May 8, 1945: Plettenberg Germany

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Plettenberg, Germany was the last 75th Infantry Division command post in 1945 at the end of World War II. My father, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken was leading C-Company of the 75th Infantry Division. The 75th was tasked with occupation duty in a large area around Plettenberg Germany, known as Westphalia.

On May 8, 1945 Nazi Germany signed an unconditional surrender of its armed forces to the Allied forces. The Stars and Stripes newspaper headline declared, NAZIS QUIT! Donitz Gives Order. Grand Admiral Donitz, Adolphthe successor to Adolph Hitler. Ordered the surrender. Celebrations broke out in New York City and London immediately. The 75th Infantry band marched through Plettenberg to celebrate the good news.

Relief was felt by every soldier, but the world war was still far from over. The 75th Infantry Division was engaged in routine duties of occupation in the Westphalia region of Germany. This was no easy task since they had to feed and care for 90,000 displaced persons many of them forced laborers and Prisoners of War.

Though victory in Europe was being celebrated, every soldier worried that they might be shipped off to the pacific where the war was still raging against Japan. Occupation duty meant that the soldiers were no longer being pushed from one battle front to another. The pace had slowed down and with peace in Europe men began to hope that they might get to go back home.

The military had a points system for discharging soldiers at the end of hostilities. Each soldier was granted one point for each month of service. They received 2 points for each month overseas. They would be given 5 points for each ribbon, and 5 points for each star. Soldiers with children under the age of 18 received 12 points for each child. Soldiers with 85 points qualified for immediate discharge. The demobilization system began on May 10, 1945.

So in May of 1945, Arthur Thorspecken would have built up the following points…
1 point per month in service… Arthur Thorspecken entered the service on February 4, 1943. On May 8, 1945 he would have served 2 years and 3 months. This amounted to 27 Points.
2 points for each month overseas. Arthur was overseas for 16 months. This amounted to 32 points.
5 points for each ribbon and 5 for each star. Arthur Thorspecken was awarded an American Campaign Medal, an African-Middle Eastern Campaign medal with 2 battle stars, a World War II Victory Medal, and a Combat Infantry Badge. Each medal equals a ribbon, so that amounts to 20 Points and 2 stars adds 10 points for 30 points total.

12 points for each child. Arthur Thorspecken married Elvira Corr while he was in Camp Davis in North Carolina. Elvira had her first child while he was still in infantry school. Elvira’s baby girl was born while Elvira was in Massachusetts. Arthur  did see pictures of his baby girl before being shipped overseas. That amounts to 12 points.

That would be a total of 101 points which would qualify him for immediate discharge. Arthur still served on Occupation Duty in Europe for 3 more months until his discharge could take effect.

In August of 1945, the 75th Infantry Division strength was 20,785. Of these 11,147 had less than 65 points. 7,183 had scores of 85 and higher. Arthur Thorspecken likely departed Europe on about July 29, 1945 when he would have taken the week long boat ride back to America. He was officially separated from the military on August 4, 1945 at Fort Dix, New Jersey, which was just 2 days before the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima Japan. The idea of a world at war took a seismic shift towards peace.

Birth Place

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As an exercise with my online students, I asked them to find their home via Google Street View and do a sketch of it using one point perspective.I found the home at 239 Larch Avenue in Dumont, New Jersey where I had been born. I lived in this home until I was ten years old. The house had been vastly renovated by 2022. A second story was added above the garage and the second story dormer was replaced with a much higher roof line creating a very boring looking cube of a home.

After sketching what the home looked like in 2022, I went back to old family photos and tried to piece together my memory of the home from when I was ten years old. I showed that sketch to my brothers and sisters and their feedback helped me refine the sketch. I had put two dormers on the second floor but there was only one dormer. I also thought the home was a pretty warm color, but it was actually a military steel grey.

I did remember the bright red front door correctly but a photo helped me put on the screen door with the letter T surrounded by metal scroll work. I first was taught to tie my own shoes on those front steps. My shoes still come untied no matter how hard I tie them. A family photo had a random ladder leaning up against the garage, so I included it. By brother figures my dad must have been cleaning the gutters. I was shocked by how manicured all the hedges were back when we lived there. My dad must have been out there with clippers every weekend. I don’t ever recall the lawn being mowed but that must have been happening while I played inside.

