On this day, June 27, 1959

It’s pretty difficult for just about anyone to answer the question, “Where you on June 27?” for any given year, especially if that year was more than half a century ago, when we were mere toddlers.

But thanks to government record-keeping, specifically by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service, I stumbled across a record of exactly where my brother Mark and I were on June 27, 1959.

[click on any image to enlarge]

Our father, Ken Molloy, had a US Air Force career that took our family to live in then-French Morocco from late 1956 to June of 1959. My brother Mark was born in there. Unfortunately, neither of us really have any memories of this time in our lives.

When our family flew back to the US from Morocco, the record shows us boarding our flight at Nouasseur, Morocco and arriving at Charleston, South Carolina on a MATS (Military Air Transport Service) flight 262Q/177. I don't know if we landed at a civilian airport or at Charleston AFB.

It appears that Mark and I were on my mom’s passport, number 217931. And that dad’s “home of record” was his father's (Lowry Molloy) home in Lubbock, Texas. 

Here's a family photo (scanned from a Kodachrome slide) taken the month before in May 1959. 

Mark, Ken, Mike and Pat Molloy, Nouasseur, (French) Morocco, 1959

We're pictured with our family's "Capri Bleu" 1958 Volkswagen, purchased from Centrale Automobile Chérifienne in Casablanca, Morocco for 684,000 Francs (about US$775 or $6,400 in 2016 dollars). If this price/conversion rate is correct, the car would've been used, most likely.

Incredibly enough, this auto sales/import company is still in operation in Casablanca!

Somehow, of all the unlikely family artifacts that could have survived since 1959, we have the original sales invoice!

Anyway, Charleston, South Carolina was where Mark and I spent some time on this day, exactly 57 years ago. 

In case you were wondering. :-)