My Sagas with the Santomennos - A tribute to  Frank and family [from Ken Bowie].

Dear Penny, Agnes, David, Ariana and Robert,

It is with extreme sadness that I am writing to you with some of my recollections and reminiscences of both Frank and you all over the past 35 years or so.  Perhaps these vignettes may/will help to assist us in the process of healing and recovering from the loss of a very dear friend and for you, a friend and loved one.

I joined Page Communications Engineers on December 26, 1965 and it was shortly thereafter I was loaned to Comsat to monitor the construction and installation of the unique 42 Foot Cass-horn “transportable” antenna and earth station at Andover, Maine.

This was a bit odd since I had been deeply involved with the design. However, due to Comsat’s lack of personnel, I was their representative in charge of my own company doing the work.  Such arrangements were deal makings contrived with the Page mystique from people such as Jim McLeod, Henry DelBianco, Alan Peck, Matt Vlissides and Nihat Oktay.

Five other 42 Foot antennas were installed around the world at sites in Carnarvon - Australia, Manila - Philippines, Brewster -Washington, Taylor's Island - Maryland and Satchel - Thailand.  It was there I first met Mike Kelly where his one of a kind sailboat with concrete keel was being fitted out in Thai teak after having been constructed in Viet Nam. Who knew it then, how much Mike and his wife Roberta were going to be involved with us in the upcoming years?

I know my first contact with Father Frank in 1967 was on the Panama Earth Station while we were still at good ole White haven Street in Georgetown, DC.  Rumors had provided prior info on his experience and fame, expertise and prowess with tower and antennae erection. The Panama antenna was to be a fully steerable 30 Meter (105’) parabolic dish which was later called a type A  Earth Station. This was the FIRST BIGGIE for Page and it had been arranged that Page would form the Panama International telephone company named Intercomsa and loan around $6.5M in order to get the company and service in business.

Some senior management of Page at that time were Joe Waldschmidt, Jim McLeod, John Jansen, Al Pope, Charlie Sealy, David Coddington and all the other home office support office staff like John Giaguinto, John Borkman, Don Colbert, et al. (The names of people mentioned herein are for posterity’s sake and I apologize for perhaps missing some and not being 100% complete.)

Of course, there were the other key field personnel that were very necessary and critical for the success of all the exciting and adventurous Page projects around the globe. Some of those involved with Panama were: John Sullivan, Earl Bauer, Walt Mitchell, Chuck Larson, Warren Banner, Jack Hoyt, Wayne Glazer, Tom Minton, Tom Jayra, Al Jarrett, Jack Bottomley and all the other wonderful EXPERT ENGINEERS including Bob Baluta, Tom Minton and Porter Houston.

High honorable mention must be made for all the wives and family of we poor working stiffs who, at the drop of a hat, traveled to anyplace on the planet, worked under any conditions and stayed for as long as it took to get the job completed!  A lot of time was mandatory at the local watering holes - infamous places such as the Charcoal Hearth, JR’s Steak House, the Vienna Inn, DaDomenicos and all the other pubs around town and the world.  Here’s where we fought the days battles over again and planned for tomorrows.  Ancillary events were the liar’s poker, card games, award parties, picnics at Smokey Glen, Christmas and Bowling dances, golf outings, boat rides, and just plain company with each other - a few highlights shared by the wonderful Page people.

Frank appeared very happy to have taken the initial Panama construction assignment, which was indeed challenging and up his alley. Then, at the completion of installation and start of operational service, wouldn’t you know, he was asked if he would like to stay on and be the resident Intercomsa GM and watchdog/monitor of the payback on the loan. Remember how happy and proud he was when the last payment was made to pay off in full.

Some occurrence during the construction of the Panama Earth Station:

A large effort was launched to locate a crane large enough to set the antenna pedestal, massive bull gears and all other structural components. But, alas, none was available in-country or close by. Then by chance, an ole clunker - circa 1930, was found in the Canal Zone. After the start of WW2, it had been armor plated so as to be able to withstand Japanese fire while repairing canal locks after and during bombing. During transport to the site, we broke a few bridges and culverts and at one stream, even a ford was prepared.

I had to make Polaris and sun shots in order to verify the exact Latitude, Longitude and Elevation of the site for automatic satellite tracking and positioning. There was a discrepancy in existing data and that started the game that Frank and I had for years as to the accuracy of my designs and computations. But that was part of Frank’s (sinister) character - trying to catch me in a mistake or miscalculation. The exact location was very critical since Page had also determined that we were to form fit the 105’ parabola for the most near perfect alignment at the exact satellite look angle.

It was also quite apparent on site, that the initial dislike between Chuck Larson and Frank (which had started in Washington), had grown exponentially since their arrival on the very hot, humid, rainy and muddy site.  This reached catastrophic flux, when it was discovered that two of the four bull gears - monstrous rack pieces that had been milled to thousandths of an inch in order to match fit, had been installed in reverse. During subsequent attempts to remove the hefty mounting bolts, we sheared the head off one of them. It was determined that all new stronger bolts had to be air freighted in. Chuck was released from the site.

