Shemya, Alaska
the black pearl of the Aleutians
| I arrived Shemya Island on January 30, 1975, two days
later a 7.5 earthquake rocked and rolled the island. My first experience
with an earthquake! This patch was designed by a fellow Airman, sent to
Anchorage, where is was manufactured. We sold them for $10.00 a piece to
the other personnel on the island. By the time all was said and done we
had sold 1600 patches, that cost us $2.00 each. A $12,800 profit in
about 3 weeks. Which was big money for an enlisted guy in
1975.
We had two injuries attributed to the earthquake, one was when a large stereo speaker on a shelf fell and broke an airman's collar bone, the other happened about two hours after the quake when an NCO old-timer got drunk and fell backwards off the bar stool, lacerating his head, an event attributed to the earthquake. |