My Matchbook from the Waldorf Empire Room

In the summer of 1960, when I was 12, my father took me to New York. We visited the Waldorf and ate at the Empire Room.

Gen. Douglas MacArthur lived there. He had attended high school at the same school where I would soon attend in San Antonio, Texas Military Institute. We saw him sitting in the lobby and we introduced ourselves and he was very receptive and we talked about the old school.

At the Empire Room, we bought this souvenir — a matchbook with my photo on it. Precious memories of time with my dad, who sadly died less than three years later at age 48, when I was 14.