We were all staying at the La Quinta Hotel and Casino, and it was quite a merry- go- round since it was 7 days a week, day and night shifts, full blast! The antenna panels had to be set during night with six to eight mounting points welded in and then adjusted via theodolite to millimeters. During the crane setup, it was found that the azimuth brakes were defective and there were no possible replacement parts. Using our God-given Yankee ingenuity, all that was needed, was a dedicated brake operator who used a bull pin to stick between the cogs and that worked fine. But, one night, the brake operator missed his cue and the boom swung freely - crashing into the support structure. Luckily, the bent members were removed and straightened rickety-split.  

Since my brother Donald was serving as a communications officer in the Canal Zone at the time, my mother was invited to come down for Mothers day. Our families had a wonderful Mongolian barbecue in the Zone. During the 60’s, the Green Berets had selected their final hell training to be in Zone taking full advantage of the terrain and unbelievable climate. My eccentric brother took advantage of these facilities and added that grade to his ratings.

After the site was operational and Intercomsa was in business, I had the good fortune and opportunity to stop in Panama many times over the years to visit. Since international calls were free, Frank would request some hard-to-get items that I was pleased to hand-carry in. On one trip, I remember going over the layout of the apartment to determine the space and area necessary for his new hobby of making jewelry. Of course, this required Lapidary machines, ovens, tools, precious metals, stones and all sorts of goodies. And with Frank’s guile, copies of Waka’s were made that received rave accolades and a hobby became a business as Reprosa was born.

Some of the other memorable events;

The Intercomsa company picnic and trip to the San Blas islands

Franks moonlighting broadcast and disasters with championship boxing

Another separate trip with all-day sail in the bay

Visiting you on the Intercomsa launch/yacht at DC marina

Being granted limited access to the Battleship New Jersey going thru the locks

Your stops at the Four Seasons on M Street

I never ceased to wonder/be confounded at the sun rising up over the Pacific!

It was sometime in there that Frank organized another expedition at getting the known gold out of one on the mountains in the Zone. Mike Kelly was deeply involved on this attempt, which entailed getting a dredge up the tributary. But alas, history repeated itself, catastrophe struck again and I’ll leave the details of that episode to Mike and others.

Then there was the exercise of getting the BIRDS off the antenna. The excrement was indeed degrading the antenna performance. Numerous experts were called in and poisons, explosions, and all sorts of cock- a-mamie/rube Goldberg attempts proved futile.

Lo and behold, the final solution was to enshroud the backup structure using fishing nets acquired from Panama City.

In 1971, Frank had been called on to help with the resolution of how to put up the USIA Kavala steel. He was in Washington when the heating blanket theory was finalized with Okan Hemseri.  What a nutty idea - grown men wrapping the 9 inch tower legs in swaddling blankets and monitoring the temperature until it was hot enough not to break and safe enough to put up. Frank was asked to take over from Carl Binzer and make sure we field folks followed the strict procedures and instructions. 

Then we were all in Xanthi, Greece including the Kelly’s. And what a tragedy for them. After completion of his work assignment, the boat they had sailed more than halfway around the world, ran into an uncharted reef and sunk in the Aegean.

And what would our lives have been in that Turkish enclave in northern Macedonia and Thrace without the wonderful hospitality of the local Greek hires.  How they knew how to enjoy life and what good people they are such as Katie and Toni Kontropides, Kerios Vatsakis, Andreus Mitakidis, Leonidas Papadopoulus - Antenna foreman, and a few hundred more.  High honorable mention must go to the Filipino crew. Just as Page had used them in Panama and on projects around the world, we also had an excellent crew of more than 50 who performed all the steel and antenna erection and installation without a single loss of life.

US key Page personnel on site were Sedat Oktay, John Loving, Jocko Mikkola, Don Klein, John Critchfield, Jim Leahy, Martha Higginbotham (called Karakaxa ), and Mary and Dave Wallen our school teacher. Additional field folks were Howard Bowman (called Dr. Strange Mouth), John Lebreeze - folk singer and guitar player, Larry Brooks at the receiver site, Merv Clausen who had the only serious accident but what speedy recovery, Joe Collier, and many others that I did not have the time to look up.

Let us not forget mentioning major subcontractors in addition to Scapaneus who was the prime construction subcon. There was Continental for transmitters with rep Adel Mina, the Nordberg monster marine engines and generators, Painter Brothers - the British manufacturer in Wales of the US supplied steel, and Franco Mairani  - Italian tower and antenna erection. What a wealth of experience and excellent work ethics provided by all.

It was in downtown Xanthi that the Page ladies found Agnes - a Scottish lass teaching English with a brogue that had been held prisoner/hostage by a Turkish sultan.

Then David found Agnes. A little while later, I was supposed to be Agnes’ acting father-of- the- bride, but having come down with pneumonia, Fergus (Frank) McNally had to step in. Remember David’s apartment complete with parachute and waterbed. Also don’t forget the VW bug that we had gotten my in-laws from Boomerang Motors in Athens. The little Irish couple from Brooklyn had put over 3K miles around Europe before you picked up that vehicle.

