Veterans Archives: Preserving the Stories of our Nations Heroes

From Railroad Roots to the Navy: The Remarkable Life Journey of Veteran Robert "Bob" Shrader

• Bill Krieger

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What does it mean to grow up in a railroad town and transition to a life in the Navy right after high school? Join us for a special conversation with Robert "Bob" Shrader, a United States Navy veteran whose life journey is both remarkable and heartwarming. Bob shares vivid memories from his childhood in Lincoln Park, where train rides with his father, a railroad engineer, were the highlight of his youthful days. As he narrates his transition to the Navy at the age of 18, Bob reveals how his high school sports experience helped him adapt to the rigors of basic training and form lifelong friendships.

Bob's stories from his time aboard the USS Oglethorpe paint a picture of camaraderie and resilience in the face of challenges. From managing the boiler room's demands to dealing with stolen laundry in the Philippines and navigating post-war adjustments, Bob's anecdotes reflect the authentic life of a Navy sailor. He humorously recounts his return to civilian life, the adventures of building a family home during the 1950s, and the unexpected call back to active duty during the Korean War. Through these experiences, Bob sheds light on the values of hard work, community, and the importance of maintaining connections.

In a touching reflection on family and community, Bob talks about the deep bonds he shares with his loved ones, faith community, and the possibility of relocating to a senior community. His tales of a loyal hunting dog and neighborhood camaraderie offer glimpses into the joys and challenges of everyday life. As we explore the stories behind his cherished memorabilia, Bob's life lessons encourage us to appreciate the simple yet profound moments that define our lives. Don't miss this opportunity to hear from Bob Schrader, whose life story resonates with warmth, wisdom, and an enduring spirit.

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Bill Krieger:

Good morning. Today is Monday, december the 2nd, 2, and we're talking with Robert Bob Schrader, who served in the United States Navy. So good morning, bob Morning. So, we'll start out simple, and I just wonder when and where were you born?

Robert Shrader:

Lincoln Park. I think it was 1212, fort Park.

Bill Krieger:

Okay, and when's your birthday?

Robert Shrader:

December 27, 1926.

Bill Krieger:

Okay, something interesting that has nothing to do with this. I actually left for Navy boot camp on December 27th in 1984. So imagine that. So what do you remember about growing up? What was it like for you?

Robert Shrader:

Like I said, we moved. My dad worked on the Pennsylvania Railroad called the Hump on. Southfield Road. But I was just trying to.

Bill Krieger:

What did he do for the railroad? What did he do for the railroad?

Robert Shrader:

He was an engineer.

Bill Krieger:

Okay, all right.

Robert Shrader:

And he used to take me with him.

Bill Krieger:

Uh-huh.

Robert Shrader:

I guess I was about a year old when I went the first time.

Bill Krieger:

Really.

Robert Shrader:

And I always went on a holiday or Sunday because there was no big shots around, you know.

Bill Krieger:

Uh-huh.

Robert Shrader:

And I would ride in the caboose for a while when they had a five-man crew and they kept cutting down, you know, and then they don't even have a caboose anymore.

Bill Krieger:

Right, I've noticed that. So you did this for a number of years, so you actually remember doing it at one point, right riding with your dad.

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, in fact I don't think I missed. A year ago I was joined up when I was 18. Okay, the Navy.

Bill Krieger:

So every year until you left, you would ride with your dad on the train.

Robert Shrader:

Yeah.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah, was that pretty exciting as a kid.

Robert Shrader:

It was pretty good. It was pretty good. His job was what was called a local. He worked out of Detroit, out of the hump, the wallbash yard I don't know if that's there anymore, but he would and then he would go up to way up north not way up north but up around. Oh, I never thought I'd forget it, but there was a railroad yard up around Schaefer and he would like go from. One was paying the most, or you know, work, working the most.

Bill Krieger:

I see now, did you have brothers and sisters?

Robert Shrader:

I had two half brothers my dad had was married previous.

Bill Krieger:

Okay, and what about your?

Robert Shrader:

mom. What do you remember about your mother? She was from Maumee. Ohio and she, I was trying to think, when they were on a farm and I had an uncle that I think a lot of the guys didn't like farming, you know, and he went to California when he was young and he was in the big earthquake that happened out there. I forget it was in 19. I should have marked it down, but anyway.

Bill Krieger:

The big San Francisco earthquake, the one that leveled the town, yeah, okay.

Robert Shrader:

And then he got on a boat and went to Alaska. He really bummed around and then he settled in Montana on a railroad and I never thought I'd forget the name of the oh gosh, but anyway, he went from Butte on the railroad on a sort of like an angle. He would move from one town to another. You know, and we didn't- have like we got, you know.

Bill Krieger:

Cell phones.

Robert Shrader:

Cell phones today and I went through the town he lived in. It was 3 o'clock in the morning and it was like January. But anyway, he was, he's my uncle. After he retired from the railroad he come and lived with my folks till he died. He died, I would say, fairly young, in his 60s.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah, that's quite young actually. Yeah, so I want to go back a little bit to growing up as a kid. Did you go to school Like grade school? Yeah, grade school.

Robert Shrader:

I went to Lafayette School. I never went One thing. The superintendent's daughter and I kind of hit it off. Couldn't have been seven, eight years old, I don't know, but anyway she talked me into coming home with her and they were closer to school. You know, they really upset my folks.

Bill Krieger:

I'll bet. Did you have a lot of friends in school? Yeah, okay.

Robert Shrader:

Did you play sports or any of that? Yeah, I played. I regret not going. I went to South Rockwood. They had a high school in South Rockwood.

Bill Krieger:

It's gone.

Robert Shrader:

now the building's not even there. But anyway, when I decided on my sophomore year to go to you know, go to Flat Rock, I should have went out for the, even though it was late, I should have went out for football. But I went out on my 10th, 11th and 12th grade for football.

Bill Krieger:

And I should have went.

Robert Shrader:

I should have, even though I was, you know it was late. I should have went for that first year.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah.

Robert Shrader:

Because I made a lot of friends on the football field.

Bill Krieger:

Did you like playing football? Then yeah, did you. Do you remember what position you played playing?

Robert Shrader:

football. Then yeah, did you? Do you remember what position you played? Well, they made me the main one.

Bill Krieger:

Oh quarterback.

