So, what are you looking at?  Haven't you seen an old tin building before?  Well, I may be ugly, but I have a history you wouldn't believe.  Today they look at me and my brothers and say, 'tear them down'.   All around me are brand new beautiful buildings that are state-of-the art with all the newest technology.  But these children could never have seen the likes of what I have.

Let me explain.  I'm seventy years old and have been through many changes.  I started by housing the soldiers of World War II.  I was their barracks and home and they were proud of me.  These men were fighting for their country, and they lived in me before they left for the war.  Some of them stayed behind, because where I live, we tested tanks and munitions to make sure they were sturdy enough to withstand the pressure of hot and cold, and to make the soldiers overseas safe.   My home, Yuma Proving Ground, AZ still does this today.   

Many times, General Patton came to visit our home.  He inspected our facilities and did testing on the range.   If you look down range, some of the remnants of his visits are still there.   People often marvel that a general so important actually came to our humble home.

After the wars were over, I was turned into a facility testing tanks and guns.   I was rather loud back then.    Soldiers were still there, but then civilians took over.  Oh, I was so noisy!  But I was filled with life and still helping our country.

Later, they decided to make an office building out of me, and moved out all the equipment.   I'm where the engineers and technicians did their reports about what was happening.   Technology really started to boom in the 1980s.  I actually had one of the first computers!  It was so huge; it took up an entire office space!  Only one person, the computer specialist had anything to do with it.

Time moved by so quickly!  Although I was an office building, I was very 'rough', and military.   I was very sturdy, but not very pretty.   They turned me into a civilian office building, with wall-to-wall carpeting, and new oak desks.  Everyone had their own room, with a computer on their desk and their own private phone line!   Although my outside was still rather ugly, I was still a tin building, my insides were beautiful.  They still are.  But I have problems.  Cell phones cannot be used in me, and my wiring is very old.

As I told you before, since I'm not pretty, they want to kill me and my brothers.  I suppose I've outlived my usefulness.  They can tear me down, but my spirit will live forever!!!

                                           Mary E. Lacey
                                                2011