Welcome to this week's edition of the POB eNews...   

Last year, I hosted my university's Veterans History Project cable TV show. During those two semesters, I interviewed several veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait and Iraq. As a daughter of a World War II vet who never spoke about his time in the South Pacific, it was with great interest that I listened to their memories-good, bad and oftentimes very painful. It was a privilege that I'll never forget. So to honor Veterans Day, Nov. 11, I'd like share some memories from a member of your own ranks: 

At 17 years old, Melford Donald Alldrin enlisted with the U.S. Navy and served two tours in Vietnam. Alldrin was a Seabee in the Naval Construction Battalions ("C" "B"). His final rank was EAS3, or Engineering Aid Surveyor Third Class. He was interviewed by his son, Erick, for the Library of Congress' Veterans History Project:  

Q: Why did you pick the service branch that you joined?
A: I did some land surveying with my father when I was going through high school, and I kind of enjoyed it. So when I looked around for a branch of service that would give me some technical expertise, I found out that the Seabee's had a program that I pretty much wanted, and that's why I ended up in the Engineering Aid Surveyor. In fact, when I signed the papers to go into boot camp, that was part of my designation. (Below is a drawing of the EAS insignia, which depicts a Philadelphia rod.) 

Q: What was your job?
A: I ended up going to an A school, which is 18 weeks of Surveying and Drafting--that's nine of each, and what we did is we built a lot of different items and we did the layout, as surveyors, we all did the layout. By the time I was in Viet Nam, I was already mainly a Party Chief, and what we did is we layed out airports, bridges, piers, a P.O.W. camp and a dog kennel. You name it; we built it.  

Q: Were there many casualties in your unit?
A: None that I am aware of. We had a lot of fire over our camp because of the air base we built right next door, so the VC would fly their rockets and mortars right over our camp, and they would fall short sometimes. They wanted to mess up the airport, but they didn't want to hurt us because they knew we were building for their future. In fact, they hit one time. Some shells went into the camp, which was vacant at the time, and they apologized on the Noah Hanna's radio show.  

Q: After the war, did you work or go back to school?
A: Both. I took nine to 12 units at Junior College, but I had joined the Union already, and I was working as a surveyor on a dam project. I went into surveying with the Union and then also grade checking. After college, I went into engineering, and I also was a business owner. I was also in real estate for a while. I did construction engineering, and I'm doing engineering for the County right now.  

Q: How did your service experience affect your life?
A: As far as the beneficial aspects of the service, it did give me skills and tools after that 18-week training as an engineering aid for surveying and drafting, and I still use those skills today and it helped me to get interested in engineering. Because of the training in the military, I was able to get a job with the Union upon my getting out of the service. It was a very high paying job actually. I have always been able to put food on the table. The service also gives you values. I had already had a fairly good work ethic, but the service enhanced that work ethic. It helped me to become a better person.

To all our readers who are veterans, thank you. And to those of you who love and support them, I encourage you to have some memorable conversations this Veterans Day week. Like me, you'll be glad you did.

 -Wendy Lyons, eNews Editor

This month, we want to know how you think your business will be impacted by the Department of Defense's decision to end support of codeless and semi-codeless access to GPS on Dec. 31, 2020? Take a moment to vote in our quick poll at www.pobonline.com.   

Our November issue is now online!

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POB Launches 2009 Contest

Highlights in Surveying recognizes great surveys and surveyors around the world.

The contest winner will not only hold bragging rights but also a $2,000 check from POB. We've completely revamped the competition format for easier entry. Visit http://his.pobonline.com to learn more.

Entry deadline: Feb. 16, 2009

AEC Store's NEWEST ADDITION

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Visit AECstore.com to view our all of our surveying resources and products!  Call Stephanie, 248/244-1275, with questions.

HubTack Supports Google Earth & Maps HubTack announced FREE support of Google Earth & Google Maps.  This new service allows you to enter a state, county, township and range and go directly to that location in Google Earth. We even draw the township and section lines for you. GIS Gives United States Postal Service a Crime-Fighting Edge The USPS Bank Service Act Compliance Office is taking advantage of geographic information system GIS technology from ESRI to effectively detect suspicious activity using sophisticated analysis and mapping to monitor millions of money order transactions across the United States. Pat Olson Elected COFPAES Chairman The Council on Federal Procurement of Architectural and Engineering Services announced the election of Patrick A. "Pat" Olson, PE, PLS, CP (Aero-Metric, Inc., Sheboygan, WI) to the position of Chairman.