darkoshi | family history

After my aunt died, my mom kept some of her documents. I've been going through them, looking for details to help in filling out my family tree. Among the papers are letters that my mom wrote to my aunt in the years before and after I was born. Reading them is like being able to go back in time.

A few items of general interest:

1970 - a description of what paper plates were; they must not have been widely available yet in Germany.

A surprising statement - "im Alabama gibt es keinen Alkohol" (in Alabama there is no alcohol).
Looking this up, I found that even nowadays there is still one county in Alabama where all alcohol sales are illegal.

Feb 1974 - It cost $9 to make a 3-minute phone call from the U.S. to Germany, and $3 per minute after that. $9 was the minimum charge (that's equivalent to $42.70 in 2013 dollars).
Feb 1972 - It cost $3 per minute plus 10% tax for phone call from Vietnam to the U.S.

Items of personal interest:

I had chickenpox before my 2nd birthday! (I was always under the impression that I'd never had chickenpox, and that I therefore might still be able to catch it. But this means that I could instead get shingles.)

If I had been born a boy, my name would have been "Bryan Patrick".

My dad was stationed in Vietnam for one year, and was over there when I was born. He oversaw helicopter repairs or something like that, and wasn't in an actual war zone or involved in combat.

Apparently I wasn't a well behaved little toddler.

When I was 1 and a half years old (translated from German):
She climbs around energetically - most preferably onto the table - up and down; no dishes, no letter being written, nothing is safe from her.

In the garden she digs holes with D*** (the dog) and heaps sand on him; in the house - oh God - she falls down stairs, bangs herself badly on everything and therefore constantly has swollen bruises on her head, legs and even her butt. She clears out all the cabinets; scatters sugar, cookies, cocoa, anything she can reach; every day she tears the backing of the carpet a little more. She feeds D*** the expensive dog food all at once (normally we only give him one piece of it a day and the cheaper food otherwise). Besides feeding her own mouth, she also feeds D*** bananas and cookies, and the bad thing is - spanking does not help with her, and my mouth is worn out from saying "No, no".

When I was 2 years old:
She eats like a little pig and gets herself so dirty that onlookers are amused - clothing, hands, arms and hair - usually all full of food. She starts to eat very pretty and neat, but as soon as you look away for one moment, she starts to play with the food, even when she's still hungry. D*** always has to be on the leash now or outside, as otherwise she throws him a lot of good pieces high in the air, and shrieks with joy when he catches them.

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See this for how soldiers called home from Vietnam. http://afvn-radio-tv.org/MARS_in_Vietnam_2.html

A soldier made a call to a short wave radio operator in Vietnam who transferred it to another operator in the US who then transferred it by a collect telephone call to the soldiers home. It was like talking on a radio, you had to say "OVER" at the end of each sentence before the other party responder and said "OVER" again. All the while two radio operators monitored the call. The charge was for a collect telephone call from the location of the US radio operator to the soldiers home. Calls were limited from 3-5 minutes, and normally made late at night in Vietnam.

That's interesting. It makes sense that there wouldn't have been many phone lines over there.

The entire country of Vietnam was a "war zone." No one was safe anywhere or very far removed from combat.

That's more how I envisioned it. Maybe my mom was trying to downplay the danger in her letters, to keep the relatives from worrying as much. Or as they said, if you had to be in Vietnam, that was at least one of the best places to be.

The paper plate was invented by the German bookbinder Hermann Henschel in Luckenwalde in 1867

As I remember; after observing others at the table using utensils you struggled to eat with a spoon and refused to pick up food with your hands at a very early age, perhaps about one-year-old. You were potty trained and standing at about 10-11 months. You could spell your name using ABC blocks before you were two. You could read simple sentences at four years.
I can't remember you ever misbehaving, and only one time being spanked, not sure what you did to deserve it, but you refused to cry.
The dog is responsible for the scar on you upper lip.

It was me who downplayed the danger in Vietnam because I didn't want your mother to worry.
I think that there were only a few places in Alabama that were dry in 1970. We were able to purchase alcohol on the military base and take it home off-base without the police being concerned. I remember once drinking a beer in the yard and having a policeman tell me to take it inside.

Excise tax on your phone bill may be on way out
By Leslie Cauley, USA TODAY

NEW YORK — Some say it's absurd. According to seven federal courts, it's also illegal. But one thing is for sure: America's excise tax on phone service has soaked consumers for more than a century.

Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif., recently introduced legislation in the House — supported by 98 co-sponsors — aimed at repealing the tax, which was imposed in 1898 to help pay for the Spanish-American War. The war was over in six months, but the tax stayed.

The general excise tax has so far cost consumers about $300 billion, says the Congressional Research Service. The entire Spanish-American War cost only about $6 billion, adjusted for inflation.

AT&T says the tax is grossly unfair to consumers. "This is a 19th-century tax on a 21st-century technology," says Jim Cicconi, AT&T's general counsel. "It makes no sense, and it ought to be repealed."

Gene Kimmelman, director of Consumers Union, agrees. "This is the poster child for how messed up our telephone pricing system is today," he says. "It makes no sense to have to pay a tax to fight a war that was over more than 100 years ago."

This year, consumers and businesses will fork out another $6 billion in general excise taxes — enough to pay for the Spanish-American War all over again, notes Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif.

"The original purpose of the tax was to raise revenue for a specific purpose, and to do so in a way that would not be noticed by the average consumer," he says. "Today, the purpose is gone, and consumers are definitely feeling the pinch."

It was originally a tax on the affluent because phone service was a luxury in 1898.

Now, general excise taxes show up each month as a line item on phone bills. Businesses and consumers pay the same: 3% of the total. On a $100 phone bill, that works out to $3. On a $10,000 bill — not uncommon for businesses — the tab is about $300.

Over the years, the excise tax has shot up to as high as 25%. During the inflation-driven 1970s, the tax hovered in the 10% range. Because the tax is applied evenly, with no regard for income, poorer consumers are hit hardest.

Seven federal courts have so far declared the tax to be illegal. The rulings came in response to lawsuits by taxpayers who were balking at paying.

The government's latest loss was in May. That ruling, which involved the American Bankers Insurance Group, was issued by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Verizon says it's time for the agency to throw in the towel. "(The IRS) is 0-7," says Mark Mullet, a Verizon vice president. "They're either going to have to come up with a new strategy on how to win this, or just decide they can't collect it."

Miller's bill appears to be gaining momentum. A companion bill was introduced this week in the Senate. In addition to AT&T and Verizon, SBC, Time Warner, Comcast and America Online are all supporters. Cox, one of the House bill's co-sponsors, says consumers stand to benefit most if the measure passes.

"Clearly, the Spanish-American War was paid for and won," he says. "It's time we put the tax to its rightful repose."

family history

Vietnan telephone calls

Re: Vietnan telephone calls

Vietnam

Re: Vietnam

paper plates

Eating, etc.

Vietnam, Alabama alcohol

Reference 10% Tax on VN phone calls