John A. Ackerman
1965
“You've got to be kidding me, write about my life in the last 50 years after graduating from Cleveland High School?” But alas, Pete Senoff had a convincing way of encouraging me to do so. So here goes:
Graduating from Cleveland High School was the springboard into real life. It became evident that I would be paying my own way through college, so I found a job and determined that I wanted to study electrical engineering. I enrolled at Pierce College and made time to join the wrestling team. As the spring of 1966 rolled around, somehow I misjudged and my course load was one point less than full time and Uncle Sam pointed out it was time to take the physical. My dad, a WW II veteran (507th Parachute Infantry) encouraged me to enlist. Heeding his advice, I visited the U.S. Army recruiter and discussed my interest and studies of electronics.
In July 1966 I was off to Fort Polk, Louisiana for basic training. Then I was sent to Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville AL for basic electronics. From therem I went to Sandia Base, Albuquerque NM. After obtaining a variety of security clearances and completing the school, it was August 1967. The Command Sergeant Major of the Army detachment at the base presented us with “dream sheets” and the admonition that we be careful when selecting our duty stations...he was also a Light Colonel in the Reserves and had served in the Pentagon.
Since I was originally from New Jersey, I thought, why not request a duty assignment there. I came back to California to marry my college sweetheart and together we drove to Camp Kilmer, Edison, NJ. We actually enjoyed our time there – I caught up with family and made new friends. In January, 1968, the USS Pueblo was captured by the North Koreans. This seemed to trigger a variety of reassignments. In February I was on my way to Heilbronn Germany (Germany had been my second choice of duty stations).
About two months later my wife joined me and we moved into an apartment downtown. Living in the heart of Heilbronn was a great way to learn the language and customs. In August 1968, the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia. It was a very tense time. Eventually everything settled down. I began to look towards the completion of active duty, in August 1969. We planned to stay and travel, so I applied for a European discharge.. We wrapped up our apartment, shipped personal belongings home (thank you, US Army!) and began the adventure of touring a few countries via Eurail passes. Our language skills and the experience of living in Germany enabled us to be quite at home, if you will. We traveled light. If we needed something, we just bought it. After a month or so, we made our way to London and a few days later were back in Los Angeles.
Once Stateside, we got an apartment and I got a job at RCA in the engineering labs. Eventually I would go back and complete my degree in electrical engineering...or so I thought.
After a few years at RCA, reality started settling in. My math skills were by no means stellar. Nor was I overly excited about chasing electrons for the rest of my life. I changed my major to business, marketing. The group I was working with at RCA was going to be disbanded, so I moved on to another aerospace company doing reliability analysis. I left this job and enrolled at Cal State Northridge as a full-time student, taking advantage of the G.I Bill.
Being a full-time student and not working was not exactly my cup of tea either, so I took a job in sales. We had already bought our first house and, unable to have children, we looked into adopting. We felt adopting an older boy would be certainly challenging but would be a better fit than going through the calisthenics of adopting an infant. We welcomed a young seven-year-old fellow to join our family.
Graduating from Cleveland High School was the springboard into real life. It became evident that I would be paying my own way through college, so I found a job and determined that I wanted to study electrical engineering. I enrolled at Pierce College and made time to join the wrestling team. As the spring of 1966 rolled around, somehow I misjudged and my course load was one point less than full time and Uncle Sam pointed out it was time to take the physical. My dad, a WW II veteran (507th Parachute Infantry) encouraged me to enlist. Heeding his advice, I visited the U.S. Army recruiter and discussed my interest and studies of electronics.
In July 1966 I was off to Fort Polk, Louisiana for basic training. Then I was sent to Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville AL for basic electronics. From therem I went to Sandia Base, Albuquerque NM. After obtaining a variety of security clearances and completing the school, it was August 1967. The Command Sergeant Major of the Army detachment at the base presented us with “dream sheets” and the admonition that we be careful when selecting our duty stations...he was also a Light Colonel in the Reserves and had served in the Pentagon.
