MATT’S MISHAPS

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“Serving overseas as a small-town boy from America is intense, stressful and humorous! Enjoy a light-hearted story with me from our last 20 years overseas!”

—Matt 

Walk Slowly Towards an Old Untold Story

When was the last time you walked through an old barn or building?  I always enjoy walking through an old barn, imagining how it was built and used, and the stories it could tell.  The construction itself tells of a different era with different materials, tools, and construction techniques.  The floors, doorways, walls and beams often give subtle clues as to how it was used – unrecorded stories of daily life that will go untold.

While overseas I have enjoyed exploring old buildings, but they have been primarily castles, fortresses, bunkers, and batteries.  Our overseas government’s tight budget means they don’t have funds to maintain nor restore them.  These old buildings dot the public landscape along coasts, hiking trails, and even rundown parts of the city.

The battery-bunker in the photos was largely symbolic in WWII as their firepower was old cannons from the late 1800s.  Today this structure (a series of tunnels, stairwells, and debris left from visitors) is visited by curious hikers and partiers. I asked my son if he would be afraid to spend the night in this battery-bunker, and he said, “It wouldn’t be the fear that would get the best of me, but the smell!”

When we first moved overseas, in my childlike exuberance to actually explore a castle or fortress from centuries past, I’d be oblivious to the smells and go bounding in.  I slowly realized my energetic mishap as these places (that can now serve as shelter) had new functions they were never intended for.  Many of these decaying structures are used as bathrooms, place for druggies to shoot up, party houses for youth or homes for squatters.  These mysterious and quaint relics of another time can now have tremendous smells from their misuse over many generations after their original use was abandoned.  

A couple dozen military batteries and bunkers along our coastline built during WWII and decommissioned in 1950s were left abandoned.  Our region overseas tried to stay neutral in WWII, so they feared both Allied and Axis invasion. They built batteries and bunkers but did not have the resources for the actual artillery.  

I now try to walk slowly in front of excited visitors who we show old relics to, so they don’t excitedly barge into trouble like I did many times.

Something similar ever happen to you?   Contact me and let me hear your story!

mattsmishaps@gmail.com    Matt’s Mishaps, PO BOX 114, Grabill, IN  46741