FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: Julia Child ~ August 23, 2010

Serving the Best Troops and Veterans In The World !! | StarCMC

[Kathy in Alaska]

 

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~ Hall of Heroes ~

Julia Child

Info from this website and this website.

           

Julia Child: 1912-2004

Julia McWilliams Child was born Aug. 19, 1912, and was, she has said, "an adolescent until I was 30." One of her grandfathers left Illinois in 1849 when he was 16 to pan for gold in California. Her mother, tall and lively like Julia, had roots in New England. Julia grew up in Pasadena in a large house with drivers, gardeners, cooks and a kitchen that both she and her mother rarely saw or cared about. She played center for her private-school basketball team and enrolled in Smith College where she lived what she describes as a "butterfly life," driving her friends around in a Ford and graduating in 1934.

To many, Julia Child is the darling grandmother who taught Americans how to appreciate great cooking. Few know, however, that this part of her life came after a high-level stint in the OSS (a CIA precursor) during WWII. Julia Child became interested in military service when she joined the Red Cross after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Before then, Julia was becoming the Paris Hilton of her day -- she would stay out late drinking and socializing and, being from a privileged background, could afford to do so. Joining the Red Cross helped her focus her life on constructive goals. The new lifestyle appealed to her and the Red Cross became her first step toward serving her country.

Julia was eager to do more, but at 6' 2" she was too tall for other military service organizations. Refusing to give up, she a traveled to Washington in 1942 to explore her options. Soon she began working for the Office of Strategic Services. Although she has modestly claimed her duties were only clerical, her performance record suggests otherwise. By 1943 she had been promoted and was working with very sensitive intelligence material. That same year, she was recruited to travel overseas and help manage intelligence activity in WWII’s Pacific theater. Stationed in Kandy, Sri Lanka, she helped the OSS track data on a range of topics including troop movement and espionage. Julia helped coordinate the information necessary to plan the attacks on the Japanese-held islands in the area.

To some degree, Julia was to the service what “Q” was to James Bond -- although her duties didn’t involve undercover work, she helped develop supplies and techniques for spies and clandestine operatives. One of Julia’s first OSS teams was assigned the task of finding ways a spy stranded on a life raft could get water. One particularly unappealing strategy they experimented with was drinking water squeezed from a fish’s body. Unfortunately, the technique turned out to be useless.

Julia’s other surprising contribution to the OSS was a shark repellant. The United States had underwater mines that were being inadvertently detonated by sharks. The shark-induced explosions had two main downsides: There was one less mine and German U-Boats could chart the minefield’s location and know where to avoid. The OSS needed a way to keep sharks away from the explosives, so they turned to Julia. She and some coworkers cooked up a shark repellant that was used to coat the explosives. Unlike her fish squeezing technique, Julia's shark repellant seemed to be successful.

After her service in the OSS, Julia married Paul Child, an OSS operative she had worked with while in Sri Lanka. The two moved to Paris in 1948 where Paul Child worked for the U.S. Intelligence Service. Soon, she began attending the Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris and developed skill in preparing French cuisine. Julia's cooking interests and abilities grew steadily, and in 1961 she published her first cookbook: 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking.' It was this book and her subsequent television appearances that made Julia Child a household name, but the events were set in motion by her employment in a clandestine intelligence agency.
 

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission! 

[oldteen]

I can’t imagine sucking on a coffe bean tho...lol. Of course, I don’t drink coffee so I’m guessing that’s why!

[SandRat]

Didn't know coffee was so versatile.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening/morning, TravisT...((HUGS))...a pleasant weekend for you and the girls? Caught any fish lately?

[oldteen]

Wow Sandy! I’m proud of ya! That lazyboy still chasin’ and hasn’t caught up yet! ;)

[SandRat]

But it’s trying real hard...LOL

[Kathy in Alaska]

LOL! Just a random google bedchamber....but I wouldn’t be surprised.

[oldteen]

Well, soon you’re just gonna have to let it happen and pretend you’re enjoying it...lol.

[Kathy in Alaska]

You and me both...I don’t drink coffee either.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks, Mac, for the Missing Man Setting as we remember those who have given their all that we may gather safe and secure.

[oldteen]

My whole family (Dad, Mom, 2 brothers, hubby, son) were/are major coffee drinkers. I never could develope a taste for it and my daughter didn’t either. I suppose it is a taste you either enjoy, or not!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Is it the winder shakin’ kinda thunder?

The first one was, but the others were a bit further away.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Only my Dad drinks coffee, and rarely unless he makes it for company. Both coffee and tea are a taste issue with me, no matter how they are doctored.

Yikes...the 10pm news is on. A chemically induced bomb, altho not big, but more than a prank, went off in the Fred Meyers store I shop in on my way home from work!!

[SandRat]

zzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZ...

[oldteen]

I take that to mean you finally let it catch you! That lazyboy must be so happy it could stop chasing and can rest now as well! LOL

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good night, my. Thanks for helping honor our military, and thank you for your service to our country.

[oldteen]

A chemically induced bomb

Not good to hear! Hope nobody was hurt and not a lot of damage done!

I don't do tea either...hot OR cold!

[oldteen]

Is that a random pic or one of a relative?

[Kathy in Alaska]

But the Lazy-boys are great for naps. d:o)

[Kathy in Alaska]

They said it was in a water type bottle. No mention of damage. I need to go find a newspaper mention....

[Kathy in Alaska]

....chemically activated bomb went off during a late night back to school shopping session on Saturday...no one was hurt, back to school shoppers sure got quite a scare.

Police said, just before 11 pm, what looked like a plastic water container exploded from gas pressure in aisle 4. I will be going there soon and find out what is in aisle 4.

The Fire Department tested some samples from the bottle with their hazardous materials equipment. It tested 97% muriatic acid, a hydrochloric acid commonly used for industrial cleaning.

They were able to neutralize the substance with baking soda provided by Fred Meyer. The police said this goes beyond a prank and is a very serious offense.

I guess so!