4 May - Military Records and Anheuser-Busch Brewery

May the Fourth be with you!
Today started at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC).  Bucket list item for me.  Researching my father's military service, I corresponded with NPCR as they hold all of his military records - original documents. Since we were going to be in the area, I saved $60 by making an appointment and taking pictures of the document rather than having them do it.

Security was incredible to get in the facility, and I even had to go through a training class (Power Point, of course...) on how to handle the documents as they can be very fragile.  They have to remove staples.  They have to straighten any folded papers, all very delicately. I took in the iPad and they have a Plexiglas stand that works perfectly.  In about an hour I took digital images of 148 documents dating back to his enlistment in January 1942, Enlistment, pay, personal equipment issue, promotion orders, discharge documents, etc.  Here are a couple of the documents:

From there we cruised through Ferguson MO on the way to the Anheuser-Busch brewery tour.  The damage to the buildings in Ferguson was evident still today.

The brewery tour was very interesting although we had seen it before.  We had a nice small group which was nice, and it was free.  The facilities are amazing and immaculate.  The Clydesdale horses and their stables were impressive.

Interesting that during Prohibition, since they could not make beer, Anheuser-Busch made and sold soda pop, ice cream and baker's yeast among other things.

 
The tour culminates in a visit to their Biergarten where each of us gets a cold glass of beer.  Doreen does not drink beer so I just could not let it go to waste!

Tomorrow we take the Metro train from Scott Air Force base to Busch Stadium to attend the St Louis Cardinals baseball game vs the Philadelphia Phillies at 1245 hrs.  The weather is supposed to be great, so we are hoping for another enjoyable day!