he says, we're glad to have you we'll take care of you. And the bill will be $50 a night. Chin: 28:53 Oh, well that was very nice. Lee: 28:55 I'm sure it'll be in the new building, where they cheapest room in the new building is $230 a night. So sometimes it pays to keep that old... Chin: 29:03 Oh yes. In fact, Ken Cooper saved I think everything. That's why I've got so many of some of these documents. So your name shows up in there. Lee: 29:14 I have a telegram it's more than 76 years old where my uncle congratulated my mother and father on my birth. Chin: 29:24 Well, it's good to save all these things. That's how some of us who weren't born then, would be able to ever learn anything about it. Lee: 29:30 Well, my kids think it's treasures. Chin: 29:35 Oh yeah. Lee: 29:35 At least it's something. Chin: 29:35 Oh, definitely they are. And I would be interested in the photographs you have from your time there. Lee: 29:42 Let me go upstairs to my office where I've got something I can write down. Chin: 29:42 Oh okay. Lee: 29:42 Just one moment please. Chin: 29:45 All right. Lee: 29:46 It's a little way from there. Chin: 29:55 I see. I didn't know they had any camps that close to the Bay. Lee: 29:59 They had the Chinese there, South of San Francisco. Chin: 30:01 Oh. Where any of them said to work on any of the... Lee: 30:05 No. We never saw them at all. Chin: 30:06 I see. Lee: 30:06 We were aware that they did have a.. Chin: 30:11 I have a feeling you've... Lee: 30:13 Now do you have a picture of the crest of the 6th? Chin: 30:17 Yeah. I don't have a good one. Oh yes... No I do. I have a line drawing of it. Lee: 30:24 Because I was in the 2nd coast, the 6th coast, the 56th, 65th, the 8th. I've been in many of them. Chin: 30:32 So you were in the 65th? Lee: 30:34 Let me see what I have photographic wise. I'll have those things reproduced for you. Chin: 30:41 Okay. Lee: 30:41 And if I think anything else that I think you might be able to use when I send them, I'll just make a note of it for you. Chin: 30:47 Well, that'll be very good. I have a feeling though, that if I talked to you for 10 hours, you would be loaded with 10 hours worth of stuff that I could put in the book. Lee: 30:56 I've been known to have diarrhea of the mouth. Chin: 30:59 But this is all information I've not heard from anybody else. Because I'm wanting to put in the human part of it. Lee: 31:05 You don't realize, most of them were younger. I was never in the service. I was the Chief of Merchandise Control with Bloomingdale's in New York when I was drafted. Chin: 31:16 I see. Lee: 31:17 And when I got into the service, I was over 25 years of age. And I got in there drafted as a private, 28 years. Then I got out after the war for a couple of years, then went back in as an escape. Sorry to admit. When you try to get away from family and in-laws, I guess you've got to call it escape. I was fortunate Korea was going on at that time. And the excuse was that I was called back. I lucked out on that. And although I never went regular, I was put in a special category back in 19.... I don't know, I guess it was about '62, '63. Because I turned down the regular commission thinking if I retired, I wanted to be able to work for the government then get full pay. Chin: 32:12 Yes. Lee: 32:13 But they put me in a special category where I retired based on age and all. And I didn't have to request a renewal of reserve on duty and all that business. Chin: 32:24 I see. Lee: 32:25 And then I retired a year and a half earlier because I'd only been back... I was in the embassy in Italy and came back to the States and 14 months later they wanted to send me to Korea. So I retired with 29 years service instead of 30. So that is my history and my background. What I'm trying to say is, it's different when a 21 year old, a 20 year old gets in, he throws all the garbage away. I rathole things, memorabilia. Chin: 32:25 Yes. Lee: 32:58 I had part of my training in civilian life if you remember? Chin: 33:02 Yes, exactly. So you'll have to tell me more about San Francisco during the war. Lee: 33:07 You want to know about San Francisco? I'll tell you an amusing thing. I told you about Omar Khayyam's. At Omar Khayyam's, if you finish the food on your plate, you got 10% of the cheque back in war savings stamps. Chin: 33:24 Oh, that's good. Lee: 33:25 And they say Mardikian who owned Omar Khayyam's, after the war with his own money I will say, of course transportation was provided, he made a world tour of the army mess halls. Chin: 33:39 Oh, I see. Lee: 33:41 See what they were doing and then write up a report and try to help in improving the mess facilities in the army. He was a very patriotic individual. Chin: 33:52 Yes he was. Lee: 33:54 His name was Mardikian, he owned the Omar. Chin: 33:56 Yes. He's very well known amongst some of us San Franciscans who remember those [crosstalk 00:34:03]. Lee: 34:02 Okay. I'll let you go. Boy, you're really making an investment in this phone call. I'm glad you're smart enough to do it on a Saturday or Sunday. Chin: 34:12 Well, I'm glad I got you home. As far as the investment goes, every word you've said to me is pure gold. Lee: 34:12 Okay. Chin: 34:18 This is all fodder for the book. Lee: 34:21 I'll check my channel 30 here, make sure that the price of gold is going up. Chin: 34:29 Speaking of that, if this printing of the photos and all that is going to cost the... Lee: 34:36 No don't worry about that. Chin: 34:37 All right. Because I'll be glad to... Lee: 34:39 That's not meaningful to me, it's only a couple of bucks. It costs a couple of bucks. Chin: 34:42 Okay. Well I'll be glad to get anything that you send then. Lee: 34:45 Okay. I'll look through it. I'll edit it and see what I can send to you. Chin: 34:48 All right. Very good. Lee: 34:49 I've got a very amusing one. I don't know if you'll find it amusing. I was in a leg cast while I was there. Letterman wanted to hospitalize me. And I said, you can't do anything with me in more hospitals across the Bay. But if you will do it so I am ambulatory, I'll let you work on me. So they put a cast on. I've got a picture of me driving the Jeep with my left leg stuck all the way out. It was from the hip through, down to the ankle. That's just amusing to myself. Not for your history. Chin: 35:23 Well, okay. Lee: 35:24 I will see what I can find. Chin: 35:25 Very good. Lee: 35:27 What I can find, or I think is any use for you, I'll blow them up, I'll put a little scribble on the bottom what they mean, what they were, when they were taken. And maybe that'll help you. Chin: 35:37 It certainly will help. Lee: 35:37 Okay. Chin: 35:39 Okay. Thank you very much Mr Kanof. Lee: 35:41 You're welcome. Chin: 35:42 All right. Goodbye.
Description
Interview with Lee Kanof about his time in Battery C of the 6th Coast Artillery by Brian Chin
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