Robert Shrader:

Quarterback. First year they made me quarterback and the next year they made me right guard. Uh-huh.

Robert Shrader:

But I had a lot of experience made me quarterback and the next year they made me right guard. But I had a lot of experience. Chelsea we played that was probably the furthest away, you know and we had an old 35 Pontiac and would load up their equipment and six or seven guys in that four-door old Pontiac and my best friend had a I think it was a 41 Chevy and he would take off and that old Pontiac would go down the road Carlton, you know. I remember hitting the horn button and waving at him and he couldn't get that car to go past 70.

Bill Krieger:

Oh no.

Robert Shrader:

And that old Pontiac would go 80, 85. And that old Pontiac would go 80-85.

Bill Krieger:

So you didn't take team buses, you guys actually drove to these away games. Yeah, we didn't have buses, did you win a lot of games Did you win a lot of games.

Robert Shrader:

No, I'd say about half.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah, sounds like you had a lot of fun, though, yeah.

Robert Shrader:

Yeah.

Bill Krieger:

Anything else. You had a lot of fun though, yeah, yeah.

Robert Shrader:

Anything else you remember from that?

Bill Krieger:

Oh, a lot of things I made probably my best friends when I was in high school. Now, did you stay friends with them after high school?

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, some of them come out and help build on the house, because this is plastered. You notice, you know it's rock. It's rock, rock, lath you know they.

Bill Krieger:

I don't even know if they make it. I think everything's sheetrock now. I don't think they do any of that anymore.

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, I know it's like this.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah, it's beautiful. You and your friends did a great job. So you went through high school. You had that brief episode of going out with the superintendent's daughter when you were really young, and so you, when we were talking earlier, you said you had joined the Navy at the age of 18.

Robert Shrader:

And so tell me, tell, I think in our class and Point Millay, and by the water, it's changed a lot. And so I decided to join and a couple of us went down close and they wouldn't take us at 17. And two days after Christmas is my birthday and they called me. My folks had to take me down to Detroit, my mother's crying, don't they know that you're? They don't care, it's four time that's right and then?

Bill Krieger:

so you left from Detroit. Did you go to Great Lakes? Training center, then Great Lakes. Do you remember what that was like when you first got there? Was it a big change for you? How was basic training?

Robert Shrader:

Well being, I joined. I had to accept whatever I got.

Bill Krieger:

True.

Robert Shrader:

Some of the guys got drafted and they put them in the Navy, you know they didn't even they might have given them a choice. You know, marines or the Navy Army, navy Army and being that I joined, I accepted what I got, and it's a different attitude, I think.

Bill Krieger:

Do you think that playing sports in high school helped you in basic training in boot camp?

Robert Shrader:

Oh, definitely.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah, definitely. Did you make in boot camp? Oh, definitely, yeah, definitely. Now. Did you make a lot of? Did you make friends in boot camp? Did you meet a lot of different people? What was that whole thing like for you?

Robert Shrader:

Well, like you say, I accepted it because I caused the problem, you know. Yep, I understand and I know some guys were, I don the problem you know, Yep, I understand and I know some guys were I don't know, just weren't happy. I mean, I was always looking for something new to do, you know.

Bill Krieger:

Right. Well, what would be like one memory that comes to mind about basic training when you were there? Do you have a memory of that that you want to share?

Robert Shrader:

There was quite a few. There was quite a few.

Bill Krieger:

Is there anything that happened special, that kind of sticks out in your mind at all?

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, I'm trying to get it organized. Like you say, when you're put in, you're forced into an area, you're thrown back. But if you know that you cause your own problem, you accept it.

Bill Krieger:

Oh, yeah, yeah. And so you went to basic. Was it 12 weeks or 13 weeks, something like that? When you went. Yeah, it was 12 weeks and then you graduated from basic training. Did you go to like a specialty school or anything?

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, okay. Yeah, I put in for well, after boot camp you could join different things you know, things you know. And I put in for a boilerman, you know, I guess, because my dad was a railroad engineer, right. And then I was the flag bearer for our company. We had the new port, rhode Island, which is a unique base, and I do remember one thing there was a wooden bridge and it was long, long, probably a thousand foot long, you know, and we couldn't march and step, we had to do damage to the bridge.

Bill Krieger:

Right, so you kind of had to walk across the bridge. Yeah, yeah.

Robert Shrader:

But I had a lot of members there, we had a lot of members there and then we after our I'm trying to think how many weeks we were up there but anyway, we come down by train to Brooklyn Navy Yard to our ship and it was brand new and it wasn't. It was brand new and it wasn't ready and there was some things that they had to do. I know the boiler room, engine room and electrical was all in one spot would be like this. You know a little bigger.

Robert Shrader:

And that had to be on the and they had a your, not your propeller, but your shaft.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah, the shaft.

Robert Shrader:

They closed that up, they welded it. He had to go up top on deck and go down, you know, to oil stuff and check stuff.

Bill Krieger:

So this was the, what ship was this Oglethorpe? And you got there before it was even commissioned. Yeah, and so how long before you actually set sail, how long were you there?

Robert Shrader:

Let's see. Well, I'm trying. They put us on a wooden barge and that barge was towed over to England in the first world war, oh really the thing was about that thick, you know.

Bill Krieger:

I can't imagine going across the sea on something like that.

Robert Shrader:

That would be wow I do remember, uh, I got a chance to come home and, uh, I had a real thin tri-fold wallet. I had a real thin tri-fold wallet and I had it under my pillow. Well, somebody slipped it out, took all the money and I was going to buy my ticket that morning and I said I'll wait when I go. Well, they stole all my money. It was less than $100. He could come home on $12 or something you know.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah, a little less expensive back then.

Robert Shrader:

They said, bob, how come you're down today? Somebody stole my wallet or took all my money. Somehow I got my laundry out by paying. But anyway the guys. They gave me over a hundred dollars. I said you guys keep track. I said I can't, so when I come home.

Bill Krieger:

Then I had money to come home and I paid everybody off that was really nice of them to do that, though that's part of being in the military, though I think you were in the Navy.

Robert Shrader:

I was. They take care of you, your friends take care of you.

