- Joined
- Oct 26, 2010
- Messages
- 2,058
-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/
Oct. 25th 1975, Found the Old Man's Hunting knives from the plane crash.
- Thread starter T. Erdelyi
- Start date
:thumbup:
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2001
- Messages
- 32,359
Another year, 42 years now and it's hard to believe he's gone. I still have dreams of him comin' home after 42 years and tellin' me it was all a scam, he did it for the insurance money and to aye the doctor bills. 
He's always tryin' to convince me that hidin' for 42 years was a better option somehow than bein' with his family and watchin' his kids grow .
I can remember buildin' the runway upstate NY, usin' the D-9 to carve a flat graded 1/2 mile patch of land in the Catskill mountains. I have memories of bear huntin', buildin' a 1 mile lake on the side of a mountain with a feed and a dam to maintain level. Most of all I remember the 28 days it took to build a 9 mile road through the woods in order to get the D-9 up to Doc's land so we could build the runway.
We spent many weeks in the fall winterizing the main lodge and all the equipment including the vehicles and boats. Winter can be brutal up there and anything left on it's own outside rarely lasts more than a few winters before it's junk. I built a lifetime of memories in those dozen or so years, I learned how to survive in the wilderness, he taught me survival skills and life skills in those days. I learned how important family and friends are, I learned what trust was and what it meant to be disappointed. I learned to hunt and trap game, cuss like a truckdriver and drink like a longshoreman or was it the other way around?
He taught me how to fix things, better yet he taught me how to troubleshoot my life's problems. He was full of wit and wisdom, respected by all and loved by everyone. In 42 years I've never heard a bad thing or word about him. It's rare for me to say I've met and known some great men, my Old Man and my Father in Law were 2 of 'em, both these men put their family and friends first. Both of them would give you the shirt off their backs and their last dollar to help a stranger.
I owe everything I am to my Old Man, he taught me what a real man is, he taught me what was important and that was family. Pops, I love ya and you always knew that, we were close and you were my best friend. I have but only 1 regret in the last 42 years and all the year still to come, you never got to meet your granddaughter or daughter in law. MHL&R Old Man, I'll see ya on the otherside. Till then keep an eye on my family, even though they never met you, they love you. To the greatest man ever, happy 42nd anniversary, it's been a long time, I love and miss you more every day still.
He's always tryin' to convince me that hidin' for 42 years was a better option somehow than bein' with his family and watchin' his kids grow .I can remember buildin' the runway upstate NY, usin' the D-9 to carve a flat graded 1/2 mile patch of land in the Catskill mountains. I have memories of bear huntin', buildin' a 1 mile lake on the side of a mountain with a feed and a dam to maintain level. Most of all I remember the 28 days it took to build a 9 mile road through the woods in order to get the D-9 up to Doc's land so we could build the runway.
We spent many weeks in the fall winterizing the main lodge and all the equipment including the vehicles and boats. Winter can be brutal up there and anything left on it's own outside rarely lasts more than a few winters before it's junk. I built a lifetime of memories in those dozen or so years, I learned how to survive in the wilderness, he taught me survival skills and life skills in those days. I learned how important family and friends are, I learned what trust was and what it meant to be disappointed. I learned to hunt and trap game, cuss like a truckdriver and drink like a longshoreman or was it the other way around?
He taught me how to fix things, better yet he taught me how to troubleshoot my life's problems. He was full of wit and wisdom, respected by all and loved by everyone. In 42 years I've never heard a bad thing or word about him. It's rare for me to say I've met and known some great men, my Old Man and my Father in Law were 2 of 'em, both these men put their family and friends first. Both of them would give you the shirt off their backs and their last dollar to help a stranger.
I owe everything I am to my Old Man, he taught me what a real man is, he taught me what was important and that was family. Pops, I love ya and you always knew that, we were close and you were my best friend. I have but only 1 regret in the last 42 years and all the year still to come, you never got to meet your granddaughter or daughter in law. MHL&R Old Man, I'll see ya on the otherside. Till then keep an eye on my family, even though they never met you, they love you. To the greatest man ever, happy 42nd anniversary, it's been a long time, I love and miss you more every day still.
