High school graduate backs Donald Trump
I am writing this to try to put Jessica Vozel and Al Owens at ease about us poorly educated people who support Donald Trump.
I graduated from South Union High School in 1964 and to make it worse, I went to vocational school half a day and regular school the other half.
One year later, I was going to get drafted for two years. I decided to enlist to go to the school I wanted to attend; aircraft maintenance fixed wing [airplanes]. The U.S. Army only had four airplanes and the mechanic stayed back at the airfield. I went to school on three of the planes. While going to school, I and a few other guys were called aside and asked if we would want to go to Air Traffic Control School at Kessler Air Force Base. I declined. A few weeks later, we were called aside again and asked if we would like to join the CIA. Can you imagine a high school graduate in the CIA?
After school, I went to Fort Hood, Texas for a year to a fixed wing company. Then I received orders to go to Vietnam to a fixed wing company. When I got to Cam Ranh Bay, my orders were changed. I was sent to a helicopter company in Long Binh; near Saigon. A week later, I was a crew chief of a UH-10 Huey Helicopter. The crew chief flies with the helicopter. This was not in my plan, but I was 22 years old and had my own helicopter. What a country. I loved it!
After five months of flying, I received a Bronze Star with Valor and eight air medals, I decided to go into maintenance as a tech Inspector to inspect helicopters after being serviced. A few months later on January 30, 1068 the TET Offensive (Look it up on your smart phone if you don’t know what that is.) began. After that night, I just wanted to get the heck out of there. Those people wanted to kill you and they don’t even know you. War sucks!
I finished my seven months at Fort Stewart, Ga. I was offered $9,400 and E-6 rank to re-enlist for six years. I liked the Army and aircraft, but I said “No thanks.” I was discharged Aug, 30, 1968, and I was 23 years old.
At an early age (about 12 or 14 years old), I found you could make money by collecting junk that no one wanted. We lived in Brownfield. I would walk up and down the railroad tracks and pick up plates and spikes that the maintenance guy would leave behind and go to different dump sites to find junk. Today, the railroad doesn’t leave anything behind and CYS would have my mom and dad put in jail.
After discharge, I would buy wrecked cars and fix them up to resell. We would have parts left over, so we started selling parts. By April of 1969, I bought my first junkyard. Ten years later in October of 1979, I bought a 25-acre junkyard in Atlas (between Uniontown and Hopwood). I was 34 years old. The interest rate was 10.5 percent when I applied for the loan. By the time it was approved, it was 12 percent.
Remember I was poorly educated and didn’t pay attention to what was going on in politics. Jimmy Carter was president. The country was going downhill.
In December of 1981, I bought a used car crusher for $3,600. In January and February of 1982, I hauled cars to the shredder at West Mifflin. By March, the price of scrap had dropped so bad, I stopped for seven years. Ask anyone that worked in the steel mills in the early 1980s. Ronald Reagan came into office in January of 1981. By 1988, the steel business was recovering. I started moving cars then. By that time, I had about 4,000 cars stacked up. By the way, when I started in 1969 I was a junkman, but when I sold the yard in 2009 I was a recycler (that is politically correct).
I didn’t write this to blow my own horn; I wrote this to put the higher educated people at ease. I don’t want them lying awake at night worrying about us poorly educated. We will do fine. Remember — you can’t go to school to get street smart. Maybe that’s why we support Trump.
Enough about me. Here are a few of my friends:
#1 — In the early 60s in the Elizabeth area after getting out of high school, these guys would go around and pick up junk cars with a pickup and a chain. They would tow them to the junkyard and sell them to make money. A short time later, they started demolishing businesses. There was a bulldozer for sale in the Point Marion area. When they went to look at it, they found that the owner had passed away. He was using the bulldozer to strip coal on their property. They made a deal with the wife to buy the bulldozer and strip the coal. In the next 10 years, these buys bought several pieces of equipment and a helicopter. Both guys are still around. One is still in the Elizabeth area; the other in Uniontown still demolishing buildings and doing excavation. No student loan details here.
#2 — He dropped out of school in 11th grade and got a job with a manufacturer here in Uniontown as a welder. He worked his way up to plant superintendent, then traveled all over the world troubleshooting and sales. He is retired now. No student loan details here.
#3 — As a senior in high school, he started doing body work in a one-car garage that he rented, working late at night. He fell asleep in class the next day. The student teacher wasn’t happy. He woke him up and starting yelling at him. My friend said, “Oh, Mr. So & So, you’re mad because I make more money than you do.” For years, he has had a very busy body shop and glass shop. No student loan details here.
#4 — After high school, he got a job in the coal mine. After many years of hard work, he worked his way up to mine superintendent. He is still working today despite Hillary. No student loan details here.
These are just a few of my friends that have done well with just a high school education. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not against a good education. I wouldn’t want to go to a heart doctor that only went to high school.
We need a president who is a businessman and street smart just like all of us. Politicians are disgusting. They talk, talk, and talk and do nothing. Businessmen get things done.
What can I say but Trump, Trump, Trump.
Rob Dandrea is a resident of Hopwood.