I was one of two hundred or so kids who were given an opportunity to trade New York City for rural Idaho. In 1940, right after I turned 17, my father forced me to sign on with the CCC and I wound up on a troop train from New York to St. Joe, Idaho. There, we built a road, including a bridge, fought forest fires, and provided for all of our own support: food, shelter, and recreation. All this from a bunch of kids who knew less than nothing about anything other than how to get along on the mean streets of New York. It saved my life, believe me. I was headed down the lonely and Inevitable path to prison and was rescued by the CCC. They did more than build roads and repair buildings!