 

 

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.

5 States: 44% of Cases

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CNN reported that five states account for 44% of the COVID-19 cases in the past week according to data from Johns Hopkins University. New York, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey had more than 196,400 of the country’s 453,360 cases reported in the last week, according to data available the morning of April 7. 2021.

Michigan has been hit especially hard with 6,600 cases a day over a week as opposed to 1,350 daily cases five weeks ago. The highly contagious and deadly B.1.1.7 variant of the COVID virus has helped cause the spike in cases. People are also experiencing pandemic fatigue and are taking fewer precautions giving the virus plenty of opportunity to spread.

The B.1.1.7, first identified in the UK, is now the most common strain of coronavirus in the United States, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said April 7, 2021.

With more-transmissible variants adding up, surges like Michigan’s may soon be seen more widely, even though vaccination rates have increased nationally, epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm said. The CDC says more than 16,200 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant have been confirmed in surveillance testing in the US, and B.1.1.7 has been found in every state. This number does not represent the total number of such cases circulating in the United States, but rather only those found by analyzing samples. Florida has more that 3000 confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, more than any other state.

The US has averaged 774 Covid-19 deaths a day over the last week. According to the latest CDC data, 19.4% of the total US population was fully vaccinated as of the morning of April 7, 2021; and 57.4% of people age 65 and older are fully vaccinated. But the US has a long way to go before reaching herd immunity. Dr. Anthony Fauci has estimated 70%-85% of the population needs to become immune.

Days Apart

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A Douglas County, Colorado couple in their 70s died within days of each other from COVID-19.

An Oklahoma couple married 45 years, died days apart. They texted each other “I love you” before going into coma.

In Jacksonville, Florida a mother and daughter died 19 days apart from COVID-19.

A Wisconsin couple married for six decades died from COVID-19 just 2 days apart.

A California couple married 35 years died from COVID-19, 11 days apart.

The wife and husband behind Seattle’s Kona Kitchen died from COVID-19 just days apart.

A South Carolina couple married for 66 years died days apart from COVID-19.

A Louisiana woman lost both of her parents days apart due to COVID-19.

An Atlanta, Georgia couple married for 49 years died days apart from COVID-19.

Three members of a Freehold Township, New Jersey family died days apart after contracting COVID-19.

Just as the United States is rolling out COVID-19 vaccines, the numbers have become gloomier than ever: Over 3,000 Americans died in a single day, more than on D-Day or 9/11. One million new cases in the span of five days. More than 106,000 people in the hospital. The U.S. recorded 3,124 deaths Wednesday, December 9, 2020 the highest one-day total yet, according to Johns Hopkins University. Up until last week, the peak was 2,603 deaths on April 15, when New York City was the epicenter of the nation’s outbreak.

 

The Last Door

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Ethos Physical Theatre Company of New Jersey presented this press preview of The Last Door. A monkey entered the stage swinging from the ropes with abandon. A large lumbering tortoise entered the stage from the left. Their exchange brings to light that they are stuck inn a zoo enclosure. their keepers were gone for an unknown reason. Perhaps it was an apocalypse. They argued about the one door out and weather it was locked. All the while the tortoise made its way across the stage which is I assume where the door might be located. Then the monkey had a revelation that might lead to their freedom.  But at that moment the play was suddenly over. It couldn’t have been more than ten or fifteen minuets. The audience sat dumbfounded for another 10 minutes thinking that there might be more to the story. At least let us know it they made their way out into the world. But the story was over before it began.

The  tortoise was kind of interesting as a puppet requiring two handlers, and the monkey was acrobatic but not quite as entertaining as Cirque du Soleil acrobatics. It was an existential children’s fable with no discernible moral. I felt a bit duped to have entered the door to the theater and was thankful when I found it on the way out. Regardless I got a decent sketch.

Ludovico Einaudi in concert.

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On a recent tip to Princeton, New Jersey, I arranged to sketch a concert by Ludovico Einaudi at the McCarter Theatre Center (91 University Place, Princeton, NJ 08540). 
Ludovico Einaudi is a renowned pianist and composer. The Italian musician was born in Turin, Italy where his classical career began, before he moved on to create music for film with influences of pop, rock, and folk music.