Bill Krieger:

That's part of being in the military, though I think. Yeah, you were in the Navy, right, I was. I was, yeah, they take care of you, your friends take care of you, right, yeah, yeah. So what was it like coming home? I mean, were you different? Were your friends different? When you came home that time from the shipyard?

Robert Shrader:

Well, I guess they wish they were in the services, you know, yeah.

Bill Krieger:

I hear that a lot.

Robert Shrader:

I'm trying to think what, what month it was? Anyway it was 45. And it was anyway it was. It was 45. And I asked permission to come home and they says no. And one fellow, one of my friends, was from Milwaukee. Well, milwaukee is further west than Detroit.

Bill Krieger:

Oh yes.

Robert Shrader:

And.

Bill Krieger:

I got into an argument with this officer.

Robert Shrader:

I hate to tell you geography, but you know is further than Milwaukee and they let this guy go. So that's the only time I did anything I shouldn't have. I come home, I was 150 miles out of bounds.

Robert Shrader:

you know, 150 miles out of bounds, you know, and I got stopped at the new or the depot they just rebuilt was where I came in and left and I had it's a 150-mile radius or something. I had a pass in there and I'm going down the ramp and I hear this he must have been a Detroit police when they made him a.

Bill Krieger:

Oh, your shore patrol, shore patrol, hey you.

Robert Shrader:

Hey, and I heard click, click, click. My folks were up on the balcony like and so he caught. You know, I knew he was. You know, I have this feeling.

Bill Krieger:

Oh yeah.

Robert Shrader:

Why he picked on me. I don't know, oh yeah, why he picked on me. I don't know. But he spun me around and he says let's see your lead paper. You're out of bounds by 150 miles, or something like that. I said, well, I'm going overseas, I ain't never really worried. So he took me in the office and my folks must have been pretty worried, yeah. And so he got on the phone. He was miserable and he said yes, yes, he said heading back. You know, I mean I could. The guy was really smart.

Robert Shrader:

It was on the other side you know, the phone and he said, okay, all right, and he turned to me and he says I'm going to let you, you know, I'm going to let you go. It wasn't him, it was his superior. And he says anybody who stops you tell them, the sentence is all right.

Bill Krieger:

I don't think anybody else is going to stop you, but him right.

Robert Shrader:

And I didn't. And I said I said you know you're holding me and I'm going to miss my train. I said I'm heading back. I said you know. I said I'm not saying I'm going back, you know it's different. So anyway. But he said just, and he gets stopped again, just tell him I, it's okay.

Bill Krieger:

He felt like he was a pretty important person, didn't he?

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, I think he was a. I'm sure he was a Detroit policeman and they just put a uniform on him.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah, yeah, that would make sense. Yeah, so you got back to the ship and then you headed overseas. Yeah, okay, what kind of ship was the Olothorpe?

Robert Shrader:

It was. I think it had five holes. Uh-huh, I got a, I thought. I had I thought Gary brought a picture of.

Bill Krieger:

Oh yeah, I'll get it. It's right over here. There you go. You want to show that to the camera too, so people can see it. So that's the Oglethorpe. Was that a tender?

Robert Shrader:

No, it was a. We had 22 landing crafts on it.

Bill Krieger:

Okay, we had 20 LSTs.

Robert Shrader:

We had a captain's jig. It was beautiful, but there was one, two, three, four, five holes. And it was a pretty good-sized ship and we had a 5-inch on the back and we had 50 millimeters and 20 millimeters different places.

Bill Krieger:

Can you show that to the camera? Can you show that to the camera so people can see that? So yeah, that's the old Lothorp right there.

Robert Shrader:

And what was your job on board? I was well. I went in as a fireman a fireman, I think. The time I got a board ship. I was first class fireman and you had a red, red sash here, then I made third class fire, not fireclass water tender and they don't have that rate anymore.

Bill Krieger:

No, they don't even use boilers anymore, amazingly enough.

Robert Shrader:

And we used to have to take the front part off. Go in there and scrape.

Bill Krieger:

It was in all the boiler tubes, right? Is that what you did? Yeah, yeah. And did they burn fuel oil? Was that what?

Robert Shrader:

they burned.

Bill Krieger:

Okay, so not really clean, no, no, so you were right down in the hold of the ship then working on the boiler system.

Robert Shrader:

A couple of my seaman friends. They wouldn't come down.

Bill Krieger:

No, no, did you guys do this? So when I was in the Navy, I was a fire controlman. I worked on missile systems, but some of my friends were. I was still on a steamship at the time and you would go down there and they would ask you if you wanted a BT punch, and if you said yes so they were boiler technicians they would punch you in the arm. So someone would send you down there to get a BT punch and you'd get punched in the arm. Did you guys do that kind of stuff?

Robert Shrader:

No, oh, we had some crazy things. You know the… here I can take that for you as you go down the hallway. This door would open. This door would open and we had a true Indian chief who was commissary. He was ticked off at us so much because he always said that I'm trying to think of company that we were in. We were, you know they would help.

Robert Shrader:

They'd get us to help bring supplies. Uh-huh, and as these doors would open, we would go down and a couple of the guys were pretty handy the older ones and under the deck you know not under the deck they welded some bars across. We put these peaches and stuff we were bringing in. Right so we didn't go to Chow very a lot of times and we got a tuna over there like that and the baker cooked it for us and he can imagine it last two or three days.

Bill Krieger:

Oh, yeah, yeah. So you'd eat those ill-gotten peaches with that tuna that you caught.

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, and the baker would give us a couple of loaves of bread, so we had a good time.

Bill Krieger:

Oh, it sounds like it we had a good time.

Robert Shrader:

Oh, it sounds like it, and it was still wartime. We were going down the coast when we headed overseas and went into the canal we stopped at both sides. I thought I'd never forget the name of the town on each side of the canal, but anyway, we got four days out of Cologne I think one town is Cologne. Anyway, we were three days out and the war ended Really. And it was another three days to get to Hawaii, you know Honolulu, and so we missed all the celebration.

Bill Krieger:

Oh no, so you didn't even get…. You weren't there for any of it. Yeah, so how long? How long were you in Hawaii then?

Robert Shrader:

We stayed about Two weeks maybe, and then I got a. I was gonna get it out for you. We were supposed to keep a diary but, I wrote down every day where we were every other day, you know, but it was interesting.

