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lesday • December 2, 1997
he Road Less Traveled
By Marium Mohiuddin
Staff writer
"^lookies with Eleanor Roosevelt, discussions with
^^Cenny Rogers, friendships with the likes of Bob
Mewhart — not many can boast of a life ranging
^ n politics in Washington, D.C. to showrooms in Las
.sj But all of the above are just a few of the experi-
:es In the life of Charles Murray, director of the Fac-
/C1
Mr. Murray Goes to Washington
Charles Murray was born and raised in the political
Vteni ofWashington, D.C.
“I we
i?ent to a very unusual high school,” he said. “The
)ers of Congress and the Cabinet send their kids
lis high school so they can go back to their district
i say, ‘My kids go to public school.’ The average
^ cher there had a Ph.D. My English teacher’s husband
'Jif s an ambassador to the United Nations. One of my
1 lessors had written eight books, and my homeroom
-I cher drew the plans for the Colt .45, which is a hand-
^ a used in the military.”
Murray said his father was a political consultant, so
^ was able to meet many distinguished people.
“1 was very young when I knew the Roosevelts,”
may said. “I knew Presidents Truman, Johnson,
agan and the Bushes.”
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DEREK DEMERE/The Battalion
ties Murray, director of the Faculty Club, has dined with
Bushes and Kenny Rodgers among other celebrities.
In the Army Now
Murray left Washington at the age of 17 and spent 20
years in the military. He was in the Air Force for 12 years
and the Army for eight years. During his time in the ser
vice, he began his career in club management.
“I will never forget the day I got into the club busi
ness,” he said. “I was 17 years old and in basic training.
We were assigned guard duty. We would guard statues
and trash cans, because they were teaching us how to
do this.
“It was a freezing day — the kind of day where the
rain would freeze on you. The bus pulled up in front of
the officers’ club, and I was assigned interior fire watch.”
Murray said he was excited because he had a chance
to come in from the bad weather.
“The manager [of the officers’ club] came up to me
and asked what I was doing. I said I was checking for
fires, and he said, ‘They have fire alarms and an excel
lent sprinkler system. If there is a fire, then they will go
off’. So I then started checking the doors and windows,
and he asked what I was doing now. I said, ‘I was check
ing for burglars.’ What did I know? I was only 17.”
Murray said the manager invited him for dinner and
from there began his career in club management.
Overseas
Murray later had a big club business in Vietnam, but
he said he had to give it up because of problems with
the Khaki Mafia.
“The Khaki Mafia was a group of seven guys who ran
the army club system in ’Nam,” Murray said. “They
were in charge of all the entertainment, alcohol and the
food. They were wealthy. They were skimming 30 per
cent off the top of everything. They were making about
$11 million a month.
“I went there to run the club system. My friends told
me not to get involved because they were looking for a
fall guy for the Khaki Mafia.
“They were discovered and investigated by Con
gress. The Sergeant Major of the Army, the top enlisted
man, was prosecuted and convicted. They got him for
tax evasion.”
From Vietnam, Murray went to Okinawa, Japan. He
said at one time, he had 26 clubs in Okinawa.
“I was able to meet many stars,” Murray said. “They
would come to the clubs because the record compa
nies would send them to the Pacific.”
We 're Coming to America
When Murray left the military, he became involved
in the club system in America.
“I used to travel from Japan to Cornell [New York],”
Murray said. “On my way there, I would stop in San
Francisco. One year, San Francisco was fogged down,
so we had to land in Reno, Nevada because it is the next
closest stop before the mountains. We got off the plane,
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WINTER TERM
CEDAR VALLEY COLLEGE
3030 N. DALLAS AVENUE
LANCASTER, TEXAS 75134
REGISTRATION - NOVEMBER 18 THROUGH DECEMBER 15
CLASSES MEET DECEMBER 16-19, 1997, JANUARY 2 AND 5 - 9, 1998
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Cedar Valley College is a member of the Dallas County Community College District and is accredited by the Southern
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Educational opportunities are offered by the Dallas Community College District without regard to race, color, age,
religion, national origin, sex, or disability.
CTarles Murray has experienced life from
the white pillars of Washington, D.C. to
the neon and glitter of Reno. He now
shares his life experiences with students,
staff members and a couple he calls “The
Bushes” at the Texas A&M Faculty Club.
;
and they divided us according to hotels.
“Because I was in the business, 1 began checking
things out, and I was very impressed. I sat down at the
blackjack table, and there was an old man sitting be
side me. I started telling him how impressed I was. He
left and this other man, named Mondo Ruda, who be
came a great friend of mine, came and asked if I would
have dinner with the old man. I was not doing anything
else so I said, ‘sure.’
“I went up to the restaurant and told them who I was.
He took me down this hall and waved his hands, and
the whole wall split apart. There stood Bill Harrach’s,
owner of Harrach’s Las Vegas,” Murray said.
Viva Las Vegas
Murray said he learned the club business from Har-
rach and was able to build a fascinating relationship.
“Bill was married six times, but had no children,” he
said. “He kind of adopted me as his son. So whenever I
would fly through there, I would stop, and he would take
care of me. Through him, I got to meet a lot of people.”
Murray said he became the head of the showroom
at Harrach’s hotel and met Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra,
Ben Vereen and many other celebrities.
“John Davidson was one of the great stars at that
time,” Murray said. “He was singing in the showroom
on Christmas Eve. I had come early that day, and secu
rity told me they could not find John Davidson. We had
all five shifts of security looking for him. We found him
in the lettuce room, which is the
third floor underneath the hotel, passed out drunk on
a box of lettuce.
“The show was going to start in two hours. We poured
cold water on him and forced him to drink coffee to
make him sober. We ended up tying him to the stool and
told him he better lip synch very well. He got through
that, but Bill was there, and he knew that it was fake.”.
Murray said when he was the head of the showroom,
companies and people would be generous with their
tips in order to get good tables.
“I would get boxes of t-shirts, a washer and drier and
a lot more,” Murray said.
Murray said after his time in Vegas, he worked for
other companies as a vice president and as a consul
tant. However, his attitude toward life changed when
he was working at a club in Brownsville, TX.
“I would smoke three and a half packs of cigarettes
a day, drink 36 cups of coffee and eat a steak a day,”
Murray said. “I ended up in the emergency room with
people pushing nitroglycerin pills down me. In the cor
ner I could here people saying ‘Do you think he will
make it?’ I thought to myself, ‘Is this it?”’
“My friends have become alcoholics and gamblers
and they are in debt,” Murray said. “Mondo is still in the
business. He is the same age as me, but when I see him,
I know he is not going to be with us for much longer.
People get caught up in this lifestyle. Once you get stuck
in this lifestyle, there is no way out. I have traveled
around a lot and have lived in the fast life. I have seen
how quickly things can go up and how quickly they can
come down.”
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