Memories of Dahlgren

October 1, 2008 12:00 am

To commemorate the 90th anniversary of the base, we asked local folks to send in their memories of Dahlgren. The following is a sample of the responses. (To submit your memory, please click here.

Dahlgren for most kids could only be defined as Utopia. I lived on base from 1975-1979 (Graduate, Dahlgren Class of 1979) and enjoyed some of the greatest experiences a kid could dream of. I've read about all of the fireworks experiences, but I assure you, there could have been no better fireworks performance as the one I witnessed in the 1976 Bicentennial Show.Everything was within walking distance, the bowling alley, the theater, the community center, the gym, and the swimming pool. We lived right next to the school so we also had pretty much our very own playground not to mention the, what seemed to be, endless bike paths put in around the base. I miss the friends I met there and often wonder what happened to them all. Most were military brats, but there were a few civilian families that still lived there. After all these years I have come back to KG to live and really enjoy hearing some of the names of these people I used to know. Most importantly, there were the teachers at the school, Mr. Morton A. Jones Jr. (Principal, 8th Grade English Teacher, and Basketball Coach), Mrs. Steppe, Mrs. Slusher, Mrs. Clark, Mrs. Mangleburg, Mrs. Singleton, Ms. Johnson, Mrs. Ashton, and Mrs. Franks to name a few. Thank you to you all, even though all of you weren't my direct teachers, you all had positive influences on my life, especially Mr. Jones. I can't wait to walk the halls again!
- A.J. Pete Petrasek Jr.

Dahlgren. The very word evokes a smile and a flood of memories, too many to count or share. Living there from 1958 - 1964 was a most wonderful and cherished time, perhaps the best years of my life. A time when we walked home from school to have lunch. The lighting of the beautiful Christmas tree on Sampson Cir., when we used to have snow. 4th of July brought such excitement when children would enter running and swimming races, followed by picnics and fireworks along the Potomac. Or Halloween, oh the bags of candy, homemade costumes and celebration in the Community Center. Ice skating on the Cooling Pond or sledding down Utgough's (sp.?) Hill. The sound of geese in the fall and the sight of gold finch in the spring. My first bicycle, the clattering of training wheels as I rode my make-believe pony down Sampson RD. Dahlgren School - Miss Marie, perhaps the most beloved kindergarten teacher, followed by Mrs. Edge, Mrs. Conrad, Mrs. White, and Mrs. Slusher (sp.?). And 510 Sampson RD, our home - It is here that I return when I recall my childhood and it is Dahlgren that still delights my dreams. If only time travel was possible.
- Diane Fadeley

I have some of my best memories at Dahlgren during the 60s. Back in the day when all soda bottles were refundable, we would ride our bikes all over the base picking up discarded bottles on the sides of the road and in gutters. The ginger ale bottles were really special because they were worth a whopping nickel. With our bicycle baskets filled to overflowing, we would go to the two stores just outside the main gate, cash in our bottles and spend all our money on the really cool candy they had.
- Phyllis Weinstein

Greetings to all who shared the joy of life and memories built at Dahlgren. Dahlgren provides many fond memories, especially the friends, relationships, teachers at the elementary school, and parental role models that shaped my life and attitude forever. I moved to Dahlgren in 1958 and during the sixth through eight grades established the foundation for a lifetime of learning, service, and appreciation for community. Mrs. Dunnington, Mrs. Lancaster, Mrs. Ruth Smith, and Mr. Settle, our gentleman principal and coach, provided us with a solid educational foundation, learning skills, and knowledge that would help us through high school and college. It took some of us eight years and ten colleges, but we made it!

Friends like Ed Jones (your FLS Editor-in-Chief), Ronnie and Allen Hughes, John and Paul Glancy (yes, your favorite kind and thoughtful baker), Speight Overman, and Kathryn (Bunny) Payne, provided the friendships, spirit of competition, and memories that last a lifetime. Ed Jones never met a cat that he did not like. From his herd, he gave my mother one that lived for fourteen years, grew to 21 pounds, survived our move to Stafford in 1961, and reigned supreme over the dogs and cats in Tylerton. But I get ahead of myself. Walking or riding your bike to school was always a joy. . . in-bound workers gave you the right of way because everyone knew everyone else. The community was close, thoughtful, and considerate. In the fifties and early sixties, civilian employees lived on base. We lived on Third Street, in the heart of “Boom Town.” The cannon fire and resulting concussion may have been the source of the name, but really it was World War II housing that was constructed to house the technicians, scientists, and engineers brought on board to support the war.
- Byron Hinton

I grew up on the base at Dahlgren and went to Dahlgren School from kindergarten through eighth grade. The faculty and staff at the school were great and provided a great learning environment for students. Living on the base was also a great experience. Everything was right there, family, friends, recreation and services such as a movie theater and bowling alley. I have many good memories of my times at Dahlgren. I lived there in the 1960s and 70s until after college and now live in Spotsylvania, but work in King George.
- Bill Wishard

I lived on the base until I was ten years old, and the memories are indelible.

