What was unusual concerning Fred Masek's early life?

He attended three country schools, two colleges, served two separate tours in the Army and was born at home.

Fred attended country schools near Wood, Fairfax and Geddes as his parents moved from one farm to another.

He was a summer school student at Southern State College, Springfield, which in later years became a prison. Three and one-half years and one summer session were spend at the University of South Dakota, Vermillion, where Fred received a bachelor of arts degree.

Fred began serving 18 months in the Army during the fall after leaving high school. This military duty gave Fred the GI Bill of Rights needed to pursue his college career.

Southern State College was a diversion placed in his path when his parents initially blocked his attempt to enlist in the Army at age 17. Fred knew there was a deadline close to Sept. 1st of that year for getting into the service to ensure GI Bill entitlement.

Fred's parents weren't easy marks for changing their minds on the enlistment issue. They pointed out that Fred's two brothers had been in the Army and one had been wounded in Europe.

Some savings had been accumulated from the sale of a few sheep Fred owned. Fred's dad suggested that he use that money to give Southern a trial for the summer. A neighbor man was returning to Southern to renew a teaching certificate. A high school classmate also decided to enroll in summer school. That provided for a means of transportation. Fred was sure he couldn't get his desired courses at Southern but he enrolled for classes that seemed interesting or might do some good.

During 10 weeks of summer school Fred kept pestering his folks to sign the enlistment papers. By the end of summer school they relented.

Two key circumstances at Geddes High School placed Fred in line with the communications careers he eventually pursued. For some reason the high school superintendent gave Fred the job of reading announcements during school assemblies. Fred was scared stiff, but received encouragement and became confident before the microphone. Fred also joined in writing school news which appeared in the Geddes weekly paper. He delivered copy to the newspaper office and spent time studying functions of the plant.

At Southern, Fred wrote a broadcast parody in which he and other students acted in the talent night skit. It won second place and a cash prize.

Fred felt the University of South Dakota offered the courses he desired for future employment. That is where he enrolled in the fall of 1948 stressing courses in speech, radio, journalism, and government. Between discharge from the Army and the start of college at USD, Fred worked on construction with his brothers at Lake Andes.

While at the University of South Dakota, Fred enrolled in advanced ROTC. He received a second lieutenant commission in the Army Reserve upon graduation in January 1952. During his college years, Fred also gathered news in Vermillion and delivered the 5:30 p.m. newscast at KUSD, the college radio station.

Upon leaving USD, Fred joined the former KISD, Sioux Falls, as newsman, continuity writer and announcer. Six months later he was called to active duty with the Army.

Glancing far back in Fred's profile, he was born in a country home when doctors still made house calls. The house was near Armour, SD.

In 1946, Fred and a high school pal, Bob Bowen, enlisted in the Army together and underwent basic training in the same company at Ft. Lewis, Washington.

Another class friend, Dale Oleson, enlisted earlier and eventually served in the message center for General MacArthur's headquarters in Tokyo. Fred and Bob were sent to separate Army units in Korea.

The Army very much frowned on servicemen fraternizing with Korean women. There were few American single women around. Fred recalled a brief highlight with American ladies. A theater-bound Army truck carrying GIs picked up some USO girls thumbing for a ride. They were touring Seoul, Korea, and had to get back to the theater for a show.

The USO girls were very attractive or seemed that way since the men had been out of contact with American females for a long time. So it was a few moments of a dusty ride in the back of a truck shared by Fred, his buddies, and the show girls. Nothing like this had happened before in Korea.

Fred initially was shipped to Pusan at the southern tip of Korea. He held duties there of company clerk ant later payroll clerk. Later the outfit broke up. Fred, alone, was sent with a large wooden box of company records aboard a Korean train to Seoul, the capital city. He was reassigned to another company of his original battalion near Seoul and became an S-3 engineering division clerk-typist. Before leaving Korea, Fred advanced to the rank of technician fourth grade, equivalent to staff sergeant.

An early introduction to Korea included watching a former Japanese barracks burn down in 10 minutes. It was the type of dwelling Fred and his comrades were to sleep in at the Replacement Depot. That night the GIs took turns staying awake as fire guards because the barracks were tinderboxes.

Fred was able to get seven days R&R and flew from Korea to spend time with Dale Oleson in Tokyo. During that time they were able to set up a phone call to the Masek and Oleson parents at the Geddes home of the Olesons. Either Fred's voice had changed or the atmospheric conditions had muffled it. His dad had to ask twice whether he was talking to Fred. Otherwise the transmission was clear.