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2016
- Messages
- 1,627
I want to say something but I don't know what. Brought tears to my eyes reading this.
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2001
- Messages
- 32,359
Another year, 42 years now and it's hard to believe he's still gone. (click the blue link to read the original post) I still have dreams of him comin' home after 42 years and tellin' me it was all a scam, he did it for the insurance money and to aye the doctor bills. He's always tryin' to convince me that hidin' for 42 years was a better option somehow than bein' with his family and watchin' his kids grow .
I can remember buildin' the runway upstate NY, usin' the D-9 to carve a flat graded 1/2 mile patch of land in the Catskill mountains. I have memories of bear huntin', buildin' a 1 mile lake on the side of a mountain with a feed and a dam to maintain level. Most of all I remember the 28 days it took to build a 9 mile road through the woods in order to get the D-9 up to Doc's land so we could build the runway.
We spent many weeks in the fall winterizing the main lodge and all the equipment including the vehicles and boats. Winter can be brutal up there and anything left on it's own outside rarely lasts more than a few winters before it's junk. I built a lifetime of memories in those dozen or so years, I learned how to survive in the wilderness, he taught me survival skills and life skills in those days. I learned how important family and friends are, I learned what trust was and what it meant to be disappointed. I learned to hunt and trap game, cuss like a truckdriver and drink like a longshoreman or was it the other way around?
He taught me how to fix things, better yet he taught me how to troubleshoot my life's problems. He was full of wit and wisdom, respected by all and loved by everyone. In 42 years I've never heard a bad thing or word about him. It's rare for me to say I've met and known some great men, my Old Man and my Father in Law were 2 of 'em, both these men put their family and friends first. Both of them would give you the shirt off their backs and their last dollar to help a stranger.
I owe everything I am to my Old Man, he taught me what a real man is, he taught me what was important and that was family. Pops, I love ya and you always knew that, we were close and you were my best friend. I have but only 1 regret in the last 42 years and all the year still to come, you never got to meet your granddaughter or daughter in law. MHL&R Old Man, I'll see ya on the otherside. Till then keep an eye on my family, even though they never met you, they love you. To the greatest man ever, happy 42nd anniversary, it's been a long time, I love and miss you more every day still.
He's always tryin' to convince me that hidin' for 42 years was a better option somehow than bein' with his family and watchin' his kids grow .I can remember buildin' the runway upstate NY, usin' the D-9 to carve a flat graded 1/2 mile patch of land in the Catskill mountains. I have memories of bear huntin', buildin' a 1 mile lake on the side of a mountain with a feed and a dam to maintain level. Most of all I remember the 28 days it took to build a 9 mile road through the woods in order to get the D-9 up to Doc's land so we could build the runway.
We spent many weeks in the fall winterizing the main lodge and all the equipment including the vehicles and boats. Winter can be brutal up there and anything left on it's own outside rarely lasts more than a few winters before it's junk. I built a lifetime of memories in those dozen or so years, I learned how to survive in the wilderness, he taught me survival skills and life skills in those days. I learned how important family and friends are, I learned what trust was and what it meant to be disappointed. I learned to hunt and trap game, cuss like a truckdriver and drink like a longshoreman or was it the other way around?
He taught me how to fix things, better yet he taught me how to troubleshoot my life's problems. He was full of wit and wisdom, respected by all and loved by everyone. In 42 years I've never heard a bad thing or word about him. It's rare for me to say I've met and known some great men, my Old Man and my Father in Law were 2 of 'em, both these men put their family and friends first. Both of them would give you the shirt off their backs and their last dollar to help a stranger.
