A throwback blog from the past featuring one of our M:M protocol and traditions team members!

In 1948, at age eight, Ann Crossley began her Army life.

Her father was shipped to Japan, and Ann and her mom had to wait a year for orders allowing them to join him. The only thing she remembers about that year was getting all the immunization shots!

Everyone was required to be accountable for their own immunizations with their own personal shot record.

After being told that if they lost their shot record, they would have to get all those shots again.

Ann doesn’t remember anyone who ever lost their shot record!

When their orders finally came, Ann and her mother had to present themselves at the Army’s port in Seattle, Washington.

Travel from their home in Tampa, Florida to Seattle was only possible by train which took five days. Ann’s mom and she had a roomette with sleeping berths, and a seat for two in the lounge car, which got old in a hurry.

Ann’s best memory was the scenic snow in Chicago!

Coming from Florida she had never seen snow before and was so anxious to get off the train and touch the beautiful white stuff.

She was permitted off the train only for a short time since her mom was afraid the train would start just as Ann got off. With much disappointment, she was only allowed to touch the snow that accumulated between the train cars. 

Once in Seattle, they embarked on their long journey aboard a transport ship. During that time, weather forecasting technology wasn’t the best, and they were already underway before they learned they were in the path of a typhoon!

The storm caused their ship to arrive three days after another ship that left Seattle after theirs.

By crossing the Pacific Ocean by ship, you also cross the international dateline which means you either gain a day or lose a day.

Crossing from the east to the west, your week goes like this: Monday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. Sailing home later, the week might go from Monday, Tuesday, Thursday. Today, most travelers fly and don’t notice this strange change of weekdays.

Ever heard of military script?

Probably not unless you were an Army brat of a certain era! Following World War II, direct deposit didn’t exist, and soldiers would line up at the pay table to receive their pay.

Their pay was called military script for soldiers in the Army of occupation in Germany and Japan.

Script was issued in lieu of greenbacks to thwart black marketing.

To do so, the Army controlled this faux currency by changing the color and pattern of the script on a random basis only notifying soldiers early in the morning that the current edition was to be changed.

Since only soldiers could participate in the exchange, this discouraged civilians from holding military script.

It also had the effect of discouraging soldiers from engaging in illegal activities. Soldiers with an excessive amount of script were suspected of participating in the black market.

For military children living in Japan and Germany, using military script was like playing with Monopoly money.

Parents paid weekly allowances in script, and the kids paid for their theater tickets and snack bar treats in script.

Over time, memories of silver coins faded for children creating a few challenges once they returned to the states.

Ann remembers trying to pay for food at her new school in the states.

She would go through the cafeteria line for lunch, and the cashier would ask for payment: “Thirty-five cents, please.”

Ann didn’t have a clue which of her silver coins to give.

She tried to read the value on each coin which took too much time in line. Her solution was simply to hold out a handful of coins for the cashier to select what she needed.

Her eighth-grade classmates thought she was incredibly dense, but kids at that age don’t often think of etiquette—just one of the fascinating tales of growing up as an “Army brat!”

*Read more posts from the Protocol and Etiquette Team.

*To learn more about Military Script, click HERE.