>> THAT DECADE OF THE '30S
IS THE WORST I'VE EVER SEEN.
>> WE WERE JUST BARELY
MAKING IT.
>> OH IT WAS TERRIBLE, SON.
YOU WERE LUCKY TO MAKE
A DOLLAR.
IT'D TAKE YOU A WEEK TO MAKE
A DOLLAR A LOT OF TIMES.
>> WE HAD A NICE FARM.
WE LOST IT IN '35,
RIGHT IN THE HEART OF
THE DEPRESSION.
>> WE DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING,
AND FINALLY WOUND UP IN
THE SOUP LINE.
IT WAS GOING FROM WORSE
TO WORSE.
>> THANK GOD FOR PRESIDENT
ROOSEVELT.
(jaunty, old film music)
>> HISTORIC BASTROP, REPRESENTED
IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE
LONE STAR STATE'S PARK SYSTEM.
>> SEVENTY YEARS AFTER
THE CREATION OF THE CIVILIAN
CONSERVATION CORPS,
TEXAS CCC VETERANS GATHERED
AT BASTROP STATE PARK
NEAR AUSTIN TO BE REMEMBERED.
>> HERMAN? YOU REMEMBER ME?
>> I SURE DO, TED,
I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN 70 YEARS,
BUT I KNOW YOU!
>> AND THEY GATHERED TO DO
SOME REMEMBERING THEMSELVES.
THESE MEN REUNITED IN
BASTROP BECAUSE IT'S
ONE OF THE DOZENS OF
TEXAS PARKS THAT OWES ITS
VERY EXISTENCE TO THE CCC.
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT CREATED
THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION
CORPS IN 1933 TO PROVIDE JOBS
DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION,
AS FARMS TURNED TO DUST
AND UNEMPLOYMENT SOARED TO 25%.
AND IN ONLY TEN YEARS,
THE MEN OF THE CORPS HELPED
TURN NATIONAL TRAGEDY INTO
NATIONAL TREASURE,
BUILDING THE BACKBONE OF OUR
COUNTRY'S PARK SYSTEM.
>> THESE FELLOWS HERE BUILT
ALL OF THIS.
>> BASTROP STATE PARK I FEEL
LIKE IS A HOME AWAY FROM HOME.
I CUT SOME OF THEM ROCKS
RIGHT THERE.
THERE'S SOME CHISEL MARKS
RIGHT THERE.
(sounds of chiseling)
>> MANUAL LABOR. LABOR WORK.
WE HELPED CLEAR A LOT OF THESE
ROADS AND AREAS AROUND HERE,
SEE.
I KNEW HOW TO USE A SHOVEL.
THAT WAS IMPORTANT!
>> WE HAD TO DRILL THESE
BLUFFS WITH TWENTY FOOT STEEL,
AND THAT AND YOUR JACKHAMMER'S
HITTING YOUR ELBOWS.
>> WE BUILT FENCES,
CUT CEDAR POSTS, AND UH,
SET OUT A FEW TREES.
>> I DIDN'T WEIGH BUT ABOUT
98 POUNDS.
I WAS JUST SKIN AND BONES.
THAT WHEELBARROW WAS ALMOST
MORE THAN I COULD HANDLE.
>> I WORKED IN THE ROCK QUARRY,
CRUSHING ROCKS.
>> CRUSHING ROCK,
DIGGING DITCHES,
PLANTING TREES
AND BUILDING ROADS.
IT WAS HARD WORK,
AND THEY LINED UP TO GET IT.
>> IT WAS SOMETHING THAT
PRACTICALLY EVERY YOUNG MAN
WAS TRYING TO DO,
WAS GET IN THAT CC CAMP.
>> THEY PUT ME ON THE ROAD GANG.
WHICH WAS GREAT!
>> ASSIGNED TO CAMPS ACROSS
THE COUNTRY,
THE YOUNG MEN ADAPTED TO
THEIR NEW HOMES.
