My life (Page XIII) Okinawa

 

  U.S. Army Ordnance Center and School                                    

 

U.S. Army Calibration Course, required a background in electronics to enter the school.  My background as a RADAR Repairman gave me the qualification for the course.  It was 20 some odd weeks of intensive training in all kinds of test and measurement equipment.  At the time the calibration technician was required to operate and repair all of the equipment we used, more than 1000 items used in test and measurement.

Working in an Army Calibration Van

In addition to keeping up with the training I also had another mission, I was in pursuit of a very lovely young lady, Miss Bee.  We were dating and became very serious prior to my completion of my training.  I knew I would be going to Okinawa In November of 1967, so I asked her to marry me and she said yes.  The photo below is me when I went calling on her father to discuss our plans.  To be honest, he was not overly impressed, the fact that I was recently divorced, I had custody of 3 children, and I was talking about taking his daughter and granddaughter to the other side of the world were not points in my favor.  He had reservations about the probability of us having a successful marriage, and I understood that.  We assured him that we knew there would be problems but we were also confident that we could work through them.  After expressing his discomfort with the situation he reluctantly agreed.

 

After completion of Calibration Technician School, I received orders shipping me to Okinawa.  In route to Okinawa Bonnie traveled with me to San Diego, CA to  meet my parents. I was going there to visit with the children and then on to Oakland where I would fly to Okinawa.  We were feeling confident since we had passed the first hurdle with her parents, and they even agreed to keep her daughter while we traveled across the country.  I will say the the meeting did not go as well as her parents did, I had put a black mark on the family name since I was divorced, the first in the family.  The best way to describe the encounter would be hostile,  she is also divorced and has a child the same age as my youngest.  They were sure that we could never make it last.

The rejection had little effect on me, after a couple of very uncomfortable days, we went on to Oakland, driving up the Pacific Coast Highway.  What a beautiful drive.  I went to Okinawa and she flew back to Baltimore.  In late December, 1967 she came to Okinawa with her 3 year old daughter, we were married by an Army Chaplin on January 2, 1968.  Lou and Ann, friends from Aberdeen Proving Grounds were the only people present for the wedding.

I do not wish to dwell on the subject but it was a long time before my wife was welcomed into the family by my parents.  My mother did not make it easy for our marriage to succeed but since we recently celebrated our 41st year together, maybe this is one time that I knew more than my parents did.

Blending a family is very difficult, children are capable of playing one parent against the other, my youngest daughter was an expert at doing just that, and she would also play my mother against my wife, I did not know that at the time but today I do.

2nd Logistics Command               MAC V

Left Shoulder                       Right shoulder combat patch

I was converted from SSG to Sp6 after calibration school

Prior to her arrival to Okinawa I rented an apartment in this building.  There was a waiting period for Government Housing but I was put on a waiting list with expectation of bringing my children to Okinawa.  Two weeks after our marriage I left her in a strange country while I did a 60 day trip to Vietnam.   That is me in the parking lot and that is my 64 Grand Prix, the coolest car I ever owned….

 

I would take a short trip to Okinawa anytime I could, I remember once when we had equipment failure and it had to be returned to Okinawa, my team chief, knowing I was just married prior to our trip sent me to escort the equipment to Okinawa, have it repaired or replaced and return to Vietnam.  I caught a flight on an Air America, (CIA Airline) from DaNang to Saigon, two days later I hopped a C141 to Okinawa, arriving at about 3 AM.  Here I am, no bath for three days, unshaven, carrying an M-16 Rifle, in the middle of the night trying to get Bonnie to open the door, I finally convinced her that it was me and she let me in.

In the summer of 1968 after we were assigned to government housing, I flew back to San Diego to escort the two younger children to Okinawa. 

Yep, that is big hair

A few months later Cynthia joined us on Okinawa and we remained there  until late 1970. 

I received orders moving me to Fort Hood, Texas but before I left Okinawa the new  Army Promotion List to Sergeant First Class came out and I had made the list.  Our transfer back to the States was cancelled because they had to assign me to a E-7 position.  Three months later I received orders sending us back to Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland

TO BE CONTINUED

My life (Page XII)

169th Engineer Bn

When I returned from Germany I was assigned to Fort Stewart, Georgia, maybe my least favorite duty stations during my army career. I got there in February 1963 for about a year. Remembering how close we were during her pregnancy, my wife and I decided to disregard our problems during our separation and try to rekindle our marriage by having a second child, that sounds like a good idea, right…..

