by Doug Severt
RARE INDIVIDUAL
These memories are of a rare individual, Larry Steffen, whom I can
confidently call a friend. This friendship, besides that of my wife’s,
my life partner, is probably the closest I will ever know. I value it
for the experiences we’ve shared, the memories made, the mark made on my
life by a person with character, values, a wonderful personality and a
strong commitment to life.
IN THE BEGINNING
It began in California at Travis Air Force Base. I can’t remember who
arrived first; I know that I was fresh from Clark Air Base in the
Philippines and Larry came in from Howard Air Base in the Panama Canal
zone. I guess we actually became acquainted through work and eventually
became roommates in the barracks and for a time we shared an apartment
off base. For that foray, Johnny Lunsford joined us as an apartment
mate. Johnny Lunsford, was Larry’s friend from Howard. We had a new,
really nice, three bedroom apartment in Suisun City, right next to the
sloughs. It was very sparsely furnished with crates and footlockers
serving as pieces of furniture and an electric popcorn popper as our
spaghetti cooker. At the time we all worked the same shift, swings, so
we rode together back and forth to Travis. Larry and I worked together
in cargo editing and Johnny worked in another building where the
incoming cargo was received and inchecked. We were the only military
personnel in the office and we worked for Betty Rublin and Larry had her
wrapped around his finger. She was forever letting us "sprout", that’s
military jargon for extra time off, so we always had a lot of extra time
on our hands. Another person we worked for, Larry nicknamed "Weepee",
because she was always crying over something. Her real name was
Christine Gardner. She was an extremely sensitive and caring person who
always had a house full of foster kids. Her own son was killed in
Vietnam which was very traumatic for all of us. His name was Jack Elroy
Gardner, PFC, and he was killed by hostile, ground casualty gun, small,
arms fire after being in-country (South Vietnam) for only 12 days. His
name is on Panel 07E, Line 89 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.
Like many war time incidents the exact details, or at least all the
details of a death that the family would like, were not given or even
known. She spent a great deal of time and effort trying to gather
additional information from his buddies or any other source she found
available.
CAREFREE DAYS
Those were really the good old carefree days. Larry was the proud owner
of a ’57 Ford, two tone green. This was, and still remains a special
Ford. Not just a car, but almost an extension of Larry. Even today, I
look longingly at one of those cars every time I see one, and it takes
me back to those glorious days when that car carried us throughout
California, parts of Oregon and lots of Nevada. It could be midnight and
we might start out for parts unknown. Places like San Francisco, Sequoia
National Park, Reno or Lake Tahoe, the coast highway, Lake Berryessa for
an overnight camp out, Twin Sisters (two twin mountains north of
Vacaville) for horseback riding, southern California, staying with his
sister, to see Disneyland, Hollywood and Knots Berry Farm. Who could
forget pulling into Bodega Bay early in the morning and seeing the old
school house where Alfred Hitchcock filmed the movie "The Birds" or the
"skunk train" at Fort Bragg? Traveling to Lake Tahoe in a blinding
snowstorm might bring fear to the average person’s heart, but to us it
was just another adventure. The wine country saw us as frequent visitors
and we knew that area like the back of our hand. Except for distant
trips to Los Angeles or Reno, we never took the main roads. It was these
back roads that we traveled that allowed us to discover the real beauty
of California. I remember a section of the road leading up to Twin
Sisters was actually on a decline, but it looked like an incline. We had
to stop at a certain point, put the car in neutral and amaze a newcomer
with this strange phenomenon as the car went rolling backwards. Never
again have I experienced such carefree times and really explored an area
so thoroughly. We became experts at putting on chains for the trip over
Donnor’s Pass and pretty good at seeing the road in spite of the
inadequacies of the windshield wipers on that ’57 Ford.
Twin Sisters California
Doug and Larry during one of our favorite pursuits, horseback riding at
Twin Sisters.
The Suisun Sloughs was the stage for countless outings in a 12 foot
rental boat with a 5 1/2 horse power motor from the base recreation
center. Those sloughs were explored from one end to the other with
friends such as Perez-Vega, Johnny Lunsford, and others whose names
can’t be easily recalled, but their faces are still familiar in my mind.
Larry could make friends so easily, so whoever wanted to come along was
welcome as long as there was room. At times we probably imagined
ourselves in the bayous of Louisiana or the deltas of Vietnam. One time
we got excited when we came upon an area that a military unit had
obviously trained in. How we ever found our way in and out of those
sloughs is certainly a mystery to me today. We never had a map and in
some respects the area was like a maze of water ways and everything
looked alike. Most of the time we were content to stay in the sloughs,
but one time we braved the open waters of the Suisun and San Pablo Bay
area and ventured pretty close to the moth ball fleet at Vallejo before
rough waters made us turn around in our small boat. I can see Larry
sitting in the bow, cast on his leg, him, along with the rest of us
getting wet as the water from the high waves sprayed into the boat.
Suisun Sloughs
Crusin' the waterways of the Suisun Sloughs are from
left to right, "Red", real name unknown, Larry and Perez-Vega, our
friend from Puerto Rico.
We formed such a close friendship that when he went home on leave I was
really lonesome. Although he entrusted his car to me in his absences and
I could still go anywhere I wanted, it just wasn’t the same without
Larry. He brought so much enjoyment to our relationship and outings
because of his exuberance that without his company it all just seemed
lackluster. He never seemed to worry about much and I don’t believe that
he had an enemy anywhere. I don’t know how anyone could help but like
Larry. Christine recognized our close friendship and since she was
always exploring different things, she suggested that I could
communicate with Larry when he was on leave through mental telepathy. I
remember trying it, but it required deeper concentration than I was able
to muster. She also exposed me to handwriting analysis and I enjoyed
that for a brief time.