>> YOU HAD A LOT OF FRIENDS.
THAT'S ONE THING I DIDN'T HAVE
IN THE COUNTRY.
>> WE HAD RUNNING WATER,
I KNOW THAT.
THAT WAS SOMETHING VERY UNUSUAL
FOR ME.
>> IT WAS COLD.
IT WOULD SNOW AND WE HAD
THE LATRINE.
YOU DIDN'T DARE SIT DOWN
ON THE SEAT,
BECAUSE YOU'D NEVER GET UP!
>> IT WAS ABOUT 110
IN THE SHADE,
BUT THERE WASN'T NO SHADE!
>> CONDITIONS WERE OFTEN HARSH
AND THE WORK WAS USUALLY TOUGH,
BUT TO MOST,
THAT WAS NOTHING NEW.
>> YOU DIDN'T THINK NOTHING
ABOUT WORKIN'.
I WAS BORN AND RAISED ON A FARM,
AND YOU WORKED FROM SUN UP
TO SUNDOWN,
SOMETIMES SIX DAYS A WEEK.
>> WELL, IT WAS SOMETHING NEW,
SOMETHING DIFFERENT,
AND I GOT A DOLLAR A DAY.
>> THE PAY WAS $30 A MONTH,
OF WHICH WE'D GET $5
AND $25 WOULD GO HOME.
>> WHEN YOU'RE DOING WITHOUT,
A LITTLE MONEY'S A LOT OF MONEY.
>> IF THEY HADN'T GOTTEN
THAT $25 A MONTH,
THEY MIGHT HAVE GONE HUNGRY
AT TIMES.
>> IT MEANT EVERYTHING.
EVERYTHING.
>> DO YOU KNOW THAT THERE
WAS OVER 3 MILLION YOUNG MEN
WENT THROUGH THAT CCC?
WELL, THEN CAN YOU VISUALIZE
THEN EACH ONE OF US HAD
A FAMILY,
THEN CAN YOU CAN JUST VISUALIZE
HOW MANY PEOPLES THAT
THAT PAYCHECK REACHED?
>> BOY, IT HELPED A LOT
OF PEOPLE.
>> IT WAS A GOOD THING FOR
THE COUNTRY.
IT REALLY WAS.
(music from old film)
>> BY CREATING JOBS FOR YOUNG
MEN AND SENDING MONEY HOME
TO THEIR FAMILIES,
THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS
IMPROVED COUNTLESS LIVES.
>> I LOVED THE CCC.
I WOULDN'T TAKE A MILLION
DOLLARS FOR WHAT I LEARNED
IN THERE.
>> THIS JOB WAS ABSOLUTE
SURVIVAL TO THEM AND
THEIR FAMILIES
AND IT'S REALLY NOT SOMETHING
MOST OF US CAN COMPREHEND.
>> I WENT IN AS A BOY AND
I COME OUT AS A MAN.
>> IT WAS A STEPPING STONE
FOR ME.
>> THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE
THAT ACTUALLY LEARNED A TRADE.
>> A LOT OF BOYS, THEY GOT
THEIR HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION
RIGHT IN THE CAMPS.
>> I GOT MY GED.
>> THEY DIDN'T MAKE YOU TAKE
A SPECIFIC COURSE,
BUT IF YOU DECIDED NOT TO,
THERE WERE ALWAYS POTS AND PANS
TO BE WASHED.
IT KEPT MY FAMILY EATING,
GOT ME STARTED IN MY EDUCATION,
SORT OF PREPARED ME FOR
ARMY LIFE.
>> MOST CCC VETERANS ARE ALSO
WAR VETERANS,
AND MOST WILL TELL YOU THAT
THE CORPS PREPARED THEM
FOR MILITARY SERVICE.
>> WHEN PEARL HARBOR COME,
MOST OF 'EM WENT INTO
THE ARMED SERVICE.
WE WAS HEALTHY.