Reflecting to a moment when Fred was training at Ft. Lewis, Washington. He and two buddies went on pass into Tacoma, viewed by some as a rather sin city. The three, all in their teens, probably went to a movie and then wandered the street without much cash to spend. About 11 p.m. they got concerned about finding a place to stay overnight.

In the business area on a second level there were signs advertising "Rooms". As the trio made an entrance to one establishment they came face to face with a rather heavy woman seated at a desk. A somewhat scraggly man was standing behind her.

Country boy Fred took the lead and made inquiry about the price of rooms. The woman replied, "With or without?" Fred, still the country boy, blurted out, "With or without what?" Fred suddenly realized he knew the answer. It was with or without a WOMAN. The fat lady and the scraggly man exchanged glances and burst into snickers.

Fred told his friends, "Lets not stay here," and they made a hasty retreat. They couldn't think of anything worse than being caught in a police raid while still in basic training.

That night housing was found at a YMCA where bunkbeds had been set up in a large room to serve solders on weekend pass. The excitement didn't stop there. After an hour of sleep, someone detected smoke. It took some time to discover the source. A mattress had been ignited by a careless smoker.

Jumping ahead several years Fred recalled a time when another "country boy didn't quite get it" across the border in Mexico.

Fred, as a newsman for the Argus Leader, traveled with Gov. Archie Grubbrud and others in a South Dakota Air National Guard transport to the Southwest and West.

They inspected the South Dakota Army Guard in training in Colorado and watched one of the first missile launches at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. After welcoming ceremonies were held at Ft. Bliss, Texas, part of the South Dakota contingent including the governor decided to explore the night life in Juarez, Mexico.

As Fred remembers, Grubbrud, a lumbering 6-foot-4 former farmer from Alcester, was leading the pack down the street. Ahead on the sidewalk were three Mexican women spread or standing in a triangle formation.

As Grubbrud reached their midst each woman took steps forward and closed in on him. The governor backed off and started forward again. The women closed in on him again. Grubbrud finally succeeded in walking around them.

Everybody else in the South Dakota party was chuckling quietly and knew what the women had in mind. Grubbrud projected the role of a country boy, and with a serious look on his face exclaimed, "I wonder what they wanted?"

When Fred was called to duty as an Army second lieutenant he spent most of his tour at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri. He was a rifle instructor and range officer.

Fred spent his weekends in Springfield and Jefferson City where he had contacts with a girlfriend in each city. One relationship with a trim beauty, Fran Ahmann, a later airline employee, was sweet in Fred's mind. After Fred's second release from the Army, Fran came to Sioux Falls to visit him. Fred remained in the Army Reserve for a number of years after active duty. He repaid a visit to Fran at St. Louis after returning from summer training at Indianapolis. Later Fran became based in Manhattan, NY.

Many months of correspondent occurred between Fred and Fran. Yet in the end Fran said after her visit to Fred and his jobsite that he could never afford her because of the costly tastes she acquired. It probably was a truthful statement. The letter-writing and some telephoning continued but eventually Fred lost touch. He believed she married a fellow named Jack Webb (not the TV Friday) in New York. So much for a lost love. A history to be factual should be good for at least one lost love.

Fred joined the Argus Leader newspaper a few days after being released from military duty for the second time. He filled many roles at the paper. He wrote daily news stories from one of his beats and also wrote a feature story for most Sunday editions.

His assignments in Sioux Falls at various stages included the following beats: Federal Building, U.S. courts and the Post Office; Courthouse, state courts, County Board, Highway Patrol and Sheriff's Department, and City Hall, City Commission and Police Department. For 11 years Fred served as Saturday night wire editor who, with a staff, was responsible for late-breaking news and finishing touches on the Sunday paper. It included laying out page 1 and a few other pages.

Eventually, Fred was assigned to write a column, Pierrescope, and cover the South Dakota Legislature while it was in session in Pierre. He also did some photo assignments at Pierre. The task over a period of 10 years involved leaving Sioux Falls and relocating in a Pierre motel room with a typewriter for a couple of months or more.

In 1960, somewhat through Fred's Army Reserve and writing experience he was invited by the Pentagon to make a 20-day tour of Europe. He moved around Europe by car, plane and train and often was quartered in military establishments. Fred had a big problem with jet lag and the fact that day and night were reversed. He could scarcely stay awake especially during morning hours but was wide awake at night.

Socially, Fred, who was single, visited some of the dance halls and beer halls and danced with the ladies native to the territory. However, a lot of hard news work and interviewing went into the assignment aimed at portraying military, economic and social conditions in Europe. He journeyed though France, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany and spent time in both West Berlin and Communist East Berlin.

