Transcription of Document FFDoc-1241.pdf

Wed. Feb 25, 1970

Dear Lucy and youngsters, & Mrs. Watson & others

It's now 11:20 PM, just about one hour after taking off from Kennedy Airport. We were supposed to leave at 9PM, but were delayed. We are traveling with Mr. Levada from International GE in NY, so he made us his guests in the plush "Rembrandt" Room of KLM airlines - which is a place where VIP's and 1st Class passengers (we're going tourist class) may relax with drinks and magazines while waiting for plane time. In a few minutes after take-off I saw the last of the blinking light of Ambrose Lightship in lower N.Y. harbor, as it faded behind us. The heating system was not working properly at first, but it's fine now. I had a Dutch beer before dinner, and then we were served a small but very tasty dinner of crabmeat salad, tender beef tips on a skewer, peas/carrots (I can hear your "Ugh"s), rice, roll, coffee and dessert.

The plane is almost empty, and everyone has 3 seats to himself. You can remove the armrests, so most people have done so and curled up with a blanket and pillows. In a little more than one or two hours, the sun should begin to come up on the horizon. It's been a long day for me, what with getting up at 4AM (I woke at 3:15) to give Mary her medicine. And we're due in Amsterdam near 5AM. So perhaps I should stretch out for a while and get my "forty winks". I'm anxious to know how Mary is coming along and hoping strongly that she doesn't have "strep" throat.

Wow! We've hit some rough weather and the plane is jouncing so hard it's difficult to write. I'll knock off for a while!

3AM: At 2:15AM the eastern sky lightened, and now the sun is just peeking above the clouds. All across the North Atlantic has been overcast, and you cannot see the ocean below. I slept fitfully, as did many of the others aboard, although some slept like babes. Now most are stirring to meet the new day, and the steward has already been around to fold up the light blankets we used against the cold, and to pass out orange juice.

I can smell coffee, so we will shortly be getting that and a sweet roll for breakfast. I estimate it is probably around 6 to 7AM Amsterdam time. Only 3 hours or so more to go. I shall try to mail this at Schipol (Skĭpōl) airport so you hear from me as soon as possible.

At 3:30 AM the sun was well up, the clouds thinning out and the ocean could faintly be seen below. At 3:40 we passed over the southern edge of Ireland, far below, and the flight Captain announced "seat belts" for rough air ahead. Only an hour out of Amsterdam now.

Now the Southern shore of England is continually below, and I am surprised to see from the smokestacks below that the wind is blowing in a southerly direction - something we just about never see in Scotia.

Now we are coming up on the Estuary near Cardiff, Wales, and I can see the Welsh-English countryside below. Suddenly, the cloud cover has closed in again below us, and I can no longer see the ground.

Breakfast - a light snack - was just served.  The "menu" was in French, and a literal translation of "Pain Americain" - American Bread - surprises one to find it is in reality a corn muffin. We also had a "hot snack" which was like a hamburger (small) done up in egg-roll fashion, in a pastry-like cover. Very good.

4:20AM  NY Time - Now over the English Channel/North Sea, seen occasionally through a break in the puffy clouds below. The Captain has announced it's 39°F in Amsterdam this morning.

Finally the European coast - probably Holland, looms up, ahead. We're starting down. Two or 3 ships can be seen plowing the North Sea in a southwesterly direction - towards the Channel and England. They're far below.

Touchdown at Amsterdam at 4:50AM NY time, 10:50 AM Dutch time (6 hours ahead of NY).

12:30PM - Checked into the Hotel Des Indes in The Hague, about 25 mi from the airport. All the way here I was impressed most by one thing, - the neatness and cleanliness of the country. Almost no debris can be seen in the bricked and cobblestoned streets, and no disorder in the countryside. The only eyesore was an auto junkyard, and that was screened by a surrounding fence.

Now 1PM, and I feel like a new person after a wash and shave. My boys will not quite understand that. And, oh yes, don't forget the toothbrush's addition to that good feeling!

In about 24h. we'll be taking off for Switzerland and Libya. I'll quit now to get this in the mail and see what the Messrs Grimmke and Levada, with whom I'm traveling, wish to do with the afternoon.

Lucy - after you have all read this have Joe mail it to Miss DeSimone at the GE address on p 4 of the itinerary I left.

Pat - please type this up, editing the personal parts as you see fit, and pass it around.

Please send copies with a general "To Whom it Concerns" note to

        Mrs FJ Shields 244 87 St Brooklyn NY 11209

        Mrs. V. Tergesen Yantz Road, Red Hook, N.Y.

        Mr & Mrs. R. Koehne, 9 Bellaire Dr, Scotia NY 12302

        Mrs Anna LeLievre, 101 Goode St, Burnt Hills, NY 12027 (check the zip)

        One copy to my home

Love to all, Frank

Pat - Do the same with any others you get in the future.