The Story:

By November 1934, sixteen-year-old Tim Rodgers, his father, Mother, and younger sister had moved from that house at Five Points, Firetower Road. The boy's dad had continued working for The Georgia Department Of Conservation, but that family wanted to be more close to friends and relatives in and around Juliette, Georgia. By relocating to that small town and community, there they felt that they would be better satisfied. They had not enjoyed the remoteness of living on what later became Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge.

And right on schedule, Tim Rodgers completed high school there in Juliette. He continued living with his parents and Sister. Finding work at a local sawmill, he learned that it was exhausting work at minimum wage. And Tim felt as if he were getting nowhere. Sharing a portion of his pay with the family, he often became discouraged.

On Sunday of a July day during 1937, the Rodgers family and some friends were sitting and enjoying their noon meal. And Tim commented: "I'm not earning enough money even to buy a car. The work is so hard at the sawmill that I sometimes feel like I'm about to fall dead out there. You just won't believe how hard is the work. The crew out there will try and start fights sometimes. The crew chief is really hard to get along with. I wish I could find another job and one that pays better."

"Son," interrupted Tim's father. "That's the way it is here in Georgia now. There's very few high paying jobs and not many jobs at all. That's the way it is for young men today."

During conversations with other people, Tim would often bring-up his encounter with the time traveler, Jack Monroe. Such strange talk raised brows and caused people to shake their heads and look away somewhere. It drew a blank response from people.

Joseph Rodgers, Tim's daddy, became concerned and disturbed. At the lunch table that day, Joe said in the presence of family and company: "Son, many people can't find work at all. I asked the crew chief there at the sawmill if he'd give you a job with him. He's suggested to me that he and the crew think that you're looney. You keep on telling them that story about meeting a time traveler. That's something you've made up. A man from 1969 did not come and visit you when we lived at Five Points during 1934. Your talking about that aggravates the sawmill crew and me too. Will you stop talking about a thing like that?"

"Dad, Tim returned. ""I have that note he gave me and those coins. I've carried with me that note and those coins ever since he gave them to me. But I don't expect anybody to believe it happened though, but I swear that it happened. I want to make enough money to buy a car like he had when we get to the year 1969. I'll never be able to do that working at a sawmill. I think I'll join The United States Navy as Jack Monroe asked me to do."

That's what Tim Rodgers did, but not until year 1938. He enlisted in The Navy; aided and physically hardened by his work at a Jones County, Georgia sawmill. Training to be a sailor was easy for him. Harassment, threats, and personal conflicts occurring between people were things Tim had learned to tolerate. Naval personnel and higherups found Tim courteous and easy-going. The Navy liked Tim Rodgers.

Scoring high in mechanical and communication skills, that sailor underwent training in telegraphy and radar; resulting in his asignment to Pacific Fleet out of San Diego.

Later assigned duty on board a battleship of The Pacific Fleet, Tim Rodgers was a good sailor. He no longer experienced those feelings that "I may fall dead" as when working at a Georgia sawmill.

And yes- Tim Rodgers wound-up at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii both before and on December 7, 1941. On that day, he was operating a radar unit and was relieved just before 7:30 in the morning on that fateful day. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor came as no surprise for that sailor.

Within a pocket of his Navy uniform were the coins given him by Jack Monroe in 1934. The notes handed him that day were secure in a billfold stored in his locker.

========