A separate saga relates to the putting up/erection of the steel with Heated Blankets:

Having one person - Larry Parizer in charge of taking movies of all efforts

The largest crane in the world accident when the jib was pulled over on itself.  A German machine costing $500K new especially rigged for 450 feet that did not have automatic safety and controls. The first operator, Swanson had made little wooden blocks for his own peace of mind but did not share with the second operator, Nassaney. Two operators were necessary in order to maximize every second of daylight and weather conditions. The hapless new operator, after completing high altitude work, then moved to the next tower in the morning. After set up, during the first pick of the day, he made a simple mistake and pulled the jib over on himself. Frank, Dave Coddington and myself had the horror of seeing that happen before our very eyes. Luckily the 1500-pound balls ricocheted off the cab and no one was hurt. What an exercise to repair and replace the damaged components and get back to work!

Frank had a dislike or perhaps even a lack of respect for Kerios Peruka who had made several bad mistakes over the years in Kavala/Xanthi. One example was driving off the road into the levee, sinking a VW wagon and being rescued by a shepherd.

Peruka attacked the curtain antenna team of comprised of John Ash (Janacki) and David who were responsible for antenna fabrication and assembly. He claimed they were not cutting and fabricating correctly and they claimed he was not attaching the components to the catenaries correctly in the air. At Frank’s direction, John and David supervised the aerial assembly and positioning of the catenary attachments that as predicted, resulted in error free radiating and reflecting screen elements, which proved them to be correct.

This (prove it to me) style of Franks’ modus operandi kept the weary troops focused.

Remember how Frank would stealthily appear behind you when you were engrossed in some task?  He would scare the Greeks working on antenna assembly out of their wits, especially when he was wearing the black raincoat and wrap around sunglasses - righteously earning him the title of “Count Dracula” whispered quietly in English.

He even had Sedat Oktay our warehouse manager forever on his toes and jittery.

Of course we cannot let pass without mention, the short reign of Kuljeet Singh - called Gunga Din by the Brits, who took over as GM and was on site even shorter. He tried to practice management through fear and it was totally useless with a crew of very battle-worn fatigued troops such as we.  David’s mark ups of the Stars and Stripes cartoons for Kuljeet’s morning welcome on his desk or door was ingenious to say the least and something to behold - you really had the poor man frazzled!

The completed facility (small city) was turned over to the USIA/VOA in July 1973.

Then ensued the big claim action between Page and the Voice of America/ USIA, which was concluded in 1977 with Page receiving around $2.3M settled on a Sunday evening before the start of court proceedings.

It had been in February 1976, during a cold snap, that a few of the 9 inch tower legs on the 400 footers cracked, even some triangular steel wedges popped out. Expert Consultants were hired  - such as Dr. Peter Paul Puzak who was the discoverer of the cause for the WW 2 Liberty ships cracking in two. At the Naval Research Lab, he discovered and named the nil-ductility temperature for steel, which results in brittle fracture. It was indeed an honor to work with Frank getting Peter, then in his 70’s, into a bosun's chair and hoisting him 180’ or so into the air to inspect and photograph the cracks and areas that had fractured.

And Frank, who had discovered the bargain gold in the Istanbul/Constantinople market, did not miss the opportunity to bring back some more raw gold plate and bars to Panama as was the custom with his various trips to Greece.

Marian and I returned to visit Xanthi and the sites in February 1997 and I must state positively that is was a pleasure to behold and how proud I was. The materials and workmanship had withstood the test of time. FYI - the receiver site was being replaced by satellite operations and the site was going to be turned over to the Greeks for possible use with the new Kavala airport.

It was on a trip to Boston to visit my relatives and friends; we stopped in Worcester, MA. Both David and Agnes were working in order to get through college and it was hilarious to hear their stories about the Rubber Ducks, Swinging Teapots and the crazy doings of management and operations in the plant/factory.  Heartfelt congratulations to you both.

I really wish I could have given or arranged for Frank to receive an honorable diploma /Bachelor of Science degree which I believe he really coveted.

It was probably 1982 or so, when it was discovered that the tripod mounting legs on the Panama antenna were deteriorating due to corrosion. I located an ultra sound measuring device that we used to make detailed measurements, analysis and necessary repairs.

I could go on - but time doesn’t permit. There should be a Page history written by one of us. My most vivid recollections/nostalgia are form Midd Hunt’s video composition of slides that were taken on his photo shoot of the Page sites around the world. This captured the use on multiple 35mm projectors complete with music. Also of extreme importance and treasure, are the documents that chronicle the history of Page as contained in Jim McLeod’s unique and irreplaceable collection set of Page magazine original issues. Between these two references, what an archive of treasured memories.

You all have Marian’s and my most heartfelt prayers and sympathy. Am sorry that we could not attend the services but, God willing, we will see you sometime soon. I promise to try to arrange my photo albums and slides.

Sincerely, Ken. 

PS - I am so sorry that due to circumstances, we could not get down to visit the new spread in Costa Rica.  There was such a large sparkle and pride in Frank’s eyes when showing us the pictures of the home and in particular, the barbecue facility.

In closing: There are and have been, many acquaintances but so few friends, and now that count is less one.  

May 25, 2003.