Cantor Herman Master Part1

The speaker recounts his chaotic military service, initially attached to infantry in the Aleutians before becoming a radio operator. He later attended Yale and entered seminary, inspired by his brother’s path. During his studies, he worked full-time at a Jewish center, eventually serving as chaplain and filling in for a rabbi. After graduating, he moved to Georgia (1956–1961), worked in radio, and served three unhappy years in the Army due to strict discipline. The conversation ends with him beginning to describe meeting his wife, Alma, during his seminary days through family connections and shared commutes. This is a unit that was going to the Aleutian Islands. And we ended up at the island of Shemya. So wait, how'd you get out of the Navy? Well, they didn't know what to do with me in the infantry, so they attached me to the infantry unit. And I learned about this. Because my unit had gone to Germany. And I thought, well, that was the war with the Japanese. This island of Shemya was 35 miles south of Attu. So that's where you were stationed? That's where the Navy was stationed. But it happened to be my group. And when the Shemya was in Korea, I was in Korea. And then we had doctors and nurses and everything. And I became a radio operator. Many days, many days, it was just a mess. Like it was close. Is that a high range or is that low? No, that was low. It always is from the next one up above. So that's like the second line? When the city finally extended, we got the Japanese assistant. So we told them we were going to be... Some of the people in the city, I said, "What's your name?" What did you do? I said, "I'm Jewish." He said, "You're Jewish? You don't have any friends." I said, "I'm a Jew." He said, "You're a Jew? You don't have any friends." I said, "I'm a Jew." And I was angry. I said, "I'm a Jew." I didn't want to have an education. I wanted somebody like that in my books. So I went to college. I went to college. For some reason, I chose a Catholic school. But I remember my junior year, I found out I was a Catholic. Was this in what college? At Yale. Yale. And then I decided, you know, my brother was in the seminary. I thought maybe I'll go to the seminary. So I went to the seminary. What I did was I graduated college, and then I went to the seminary. And I passed the entrance exams because I had a really good English background. That's how I got into the seminary. So how long were you... So it was my brothers, my brothers, shall we say, direction or inspiration. How are you going to... I set the example. In my first congregation, in my senior year, no, in my junior year at the seminary, I took a full-time job. Oh. But prior to that, my brother had already been a Hebrew school, a religious school, a Jewish center. When you were still in... I was studying in school, I didn't know anything else. It started out that way? Started out that way. We met the settlers. My brother was a student. And then in my junior and senior year, we opened up a Jewish center. How long did you have that? Two years. I was chaplain. But then the rabbi resigned after a year. And I filled in for him for three years. Even though I was still in college, I was a full-time person. I used to travel every day with my car from the high school to the campus. And that was when I was able to... So when did you... Yeah, so that's kind of got the... Okay, so when did you talk about... do you want to talk about Alma? When did I meet her? When I graduated, I went to the University of Georgia. 1956, 1961. This is while it's happening? Yeah, my kids were there. 1956 to 1961. And I worked in the radio. 1961 to 1964. Where was 1961? From 61 to... 61 to 64. And then 1964 to 1966. I was in the army. I was in the army for three years. I didn't stay for three years because I was not very happy there. Didn't like it? Why? I didn't like the military. I didn't like the discipline. So 1966. Wait, is it coming on annual? I mean, is it... Still going strong. I don't know how strong. Still going. Okay. How about Alma? How did I meet her? Yeah, let's start there. When I was at the seminary, we used to teach. Don't know if I mentioned it, but I taught Hebrew. We used to teach Hebrew. I had another one that was a great... And this was in the middle of the year. I was in the middle of my first year. My brother sometimes would... my brother's family would come to visit. As I was going home, my mother would take me to the service. My grandmother was coming from Florida. And then when I was through, I was talking to my mother's parents. They were going... you see, my grandmother and my other grandmother, they were each other, they were families. From how? They lived on the same street. My grandmother lived right down on the same street. Oh. So they were on their Sundays, they would visit my grandmother. And they were going home, and I was going home. It was the same subway. Ah. So when I was through, and they happened to be talking to my father. So I was... so when I was going back to the seminary... I was on the train with them. And they were talking. And they said, "No, we have a niece. We'd like you to meet her." And they gave me her address. And I found it. And I never could... I couldn't pronounce her name. So I didn't know what to call her. And I thought, "I'm gonna sound like a jerk." Calling her just... just "Rival" or whatever. "What's your name?" I said. She smiled at me. She said, "You know..." She said, "My name is Dr. Fella. No, Dr. Fella means sister." And she... they... the son... his sister had a cold. So I said, "Do you have a cold?" She said, "I do." I said, "Okay, I'll call her." I called her. Did he say the name right? Huh? Did he say the name right? Do you remember if he said the name right? I don't remember what I said. That's how I... that's how we met. We met... I remember... it was... 1958 was the first date. 1958. Two.