Einaudi began his career performing classical music in the 1980s after training at the Conservatorio Verdi, when he began composing orchestral and classical pieces, before progressing to more main stream music heard in popular culture in the mid 80s. As well as piano, he plays and composes for guitar, in which he is incredibly skilled and proficient. Although Einaudi is influenced by classical artists, his style is unique with the fusion of classical and popular music bridging the gap between the two genres, making his music extremely accessible to many types of listeners.

From his eclectic back catalogue of tracks he has won several awards, including Best Film Music at the Avingon Film Festival and Best Soundtrack at the Italian Music Awards. His music has also appeared in popular culture worldwide, composing the trailer music for the movie Black Swan.

His album Le Onde written for piano and performed as a solo was the best selling album in the UK and Italy, sending Einaudi to success. Still producing charting music, his latest album “In A Time Lapse” has taken him on a giant US and Canadian tour, as well as landing him a slot at the prestigious iTunes festival.

The house lights were dark for the entire evening, so I struggled to see my sketch by the dim light of my cell phone.  Through the first half of the concert, he was joined on stage by a guitarist, violin, cello, a second electronic pianist and a percussionist.  The lighting was stark with spot lights on each performer. The music is mesmerizing, leaving the impression of a dream state.  The other performers left the stage and then Ludovico performed a solo that lasted forever.  There were periodic pauses where he held his hands suspended over the keys and then the music resumed.  The percussion in one piece had a sheet of metal suspended in a vat of water.  The metal would be shaken to produce thunderous sounds muffled by the liquid.  It was an experimental way of producing unexpected mysterious sounds. Overall it was an amazing concert and if we ever have a chance to see him in concert again, would jump at the opportunity. 

Artists Process

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Each month Urban Rethink (625 E Central Blvd • Orlando, FL), invites artists to show their work, and discuss their process. A computer was set up s that the first artist, Bob Snead, could share his work with us from New Orleans via a Google + video chat. The computer screen was projected on a screen so everyone in the room could see. The problem was that no one knew how to get the Google chat to work. Pat Greene started asking everyone who entered the event if they knew how to work the program. Finally someone did mess with the settings and Bob’s face filled the screen. Bob does representational that is autobiographical and often funny. For instance one self portrait had, “My father gave my mother syphilis.” written on it. Bob couldn’t see all of us as he showed his work and if we weren’t laughing, he couldn’t be sure we were still there.

Some of Bob’s art is performance oriented. He once staged a “Pro Wall mart” demonstration. With Clark Allen, he set up a toilet paper roll assembly line in which everything was made from cardboard. A cardboard pickup truck was displayed in a gallery. He later had to abandon the truck leaving in in a public space. A week later it was mangled beyond recognition.

 The second artist was Kevin Paul Giordano,  who is a writer, journalist, musician, photographer, and filmmaker. He began his career as a writer in New York City, publishing in the New York Times, New York Post, New York Sun, Salon.com, among others. He also worked as an editor at such magazines as Vanity Fair, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, Vibe, Spin, among others. His musical-play “It Must Be Love” appeared on Off-Off Broadway in 2002. He has received grants from Glenville State College, West Virginia for research on a book on the American Rust Belt. The grant offered him a car and a camera, so he set out to document an abandoned part of US history.

He screened a half hour documentary that explained the history of Rust Belt cities like Paterson, New Jersey. My father worked in Paterson, New Jersey his whole career, so I was fascinated to learn the city’s unique history. The city was founded by Alexander Hamilton, and his Society of Useful Manufacturers, to be a manufacturing mecca. Steam locomotives were built here as the nation pushed west. Then the city turned to silk weaving using the power generated by water from the Paterson falls. An intricate system of canals moved water to all of the manufacturing plants. In the 1960’s Rayon eliminated the need for silk. Much of this countries deindustrialization happened in the 1970s. Today all those plants sit empty and abandoned. More than 25% of the people in such abandoned cities are below the poverty line. The story is much the same for each Rust Belt city Kevin photographed.

There is a beauty in the way the rusting decay is being taken over by nature. Railroad lines lead nowhere with weeds and grass disguising the rails. Pealing paint creates intricate patterns and some tools remain where they were last used decades ago. Today we live in a computer society that fosters the free exchange of ideas. This free exchange doesn’t always make people money. By looking back, Kevin helps us look forward so we all can change and adapt.