I owe everything I am to my Old Man, he taught me what a real man is, he taught me what was important and that was family. Pops, I love ya and you always knew that, we were close and you were my best friend. I have but only 1 regret in the last 42 years and all the year still to come, you never got to meet your granddaughter or daughter in law. MHL&R Old Man, I'll see ya on the otherside. Till then keep an eye on my family, even though they never met you, they love you. To the greatest man ever, happy 42nd anniversary, it's been a long time, I love and miss you more every day still.
Squidman24
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2015
- Messages
- 1,307
Damn allergies makin my eyes water. I go hunting with my Dad who I don't see as often as I should next week.... I think I'll give him a hug for the first time in about 20 years. Although your time together was short - your old man raised a good man. Much respect.
Squidman24
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2015
- Messages
- 1,307
It just occurred to me, imagine the heartache your Mother would've experienced had she lost her Husband & Son at the same time......sometimes slacking off in school has its advantages I guess.
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2001
- Messages
- 32,359
We talk about that often, normally I woulda been the 6th passenger like I'd been for all the past years. I occasionally look it up on Google earth, it's amazing how much I can see of the property. If you look up the Little Rapids/Beaver River area on the Stillwater Reservoir in NY State,, it's northwest of the town of Stillwater (it's also near Big Moose) you can see the Runway, the hangers, boathouse and across the reservoir you can see the Lodge, Annex and Honeymoon cottage. This place belonged to the Rockefeller's before Doc bought it. It was hugh. Doc always said he wanted a piece of land big enough that if he traveled on the longest day of the year in any direction from sunrise till sunset then turned around and went back home so he could never travel off his property in a day.
I talk about this place all the time, here's a pic where you can see the runway, the buildings and the lake, Falls Lake, (originally we named it Crystal Lake because it was so clear but changed the name because there already were several Crystal Lakes around.
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2001
- Messages
- 32,359
That's how we got up there in the winter, 9 mile trip up the Stillwater Reservoir in a long caravan of snow cats and snowmobiles. Winter time was tough upsidedownland there, many summers we still found snow on the north side of the hanger as late as July. It was a remote place back in '75. I'd love to go back and visit just once to see what 42 years hath wrought on the property. There was a lot of equipment and tools up there, boats, trucks and a vintage Piper Cub me and the Old Man restored. There's also a secret hidden vault about the size of a 15' X 20' hidden on the property with all kinds of booze, drugs (he was a doctor), guns, tools and who knows what else.
Some day... some day.
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2016
- Messages
- 11,261
It was cool and rainin when I set out at 8:00 am with my mom to deliver the letters for a request for a variance to put two apartments on the second floor of a Firehouse my old man had just bought.
I was fifteen then, it was 1975, Saturday, October 25th, I was into my second year of HS, goin to a High Class Private School on a scholarship.
Everything was great, almost everything, I should have been on that plane, I should have been the one going Up State NY to the camp to close it up for the winter, usually wed sneak a little preseason hunting, deer, bear and whatever else we could shoot.
Yup it shouldve been me but it wasnt, I had goofed around at school a little too much that semester, the wrestling team was getting ready to go to the USSR that year for a goodwill match and we, I wasnt keepin' my grades up, so I got a B- in physics, my old man wouldnt let me go this time, I could use the week to study and deliver the variance letters with my mom, he gave me a hug and said well sneak up in a couple weeks and finish closin' up and do some huntin'.
That was the last time I saw him, Friday night before he left with five other friends and pseudo family members on a so called huntin' trip/end of year camp closin', the property once belonged to the Rockefellers and then a very wealthy friend of the family bought it, the only way in was by boat, nine miles up the Stillwater Reservoir, or by plane to a half mile runway I helped carve out of the woods with my old man, there was a road that took us 28 days to carve through the woods with a Cat D-9 and a few other pieces of road building equipment but thats another adventure.
Still it shouldve been me goin' but it wasnt, the plane was a brand new Piper Twin Engine Aztec E series, back then one of the more advanced planes out there, The Doctor who owned the plane and the camp was a pilot and certified to train commercial airline pilots, my old mad had countless hours flying time and tons of solo time, (he also had his pilots licence), it was cold and rainey when they left at 6:00 am that mornin' from Solberg a little airport in Jersey.
