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My name is Edward Dolan. A lot of people call me. Add some call me and he I went to Panama in 1944. My father went down there in 42 was part of the war effort 44 my older brother, Mother and I. We came down. We grew up on the Atlantic side, and in 19 after the war, my parents decided to stay.

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So my father was a fire CI or fireman down there, got the time. And then in 53 we moved to the Pacific side, and that's where we stayed. I graduated from high school. I knew Bonnie and high school. After high school, I left and I went in the service for four years and returned.

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And Bonnie and I really met then and we got married and I got a job with the Canal Zone police and we raised three Children in 1982. My job was abolished and we left for the States, I would say, is incredible. It's an accomplishment that something being so old is so relevant and technology wise is current.

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Today. It's unbelievable that people could create something like that were very minor change has been made. Canal Zone Life was a safe, secure place. There were border incidents. There's latter. Part of the time when I was a policeman, we had some bombings down there in the place.

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But that was all part of the politics of the upcoming treaty. But basically it was a safe place. Is young Children. We would walk to the movie theater unaccompanied on when I lived in New Crystal, but we'd walk through colon. Nobody bothered us. People were nice, was a great place to grow up, and you grew up without fear.

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Well, it's my home. Uh, even though the US is no longer there, is running the canal, and I don't live there now. It's still my home, and that's what I tell people when they ask where you're from, I say the Canal zone and Panama's in my heart.

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It never left. I've embraced the Panamanian culture and I love it, and my wife and I go back annually there. We have a lot of friends. We've never lost it, And, uh, I guess I'm what you call a zone Ian or I like to tell people I'm a panel hoochie.

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That's knee gringo Nippon Amino. I'm someplace in the middle. I brought back a wife and three Children. That's most significant things that I have. I've got a lot of memorabilia, license plates, driver's licenses. I got my police hat, my badges and those air minor things. But it's what's in our heart.

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It's not only in our heart, it's in our Children. Uh, my oldest son, who's down in Panama now, and our youngest son, who's in the military here in the States and myself were all members of the Elks Club in Panama, because we're helping support it and we maintain our membership there and it gives us a contact with Panama.

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But like, one thing is growing up there. I was very active in scouts. I was a good swimmer. I loved going and going up on the lakes, paddling up on the lakes. I was in scouts. Did the Chiyoko race down there Ocean Ocean, Chijuka race five times won it twice and, uh, we used to in the weekend and the summer go up for two or three weeks up in the lake.

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Several buddies myself and we would go up there and just live up in there and like going up on the Shockers River. One friend collected the orchids. So as we went up, we'd collect orchids and put him in a gunny sack. We took our air mattresses and we would take those with us and the little 30 year bag and have our sandwiches in there.

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When we finished, there was a waterfall would swim at the waterfall. Then we came down river. We'd inflate the air mattresses and ride them down. And that was a blast going over the rapids and here in Iraq zing underneath the air mattress. And then we would get back to the camp and build a big bonfire that night.

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You know, it was just very good memories. A lot of fun, traumatic, very traumatic time in our life had, ah, lot of friends whose marriages wound up in divorce. It was very traumatic. I tell them what a great place it is and how great the Panamanians are.

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They have big hearts. A best way to describe a Panamanian is if you go to a Panamanian, you say that's a nice shirt you have on. He's going to take it off and give it to you so you don't want to tell them you have a nice shirt, but they're very hospital, very, very loving and genuine.

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There was a time there because of political things, that tensions got bad. But now when we go back to Panama, there's gnome or animosity. Ah, lot of them don't even know that existed. It's a great place to go back to.