Since I was originally from New Jersey, I thought, why not request a duty assignment there. I came back to California to marry my college sweetheart and together we drove to Camp Kilmer, Edison, NJ. We actually enjoyed our time there – I caught up with family and made new friends. In January, 1968, the USS Pueblo was captured by the North Koreans. This seemed to trigger a variety of reassignments. In February I was on my way to Heilbronn Germany (Germany had been my second choice of duty stations).
About two months later my wife joined me and we moved into an apartment downtown. Living in the heart of Heilbronn was a great way to learn the language and customs. In August 1968, the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia. It was a very tense time. Eventually everything settled down. I began to look towards the completion of active duty, in August 1969. We planned to stay and travel, so I applied for a European discharge.. We wrapped up our apartment, shipped personal belongings home (thank you, US Army!) and began the adventure of touring a few countries via Eurail passes. Our language skills and the experience of living in Germany enabled us to be quite at home, if you will. We traveled light. If we needed something, we just bought it. After a month or so, we made our way to London and a few days later were back in Los Angeles.
Once Stateside, we got an apartment and I got a job at RCA in the engineering labs. Eventually I would go back and complete my degree in electrical engineering...or so I thought.
After a few years at RCA, reality started settling in. My math skills were by no means stellar. Nor was I overly excited about chasing electrons for the rest of my life. I changed my major to business, marketing. The group I was working with at RCA was going to be disbanded, so I moved on to another aerospace company doing reliability analysis. I left this job and enrolled at Cal State Northridge as a full-time student, taking advantage of the G.I Bill.
Being a full-time student and not working was not exactly my cup of tea either, so I took a job in sales. We had already bought our first house and, unable to have children, we looked into adopting. We felt adopting an older boy would be certainly challenging but would be a better fit than going through the calisthenics of adopting an infant. We welcomed a young seven-year-old fellow to join our family.
Sept 2012-GCHS 65th
Concurrent with my interest in electronics was my interest in the fire service. My grandfather had been a New York firefighter and my father indulged my interest by taking me to fires and fire stations. When my wife and I came back to LA, I considered applying for the LAFD but I was a tad too nearsighted. However, while I worked at RCA I was able to take time and became a seasonal volunteer firefighter in a Northern California town. What a way to spend two week vacations each year! Thanks to some contacts, I joined a Muster Team—where teams of firefighters from around California competed with antique fire apparatus. Our team was an eclectic group of firefighters from State Fire Training and some of the smaller cities around Los Angeles.
While going to school, working in sales, and getting to know our new son, I came across an ad in the Western Fire Journal, a trade magazine I subscribed to. The publication was seeking an advertising sales rep. I went down to their office and, after the interview, began working on a part-time, commission only basis. The company was very small, consisting of the editor/publisher, his wife and one office employee. The existing sales rep had retired. A few months later, I elected to work for the magazine full-time. Then I was invited to become a partner so we sold our house and moved to be closer to the “new” office.
Not quite three years later the owner was offered his old job back and asked if I was interested in buying the company so I went from the world of electrical engineering to the publishing world. I became the owner/publisher. We were the smallest privately held magazine in the fire service industry—much larger magazines were in both New York City and Chicago. However, because we focused on the Western Fire Service, we held our own. We began publishing under our corporate name, Fire Publications, Inc., training materials and books, some with an emphasis on wildland firefighting. For a variety of reasons, we changed the name to “American Fire Journal.” However our focus on the western fire service never changed.
Publishers typically run the business side of the company. I made a point of getting out in the “field” by attending a variety of fire training schools both as a student and doing participatory ride-alongs with fire department's around the country. Not only was I able to get out from behind the desk, I was able to stay in good physical shape.
On the home front, sadly after 18 years, my wife and I divorced. My son stayed with me until he went into the US Army after high school. Later on, I married again and that lasted for 14 years. My second wife wanted to move to another state where her oldest daughter and son-in-law lived to watch the grandkids grow up. We had our difficulties but there was no way I could move the company, so we divorced.