All day I pissed and moaned because I was stuck deliverin these stupid letters it was goin on 12 noon when we finally headed home, my old man was probably openin' up the lodge and startin a fire, turnin on the propane tanks for light and gettin ready to head out to our favorite deer run to check out the signs.
The night before, I helped him pack while he explained to me yet again why I couldnt go this time, he took my 308 bolt action Savage, his S&W 38 cal. Detective Special, his 44 magnum, a double barrel 12 gauge shotgun and two sheath knives, one was a Kabar fixed blade, like the ones you see them openin crates with in the old WW2 movies and the other was a split tang Edge Brand 10-12 Bowie knife with a Stag handle. He threw these into his duffle bag along with his huntin clothes and other survival necessities, hell hed be back in a week.
As we turned the corner to our street I thought I heard the guy on the radio say somethin about a small plane crash in NJ, my mom clicked off the radio just as we pulled up to the house.
My uncles truck was parked in front of the house, I thought this was kinda odd but I followed my mom into the house just in time to hear her scream and start wailin, I wasnt sure what my uncle told her but I knew it couldnt be good.
My mom stumbled over to me and grabbed on and said, Your fathers dead, theyre all dead . the plane crashed and theyre all gone, then my uncle told her she needed to identify his body, so she left, she left a 15 year old boy who was closer to his father than anyone else, after tellin him his best friend was dead, she left him alone in the house, standin in the doorway sobbin.
The next week was a blur with funeral after funeral six in all, investigators from the insurance companies and the FAA, newspapers tv reporters, it was a circus and that 15 year old boy had to grow up quick that year.
Around spring I remember my mom askin me to go to the police station with her to pick up the guns and knives they recovered from the plane crash, they handed her several bags and a some gun parts, in one bag was the blade of the Kabar, apparently the knife was on his belt and when the plane hit the ground the blade went into his hip and the blade snapped, I still have the broken blade and then there was the Bowie, my mom kept that.
She eventually gave me the knife back in the early 80s but it was packed away and never seen again, till a few weeks ago, I was goin through an old toolbox of his I inherited after he died and there wrapped in paper was the knife a little rusty and kinda pitted but Ill be damned there it was, a little clean up with some steel wool and she was almost as good as new, the leather spacers had shrunk a little leavin the pommel a little loose but all in all still in good shape and still sharp as heck.
The only reason Im even tellin yall this story is because the 32nd anniversary of his death is loomin in the near future and findin this knife has brought a lot of old feelins and issues to the surface that need attention and telling his story was one of those issues, thanks for listenin'.
I'll post a pick of the knife later.
So sorry for your loss. I'm sure you're probably still dealing with the ramifications of that happening to you so young.
Amazing, your father actually literally saved your life.
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
- Messages
- 1,144
Neat knives. I'm very sorry for what happened to your father and for your loss. Terrible thing losing one's parent specially at 15 years old.
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2011
- Messages
- 951
Dang hell of a story. RIP to your dad.
GB940Rookie
Gold Member
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2016
- Messages
- 3,839
I was unaware of this thread.
Ted,
I am truly sorry for your loss. Do not mourn his passing but Rejoice and Celebrate the great relationship you had with your father.
Sounds like a hell of a guy.
Ted,
I am truly sorry for your loss. Do not mourn his passing but Rejoice and Celebrate the great relationship you had with your father.
Sounds like a hell of a guy.
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2015
- Messages
- 4,666
Wow. First time seeing/reading this. As a father who is very very close with his two sons, it really hits me more personally and viscerally than I am used to on BFC. You've given me a lot to think about.
My words are meaningless but for what it's worth, I'm sorry that you had to go through that and appreciative that you saw fit to share it with us.
My words are meaningless but for what it's worth, I'm sorry that you had to go through that and appreciative that you saw fit to share it with us.
