George Toles

George Toles wrote:

"Thank you for listing me in the APC roster. 

"It was an honor to have served as a lieutenant there from January 1963 to August 1964, first as a script clerk, and finally as director of the Department of the Army Special Photographic Office. What a great privilege to work alongside civilian pros and the talented actors who frequented our sound stages and on-location sets. 

"Eli Wallach was the first star I worked with. It was a foggy week at Roosevelt Field on Long Island, the perfect weather for this particularly moody film. WOR-AM's well-modulated Phil Tonken was my primary narrator, although a who's who of voices graced our microphones. 

"Shoots took me to Maryland, Alabama, Texas and other CONUS (continental United States) sites, but the coup de grace was our mission to Iran to cover a massive military exercise in the Iranian desert and on the Gulf. That trip's highlight was an audience with the Shah in his marble palace in Teheran. 

"The writers, animators, special effects, re-recording, editing, props, camera operators and other colleagues -- along with my fellow officers and NCO's -- made this one of the grandest periods of my life. Further, spending off hours watching 'live' radio and TV in New York City was more instructive and formative by far than earning a post-graduate degree in television. It was ideal training for my subsequent career on the air and in broadcast management and advertising. Thanks, Uncle Sam. And may God continue to bless America." 

George Toles, Edmonds, WA, gtoles@aol.com Feb. 17, 2003

(Posted February 17, 2003; updated October 7, 2020.)