The Los Angeles Fire department Historical Society started in September 1997. I became a founding member, a board member and also spent a lot of time working on turning Old Fire Station 27 (Hollywood) into a museum.
On August 22, 2001, my sales rep and I were traveling to New Orleans for one of the many fire service conferences held throughout the year. At the layover in Denver, a lady fire chief set down next to me. The entire flight we chatted and got acquainted. I was thrilled - here was a smart lady who happened to be a fire chief and I imagined the possibilities of her writing for the magazine. When we landed, one of my field staff members picked us up and we offered to take Chief Judy to her hotel and if it was OK, would she join us for dinner. Two days later, wanting to discuss writing for us, I invited Chief Judy out to dinner. She had already done some articles for one of the other fire magazines. Unbeknownst to me, she had been doing her own background check on me. Fortunately, the results were favorable and she accepted my invitation.
Somewhere in our evening together, cupid stepped in and we did not discuss writing, but continued the conversation about who and what we each were all about. The intellectual bonding was incredible.
After the conference I invited her out to LA. She came after the tragic events of 9/11 and was one of maybe six passengers on a flight from Denver to LA. We did the long distance thing for a year and then she retired from her Fire Protection District and moved in with me.
Under my ownership the magazine had a pretty good run for almost 30 years. But as the new millennium dawned I could see the handwriting on the wall for print media in general. Deciding I was ready for a new challenge I elected to shut the business down. Looking forward to a change of pace/retirement, I sold my house and Judy sold hers (outside of Denver). We purchased a new home and in July 2004 moved to Sahuarita, Arizona (south of Tucson, 49 miles north of Mexico).
After retiring it was not very difficult to re-invent myself (again). Over the years I have enjoyed the hobby of making miniature replica fire apparatus from scratch - using only raw materials - and had developed a reputation for doing so. Now I was able to devote a lot of time to perfecting my skills. I have shown in a couple of art galleries here and did demonstrations at the newly opened miniature museum, The Mini-Time Machine Museum of Miniatures, Tucson AZ. Foremost in my efforts is making miniature replicas of long gone LAFD fire apparatus. There is a permanent display of my work at the Los Angeles Fire Museum, Old Fire Station 27, Hollywood CA. The museum is open Saturdays 10-4.
I also continue to work with the LAFD Historical Society and museum, doing various projects and periodically going over there to help. I am also a member of the Fire Museum Network, composed of fire museum folk from all over the country. This enables me to work with fire historical groups/museums around the country.
I feel quite fortunate to have had an active interest/hobby developed long before I retired. Just as NCIS Gibbs does when he goes into his basement workshop, I too, stepped aside from the pressures of the world.
There has been nary a dull moment since leaving high school. I am grateful that in retirement I continue to be actively engaged with a whole new set of challenges!
While going to school, working in sales, and getting to know our new son, I came across an ad in the Western Fire Journal, a trade magazine I subscribed to. The publication was seeking an advertising sales rep. I went down to their office and, after the interview, began working on a part-time, commission only basis. The company was very small, consisting of the editor/publisher, his wife and one office employee. The existing sales rep had retired. A few months later, I elected to work for the magazine full-time. Then I was invited to become a partner so we sold our house and moved to be closer to the “new” office.
Not quite three years later the owner was offered his old job back and asked if I was interested in buying the company so I went from the world of electrical engineering to the publishing world. I became the owner/publisher. We were the smallest privately held magazine in the fire service industry—much larger magazines were in both New York City and Chicago. However, because we focused on the Western Fire Service, we held our own. We began publishing under our corporate name, Fire Publications, Inc., training materials and books, some with an emphasis on wildland firefighting. For a variety of reasons, we changed the name to “American Fire Journal.” However our focus on the western fire service never changed.
Publishers typically run the business side of the company. I made a point of getting out in the “field” by attending a variety of fire training schools both as a student and doing participatory ride-alongs with fire department's around the country. Not only was I able to get out from behind the desk, I was able to stay in good physical shape.
