Interview, Frederick Crist, USA

Frederick Crist (b. 1939) was born and raised in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. In 1961, he and his wife moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he went to work for Neisner Brothers department store. He was drafted into the United States Army the following year at age 23. After his honorable discharge in 1964, Crist returned to his job at Neisner Brothers, this time at their store in Newark, New York. A year later he got a job as a machinist at the Gleason Works in Rochester, New York. He used his money from the GI Bill to attend night classes at IBM. After getting his diploma, he went to work for Xerox and ultimately ended up buying a landscaping company, which he owned and operated for 23 years. Crist sold his business and retired in 2005.

In his interview, Crist explains how he was already two months into basic training when President Kennedy issued the order that exempted married men like him from being drafted. He discusses how the Army allowed him to remain stateside until his first daughter was born, but that after her birth he was stationed in Germany. His wife and daughter were able to join him overseas, and he tells what it was like living off base with his family. Crist talks about being trained as a missile crewman and explains that his battalion never had to fire any actual missiles. He describes life in Germany as “civilized,” and talks about travelling around the country with his battalion’s basketball team. Crist shares several humorous stories about his life in the service, including his failed attempts to have his official Army record changed to reflect his actual height of 6’2” instead of the 5’5” at which they measured him. The message he took from that experience is that one is not supposed to question the Army.