Walls of Illusion: Book 1

By Joseph A. Bulko

We come into this world surrounded by Walls of Illusion. Some go through their entire lifetime, and die, surrounded by these walls. While for others these walls come crumbling down as a result of lifes experience, knowledge, and the wisdom that comes from both, allowing the sea of reality to come flooding in, and life is different!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 19, 2009
• ISBN: 9781462839544

Joseph A. Bulko

Joseph A. Bulko served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1949 to 1953, attended Penn Technical Institute in Pittsburgh, Pa. Retired in 1991 from Intelsat (International Telecommunications Satellite Organization) in Washington, D.C. He became a full time student at the Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland. In 1994 he went to Slovakia on a Sister Cities program from Youngstown, Ohio to teach English to 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade students.

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Copyright © 2009 by Joseph A. Bulko.

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Contents

CHAPTER—1 Matthews—1953

CHAPTER—2 Monessen—508—10th St. 1925-1937

CHAPTER—3 Monessen—Rostraver Ave.—1937-1938.

CHAPTER—4 Monessen—Donner Ave. 1938.

CHAPTER—5 Monessen—101 Elm St.—1938-1942.

CHAPTER—6 Events

CHAPTER—7 Striciks—Farm—1942-1943.

CHAPTER—8 The Hollow. 1943-1947.

CHAPTER—9 Events

CHAPTER—10 The Farm. 1947-1949

CHAPTER—11 U.S. Marine Corps.—Paris Island, S.C. 1949.

CHAPTER—12 U.S. Marine Corps. Memphis, Tenn. 1950-1951.CHAPTER—13 U.S. Marine Corps. El Toro, Calif. 1951-1952.

CHAPTER—14 U.S. Marine Corps. Itami, Japan. 1952-1953.

CHAPTER—15 House On Route 31. 1953.

We come into this world surrounded by Walls of Illusion. Some go through their entire lifetime, and die, surrounded by these walls. While for others these walls come crumbling down as a result of life’s experience, knowledge, and the wisdom that comes from both, allowing the sea of reality to come flooding in, and life is different!

Well here I am in Wily Ford West Virginia. I started out in 1931 from Monessen Pennsylvania. A distance of about 85 miles. It took 67 years to get here. I’m reminded of an old Frank Sinatra song which goes something like this:

I have been a rover,

I have walked alone.

Hiked a hundred highways,

never had a home.

Still in all I’m happy,

the reason is you see.

Once in a while along the way,

Life’s been good to me!

I changed the word love to life, because what follows are the events of life that brought me from 508 tenth street in Monessen, Pa. to RR4 box 8 Ridgeley, WV.

CHAPTER—1

Matthews—1953

It was a day in May, the year was 1953, and for the first time in my life I had no idea of what to do or where to go. I was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps on 19 Dec. 1952 at Treasure Island, across the bay from San Francisco in Calif. I had intended to stay in Calif. without any plan in mind. Dad had bought a piece of property off the farm and built a house on it. Life wasn’t all that great on the farm and Dad’s efforts seemed to have been in vain. So I couldn’t find a reason for coming back.

My brother Andy and I kept in touch while I was in the Marine Corps and I told him of my intention to stay in Calif. He talked me out of it and after I was discharged, I came back to the house that Dad built. It was a small house, with three bedrooms, one bath, a living room, and a full cellar. There wasn’t really any room for me as the bedrooms were all occupied. My two brothers, Andy and Ed slept in one, sister Veronica slept in another, and Mom and Dad. slept in the third one. Jean was married and living in the country on the other side of West Newton. Actually Mom was my stepmother. My mother died when I was six years old and my Dad remarried. I slept in the cellar on a cot.

I bought a used 1949 Plymouth with some of my discharge money and went out looking for work. Dad told me that he could get me a job in the mill as an electrician but I didn’t want to work in the mill. I’d gone to electronic school, in the Marine Corps, and felt it would be better to build on that rather than the mill. I spent some time traveling around the area looking for work. Much to my surprise, military service experience didn’t count. My time in the Marine Corps was spent maintaining and repairing electronic equipment on Navy and Marine aircraft. It had to do with a pilots life and not some type of recreational equipment. Welcome to the real world!