On the home front, sadly after 18 years, my wife and I divorced. My son stayed with me until he went into the US Army after high school. Later on, I married again and that lasted for 14 years. My second wife wanted to move to another state where her oldest daughter and son-in-law lived to watch the grandkids grow up. We had our difficulties but there was no way I could move the company, so we divorced.
The Los Angeles Fire department Historical Society started in September 1997. I became a founding member, a board member and also spent a lot of time working on turning Old Fire Station 27 (Hollywood) into a museum.
On August 22, 2001, my sales rep and I were traveling to New Orleans for one of the many fire service conferences held throughout the year. At the layover in Denver, a lady fire chief set down next to me. The entire flight we chatted and got acquainted. I was thrilled - here was a smart lady who happened to be a fire chief and I imagined the possibilities of her writing for the magazine. When we landed, one of my field staff members picked us up and we offered to take Chief Judy to her hotel and if it was OK, would she join us for dinner. Two days later, wanting to discuss writing for us, I invited Chief Judy out to dinner. She had already done some articles for one of the other fire magazines. Unbeknownst to me, she had been doing her own background check on me. Fortunately, the results were favorable and she accepted my invitation.
Somewhere in our evening together, cupid stepped in and we did not discuss writing, but continued the conversation about who and what we each were all about. The intellectual bonding was incredible.
After the conference I invited her out to LA. She came after the tragic events of 9/11 and was one of maybe six passengers on a flight from Denver to LA. We did the long distance thing for a year and then she retired from her Fire Protection District and moved in with me.
Under my ownership the magazine had a pretty good run for almost 30 years. But as the new millennium dawned I could see the handwriting on the wall for print media in general. Deciding I was ready for a new challenge I elected to shut the business down. Looking forward to a change of pace/retirement, I sold my house and Judy sold hers (outside of Denver). We purchased a new home and in July 2004 moved to Sahuarita, Arizona (south of Tucson, 49 miles north of Mexico).
After retiring it was not very difficult to re-invent myself (again). Over the years I have enjoyed the hobby of making miniature replica fire apparatus from scratch - using only raw materials - and had developed a reputation for doing so. Now I was able to devote a lot of time to perfecting my skills. I have shown in a couple of art galleries here and did demonstrations at the newly opened miniature museum, The Mini-Time Machine Museum of Miniatures, Tucson AZ. Foremost in my efforts is making miniature replicas of long gone LAFD fire apparatus. There is a permanent display of my work at the Los Angeles Fire Museum, Old Fire Station 27, Hollywood CA. The museum is open Saturdays 10-4.
I also continue to work with the LAFD Historical Society and museum, doing various projects and periodically going over there to help. I am also a member of the Fire Museum Network, composed of fire museum folk from all over the country. This enables me to work with fire historical groups/museums around the country.
I feel quite fortunate to have had an active interest/hobby developed long before I retired. Just as NCIS Gibbs does when he goes into his basement workshop, I too, stepped aside from the pressures of the world.
There has been nary a dull moment since leaving high school. I am grateful that in retirement I continue to be actively engaged with a whole new set of challenges!
My wife Judy and I at the Biosphere 2, March 2014
The 9-11 Memorial Service at the Los Angeles Fire Museum, September 11, 2009 (John on the far left)
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Part of the display of miniature replicas at the Los Angeles Fire Museum
One of the model replicas that I made...the 1941 United-Kenworth Triple
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At the Fire Museum Network Conference at the New York Fire Museum in New York City, 2013
A close-up view of some of the detailed work on the fire engine replica to the left.
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Taken at Judy's 50th High School Reunion, 2013
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Comments
What an interesting life you've had, John. What I want to know is how did you convince your recruiter to give you the schooling you wanted? I told my recruiter I wanted computer school and I ended up a Gunner's Mate on an aircraft carrier. Guess that's Army vs Navy, huh? I've really enjoyed seeing the miniatures you've shown on Facebook. I would never have the patience to do that. They are really incredible. Thanks for taking the time to share your story. I very much enjoyed reading it. Makes it seem like we were never strangers for the past 50 years.
Jeff Davis
Jeff Davis