Fond memories of the Met

Re: “Met Shaken After Texaco Bows Out,” May 22: When I was stationed in Rome, as a sergeant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, I built a portable radio in a White Owl cigar box. I built it from Signal Corps radio repair parts, and it would only tune to the local Armed Forces Radio station.

Every Saturday, I would take it to the Villa Borghese, a local park, and listen to the New York Metropolitan Opera, sponsored by Texaco, and rebroadcast by the Armed Forces Radio.

In minutes, there would be a group of Romans around me, enjoying the opera. I told them it was a portable phonograph, and I had to fold the records to get them in the cigar box.

Virgil W. Wall

Los Angeles