At one American guard post the driver explained that he was transporting a news man from the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. The guard misunderstood. He said, "Oh, the Argosy. I read it all the time. Go on through." At another time, Fred was introduced as one of the best newsmen from Minot, ND.

A scrapbook showed that Fred wrote 17 stories or columns related to the trip. Upon returning to Sioux Falls Fred was invited to speak before at least a dozen service clubs regarding his findings in Europe.

Fred found some fear but also satisfaction in public speaking. He met for 10 years with Yawn Patrol Toastmasters Club at 6 a.m. on Mondays and also served two terms as president.

For 13 months, Fred also served as a paid press aide for a South Dakotan, Ray Gallagher, of Redfield, who became commander-in-chief of the national Veterans of Foreign Wars. He traveled to Washington, DC., Miami, and Philadelphia where major VFW meetings were held. Fred used vacation time and free time from Argus Leader duties to fulfill this assignment.

Fred spent a lot of his time in Cub Scout, Webelos, and Boy Scout activities while Dick and Brian were growing up. He was scoutmaster, assistant scoutmaster, and instructor.

He used vacation time to accompany Scouts to summer camp and held weekly troop meetings. After Dick and Brian completed their Scout years Fred did less camping and devoted his time to merit badge instruction. The Post Office named Fred Volunteer of the Year in the Sioux Falls area for his commitment to Scouting.

As scoutmaster, Fred also used vacation time to operate a Scout food stand at the Sioux Empire Fair. Scouts and parents cooperated with their labor to make the enterprise a success. Six days of food stand operation at the fair usually netted the troop $1,200 to be used for scouting activities.

While the two sons played softball, Fred served as umpire. Fred and the sons were together at least three summers for family camp at Placerville in the Black Hills. Placerville is the Congressional Church summer camp. While they were based at the camp, the Maseks also made side tours of the Black Hills. The boys and dad also participated in Y-Indian Guides.

Early religious training was not in Fred's background. His parents were not church-goers. Many years later, Fred discovered that the previous generation of the Masek family broke away from the Catholic Church due to a rift over a fee demanded to baptize Anna Masek (Straka).

Fred began attending services at the Congressional Church at Vermillion where the minister was very popular with University students. After moving to Sioux Falls, Fred began attending First Congregational Church. His attendance was sporadic until marriage and birth of the two sons occurred.

Eventually, Fred began to teach Sunday School classes and served on the Christian Education and Mission boards. His last move was to join the choir.

Fred's closest friends in the church were Ray and Esther Schroeder, Skip and Mary Ann Clark, Jim and Joyce Anderson, George and Marilyn Cox (who later left the church) and Pat Sundheim. (Skip Clark was killed in 1997 as the pilot of a light plane that crashed.) The friendship came about in these ways:

Esther was one of the adults in Dick's early Sunday School room. Fred was deeply impressed with the attention and kindness Esther had shown toward Dick. Skip was an assistant scoutmaster when Fred was scoutmaster for Scout Troop 153, First Lutheran Church. Jim Anderson was scoutmaster when Fred and Brian moved their scouting activities to Troop 48. Marilyn, like Fred, had an interest in writing and was an author of the church history. Fred, a City Hall reporter for the Argus Leader, made the contact for Marilyn to obtain a secretary-receptionist job for a city commissioner when her school position was abolished. Pat Sundheim was the Sunday School director-staff member who had a great heart and a good relationship with Fred, Dick, and Brian. Brian and Dick both operated movie projectors for her.

While Fred achieved much satisfaction as a writer with the Argus Leader eventually dark clouds would form. The paper was sold to the Gannett organization and some of the executives brought in proved to be heavy handed. Perhaps one third of the news staff resigned after the arrival of a new managing editor. This executive also took a dislike to Fred for reasons that were unclear. He transferred Fred from active news reporting to the copy editing desk. It was a change which Fred detested.

After eight months, Fred was invited to leave the company with severance pay. On the final day of employment Fred asked the managing editor to examine his file which showed at least a dozen writing awards had been earned. The managing editor declined.

To pay bills and support himself and his sons, Fred took a temporary job at City Hall during winter months writing annual reports. Later, he spent a summer painting houses and doing work for a carpet cleaning company. During his Argus years, Fred had done house painting to add to his income.

Eventually, Fred joined the Post Office as a carrier, a position which soon doubled his Argus Leader pay. The new income provided funds needed in supporting Dick and Brian's post-high school education endeavors. In a survey of Argus-Leader readers, Fred made the "honorable mention" list among "favorite mail carriers."

