BRATTLEBORO-Albert Mikuski, now 88 years old, recalls an extraordinary story of how he and his brother, James, in two branches of military service, connected for Christmas across the countryside in France in 1959, at the height of the Cold War.
"Think about it," said Mikuski. "How many men or women in that era had the opportunity to spend Christmas together over 3,000 miles from home? Two small-town boys, both in the service, seeing one another in France."
He shook his head at the memory.
"Wow. Doesn't happen often," he said.
The story starts with the boys' upbringing in Brattleboro as a multigenerational "mill family."
Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates Inc. operated what was referred to locally as "the Cotton Mill," between South Main Street and Vernon Road from 1918 to 1958. At its peak, the mill employed close to 400.
Mikuski's parents met while working at the mill and married in 1930. Eventually, he and his younger brother James would also work at the mill while in high school.
"I started working at the Cotton Mill when I was 15, and I earned $1.10 an hour. I got the extra 10 cents an hour because I worked third shift. By the time I was a senior in high school, I was bringing home $36 a week.
"In 1952, that was big money," he said - about $425 in today's dollars.
The Mikuski boys were close.
"We lived on Moreland Avenue, and then, when I was 10, we moved to South Main Street. There was a whole gang of us boys who played baseball every chance we could. We were good buddies, Jimmy and I," said Mikuski recently.
Mikuski was in one of the first classes to attend the brand-new Brattleboro High School on Fairground Road.
"I had my first year of school on Main Street in what is now the Municipal Center, and the next three years in the new building," he said.
When he graduated in 1954, he earned a full scholarship from Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates to attend Bradford Durfee College of Technology in Fall River, Massachusetts.
"I wanted to learn how to manage a mill," said Mikuski, who earned a four-year bachelor of science degree in textile manufacturing and management.
Enlist, or be drafted
In the 1950s, the rate of high school graduation was still lower than it was prior to World War II, as many younger people decided to work instead of furthering their education during the post-war economic boom.
Albert Mikuski's desire for a college education was a path chosen less often, because for young men, another reality loomed.
It's been more than 50 years since the United States drafted young men into the military services, but for those men who turned 18 between 1946 and 1972, conscription into the armed services was a very real possibility, if not a certainty - especially during the Cold War years.
The Mikuski boys were no exception.
Albert Mikuski could delay his service while in college, but James Mikuski graduated from Brattleboro Union High School in 1957 with no plans for college.
He decided to enlist.
"Jimmy chose to serve in the Navy, because he didn't want to wait until he was drafted," said his brother.
By February 1958, the Brattleboro Reformer announced that "James J. Mikuski is undergoing nine weeks of recruit training at the U.S. Naval Training Center at Great Lakes, Illinois."
By that May, James was headed to Aviation Fundamental School in Oklahoma, and after completing that training, he would be a seaman aboard the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga.
Built in 1952, the enormous craft carried more than 2,000 sailors. James Mikuski would spend most of his time in the Navy on this ship, sailing around the Mediterranean Sea.
Meanwhile, Albert would remain in college, earning his degree in 1958.
Once out of college, "I felt certain that any day I'd be receiving a letter that would say, 'Greetings and salutations from the U.S. Army,' he said wryly.
To be able to have some agency and choice in the matter, Mikuski decided to visit the Air Force recruiter in Brattleboro.
"It was a week before Christmas," he recalled, "and the recruiter said I could go right away if I signed up that day, but I asked if I could wait until after the Christmas holiday."
So in January 1959 Mikuski found himself a new recruit of the U.S. Air Force. Now both he and his brother were in the service.
After basic training and some time with the Air Force in Germany and North Africa, Mikuski found himself on Phalsbourg Air Base in northeastern France which, during the Cold War, was a frontline base for U.S. forces in Europe.
A 300-mile journey
In 1959, James Mikuski wrote his brother, letting him know that the Saratoga would be docked at the port of Cannes, on the southeastern side of the Mediterranean Sea, at Christmas time.
It had been well over a year since the Brattleboro brothers had seen each other. Now both in France, the pair hoped to be able to reunite in person for Christmas.
Albert Mikuski was delighted to snag a five-day leave, and the plans began to formalize. He would need to make a 300-mile train journey along the eastern border of France to meet James in Cannes.
"Back in those days, if you were going to do any traveling, you went to the office of the Red Cross, and they helped you arrange your tickets," remembered Mikuski.
He did not speak French and had never traveled alone in Europe. He knew he would be leaving from Strasbourg, France, and traveling the length of the country along the borders of Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy.
He would finally make his way to Marseille, where he would need to change trains to reach his destination.
"I worried since I had to change trains and couldn't speak the language," said Mikuski with a grimace.
The woman at the Red Cross advised him that when it was time to change in Marseille, he should find a red cap.
"She told me to find a porter and show him my ticket. He would guide me to which train to get on - and not to forget to tip him," said Mikuski.
When the time came, he did exactly as he was directed, tipping the porter $1 - almost $12 in today's money - after he helped him onto the right train. "He was thrilled. It was like giving him the whole world," Mikuski said with a big smile.
For the final, shorter leg of the trip, the train traveled along the seacoast until, at 10 p.m., the train pulled into Cannes.
James was waiting for him.
"My parents were thrilled that even though their only two boys couldn't be home with them, at least we were together for Christmas."
The Mikuski brothers, thrilled to be together again, painted the town red.
"We hit every bar in the area," said Mikuski, laughing. "Back in those days, the Navy would stop in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and women from all over Europe would follow the ship."
The brothers reunited on Dec. 22. James was not on leave and had to be back on the ship that evening. He left, with Albert saying goodbye from his hotel.
On Christmas Day, Albert was invited to share Christmas dinner on James's ship, the USS Saratoga.
Mikuski was awed by the gigantic size of the ship.
"As I was riding the tender [boat] taking me out to the ship, I had to lift my head back just trying to see the top of the ship. It was 60 feet off the water. It was huge. Never seen a ship that big before!"
And that's how it came to be that the Brattleboro Reformer announced on Jan. 11, 1960, in a caption underneath portraits of both men, that "Albert M. Mikuski, stationed in France, and his brother, James, a seaman aboard the aircraft carrier Saratoga, which is presently in the Mediterranean area, spent Christmas Day together."
The two wouldn't see each other again until their respective discharges from the service several years later.
James Mikuski returned to Brattleboro, married, and moved to Connecticut. He last lived in Georgia, where he died in 2018.
Albert Mikuski married his sweetheart, Carol Golden. This year, they celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary.
He thinks back on the improbable Christmas story.
"Jimmy and I were thrilled to be together again," said Mikuski. "That was 65 years ago. Seems like yesterday."
This News item by Fran Lynggaard Hansen was written for The Commons.