Bill Krieger:

It sounds like it. So. Were you in Oahu then? Do you remember in Hawaii? Is that where you went? Yeah, okay, so you were all set to go off to war and then it ended. Yeah, so what happened after you left Hawaii?

Robert Shrader:

Well, I was going to get that book out. I was going to get that book out and we went to Anahuitoc You've heard of, you know that's where they dropped the bomb. And coming back from, we went to quite a few islands, took supplies in, but I wanted to get away from that. Noe talk the worst way.

Bill Krieger:

I'll bet no one wanted to stay there, right?

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, yeah.

Bill Krieger:

So did you just make your way back to the States? Then after that, since the war was over, did you continue?

Robert Shrader:

on to where you were going. Well, we ended up after a few months, ended up in the Philippines and I was. I had washed my blue jeans, it was I don't know. I know there was at least three pair I'd washed and I went back in and it was all tints. You know it was partial tents, the top was canvas. Anyway, I kind of laid back and somebody come and stole my laundry.

Bill Krieger:

Oh, no yeah after I you know, after you washed it. Yeah, yeah, it was almost dry.

Robert Shrader:

I mean that's one bad thing. I remember and that was in the Philippines and the captain there were 70 of us that got off. That's a lot that really hurts. You know, the yeah Felt bad for the captain, but anyway, we wanted to go home, you know, and we got off.

Bill Krieger:

Oh, so you got off the ship in the Philippines and came home from there. Yeah, okay.

Robert Shrader:

And I worked my way back on the ship and pipes were leaking and this officer was from Lincoln Park.

Bill Krieger:

And.

Robert Shrader:

I was going to make a point to get to him after, you know, but I forgot it. But anyway, you know we couldn't stop the water. It was an older ship, you know, and we had words.

Bill Krieger:

So the bilge pump had to do a lot of work then huh, yeah, yeah. And then now, when you came back, where did you? Did you go to california, or did you come back to new york, or where did you come back in the states?

Robert Shrader:

through the canal again.

Bill Krieger:

Okay, can you imagine Twice? Some people have never seen the canal, yeah.

Robert Shrader:

It's beautiful.

Bill Krieger:

Is it Now? Did you get to stop this time at all and do any sightseeing, or did you just go through the canal and that was it? That was it, Okay? And where did you end up coming back to then?

Robert Shrader:

Norfolk. Okay, three times.

Bill Krieger:

And that's probably the worst city in the States. Yeah, they didn't have a good reputation back then, did they? No, yeah, so how long did you stay in Norfolk then?

Robert Shrader:

It was only a few days, I remember I had two sea bags and beautiful souvenirs which I shouldn't probably have probably had. I didn't mean to sing that song, but I had a couple of shells In fact I got them in the kitchen but you know, 50 millimeter or so and anyway I had two sea bags full of stuff that the Navy probably would have took back. But anyway I was able to catch a shipment, or I shipped it home, folks, you know, I had my own clothes, you know. But, the souvenirs.

Bill Krieger:

You wanted to make sure those got back right yeah.

Robert Shrader:

And I felt bad for the. I never got interested in guns and these guys had their rifles. Something get rifles somehow, you know right and anyway, they order came with that. Yeah, oh, everyone with the rifle had to turn it in and guess what? Woodson threw them over.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah, they wanted to keep them, didn't they? Yeah?

Robert Shrader:

Threw them in the ocean. Oh geez, you know, I think the officers had the desire to have them, you know, to get them, but they said they didn't get them to give them up.

Bill Krieger:

They just threw them away. That's kind of sad. Yeah, it is. Yeah, they do that a lot, though with old equipment, I guess yeah, so did you fly home from Norfolk? Did you take about? How did you get home? Real oh, on the train and it was coal-fired.

Robert Shrader:

You know there was. I don't know when the diesels came. I was. It might have been a few diesels during the war, but not like the steam engines, but they were dirty yeah.

Bill Krieger:

So did you come back to Detroit?

Robert Shrader:

Yeah.

Bill Krieger:

Okay, and what did you do when you got home?

Robert Shrader:

Well, I'm trying to think I hired a Ford motor company.

Bill Krieger:

Mm-hmm, now, you worked for Detroit Edison for a little while too, didn't?

Robert Shrader:

you. Yeah yeah, my first job for about a year. I got it written down in my diary my first job was Firestone in Wyandotte, right on the water.

Bill Krieger:

And that was a tough tough job.

Robert Shrader:

What did you do there? Well, I done everything you can think of. The tractor rims were about this high. They'd take a piece of metal and weld it together, and that was one part. Then you'd lift that up, put it on a machine and it would close down and take the weld off underneath, and then there was one other machine would slice off this.

Robert Shrader:

It was quite interesting. You had to be pretty careful and I was. I don't know how many times they had to go to sickbay and they cut the glove off and then pulled a piece of steel out.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah, sounds like a dangerous job. So you did that for about a year.

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, yeah. And then I got hired at Ford's and I thought I'll keep that job. You know, I mean.

Bill Krieger:

That's Ford right.

Robert Shrader:

Four years and got laid off. Oh no, and then the and after Ford's I got hired at Edison, but they never let you do anything. I mean you know. I mean like at Ford's, I had my own shift, you know.

Bill Krieger:

Mm-hmm. But then at Edison they kind of watched what you did. Yeah, how long were you there?

Robert Shrader:

About three or four years, I think.

Bill Krieger:

And then, where did you go from Ford?

Robert Shrader:

the city of Flat Rock bought, bought the Ford plant from you know, to make make water, you know, and I said maybe they'll hire me and I this is here in township, the Inkster Road is the dividing line. They'll hire me and this is Sheeran Township, inkster Road is the dividing line. They wanted me to sell the house and move into Flat Rock and I put a lot of time in this house, the wife and I and my friends and my brother-in-laws, you know, and I said I'm not going to move into, you know, move.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah Well, so let's back up a little bit. When did you meet your wife and how did you meet your wife? So you got married in this period of time at some point.

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, there was a roller skating Mayflower. You ever hear of that?

Bill Krieger:

I have not.

Robert Shrader:

It's tore down now. My brother-in-law met his wife there. They got married and we went there before the war. The older guys would drive us, you know, and I skated almost every city that I went to, you know, when there was service. Anyway, gene Autry was stationed that week at the airport down there and I never met him but, some of the guys. He'd come down and they would. I don't know how often they'd have a dance, they wouldn't roller. How often they'd have a dance? You know they wouldn't roller skate, they'd have a dance.

