Making discoveries with a family journal

 Persian Column, Perspolis, Iran
Grandpa visited this site

The last few days have seen a whirlwind visit by my h­­usband’s father and step-mother.  They of course came to see the boys, we totally understand grandparents don’t come to see us anymore, but we all had a great time.  There were driving tours of the countryside, way too much food, talking about all manner of subjects, and of course a bit of family history.

I did corner my father-in-law and ask him to go through my grandfather’s journal with me.  He is a metallurgist and rocket scientist (no jokes) and is familiar with what my grandfather did while in the military.  We spent two days going page by page reading and deciphering the journal entries.  I pulled up Google maps and traced his routes through the mountains of Iran.  When we found the entry that simply stated “killed a cinnamon bear. It’s a beauty, about 600 pounds.” I cheered, couldn't help myself. That entry dates the picture I have of him and the bear to 7 April 1957.

It was nice to have someone familiar with military abbreviations and designations sitting there with me.  He helped me figure out key phrases to search the internet with.  This was a fantastic because I gained a lot more information on the operation he was involved with than I ever would have before.

­­My grandfather was involved with the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) Iran.  These men were military advisers who assisted the native military in the country they were sent to.  From his journal I saw that he oversaw training of several different areas of military function and wrote reports for his superiors and the corresponding Iranian officers on how the troops were progressing.  It was entertaining at times, and down right disheartening at others.

In searching for explanations and information I came across several interesting declassified documents from that time frame.  Included in those findings was this report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the review of the Military Assistance Program for Iran.  The review was conducted in November 1957, the month my grandfather left.  You can read the full report here. 

The real shocker was discovering an episode of The Big Picture.  It was a documentary style TV series that ran in the 1950s and early 1960s.  Essentially this was the way the Army kept the American people informed about historic events around the world.  It prided itself on current events and moments that made the Army proud.  In one episode titled “Military Assistance Advisory Group: Iran” Mike Wallace takes the American people to Iran and shows them about this important operation.  If you watch it, notice how the American’s on the ground are decidedly downplayed.

This has been a real adventure the last couple days and I have to admit fascinating too.  Sometime in the near future I will go back through the journal again.  This time cataloging all the names, places, and tid-bits that I can.  These may lead me to further clues about who my grandfather was working with and what he was doing. I love it when I can find family links with historical contexts.  Now I am off to share all this with my history loving oldest child.

Glimpse into the past: Journal of Charles Arvin

View of Khorramabad, Iran by: m.gh

I seem to have hit a slump in my research and my time.  Has to happen every so often, but darn is it frustrating.  Lately my time has been spent going through files, organizing papers (digital and real), and cleaning up “stuff” in my workspace.  Yesterday I spent 6 hours cleaning out/off my desk…wow…what a difference a clean desk makes!

The one thing that has my attention, when I have time to lay my hands on it, is my grandfather’s journal from 1957.  My mother gave it to me to read when I was home last month.  It is his daily journal chronicling his time stationed in Iran working with the army of the Shah.  Yes, I said Iran.  He did a tour of duty there training the military in firing artillery.  My grandfather was in the ADA (air defense artillery) during his time in the service, and from what I can tell, had some pretty good times over there.

The journal starts on 5 January 1957 with him departing from Ft. Dix New Jersey at 1430 hours.  Grandpa traveled first to McGuire AFB then onto Lajes AFB in the Azores, Wheelus AFB in Libya, Dhahran AFB in Saudi Arabia, and then to Tehran.  From there he took a train to his home for the next year in Khorramabad.  He arrived at 2350 hours on 13 January 1957.

“Up early to get ready to leave.  Departed Tehran at 1100 hours by train. I goofed tipped the porters at the station 200 Rials = $2.64 hell of a tip for 5 suitcases.  They put one over on me. But I learned. The train is very nice European style cars first class each passenger has a Pullman birth to a compartment. I, Capt Ward, an Englishman, and an Iranian Businessman occupied the same compartment. The train is diesel Electric but goes very slow. Most of the trip to Dorude was thru the mountains. We arrived at Dorude at 2100 hours was met by trucks from the team. Arrived at Khorramabad my house for the next year at 2350 hours. What a place.”

Grandpa and the bear

One of his favorite pastimes, it appears, was to go hunting with his fellow officers.  In fact, less than 24 hours at his new duty station and he was off hunting.  I know he went hunting for gazelles, bears, duck, and pigeons to name a couple I have read about so far.  My mom has a picture of her dad with the bear he shot while in Iran, his one big game prize.  Unfortunately when it was sent out to be turned into a rug, it was destroyed beyond repair.  Mom says her dad was upset about that till the day he died.  I even remember my grandmother telling me how there should have been a bear skin rug in the house.

His diary ends on 28 November and I don’t know why he didn’t continue through to the end of the year.  He only had one more month left to go in his tour before coming back to his family stateside.  I know this is going to be an interesting read, even if it is dry at times, because it is something my grandfather wrote.  He died before I was born and all I have are the stories my family tells me. This diary is the closest thing I have to him talking to me.