Larry eventually got out of the service and went back home to South
Dakota. I thought those people were the luckiest people in the world and
was even a little envious of them because they would be enjoying Larry’s
presence instead of the friends he left behind.
BACK HOME TO SOUTH DAKOTA
The first time I remember visiting Larry at his home in South Dakota, I
took the train from San Francisco and after a leisurely ride got off in
Sioux City, Iowa. I then rode the remainder of the trip by bus to
Brookings, South Dakota. Imagine my disappointment when Larry and Roger,
his brother, picked me up in a Maverick four banger. He wasn’t driving
the ’57 Ford anymore! He still owned it, but it wasn’t even in a driving
state and lay rusting in the tree line near the house. In a recent
conversation with Larry, he told me the body of that car now lies in a
40 foot pit, certainly not a fitting resting place for a family member,
and just the thought of it lying there makes me sad. I also understand
that the engine ended up providing life to a different car.
Roger and Larry were now into stock car racing and Roger had his own car
which he raced at the fair grounds on Friday night. The images from that
time are as clear as yesterday, because I have so many pictures to
remind me of that period of time. Who ever thought that one would have
fond memories of farm labor? I remember the back breaking job of walking
behind a slow moving hay wagon constantly bending to pick up bales of
hay and tossing unto the wagon. When it was full, it was off to the barn
where we unloaded the hay onto the elevator to take it to the hay mow in
the barn. It then had to be stacked in the hay mow. Hot and dirty work
it was, but it just made the shower feel all that much better. Character
building work…that’s why the Steffen’s had such an excellent work ethic!
Maybe if I was stuck with farm work it would have been a different
story, but knowing it was going to be short lived I can look back at
haying and even plowing with fond memories. I don’t think Larry’s dad
had any cows, but he did have pigs. His parents were the greatest. His
mother probably wrote the book on how to cook hamburgers a hundred
different ways. I think that’s the only meat the family would eat, but
I’ll bet there isn’t, r ever will be, a better hamburger cook anywhere.
She also worked in the kitchen at a junior college in Brookings. His
dad’s favorite vise was an afternoon card game with the boys at the
local co-op in Elkton.
The Steffen Family
Sunday afternoon at an old-time steam exhibition. Mr. and Mrs. Steffen,
with Larry and Roger.
During that brief sojourn into the country life, I experienced quite a
few things and many for the first time. Plowing fields with a Farmall
tractor, attending a cattle auction, going to the local grain elevator
with a load of corn to sell and just cruisin’. It’s hard to believe that
after twenty some years of life at the time, that I had never
experienced first hand the thrill of driving up, down and around,
through virtually empty streets. Actually to be fair, there were a few
others doing the same thing, but besides them and a few people at a
drive-in that’s about all you saw. Not to be forgotten was the Sunday
afternoon spent at the old-time farm implement exhibit. I’m sure it had
a name and they still have them today, but it was an assembly of mainly
steam driven tractors and thrashers with demonstrations of them out in
the field.
Haying Time
The hay is ready to be unloaded, but first, it's time for a break. Roger
and his dad are sitting on top of the hay, while Larry on the ground, is
holding the refreshments.....2 beers and a mason jar of ice water.
Notice how far Larry has slipped from that military appearance he had
maintained only a short time earlier.
For a special outing it was off to Iowa and Lake Okobji and the Arnold
Park recreation area. Arnold Park had carnival rides; a roller coaster
and Ferris wheel, but the one thing I remember the most was a large drum
that slowly rotated and you were supposed to walk through it and of
course, try to maintain your equilibrium. I didn’t at first, and I
remember rolling around in that thing until I could crawl out. I
mastered it, after many tries and was finally able to walk through it
without falling. What an experience!
On another trip taken together Larry, Roger and I drove from their farm
in South Dakota, to my home in Wisconsin. There we spent a short time at
the cabin on the Turtle Flambeau Flowage and doing what we did best,
touring the northern part of Wisconsin as far north as the cities of
Superior and Duluth, Minnesota. I think shortly after that Roger Joined
the Air Force and then settled in California. Larry met Jan and married
her. I was honored to be his best man. I remember the wedding, but I
can’t remember where it was…I know it wasn’t in a large town, but then
where do you find a large town in South Dakota?
The Final Fling
Roger and Larry at the Turtle Flambeau Flowage in Wisconsin. This was
our final fling as the carefree 60's were drawing to a close and we each
went our seperate ways. Soon after, Roger joined the Air Force, Larry
married Janelle and I went to Vietnam for a year and a half.
Larry and Jan didn’t have any real "kids"; they should have, because I
know that they would have made excellent parents. I’m not sure, but I
have a strong suspicion that the lives of a lot of kids have been
touched and enriched in the town of Coleman, South Dakota because of
Larry and Jan. They were both naturals when it came to the patience,
kindness and understanding needed when dealing with children. Their
"kids", besides the neighborhood children, consisted of motor cycles and
snowmobiles.
THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW
The car is gone, the farm probably is a rest stop off the freeway,
Travis Air Force Base wouldn’t be recognizable anymore, but the memories
of these places are etched in my mind forever. They were some of the
best times of my young life, experienced with the best of friends. It is
my hope that this friendship will last forever, even though many miles
now separate us and we rarely see each other. As the years passed, time
stood still in those old pictures. Larry and I have grown older, but
somehow, Roger having a family and being in his 40’s just doesn’t seem
possible. Larry is the same exuberant wonderful person that he always
has been. That stands to reason, because he is a genuine person; one
that seems to come along only once in a lifetime.
Note: The cover photograph with Larry auditioning for a Hollywood role,
by standing on a horse, is a scan of a slide that was originally shot on
Polaroid film, hence the fuzzy nature of the picture.