Bill Krieger:

Right.

Robert Shrader:

You know, but it was interesting.

Bill Krieger:

So did you meet her at a dance or did you meet her roller skating?

Robert Shrader:

Roller skating, okay, and her younger sister was. I'm trying to think of the only time I would skate with my future wife was when they had advanced couples and you'd move up. I don't know, have you roller skated?

Bill Krieger:

Yes, I have. So you're roller skating with a couple, and then they would say move up, and then you'd move up to the next person.

Robert Shrader:

And her younger sister. Well, she was 10 in the family and anyway, that's the only time I've skated with her was when that happened, you know, and she had a girlfriend. Anyway, my buddy and I he was in my neighborhood out in Carleton or Ash Township, anyway, we followed them. They had to wind that bus come all the way out to Middle Belt Road to the roller rink. It was only a block and a half from Eureka Road and anyway, they walked down to the corner and got on the bus and we followed them and yakking, you know. Anyway, we followed the bus into Wyandotte and I never thought I'd forget the name of the restaurant. They didn't serve liquor and I didn't drink, my dad hadn't done the drinking for me.

Bill Krieger:

Oh well, okay.

Robert Shrader:

So I never took a drink in the service and I don't think I drank until I was 13. I even took wine. Four or five years after we was married. I seen what it done to my dad. Of course, my dad gave us a good life, but the drinking was still there.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah, that can be hard. Still there, you know, yeah, that can be hard. So you followed her into Wyandotte and you went to this diner.

Robert Shrader:

Plotsam Cafe.

Bill Krieger:

Oh, there you go, there you go. So you didn't forget.

Robert Shrader:

And so we went in and had booths, you know, and we were yakking back and forth and they said well, we take you home. They walked the block down to the bus stop and went home.

Bill Krieger:

Oh geez. So then when did you see her again the next time we went roller skating?

Robert Shrader:

Okay, when did you see her again?

Bill Krieger:

The next time we went roller skating.

Robert Shrader:

Okay, and I'm trying to think how we ever did get a date. But I remember after I was going steady with my wife, they lived on Inkster Road in Taylor and it was on paved then and I come down and I looked and I said that looks like my girlfriend's father's car and it was in a ditch.

Bill Krieger:

Oh no.

Robert Shrader:

And it was about a half a mile from his house on Engster Road up, said Mr Boyk, b-o-y-k. You know, I said I'll pull you out. I got a chain and I had a 42 Ford.

Robert Shrader:

I always had a chain in the car I had, and so I hooked up and I said but give me a. He says that Ford ain't gonna pull me out and you'd be surprised. And I remember if I pulled, if I turned around and pulled him, used the trailer hitch to, but anyway I pulled him out, he went down and I thought he was going to go in the ditch. He's going home.

Bill Krieger:

Oh.

Robert Shrader:

And I remember my wife was really embarrassed. Yeah, my wife was really embarrassed.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah.

Robert Shrader:

But she knew he would take a dollar, dollar and a half and come back with most of it and go to the bar.

Bill Krieger:

Oh, I see.

Robert Shrader:

So how long did you date? About two years, okay.

Bill Krieger:

All right, maybe a little longer. Do you remember proposing to her?

Robert Shrader:

do you remember proposing to?

Bill Krieger:

her. Oh yeah, yeah. What was that like?

Robert Shrader:

well, she accepted, yeah, yeah, and uh, two of her sisters got married. There was was ten in the family. You know, there was seven boys, and I mean seven girls and three boys, and so we had we didn't want to put well, it didn't really matter, but put pressure on the in-laws.

Bill Krieger:

You know Right, Give them a little time, right? Yeah, Okay, so you got. So when did? Do you remember? When you got married?

Robert Shrader:

1950, february, february 1950. Fourth Okay, february 19th, february, 4th Okay, and we started to look for land. Uh-huh. And boy did some of the stuff they tried to sell you.

Bill Krieger:

Not good huh.

Robert Shrader:

No, not good. And this one contractor took us over towards Lake Erie and he was in fact my friend, my best friend, lives there now. But anyway, the fence was just, the water would come up and the debris would stick there and I said does this ever flood?

Bill Krieger:

And he said oh no, never.

Robert Shrader:

Well, you could just see all the paper and litter you know.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah.

Robert Shrader:

And they wanted $6,000 for that. It had a tool shant. It had a tool shed. It had a high up by the house where the shed was. It was on the high but it dropped right off and it would flood.

Bill Krieger:

Oh yeah, so you opted not to buy that one.

Robert Shrader:

But this was just a land and a shed.

Bill Krieger:

Uh-huh $6,000. That's a lot of money at that time, wasn't it yeah?

Robert Shrader:

And this was an acre and a quarter and we paid $1,000.

Bill Krieger:

So this is where you settled then? Yeah, where we're sitting now.

Robert Shrader:

The older lady lived just in a house on the end of the Inkster Road. It's probably one of the oldest houses in the township, uh-huh, but she gave us a really good buy.

Bill Krieger:

So there was a house on this property then? No, there was just. Or was it just land?

Robert Shrader:

Land. Okay, yeah, it was, I think it was. I think it's an acre and a quarter. There was five lots and a couple of the lots would be like a wedge, you know.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah.

Robert Shrader:

And she wanted to buy one or two lots and I said we want five. Take them all right, yeah five.

Bill Krieger:

Take them all right.

Robert Shrader:

Yeah and then. Oh, I don't know how. I can't remember when we bought the back, the back lot.

Bill Krieger:

Mm-hmm.

Robert Shrader:

It was three quarters of an acre, you know. But the only thing we got to my son and only thing we got to my son and I, we got to get a real estate or straighten it out, because we got to get the driveway to this. You know the way it sits now. This is the driveway it goes to the back We've got to get it.

Bill Krieger:

So it's you know it goes to the right place.

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, yeah, unless one of the kids want it all.

Bill Krieger:

Right and they can you know, yeah, they can figure it out right. Yeah, so you told me earlier that you actually designed this house that we're in right now. So you designed it and then you built it along with your friends and family. Yeah, yeah, how long did that take.

