March 3, 1945: Westerbroek Germany

Posted on by Thor

The 290th Infantry, 75th Infantry Division Combat Diary written and edited by Technician 4th Grade Cecil J. Bond is a primary source of information for the World War II cities I made every effort to sketch. He noted that on March 3, 1945 the regiment moved to an assembly area near Venlo Netherlands where the battalions were almost immediately alerted to a further move to the forward division assembly area near Westerbrock Germany. This was the first time the 75th would be advancing into Germany. They were advancing to relive elements of the 291st Infantry.

As I sat at dinner at Gasthause Luthermuhle, I was searching for Westerbrock Germany on Google Maps on my phone. For the life of me, I could not find the town. There was a Westerbrock Netherlands far to the north which was the site of a major Nazi transit camp, it served as a gathering point for over 100,000 Jews, Sinti, and Roma before their deportation to concentration and extermination camps in German-occupied Poland and Germany. That town was way too far north, so that could not be the assembly area I was looking for. I assumed it had to be pretty close to where I was, but there was no Westerbrock Germany.
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Tech Romance

Posted on by Thor

While on a long road trip my iPhone would not take a charge. I was using Google Maps to go to a location deep in the Florida back roads, an hour and a half from where I am renting a home.

The red warning blinked on, saying “low battery. I had no idea if my phone would have enough battery to get me to my destination before blinking out and becoming a useless brick. I had an iPad but it was useless since it needed a Wi-Fi connection to show the maps. If the phone died, I would have no maps, and would not be able to call my friend for directions. I have grown so dependent on the pleasant voice of my female navigator. I stopped in a Dollar General parking lot and quickly wrote out the remaining series of directions on the back of a sketch. Sure enough the phone shut down after driving a few more blocks. My pencil notes got me to where I needed to go.

I conducted a virtual art class from what felt like a peaceful country cabin on my iPad. The trip back would involve even more twists and turns but more pencil notes got me home. Actually before going home, I stopped at the Apple Store in Millennia Mall. The place was packed. Clearly everyone’s charging ports had failed at the same time. I sat at the Genius Bar and a tech quickly helped me out. He took the phone out back to find whatever had clogged the port. I had spent hours trying to clear the port myself the night before with a toothpick, but every attempt failed. I kept plugging the phone in, hoping it might miraculously decide to charge.

While I waited for the tech to come back out with my phone, I sketched. It felt good to have this low tech option to record the moment. Pencils never run out of charge and they never crash. The tech brought the iPhone back out and plugged it in. I kept sketching while the phone charged. Thankfully there was no cost for clearing the port.

Back out in the parking lot, I plugged the phone back into the car charger. I turned on Google Maps and set a course. The first thing the pleasant and familiar female voice said was, “Head North to Conroy Road.” Sigh… She understands my every navigation need. She had me at “head”.

Grant School Dumont, New Jersey

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I am teaching online students how to draw using two point perspective. I have decided to combine these tutorials along with the idea of sketching building from my past and my families past. Since my students and I are not on location, I encourage them to look up a building in their hometown on Google maps and then find a street view of the building to work from.

I attended Grant School 100 Grant Avenue in Dumont, New Jersey, from kindergarten through 1971 when my family moved to Tenafly New Jersey. I recall getting in trouble in kindergarten for refusing to take nap time. Some of my earliest art work was exhibited on the fence in front of the school. I used to sketch the Mercury space capsule over and over again as a child. I knew how to draw every knit bolt an rivet on the capsule.  It is a shame none of those space capsule sketches survived.

I remember it being a big deal when I was finally able to ride my bike to school.

The school is named for General Ulysses S. Grant who led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War in 1865 and thereafter briefly served as Secretary of War. Later, as president, Grant was an effective civil rights executive who created the Justice Department and worked to protect African Americans during Reconstruction.