One highlight of the year was the fireworks display on the 4th of July, for a base full of people who knew a thing or two about ballistics was a sure bet for an ooh-aah light show. Another was Armed Forces Day, the one day a year when we kids could go inside the mystical “restricted area” and actually see where our fathers worked, although I’ll bet most of us didn’t have the faintest clue what it was they did.

Somewhere in my boxes of memorabilia I likely still have a relic of Armed Forces Day, a strip of shiny metallic tape produced by a room-size computer, then on the cutting edge, that spells out my name in dot matrix. For a kid? Pure magic, much like running through the summertime evening clouds of DDT our parents tried in vain to get us to stay out of.

The daily gun testing was such a part of the aural atmosphere that we kids nonchalantly shrugged it off --- to this day I barely notice when a car backfires. Only one gun report from all those years remains etched in my memory, and it’s not one I could hear. It was in Mrs. Conrad’s class in 1963 that my classmates and I learned, from the principal’s solemn voice on the loudspeakers mounted above each classroom’s door, that our president had been shot.

I’ll add that for some of our time on the base my family lived right on the golf course, and I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to any of the golfers whose balls my childhood cohorts and I stole before they even quit rolling. And thank you very much for boosting our ten-cent allowance by buying them back from us. You paid for our Milk Duds at the Dahlgren theatre.
- Nancy Dearing Rossbacher

Dahlgren Base is my hometown. My parents moved there when I was 3 months old and I lived there until I was 21 and graduating from college. For kids this was like a country club living - pool, gym, playgrounds, movie theater. You could ride your bike anywhere and your parents felt absolutely secure that you were safe. Dahlgren School had the best teachers - you didn't want to be in Miss Dunnington's Dungeon!
- Wayne Hughes (Lived there 1950-1971)

What a place to live and grow up!!! As an elementary youngster, I thought every community had a pool (remember the high dive?), bowling alley, a community center building, summer programs for kids, playgrounds, and the safety of a secure community where kids could ride their bikes around for hours and walk to the movie theater alone. Those of you who grew up there, and now in your fifties or sixties, might remember the taste of the persimmons from the trees along the sidewalk, just outside of the fence at the area now know as building 1500. Armed Forces Day - Open House at the base - was greeted with great excitement. Many will remember friendships and fun made at the the pool and snack bar. Some will remember the BIG computer in K-LAB, the train rides, and the boom of the big guns, and the guards who knew you and your parents by name.....What a life at Dahlgren!!!
- Wanda Newton Atkins

My dad was transferred to the Dahlgren base in 1959 as an Aviation Electrician at the airfield. I, as well as my brother and sisters, spent three very happy years at the Dahlgren school. I fondly remember Mrs. Helen White, Mrs. Mary Davies, and Mrs. Mary Clark. All were exceptional teachers, and had close relationships with the students and their families. I received my love of History from Mrs. Davies. Her classroom was set up with a fireplace and colonial winged-back chairs. My mother reuphostered the chairs. Mrs. Davies also had a general store built inside her room. Each week, two students were allowed to sit in the general store during the entire day. History really came alive in Mrs. Davies' classroom.
- Barbara Wisdom

“During the late 1930s, my dad used to take me fishing from the boat he manned as part of his duty. It was the same boat that he often stood duty on as FDR came down the Potomac River for occasional visits in the area.”
- Ollie Chenevert
Thousand Oaks, CA

“In the 1950s, there was the time—6 a.m. Saturday to be exact—when Bill Kemper (aka “Uncle Bill” to many Dahlgren children) called to ask if I would like to climb one of the old velocity towers to see and photograph a new litter of osprey chicks that had been born earlier that week. We did, despite the momma osprey’s objections.”
- Jack Kunlo
King George

“Miss Dunnington, who taught sixth grade at Dahlgren School in the 1950s, still sits on my shoulder reminding me to finish what I start or ‘you’ll never amount to anything in your life!’ She scared the Be-Jesus out of me, and I’ve always been grateful.”
- Lynne Reynolds (formerly Warren)

Many of the friends I made back at Dahlgren are still a part of my life today. In fact, I met Theresa Lyon in third grade at this school and we now live in the same apartment! The memories and friends I made there really do last a lifetime.
- Veronica

I was raised in Dahlgren. As a child I can remember chasing the DDT trucks on our bicycles- The spray was as thick as fog and smelled terrible, but that didn't stop our pursuit! When the medical facility at Dahlgren was being built my Dad toted water to the workers, he was paid 25 cents a week for his labor and said he would take his wages and buy blue jeans. After many many years and much hard work my Dad, Richard Rennoe, retired from Dahlgren as the head of Main Range Services. Both of my grandfathers retired from Dahlgren and now my son works there. I'm so proud of this town as well as the naval base! Thanks, Dahlgren, for giving me such terrific memories!
- Margaret Rennoe Daniel

I grew up at Dahlgren and have many fond memories of that place. My family moved there in 1986 and I didn't leave the area until 2001. I went to Dahlgren School from 4th grade to 7th grade and I am still friends with many of my former classmates (I am now 31 yrs old!). I also met my husband on base. He was stationed at Space Command. I wish I could be there to celebrate Dahlgren's 90th Anniversary!
- Michelle Tidwell (Thompson)
Niceville, FL