Robert Shrader:

Not too long, because we let's see, I know my mother and dad were upset with me June of 50, we got married in February and we bought this property in June I think it was June and yeah, yeah, but I'm trying to think we got it. We didn't even wait to get it legal, the paperwork, I mean, I was anxious.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah, you wanted to get it done right, yeah, yeah. So were you living with your parents then, while they were building the house?

Robert Shrader:

No, we were married, yeah, and we rented a little house out on Ruddy Road off of. Telegraph.

Bill Krieger:

Okay, and by this time you were working at, so were you working? At Ford by this time, while you were building the house, edison I think, okay, all right, and so you got the house done and you moved in and then the Navy sent me a greeting.

Robert Shrader:

Come back to the Korean War.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah, that was nice of them.

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, so we moved in on. We didn't tell the township, we moved in Right of township. We moved in Right Because I had, below the carpeting is hardwood, beautiful hardwood, and I'd stored it in the back bedroom. We didn't have any children at that time.

Robert Shrader:

You know Well, I married a couple of years and we stored the white or the oak in the back bedroom. And I remember after, when we were living here, my wife left me to babysit the boy, gary, and I put a blanket on the floor over here and I decided I'd start here with the oak floor and he was so content in that corner.

Bill Krieger:

And I was have you put hardwood floor down. Oh yeah.

Robert Shrader:

You drill, you know you drill Uh-huh, or else soap the nail real good.

Bill Krieger:

Right, so you don't crack the floor.

Robert Shrader:

And I had a little drill and I looked over and he was playing there in that blanket and I run down the basin to get something and I come back back up and he come over and picked that little drill up and he put about seven drills and it had a real small drill. And my wife says what did you do? I said well, I took the nails out.

Bill Krieger:

Right.

Robert Shrader:

And put my tools away. Played with them Right.

Bill Krieger:

It was time.

Robert Shrader:

I was so glad he didn't drill himself. Oh yeah, that would be, scary, yeah yeah.

Bill Krieger:

So you didn't have children, though. When you got called back to active duty right for the Korean War, yeah, had Gary been born yet.

Robert Shrader:

No, he wasn't.

Bill Krieger:

Okay, so did you actually go to Korea?

Robert Shrader:

No, no, not at that time. Okay, my doctor, you probably never heard of. Dr Sprigg. He was one of the best doctors that I ever and he was at Omaha Beach. You know doctoring.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah.

Robert Shrader:

And anyway, what was I? I got called back in the Korean. I had to get my wife moved in. We put I'm trying to think of the it's a pink paper.

Bill Krieger:

Oh, like craft paper, yeah, butcher paper or something like that.

Robert Shrader:

And we put it all through and put a little oil over it, you know, because the township didn't know anything about that, right right, because the township didn't know anything about it, right right?

Robert Shrader:

But yeah, we had quit it. And then I wrote a letter that said this was in. Well, I knew, when I got to Great Lakes they gave me a letter that Edison did and we were going in as lieutenant I'm walking with them and I said, sir, would you sign my letter? I said my wife would get $100. Oh, definitely, but I'm that ship's company. I said all I need is an officer's name. And so we went over to a table and he signed it and I thanked him and I sent it to my wife and I don't know if we phoned at all.

Robert Shrader:

But I got a letter from her that she got cash to check for $100.

Bill Krieger:

Well, that's good, that's good.

Robert Shrader:

And then I'm trying to think what it was. I got called back again and some of my buddies you know how you like to rub the people the wrong way oh yeah.

Bill Krieger:

That's what we do.

Robert Shrader:

Bob's making the deal out of this. He's being called back again, back again. And the second time they sent me all the way to Philadelphia and that's a big beast, navy beast, and anyway my doctor was on during the war too. And Anyway, my doctor was on Omaha during World War II and he told me, he says, don't get on a small ship. A couple of days later I see I'm assigned to a destroyer which he told me not to.

Bill Krieger:

That's a small ship.

Robert Shrader:

So anyway, I went to sickbay that night, in the evening, you know, and it was a first-class corpsman, I think it was. Anyway, he was kind of nasty, you know, don't you know when sick call is. I said, sir, I do. But I said my hernia wasn't bothering me. Then what? I got a hernia.

Bill Krieger:

And I said I've had it.

Robert Shrader:

This is the second time I've been called back, and so he says come with me. And he had a bunch of civilians and he took me up to the officer and this man has been called back twice with a hernia and I'm recommending you know you discharge him again. Right, so he did. He checked me out. I don't know if he ever had, he'd push it in and out. Yeah, and so I got.

Bill Krieger:

I think I was up there about two weeks, so they sent you back home. This time, though, they told you you can't come back, right? Nope, I can never join the Navy again, my 10-year.

Robert Shrader:

So that was it yeah?

Bill Krieger:

year. So that was it. Yeah, so you came home and went back to work and finished working on the house. Then, yeah, by this time did the township know you were living here.

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, I never thought I'd forget this. I never thought I'd forget this. He was an older gentleman, big, tall, like Abe Lincoln, and anyway I had to have him in the house for some reason.

Bill Krieger:

But anyway, they didn't get too upset about it. Uh-huh, well, that's good, that's good. Now you said that, uh, after the house was built, you had, you had left edison, um, and that the city of flat rock was was hiring, but they wanted you to move. Yeah, right, right, but you didn't. You're like I'm not moving. We built this house, and so what did you do?

Robert Shrader:

We just continued finishing the house.

Bill Krieger:

And then, where did you work after that? Did you still work for Edison then?

Robert Shrader:

I don't know. I think I'd have to get my diary out.

Bill Krieger:

Uh-huh.

Robert Shrader:

But I went to. I was trying to think where I did. I was trying to think where I did…I thought I'd remember the day I went to Flat Rock to work.

Bill Krieger:

So you ended up going to Flat Rock. Yeah, they said, you don't have to move anymore.

Robert Shrader:

Okay, oh, there was always certain people that, oh, if you work for a city, you should, right, of course. And now there's a law that they can't force you to move, uh-huh.

Bill Krieger:

You know, now did you work there until you retired. Then, at Flat Rock, Did you work there until retirement? Yeah, okay, all right. So you're living here, you're working for the city of Flat Rock, and then, at some point, gary came along. Yep, right, so when was he born?