I stopped one day to visit Bill Bergman, a friend from high school and who also was in the Marine Corps, and he told me that a TV dealer was looking for some one to repair TV’s. I knew nothing about televisions, but went to the store in Monongahela to see if I could get a job. The owners name was Johnny Matthews. I told him about my military experience and was somewhat surprised when it seemed like I would be turned down. He said that I didn’t know anything about televisions, which was true, but electronic equipment was electronic equipment. I ended up telling him that I would give him two weeks for nothing, and if after that he still felt that I didn’t know anything I would leave. He agreed to that and I gave him two weeks, six days each week, and twelve hours each day. I was hired after that two week period and paid $35/week (for six day week’s, and twelve hour day’s). My career was under way. I bought a television text book and started a practice that continued throughout my working life. Self study.

Matthew’s had bought the movie theater, in Monongahela, at the end of main street across from the bridge over the Monongahela river. The two weeks that I gave him free I spent agonizing over a radio. The units that needed repair sat on a shelf and I just randomly picked this radio. I spent the two weeks on this one radio. It was an unusual problem. A grid resistor increased in value to the point where the radio quit working. Eventually I disconnected the resister in order to measure it’s value. I think what impressed Matthew’s was the fact that I stayed with the problem until it was solved.

I was already working for Matthew’s when I had a run in with Mom. I was going to work one morning and she told me that I would have to pay rent. I thought of all the blood and sweat that I shed on the farm and never asked for anything. Also the money I sent to Dad while I was in the Marine Corps. I sent money to him regularly and had the money order stubs. I gave mom one of the money order stubs and told her that it was for the first months rent. She told me to get out of the house and I did.

I went to work that day and when I left work that night, suddenly, I realized that I had no where to go. I drove to the intersection of Rt. 31 and Salem road, which was a short distance from Dads house, and spent the night in my car. It was an uncomfortable night. I didn’t have any clothes or personal items with me. I went to the store in the morning, early, and got cleaned up. I had breakfast in the diner across the street, and started the day.

I don’t know where Dad was at the time, but I had enough. The reason I left the farm, in the first place, was because of her. I was making $35 a week and if part of this was really needed maybe it would have been different. I wasn’t surprised that Dad didn’t get involved in this because the house had always been her responsibility. So I left with just the clothes on my back and in my car.

I knew I had to spend the night somewhere, and not in my car. I checked into a hotel, in New Eagle, and spent a week there. I knew that this could only be a temporary solution as my money would run out quickly. My first thought was to see if I could move in with Aunt Mary and grand father Billy. They lived in Monessen, up on Montraver Drive near the stadium. My brother Andy just got married in April and lived in an apartment in Wilson. I never even thought of my sister Jean, nor did anyone offer to help me in any way.

So I went to Aunt Mary Billy and asked her if I could stay there. Her comment surprised me. This was my real mother’s sister and my mother’s father. She told me no. She was afraid of what the neighbors might think, there being a single man living in the same house with a single woman. She did, however, invite me to supper on Thursday nights as that was her day off from work. I wasn’t angry, surprised yes, but angry no.

I went back to my room at the hotel and went to work the next morning. I told Matthew’s what had taken place at home, and that I couldn’t stay in the hotel as it was too expensive. I told him that I would have to look for a job that paid more money. I had been working there for about four or five months now. He said he would increase my pay to $80 a week and I could stay in the room above the lobby. So I moved in. I bought a cot and some blankets and this is where I slept. A small kitchen was built inside of what used to be the main part of the theater. I used the facilities, and Marian, Matthew’s wife made lunch for us in this kitchen. I ate breakfast and supper in the diner across the street. There was no heat in the room above the lobby and the window was missing so the room was open to the outside air. I knew I couldn’t spend the winter here but at least I had a few months of breathing space.

I never told anyone where I was staying, And just spent my time learning and working. I was putting in eighteen hours a day. Andy had bought a new house, near Elizabeth, and came down to the store to buy a television set. I showed him where I was staying and told him I was all right. Every evening, after I locked the place up, I went to the bar next door and had a couple of beers. Franks was the name of the place. My car was parked down by the river and I used it on Thursday nights when I quit early and went to Monessen for supper with Aunt Mary and Grand father Billy. Sundays I usually spent over Andy’s. On Saturday nights, after locking up, I would go to one of the local clubs and have a bottle or two of beer. Eddy Sassak came over a couple of times and we would make the rounds of the clubs. There was no social life to speak of. Sunday nights I usually went to a movie alone. In the back of my mind was always the fact that the cold weather would soon be here.