(battle sounds)
>> IN FACT, MANY FEEL THE
MOBILIZATION OF MILLIONS OF
CCC ENROLLEES HELPED PREPARE
THE WHOLE COUNTRY
FOR WORLD WAR II.
>> THAT 3 1/2 MILLION YOUNG MEN
WAS THE YOUNG MEN THAT REALLY
HELPED TO WIN THE WAR.
WHEN I GOT THAT LETTER THAT
SAYS UNCLE SAM POINTING AT YOU
SAYS WE WANT YOU IN THE ARMY,
I DIDN'T HESITATE BECAUSE OF
WHAT UNCLE SAM HAD DID FOR
ME AND MY FAMILY.
(birds singing)
>> WHILE THE MAIN REASON FOR
THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS
MAY HAVE BEEN TO CREATE JOBS,
THE MOST APPARENT BENEFITS
TODAY ARE THE LASTING
PRODUCTS OF CORPS WORKMANSHIP.
>> THOSE GUYS TOOK PRIDE
IN THEIR WORK.
YOU EVER BEEN TO FORT PARKER?
YOU'RE GOING TO CROSS
THE NAVASOTA RIVER.
IF YOU LOOK OVER TO YOUR LEFT
YOU'RE GONNA SEE A BIG DAM
ABOUT A HUNDRED, HUNDRED-FIFTY
FEET WIDE.
WE BUILT THAT DAM!
>> FORT PARKER, PALO DURO,
CADDO LAKE, BASTROP,
GARNER'S GOT CCC STUFF,
HUNTSVILLE DOES,
I MEAN 31 OF OURS DO,
AND THE PORTIONS THAT WERE
BUILT BY THE CCC ARE STILL
VERY OBVIOUSLY FROM THAT ERA
AND OF QUALITY WORK.
I WISH WE COULD STILL BUILD
THINGS LIKE THIS TODAY.
>> WE WASN'T THERE FOR
OUR BENEFIT.
WELL, WE WERE, BUT THEN WHAT
WE WAS THERE FOR WAS
TO BUILD A STATE PARK
FOR PEOPLE TO COME TO.
>> TALK ABOUT FOOTPRINTS.
EVERYWHERE WE GO WE SEE THINGS
THAT WERE MADE BY THE CCC,
AND WHEN THEY MADE SOMETHING
IT STAYED THERE.
>> EVERYTHING WAS BUILT TO LAST
IN THOSE DAYS.
>> THESE BUILDINGS WERE BUILT
SO WELL THEY'RE STILL STANDING.
I'VE EVEN HAD A PARK MANAGER
TELL ME IN BLANCO THAT
THE DAM BUILT THERE 60 SOMETHING
YEARS AGO HAS NEVER NEEDED
ONE HOUR OF MAINTENANCE.
THEY'RE WONDERFUL PROJECTS.
(swing music)
>> IT'S ABOUT TIME THAT TEXAS
CELEBRATES THE CCC
AND LETS THESE MEN KNOW HOW
VALUABLE THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS
ARE TO SO MANY PEOPLE.
>> WHILE THE SPACE ON
THE DANCE FLOOR REMINDS US THAT
CONSERVATION CORPS REUNIONS
LIKE THIS ONE IN BASTROP
WON'T BE POSSIBLE FOREVER,
THE LEGACY OF THESE MEN WILL
ALWAYS LIVE ON IN THE PARKS
THEY BUILT,
THE LAND THEY CONSERVED,
AND FORESTS THEY PLANTED.
>> PLEASE EVERYBODY LOOK HERE.
>> IS THAT EVERYBODY?
>> HERE WE GO, EVERYBODY SMILE!
(shutter click)
>> IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST THINGS
THAT HAPPENED TO THE COUNTRY.
(shutter click)
>> THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE.
I'M JUST HAPPY TO BE REMEMBERED.
(shutter click)
>> I'M READY FOR NEXT YEAR, MAN!