Robert Shrader:

On July 13th.

Bill Krieger:

Let's see oh my gosh Would have been in the 60s sometime right.

Robert Shrader:

The 50s, because we got married in 50. About 52, I think, okay All right.

Bill Krieger:

And then did your wife work at all, or did she stay home, or what did she do she?

Robert Shrader:

worked at the Detroit Malleable Steel when we were dating. She was working at the time store 90 cents an hour or something, but anyway, three of her sisters worked at Detroit Malleable Steel, if you remember that, or remember that factory was near the Wyandotte School. It was near the Wyandotte school. Okay, it was a factory.

Bill Krieger:

They made steel for the auto industry, then Is that what they did there?

Robert Shrader:

They made fittings. They talked about cores, you know.

Bill Krieger:

Okay, all right.

Robert Shrader:

right, she worked there for a long time yeah, quite a while, and uh, the only thing she got out of that now working was that, uh, bible in that wooden case oh okay, that's the only thing she ever got after all the years, but two of her sisters worked there.

Bill Krieger:

They got her in. What did she do there she?

Robert Shrader:

somehow made a core or a fitting that they'd pour in the metal to make an elbow or something like that.

Bill Krieger:

So she actually worked the line then, yeah, she wasn't in the office, she was working on the line. Yeah, now did she work there until retirement.

Robert Shrader:

No, my son. After two or three years, my son came along and he wanted a swimming pool and she said when I quit work, we'll get a swimming pool, and I'm trying to think of the name of that company in Dearborn up there. It's right on the main road but anyway, we had an in-ground pool, you know.

Bill Krieger:

Kind of a celebration when she quit working. Yeah, yeah, yeah, my son was yeah yeah.

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, my son was tickled. Yeah, we got the pool and, like I said, there was 10 in the family and only two other members ever had any doings in their house. We had a backyard full of.

Bill Krieger:

Always some sort of something going on. Yeah, yeah.

Robert Shrader:

Had a picnic or something going on.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah. So tell me what was Gary like growing up? What was he like as a kid?

Robert Shrader:

Very good. Do you remember they had some kind of a hell of a loog out? I'm trying to think. Maybe I remember. Anyway, we thought he went on the he rode on a motorcycle, him and his buddy, and they said we're going to the Irish Hills. His folks had a lot up there, his folks had a lot up there and my wife thought for sure that he was in was going to this big oh, like a big motorcycle. Yeah, it was a, and there was two or three of them.

Robert Shrader:

They camped under folks' vacant lot in. Harris Hills. We thought for sure that they were going to be going in that big trouble they had Uh-huh I see, but he didn't, he didn't.

Bill Krieger:

No, not at all. Uh-huh I see, but he didn't, he didn't. No, not at all, not at all. And then so, growing up, what else do you remember about him as a kid? Was he good in school? Oh, yeah, he was very good, uh-huh.

Robert Shrader:

Probably the top of the class.

Bill Krieger:

Now, did he play any sports? Mm-hmm, did he play any sports Did?

Robert Shrader:

he play any sports? Oh yeah, football. They had. It was really. I think they had 13 members on the football field.

Bill Krieger:

At that time. Now it's 10, 11, something like that. Oh, no, on the whole team. You mean yeah, so it's like 20 or 30 now for a team, right?

Robert Shrader:

I got a really nice thrill or a compliment A really nice thrill or compliment. I went to Flat Rock. They had me come down to Navarre Field. Flat Rock was playing Monroe and they had me come down and I had my uniform on the guard and I thought there would be four or five, it was generally. You know the honor and this lady that takes care of me, she comes twice a week either takes me to the grocery store or we go down to the casino.

Robert Shrader:

Anyway, they honored me. I was the only one and they gave me a nice hat and we thought maybe we could get a write-up. But there's hardly any newspapers.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah.

Robert Shrader:

You know we went all over looking for Flood Rock News, but it was quite an honor oh.

Bill Krieger:

I'll bet that would be really nice.

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, they said I went into the Navy at a certain date. It was pretty nice.

Bill Krieger:

That is nice. So how long were you married?

Robert Shrader:

Oh my gosh, Over 40 years. And somewhere in the 40 years my wife said you know, we should have celebrated on the 40th because we never, made it to the 50th.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah, what happened? If I can ask, I was.

Robert Shrader:

I always sleep in and I heard the silverware and you know the dishes, you know the movement and all of a sudden it was quiet. I never heard it that quiet and I jumped up and I run, run, looked in the kitchen. Not seeing her standing there. I said something's wrong. I went back in and she's laying on the floor by the refrigerator. She had like a heart attack or a seizure. She was already. They said she died at the hospital, but I think she was already gone.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah, well, that's too bad. You had a really nice life together.

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, we did 49 states and I got my wife to a lot, of, a lot of those you know, but a lot of them has been reunions after my wife died. Yeah, alaska's the only state that I. I don't feel like I'd gain anything by going.

Bill Krieger:

That's a long haul for that state.

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, I got to tell you about my Navy buddy. He was a Detroit boy. They've done B-Wick. I don't know if you've ever heard of B-Wick. My Mac, you know. You've heard of Mac. Yeah, well, it's on the east side and anyway, he didn't even drive there was a nickel, ride to street car back in the 40s. And so anyway, they sent him to Kansas I forget what city in Kansas, but anyway they taught him how to drive a truck. You know a car. So he gassed planes in California.

Bill Krieger:

Oh, so he did that for the commercial planes then, or he did that for the… For the Navy, For the Navy planes, oh okay okay, barship pulled into Alameda, california, and I got off and it was the time I got around to his base.

Robert Shrader:

It was nine o'clock at night and I had a I don't know if I got it on my sleeve or says I noticed. He says you're a fleet and I said yeah, and anyway. He said what are you coming into our base for? And I said my best buddy from boot camp is there, he says Owen.

Robert Shrader:

Ralph Owen. He says I know him, I know what beer he gets. He said Owen, ralph Owen. He says I know him, I know what Barry is Stick with me. And he took me right in and went up the steps. He says he should be right there. And I said and I'm always a joker and I said, and he jumps up, you, son of a B.

Bill Krieger:

You got him good yeah.

