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| 1968. from left...an unidentified young man...then the magnificent Kathy Holcomb...SPCA chief, and the pearl mesta (great party giver) of the canal zone. the blond seated is pat parks, wife of SCN staffer air force Sgt. Gary Parks, then "Skipper Andy" aka Ssgt Carl Gentry and of course, Happy Hoyer. note the flag "p.c" that did not stand for politically correct!!! | a real gathering of eagles...Sgm. Sam Sumner inspects the Llilac, as Skipper Andy (Army Ssgt Carl "Countrypolitan Chapel" Gentry), the officer of-the-deck of the Lilac stands by. Alongside is army specialist Gordon "Packrat" Pafrath. He is recording & "demerits." | the inspection continues with Sgm. Sumner, being a good NCOIC, finding lots of things wrong. Sp5 Gordon Paffrath has run out of ink...note the length of the list... and Sam isn't done yet. it was also thus on Monday morning during the weekly inspections that were instituted by Sgm Sumner shortly after his arrival at SCN |
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| along with USO groups, we'd have local entertainers from the zone visit "afternoon" from time to time. one of these young ladies went on to fame (not fortune) as an "ID" girl...she's up next. |
Kathy Holcomb & Happy Hoyer Summer 69 |
this was 1969, and the Stanley Kubrick movie 2001 a Space Odyssey had just come out...it featured the "Hal 9000" computer, which took over the spaceship. not to be outdone, our Davie Lindquester created the "Pal 9000" for installation on the lilac. when happy left, the pal, along with the magic vent "walked" off the set courtesy of an animated film shot by some creative photographer in the pre-dawn hours. |
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| to say that Happy was popular with the kids in the zone would be an understatement. we would visit a school from time to time...he needed a bodyguard | this is vintage Happy Hoyer, red hair and smile. he's pictured here aboard the SS Pioneer contractor with his Nikon F Photomic. Happy called his picture taking "push and click." this begins a series of photos taken aboard the Pioneer contractor during a transit of the canal arranged by Pan Canal. November 1969 | |
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Happy Hoyer with his Miranda Sensorex Camera Fall 1968
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there was no time that had more mixed emotions than when a good friend was leaving the zone. On one hand we were losing, maybe for a while or maybe forever, someone who had become a good friend...on the other hand, our good friend was doing something he'd longed for...going home. this was Happy's departure... the slide is dated Nov. '69...there is quite a cast of characters in this photo... from left, ...Steve Momot with the Bolex 16mm camera (film at 6:00p.m.) Bill Moss, unidentified man bending, then John "Uncle Frog" Tedrick (USAF) and then Paul Hogan..and the remainder ??? | "unknown" in back on the left...Sp5 Hoyer, Steve Momot and John Tedrick...they are joined by some- thing really important..the plane taking Happy home. This was one of the few times anyone saw Happy in his class "a" uniform. |