Fred's vacation time gradually grew to five weeks. He stepped up the tempo of his traveling. In 1997, he traveled to Disney World, Epcot Center and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the live entertainment center at Branson, MO., Folklorama in Winnipeg, and a camping trip near Watertown.

During 1997, Fred also wrote travel stories for the Argus Leader regarding his trips to Florida, Nashville, and Branson. The intimidating managing editor was no longer at the newspaper.

Fred encountered a couple of frequent tritisms or truisms as a mail carrier. If he told a waiting patron there was no mail for the party the response almost always was, "Good, then there are no bills." If a patron walked out to meet the carrier the remark usually was, "I'll save you some steps."

Patrons too often took the side of the dog rather than the carrier if there was a canine challenge.

One man said his dog acted up "because I saw you hit him." Strange thing... the only protective device between Fred and the dog was the mail bag.

One master came upon his dog barking sharply and growling fiercely at a carrier. The owner charged, "What did you do to my dog! What did you do to my dog!"

One large bulldog with long, sharp eye-teeth (like fangs) burst through a screen door and grabbed Fred's pant leg and kept biting into his flesh upward. A lady came out of the house to witness the attack and said excitedly, "He won't hurt you. He won't hurt you." Fred's response: "He already has."

Sweeping around the corner of the house, a dog leaped into the air and sunk its teeth deep into Fred's left arm. It made other thrusts at his legs and upper body which Fred was able to thwart by using the mail bag as a shield. Blood was leaking down Fred's arm. When the dog owner came out of the house, he remarked, "He has never done that before." The injury required medical attention. A year and a half later, Fred received a $1,000 settlement paid from the man's home owners insurance policy.

Fred's Dad always hoped someone in the family would follow him in playing a musical instrument. Joe Masek played an accordion and concertina. He provided music at barn dances during early years but later confined himself to playing at family gatherings. There also is some unconfirmed information that he played trumpet in a Geddes city band.

Fred began playing trumpet in the Geddes High School band but switched to a bass horn due to an over-surplus of cornet and trumpet players. He played solos and participated in brass groups during area music contests. At one talent night, Fred played bass horn and a girl classmate played a clarinet. The sound from the two instruments was odd and somewhat ridiculous. The crowd viewed the act as hilarious and applauded them back for an encore. They didn't have an encore number prepared so they had to resort to playing the Marines Hymn a second time.

Both Dick and Brian took piano lessons. Brian played trombone with the Lincoln High School marching band for a year. Dick, sang in choir from elementary school through high school. Elsewhere in this history there is a report of Brian attending guitar school and forming rock bands.

Fred often felt he escaped drowning three times. First-- As a tot, he ended up face down in a crock of water. His Mom slapped his back and beat the water out of him. Second-His car was caught in a Colorado mountain deluge. Lacking visibility, Fred stopped his auto just short of a depression in the roadway where water was running several feet down. The heavy rain also pushed large boulders onto the road. Third--On a Scout outing on the Minnesota Crow Wing River, Fred tried to save the canoe, himself, and two Scout passengers from colliding with a fallen tree during a storm. Fortunately, Fred was wearing a life jacket as he was toppled fully-clothed into the river. The Scouts who remained in the canoe during the experience thought it was amusing. Fred did not.

How times have changed. When Fred attended the University of South Dakota he paid between $8 and $12 monthly for a sleeping room. He worked at a boarding house for one meal and ate in cafes at other times. He managed to live basically on $75 paid monthly from the GI Bill of entitlement.

During one period Fred utilized spare time from classes to help erect emergency steel grain bins at Vermillion. One year he collected bills from students for a laundry. Some students didn't appreciate being awakened on Saturday morning to pay a bill. At one sorority house, the coed who greeted Fred at the door relayed a message to the third floor: "Cathy, the laundry bill collector is here." The response: "Tell him I'm not here."

Fred couldn't handle much outside employment at college since he was active daily after classes in news-gathering and news-announcing at KUSD, the University radio station. He made the $75-a-month GI Bill money spread for housing, food, a Friday or Saturday night trip with other students to the Majestic Gardens Club in Yankton for dancing, and for gas for a trip home probably once a month.

Eventually, when Fred entered advanced ROTC at the University he began drawing an additional $32 monthly.

In 1959, Fred paid $13,400 for a three-bedroom house at 1605 E. 25th St. in Sioux Falls. Similar homes in the neighborhood sold for $70,000 in the mid-1990s. In 1997, Brian was paying $650 per month house rent in Sioux Falls.

When Fred joined KISD, Sioux Falls, in 1952 the pay was $45 a week. By the 1990s, Brian and Dick as computer programmers were earning either side of $50 an hour.