Robert Shrader:

So then he come over a couple days, he come over and seen my ship, uh-huh, and I don't know if I got to see, oh, we went out a few times. I don't know if I got this oh, we went out a few times and I know, oh, frank Sinatra, we got tickets for Frank Sinatra.

Bill Krieger:

Uh-huh.

Robert Shrader:

And he was good.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah, he could sing, that's for sure. Yeah, it must have been great. Yeah, that must have been great. So you, you know you, you lived a good life. You did a lot of different things. You built your house, you raised a family, and I wanted to ask you a few more questions. One is when you think about, when you think about your wife, do you have like a favorite memory of her or something that you remember right away?

Robert Shrader:

Everything. It seems like she was my life, you know, after we got going together.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah, did you know right away when you met her that she was the one you were going to marry?

Robert Shrader:

Well, after a while it wasn't the first thing, because I was telling you it was hard to get a date with her Her younger sister was more friendly.

Bill Krieger:

Right, right, I understand.

Robert Shrader:

I understand, I understand and I got a…. The younger brother was…. He was in the Navy too, and I don't know if this happened after the Navy or what, but anyway, he drove his pickup right up to the door and it seemed like they only had one door in that building, a front door. It should have been a back door, I don't know, but anyway he was—put the girl right up to the door they couldn't get. Nobody could get her out.

Bill Krieger:

Did he like to play jokes like that?

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, no, he was. There were three boys and the other two were very serious. I mean, they would never do anything like that. And the middle boy met his wife there, like I did you know.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah, well, that's nice. So you have one son, but you have some grandchildren.

Robert Shrader:

How many?

Bill Krieger:

grandchildren, five, five grandchildren, and you have great-grandchildren, yeah yeah. So they're all doing well, they're all successful. Yeah yeah, they come visit once in a while. I saw when I pulled in there was a sign that said Grandpa's house on the garage there. So I'm assuming that they come to visit once in a while.

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, yeah, I don't know, you can give your opinion how you feel, but my son and most of them want me to move out to Novi, you know, for the like, november, december, january and to me, it's just like throwing $3,100 out the window each month, you know.

Bill Krieger:

Uh-huh, well, I would love to give you my opinion on that, but I, you know, I think it's up to the individual. I, um, I actually go to a lot of places, uh, where people stay and we do these interviews and, um, it's, it's always been very good, it's always been a good experience, and there's other people uh, to to, you know, to see and to hang out with and to do things with. There's always activities, there's always something going on. So that's what I think about, about that. I think that when I get to a certain age, I will certainly look into that for myself and for my wife, if we're both, if we're both still around.

Bill Krieger:

I, I, but, but I, you know, I think it's up to the, the individual to decide what you want to do, um, but you know, having someone around to help take care of you, that's always a really good thing, I think, anyway. So that's, that's my, that's kind of my, opinion on it. Yeah, um, you know, it's a decision that you have to make, but there's a lot of things to consider yeah, my church, I'm Lutheran and I'm Wisconsin Senate, you know.

Robert Shrader:

I don't know if you're familiar with there's Three Senates, you know.

Bill Krieger:

So really just a few more, a few more questions for you. Um, you know, like, like I said, you've Done a lot of things in your lifetime. You served in the military, you built a beautiful home, you raised a son and a family, kind of. One last question for you is that you know, when people listen to your story years from now, what would you want them to take away from your life? What lesson would you like them to learn, boy?

Robert Shrader:

that's. That's a hard question. Done a good job on the house.

Bill Krieger:

So you put in hard work.

Robert Shrader:

Yeah, we used to have a garden out on the west side and it'd run from the front of the house all the way back. My wife canned a lot. She was from the farm and one day I was out there and in fact I got a brush pile on now and so is my neighbor. Anyway, I'm out there in the garden working and my dog kept running back to the brush pile and running back to me. A sudden three pheasants come out of that. You know male pheasants, beautiful. That dog stopped and looked at me like what the hell shoot him because he was a good hunter.

Bill Krieger:

Yeah.

Robert Shrader:

And I had to break him for going across the road. I had a pen built out there. The dog house is out there yet, but the pen is all down and the bricks are all out. But anyway, that dog looked at me like you, dummy.

Bill Krieger:

Right. Well, he expected you to do your job. He did his right yeah.

Robert Shrader:

I caught him. I caught him across the road. He was pretty young and I had him hooked up on a chain, you know, and I'd leave him loose, and so he'd be across the road, so I'd take my belt off, I'd hook him up for a week and he'd be, I'd be out there and he'd be ooooh.

Bill Krieger:

Right, he wanted to go.

Robert Shrader:

And so I think it was three times, and each time I'd hook him up longer, like two weeks, three weeks, and I hooked him on out there after about three weeks.

Bill Krieger:

And.

Robert Shrader:

I sat there and talked to him. I says, no, I'll leave you loose if you stay here. And I walked down to get my mail. That was across the road then and he walked out and I just sat. He sat down. The neighbor came up a different neighbor then and he said how did you get that dog to stay on that side of the road?

Robert Shrader:

And I said well, I didn't want to get him run over and I wanted to teach him a lesson, and I said he won't leave the Iron Town but in 90 degree days he would go down to the river and go in and take a swim. And I never showed him or anything.

Bill Krieger:

He figured out, he was a pretty smart dog, I would guess.

Robert Shrader:

And I had a really good neighbor In fact I had all good neighbors since I lived here and he even built a dock. You know, I had a boat, he even built a dock.

Robert Shrader:

I had a boat. It was a car top boat but we reinforced it and made it too heavy to carry. But anyway we'd take that down to the river and put it in. And then one day we had a speed boat a friend of mine, in fact I went with him when he bought it and he had it two or three years I'm trying to think of that. It was a Mercury 16 horse and it was a real thin wood, but anyway I ended up buying it, uh-huh, you know and we had that.

Robert Shrader:

It was in a trailer and we'd go out to point mule with it, you know, or up north on vacation.

Bill Krieger:

That sounds real nice. Well, I would like to take a look at your all your memorabilia that you have out for us. So we'll stop the interview, part of it, and then we'll get some pictures and I want to talk about the stuff that you have out because it's very interesting. But thanks a lot for sitting down for this interview this morning. We really appreciate it.

Robert Shrader:

Well, you're easy to get along with. Well, thank you, I appreciate that.

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