Kirk Teske’s interest in the built environment began with a love of drawing and a high school apprenticeship with a local architecture firm in his hometown, Longview, Texas. He began his career with HKS in Dallas in 1984 working with cost-driven developer clients who did not share his passion for passive design strategies. In the late 1990’s he…
Test pilot, aviation executive, and Deputy Secretary of Defense. Childhood in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Illinois; work as a young man in the oil fields; family’s experience in the Great Depression; matriculation at Kansas University; enrollment in Civilian Pilot Training program; enlistment in Naval Air Cadet training program; training at Jacksonville…
His experiences while attached to the 4th Marine Division as a medic in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Decision to join the Navy, 1943; Hospital Corps School, San Diego, 1943; assignment to the Fleet Marine Force; Field Medical School, 1944; assignment to the 4th Marine Division, 1944; Iwo Jima, February, 1945; detailed description of…
Geophysicist. His recollections and experiences as a geophysicist in the oil industry. Employment with Geophysical Service, Inc., 1936-55; seismic crews and oil field contract operations; comments about Everett DeGolyer, Clarence Karcher, Eugene McDermott, Erik Jonsson; formation of Texas Instruments, 1952; technological developments in oil…
Educator. His experiences in the European Theater during World War II. Family life and growing up around Groesbeck, Texas, during the Great Depression; his education through Westminster Junior College and Bible Institute; thoughts about Franklin D. Roosevelt; his reaction to prewar world events in Europe and Asia; induction into the Army, February…
His experiences as a naval officer in the Pacific Theater during World War II. New York State Merchant Marine Academy, 1941; assignment to USS Sheridan (APA-51); Tarawa landing, 1943; Marshall Islands landings, 1944; Saipan landing, 1944; assignment to Newport, Rhode Island; assignment to USS Dutchess for amphibious landings; Korean War…
For the Skylab Oral History Project. NASA flight controller, communications officer, and manager. Childhood in Lufkin, Orange, and Huntington, Tex.; education at Stephen F. Austin State University and Lamar State College of Technology; career as mathematics teacher at Port Neches-Groves High School and in U.S. Air Force; decision to apply for a…
State legislator. His experiences while employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Childhood in Fort Worth, Texas; joining the CCC; assignment to Company 812 near Cache, Oklahoma; description of camp; life in camp.
Businessman. His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Germans after being captured during the Battle of the Bulge. Action on Siegfried Line, 1944; capture on December 17, 1944, and interrogation; imprisonment at Bonn, 1945; Nürnberg, 1945; Hammelburg Prison Camp, 1945, and abortive rescue attempt by U. S. 3rd Army troops; Nürnberg, 1945, and…
Journalist, member of the "Lost Battalion." His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Fall of Java and capture; Bicycle Camp, Batavia, 1942; Changi Prison Camp, Singapore, 1942; building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway, 1942-44; Kanchanaburi and Tamarkan, Thailand, 1944, and American air raids; Nakhon Nayok,…
Longtime employee of Mary Kay Inc. as personal assistant to Mary Kay Ash and tenth employee of the company. Employment history before interviewing with Mary Kay Inc.; personal relationship with Mary Kay Ash; memories of annual conventions; Ash’s personal working style and business philosophy; changes in the company’s structure and culture;…
His experiences while employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Childhood in North Texas; joining the CCC; assignment to Company 2842 at DG-41-N near Lake Arthur, New Mexico; company move to G-148-N in Carlsbad, New Mexico; description of camps; life in camps.
His experiences as a pilot in the Pacific Theater during World War II. His youth in Texas; pre-war flying experience; decision to join the Navy Aviation Cadet Program, 1938; flight training, Pensacola Naval Air Station, Florida, 1938-39; Mine Warfare Laboratory, Yorktown, Virginia, 1939; operational training, North Island, San Diego, California,…
His experiences in the European Theater during World War II. His education and pre-World War II job experiences; induction into the Army, October 24, 1941; basic training, Camp Wallace, Texas, 1941-42; Officers Candidate School, Camp Davis, North Carolina, 1942; assignment to the 863rd Antiaircraft Battalion, Washington, DC, 1942-43; transfer to…
Member of the "Lost Battalion." His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Fall of Java and capture; Bicycle Camp, Batavia, 1942; Changi Prison Camp, Singapore, 1942; building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway, 1942-44; Kanchanaburi, Thailand, 1944; Saigon and Da Lat, French Indo-China, 1944-45; Saigon, 1945, and…
Civilian Conservation Corps veteran. Childhood in western Pennsylvania; father’s work as a farmer, coal miner, and WPA blacksmith; life on farms and in mining towns during the Great Depression; decision to enroll in CCC before eighteenth birthday; experiences at CCC camps in Arizona and Pennsylvania; lessons learned from the CCC experience;…
Salesman, electric furnace pioneer, corporation founder. Family background; education; rural schoolteacher; salesman of school equipment, electrical appliances; employment with Mathes; building dealerships; development of electric furnace; founding of Electric Products, Inc.; growth and expansion; selling out to Square D Electric.
His experiences while employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Childhood in Carlisle, Texas; joining the CCC; assignment to a camp near Zavalla, Texas; description of camp; life in camp.
