1945-1969
by
Marvin T. Paulson
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NOAA Central Library Introduction
Captain
Marvin Paulson, Coast and Geodetic Survey (retired), wrote the
following memoir for his family in 2001. It covers the years
1945 to 1969 and contains recollections of the travels and travails
of Captain Paulson and his wife Muriel during this period. Through
it all, the good nature, friendliness, and sense of humor of
Captain Paulson shines through. Although written by Captain
Paulson, the life of Muriel Paulson, an adventurous lady who
endured over 40 moves in 24 years while traveling with or visiting
her husband on his many assignments ranging from the post-war
Philippine Islands to the North Slope of Alaska, also comes
through in these pages.
Before
entering into Captain Paulson’s “A Travelogue and
Memories”, the following excerpts fill in much of his
life up till the beginning of his 1946-1969 autobiographical
memoir. The first excerpt is from a speech that he gave upon
his initiation to Toastmasters in 1960 while the second was
from an interview he gave for “The Riptide,” an
informal newsletter printed on the Coast and Geodetic Survey
Ship PATHFINDER in 1958:
“If I were to summarize my junior years
into one slang expression, I would probably say that ‘I
was a North Dakota boy that couldn’t take it.’ The
weather ranged from 45 degrees below zero to 110 degrees above.
There were dust storms in the spring and crop failures in the
fall. Up and working before dawn, and still plodding away after
dark.
“Most every person can point to some
period in his youth as being the turning point in his life ....
It happened to me at age 19.... I had just finished two years
of a junior college course at Minot State Teachers College but
lacked the funds to continue my college studies. I applied everywhere
for a job, but money and jobs were hard to come by in the 30's,
as many of you may remember. I worked that summer on my father’s
farm, and an uncle offered me an opportunity to become a partner
in his dairy business .... so by fall that year, I was beginning
to feel certain that farming was going to be my destiny....
Then one day a telegram arrived from the C&GS (Coast and
Geodetic Survey) that read: CAN OFFER YOU A POSITION, PROVIDING
YOU CAN REPORT IMMEDIATELY TO TULSA, OKLAHOMA .... Boy, I dropped
that pitch fork in a hurry and was on my way.
“I really enjoyed the survey work, and
the 10 to 15 mile walk every day on a leveling party seemed
like a breeze compared to farming. The living in tents and ‘baching’
was intriguing to me ... besides giving me an opportunity to
save money. After one year, however, our survey party was sent
a telegram from Washington saying: SO SORRY NO MORE FUNDS ....
I felt sure that providence had dealt me a stacked hand this
time and that I would certainly have to go back to farming.
“As it turned out, though, fortune was
actually with me for an aunt of mine offered me shelter and
meals, only a 3 ½ mile walk to the State College in Fargo,
in exchange for some care-taking about her home. I decided to
take my $700 and go to college until it would be depleted. Fortune
did continue with me the next few years, too, for they were
remembered as the years of the big blizzards and snowfalls,
so, I was able to stretch my funds by literally shoveling my
way through college (at 25 cents per hour) for a Civil Engineering
Degree.
“With my diploma in hand, I felt that
the world was mine but jobs were still hard to come by and I
had the choice of only two jobs: one with the Highway Department
at $125 per month and the other with the Coast and Geodetic
Survey at $135 per month. I chose the Coast Survey job, and
I believe, it was a good decision as it led to my appointment
in the Commissioned Service....” Thus Marvin Paulson embarked
upon his life’s work in the Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Twenty years after accepting a position on
the Survey, then Lieutenant Commander Paulson was Executive
Officer on the C&GS Ship PATHFINDER conducting surveys along
the Alaska Peninsula and in the Aleutian Islands. The ship newsletter,
the “Riptide” ran a short article on his career
prior to coming to the ship. The article only alludes to his
career prior to being commissioned in 1941. For three years
prior to 1941, he had been in a civilian capacity as a Junior
Engineer and had been chief of a level party operating primarily
in the western United States. One of his interesting assignments
during this period was the re-leveling of the area around Lake
Meade, Nevada, to see if any crustal movements had occurred
since the filling of the lake. The excerpt from the “Riptide”article
picks up in 1941:
“In 1941 Mr. Paulson applied for and
received his commission as an Ensign and was transferred to
the ship GUIDE in Oakland, California, then to the PATTON in
Seattle after the Navy had taken over the GUIDE. He was aboard
the PATTON for a year, working off the West Coast. In 1943 he
was transferred to the SURVEYOR and spent most of the season
in the Adak area. Most of us can imagine how he felt when in
October of that year, with season over and about ready to sail
for Seattle they received orders to join a convoy for Attu.
When he finally did get home in late December he just had time
to hop a train to get home in Hatton, North Dakota, for New
Year’s.
“The year 1944 found him still aboard
the SURVEYOR in the same general area as the previous season.
The Japanese were at Kiska and the SURVEYOR was working close
to Attu. They were doing hydrography accompanied by a Destroyer
Escort. He said he spent about half of the time as liaison officer
aboard the D. E. It was during this time that he was awarded
the C&GS Meritorious Service Ribbon for ‘making numerous
difficult and hazardous landing which contributed to the charting
of regions at a time when charts were vitally needed in connection
with the war effort.'
“On the 1st of January 1945 he was ordered
to report to Fort Sill, Oklahoma to be assigned to the Army
and the Observation School with the rank of Captain [Army rank].
He spent about five or six months awaiting orders and was finally
transferred to the Observation School as an instructor.”
It
is from this point that Marvin Paulson picks up the narrative
in his “A Travelogue and Memories,” the story of
his and his wife’s travels and adventures together over
the next quarter century.
