My sea was green

Sometime in early 1953, a friend of my mother’s gave her a Sea Scouts uniform they figured would fit me.

It did and it inspired me to create a make-believe PT (Patrol Torpedo) boat in the back yard of our new (to us) home at 917 E. Columbia St., in Delphi, Ind. It didn’t have any torpedoes, but it did have a makeshift rear-firing machine gun and a mast topped with a 48-star U.S. flag.

I can date the photo with reasonable accuracy because we moved into the house in April, 1953 and I started wearing glasses around June, 1953.

Although my parents were Democrats, the legend of John F. Kennedy and PT 109 had not yet entered the public consciousness, so my little project was not Kennedy-inspired. World War II had only been over about eight years and my lifelong fascination with the war already had me in its grip.