Rob Bauer

April 12, 1999

When asked the question, "where were you born?" John Bauer replied "out of a rain barrel."

"No really."

"Well, that’s what my dad told me."

"No really."

"Lakewood, Ohio."

John was born in his parent’s home in Lakewood, on May 10^th, 1923. He mentioned that it was in his parent’s home that he was born in and not the hospital because only the rich could afford to be brought into the world from the comforts of a hospital. John went to Catholic school and the nuns considered him trouble. Although, he said when it came time to take the tests, he managed to do well. After 8^th grade, he continued on at a public high school. He made it to the 12^th grade and dropped out. The main reason for dropping out was because there were very few guys left in the school. They had all left to fight in World War II. John dropped out to start working for the railroad as an electrician’s helper at the Roundhouse in Cleveland. His father worked for the same railroad and did not help him in getting the job, although John said all he had to do was mention the family name. Life on the railroad was dangerous due to steam boilers blowing up. John lost both of his grandfathers due to boilers.

Come December 7, 1942, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. John decided to leave the railroad and join the Coast Guard. On December 20^th, 1942 he was sworn in but wasn’t shipped out yet because they didn’t have any uniforms. So he was able to stay for Christmas and shortly afterwards he met who soon would be his wife. He met Laverne at a roller skating rink shortly after January 3rd. She came up to him and said, "there is a trio and we have to go." Shortly afterwards he was in boot camp for 30 days on the East Side of Cleveland. He found himself and other boot camp members running outside in the middle of the winter in just their underwear due to the lack of uniforms. He said, "it was different." After boot camp he was shipped out to do armed guard duty on boats and he was put on the Mackinaw.

The Mackinaw would be where John would be stationed for three to four months. The boat would leave special memories for John. He was on the very first crew that helped bring it through the Great Lakes (even before hit received its markings). The Mackinaw was designed to break ice and its mission was to clear the way for mine sweepers. John felt bad that he was a "lily front" sailor, meaning he was not at the front. It was while he was on the Mackinaw that he perfected the art of tailoring bellbottoms for $10. After serving on the Mackinaw, John left to attending training such as Landing Craft Training and Fire Fighting. He then went on to New Orleans where he was assigned to a freighter that was destined to carry firewood to San Francisco. Although not very exciting, the voyage was made a little more interesting when they anchored three miles off the New Orleans shore and weathered a hurricane. John’s Mackinaw experience worked out well when the majority of the crew was holding their heads in buckets. Once in San Francisco, the boat’s engineer committed suicide because he had been on three boats that were all "bogus" and didn’t want face his wife. John was in San Francisco for a month and learned to weld. "Everything I did and they always had something else for me to do." In March of 1946, John went to Norfolk Virginia for his honorable discharge papers. A job at the Cleveland Roundhouse was waiting for him when he was discharge. It was rare for the military to be able to setup a job for the men after they served.

After the military, John worked on the railroad and put in over 47 years. He wore many hats like electrician, welder, boilermaker, and pipe fitter. He was never laid off a day. He even chased down steam engines in Ohio that lost power due to the cold winter and started them back up. John worked on the railroad when they introduced the diesel locomotive. John went to GM and GE for diesel training. During the transition, John and fellow co-worker witnessed a diesel switcher overheat due to pulling 40 loaded coal cars up a hill. (A switcher is a small locomotive designed to shuffle train cars around the train yard and this particular switcher was equipped with two 500 horsepower engines.) This was a chore easily done by a steam locomotive and the co-worker laughed. John said, "you watch." Today the diesel engines usually have more then 3,000 horsepower. As the steam era died and the diesel era kicked off, John was there working on the engines and electrical.

When reflecting on his life, John mentioned that when he got married on October 29, 1946, it was the first time he did something that he didn’t remember doing. He has been married for 53 years and said the secret to marriage was "don’t lie about nothing." Both took care of the bills and many times John went to work with only 30¢ in his pocket which was just enough for car fare. His main concern was to provide a roof over the family. John and Laverne had 3 children, all of which graduated from to college. Their oldest son (also John) built his own house and had John do the electrical wiring. Later, they built another house. It was for John and Laverne. The house was built in Avon and they have been living there for 10 years. In the end, John’s goal was to work so his family could have more than what he had grown up with. Today, John and Laverne have six grandchildren and two great grandchildren. It is amazing that John survived the Great Depression, helped fight in World War II, and participated in a major train industry revolution.