It was in early Sept. when Andy told me he had talked to Aunt Mary and told her where I was staying. She finally agreed to let me move in. I agreed to give her $20 a week. I ate breakfast and supper at the diner across from Matthew’s. Lunch I ate what Marian fixed. Sundays was a day off and Aunt Mary and I went to early mass. I would drive Grandfather to the last mass, where the sermon was in the Slovak language. Grandfather Billy spoke no English. I would go back to the church and bring him back to the house after the mass was over. Life settled down to a regular routine.

There was a certain dullness about life and no way to change it. I got up, drove to work, a distance of about ten miles, had breakfast, spent the morning at the bench learning, repairing, and in general getting used to the commercial way of life. It would be about a year before I would make house calls. Matthew’s had built up a reputation for himself and was very proud of it. He wasn’t about to let me go out until he felt that I measured up to his standard. Matthew’s and myself were the only ones that did the technical work. Marian did all the book keeping and tended the store, and made lunch. Her brother, Orson, put up antennas and delivered the appliances that were sold. I gave a hand when needed. There were two older fellows, whose names at the moment I don’t remember, who worked there part time putting up antennas and delivering appliances. Matthew’s had two children, Bonny Gay, and little Johnny. Little Johnny was a real terror and in general got on my nerves. The afternoon’s, again were spent at the bench. Supper I ate in the diner across the street at the foot of the bridge. After supper it was back to the bench. Around midnight I would lock up, and have a couple of beers at Franks next door. Then I would drive back to Monessen, take a bath and go to bed. A bed that Grandfather and I shared. Like I said, there was a certain dullness about life and I seemed to be living, eating, and sleeping televisions for want of something better to do.

Sundays were days off. The mornings were spent in church. I had dinner with aunt Mary and Grandfather. The afternoon was generally spent sleeping on the couch in the living room. In the evening it was either at the roller rink with Jim Manack, or at the movies alone. I was pretty much wore out when Sundays came around.

I never went back to Dad’s house. He did come around to the store to see me and we would go next door to Franks and have a couple of bottles of beer. We never really talked much, generally he would ask me for money to pay some bills. Once I had $20, in my wallet, and I gave it to him. I told him to spend it on himself because the bills would always be there. Once he came up to see Grandfather Billy to ask for our mother’s money that myself, and both my brothers would inherit. Grandfather wouldn’t do it and Dad left. I had no knowledge of what kind of debts Dad had. Things may have been altogether different if he would have confided in me when I came home from the Marine Corp. My life might have taken a different path.

I always had an awareness of being alone, not to be confused with being lonely. There is a difference. As a result I followed my own self interest. There was no one, that I knew of, that was going to help me and give me a hand up. I knew that I was on my own.

There were several social events that took place. One was Jim Saber’s wedding and I was in the wedding party. The other was Andy’s wedding. Myself and Ed were in the wedding party. When I came home from the Marine Corps, I found out that Andy would be married in April. I still knew Marine Corps friends that were in Japan. I wrote a letter and asked one of them to ship me a set of china from Japan. He did and I gave that as a wedding gift. to Andy and Wilma.

The days went by one after another and holidays meant nothing to me. For Christmas I bought Aunt Mary a clothes dryer. I bought it from Matthew’s. Orson and I delivered and installed it when no one was home. I don’t remember any comment from her one way or the other. I bought it for her because in the winter she was still hanging clothes outside.

It was the year of the Snake. A year for reflection, planning and searching for answers. Total wages earned in 1953 was $2629.97. From this $397.70 went to the IRS, and $39.56 went into the Social security fund. This data was taken from the W2 form and is the only financial record available from that time.

When I was discharged from the Marine Corps I had an Argusy C3, 35 mm camera. I took some photos at Dads house These are the only photos, that I know of from that time. I also have a photo of Andy’s wedding party, and a photo of Jim Saber’s wedding party.

I never compared myself to anyone, never gave a thought of what life was like for others, or how others felt about their own lives. I never thought of goals in life, or setting them for myself. It was more a matter of being in a place, brought about by events, and then looking for a way out. Here I was, 22 years old, my first job in the