Happy Birthday Duke

[Wayne K.]

Re: Hey Duke, good taste in shoes. I had some ....

Maybe your right or maybe the shoes were available before the Beatles and you were ahead of their time. I remember my dad saying he wished he had a pair so he could kick my A$$ to get me to do some work around the house.

[John H.]

Re: Happy Birthday Duke

Happy Birthday, Duke - great photo, great history, great guy too! Gotcha beat - in 1963 I was a year out of college and flying Huey gunships (under "less than ideal" circumstances)

[Duke W.]

Re: Happy Birthday Duke

Well, it depends on your perspective, John. Since I'm such a young pup, by the time I finished grad school in early '71, 'Nam was winding down, so the AF made me a Missile Maintenance Officer and sent me to Grand Forks - garden spot of the north, but I managed to spend six months TDY out of my three year SAC "northern tier tour" at Vandenberg supervising the setup of Minuteman ICBMs for test launches and then finagaled a PCS to the Space Division in El Segundo, which got me to So Cal, permanently, and I'm still here, California dreamin'.

You and Patrick would probably love Grand Forks. It's barely colder than Michigan and flat as a pancake with a corner in the road every hundred miles.

Thanks to everyone for the kudos!

Duke

[Art A.]

Re: Happy Birthday Duke

Duke Happy Birthday!!!!

Grand Forks is MUCH colder than Michigan! A few years back I went on a C5 Corvette test trip to Grand Forkes and it was bitter cold. How cold was it?.......it was -9 to -37, yes, -37 the hole week we were there. In fact one of the Corvettes actually froze to the ground and we had to do some major pushing to get it loose. Beleive it or not we were testing the heating AND AC systems, boy that was fun!

Art

[Duke W.]

Re: Happy Birthday Duke

I recall reading in "All Corvettes are Red" that the Corvette Group did cold weather testing in Grand Forks - brought back some memories.

So you were involved with that effort? Lucky guy!

The winters were so cold that when it got above freezing in March we broke out the T-shirts and shorts.

I swore I would never marry a woman from North Dakota, so as not to ever have to go back there again.

That proved to be such a successful stategy that I decided never to get married at all. Too much racing, tinkering, restoring, drinking, wenching, and other guy stuff to do.

Duke

[Patrick H.]

Re: Happy Birthday Duke

Happy Birthday Duke!

From the balmy west coast...of Michigan.

Patrick

[Michael H.]

Re: Happy Birthday Duke

Well Duke, hope it was a great birthday. I was going to send you an older copy of Machinery's Handbook" but I didn't have an extra one here. (all still up north but one) Maybe next year.

How does it feel hitting 50? (it was 50 wasn't it?)

Can I delete that embarrassing pic of me with the 64 now?

Michael

[Michael H.]

Re: Happy Birthday Duke

Nope, got a different one a few years later. Got a different Corvette a couple years later too. When I bought the 64 Corvette, one of the first things I did was remove the hub caps. I didn't like then at all and wanted mags but couldn't afford them so I just drove it without the caps. Besides, it was popular at that time, for some reason. Everyone with new cars used to Blue Coral wax their wheels.

[Duke W.]

Re: Happy Birthday Duke

Hey, great "doo"! Leave the picture posted. I can't remove mine unless I bribe Dave.

We can have a contest: Who is the dorkiest looking nerd? I went through the "greaser stage" in about the sixth to seventh grade, but the parents were none too happy.

By high school "crew cut clean" was "in" unless you were an "outlaw".

I, too, drove around sometimes with the wheelcovers removed, especially after I went to the track. I even removed the bumpers - made the car loose particularly "purposeful" with the quickly added Michelin blackwalls.

Age is just a matter of mental attitude, though one has to learn to pace himself as the years roll on.

Duke

P.S. Great legs on the ex-GF/wife

[Gary S.]

Re: Happy Birthday Duke

"I have no explanation for the hair."

Hers or yours?

Gary

[John G.]

Re: Hey Duke, good taste in shoes. I had some ....

Beatle boots! .. Pointy toes, semi-raised heels ... I had a pair of those things in '64 when I was a freshman in High School. The year before that it was 'pegged pants'! .. Remember those? .. Jeez, the things kids do to be 'in' with the times! ..

1963 ... That was the year that got my Corvette juices flowing. It was a red '63 SWC, just like Dukes car.

John

[Chuck G.]

Re: Hey Duke, good taste in shoes. I had some ....

Happy Birthday, Duke. LOVE the picture.

I graduated from high school in 1964 too, and I dressed the same way. Chuck