US Army Signal Center and School, Fort Monmouth, New Jersey

I reenlisted for a transfer to RADAR Repair School, Ft Monmouth, NJ. I later learned that my father was a RADAR Man in the Navy during WWII. It was a 33 weeks of intense training and my introduction to the electronics field, this training set the course for the rest of my working life. Yep, I had my training in the days of vacuum tubes.

Our second child was born at Ft Monmouth, NJ on the day President Kennedy was killed. What a way to remember a birthday. When the baby was about one month old, she became very ill, I suspect due to exposure to cold, but that too we will not discuss. She was transferred to The U.S. Naval Hospital at St. Albans, Queens, New York where she remained in intensive care for over a month. After she was released form the hospital, my wife and two daughters went back to Georgia to live with my parents while I finished RADAR School.

November 22,1963….. Our President was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald while JFK was on a political trip to Dallas, Texas. It is one of those days in history you always will remember where you were, and what they were doing. in my case I was in the US Army Hospital, Fort Monmouth, NJ. All of America mourned, and the world stopped to watch TV.

The following day the world witnessed a murder live on TV as Oswald was shot to death by Jack Rudy while Oswald was in custody of the Dallas Police. America was traumatized as we were glued to our TV sets Jackie, John John, Caroline and America buried our President.

Two hours and eight minutes after President Kennedy was assassinated Vice President Johnson was sworn in as President on Air Force One in Dallas at Love Field Airport on November 22, 1963. He was sworn in by Federal Judge Sarah T. Hughes. Jackie Kennedy was by his side. Jackie was a strong woman, she helped America get through the trauma that we suffered during this period in our history.

US Army Combat Surveillance School, Fort Huachuca, Arizona

After completion of RADAR School I was sent to Fort Huachuca (wa-chu-ka), Arizona where I was assigned as an Instructor in Basic Electronics in the US Army Combat Surveillance School. After completing Instructor Training and Ejection Seat Training we instructed our students in the use of Airborne Radar and Airborne Infrared Surveillance. The equipment was used in the OV-1 Mohawk Aircraft, that was one fine flying machine. During my first year in this position I was promoted to Spec 5 and then SSG E6.

Did you know that I was the Assistant Instructor for a Briefing of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara while I was at Ft. Huachuca, we were involved with his pet “project 100,000”, we had the mission to teach electronics to students who could barely read and write, they were known as McNamara's "Moron Corps" I suppose you have to earn the big bucks to come up with an idea like that.

When I arrived at Ft. Huachuca my thought was what have I got myself into now, it must have been 110 degrees and all you could see was scrub brush. After some time there I learned some of the history and also learned to love the south west. It was the land of Cochise and Geronimo, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday and “Tombstone Territory.”

Tombstone, Arizona, 1881 Tombstone, Arizona today

I grew up playing cowboys and Indians, I would have loved the 1880’s

Remembering a funny story from 1942

That reminded me of a funny story, we were living in Armuchee prior to WWII, it was near Christmas time, and while mama and daddy were both at work, Harold and I found our Christmas presents, Cowboy outfits and cap pistols. We put them cloths on and took those cap pistols and killed every Indian and every bad guy in Armuchee, Ga. The problem is I got my cowboy suite caught in a barb wire fence and ripped the seat of the pants. We also shot up all of the caps we had. Then we went home and put the stuff back in the boxes and back to their hiding place. Christmas morning when we got our presents their was no caps and I had a rip in my pants, we were busted.

During our time at Ft Huachuca, even though my wife gave birth to my third daughter our marriage continued to falter, during an especially difficult time in 1966 they returned to Georgia where they lived with my parents. Shortly thereafter my father was transferred to San Diego, CA. My family moved with them.

In 1966 I applied for another military electronics school and was accepted. I was transferred to Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland for Calibration Technician School. My children stayed with my parents and I moved my wife to Philadelphia, PA. In 1967 I filed for divorce which was uncontested. I was given full custody of the three children. In 1967 it was very unusual that the man would be given custody in a divorce, much less a man who was a career soldier. I assured the judge that my mother would help me care for the children if I were deployed overseas.

TO BE CONTINUED

My Life (Page XI)

 

Traveling by train to Frankfort, Germany 1961

In January 1961 I was ordered to Germany, taking a Troop Ship, the USNS Rose, from Brooklyn, NY to Bremerhaven,  Germany.  It was a two year tour of duty for soldier with out family.  Since I was a Private at the time the army would not move family members, having little funds my wife and daughter continued to live with my parents.  That two year period was the beginning of the end of my marriage, even though we stayed together for a total 11 years, it was a hopeless situation. Some things are better left unsaid so that will be all I have to say about that subject.

U.S. Army Europe         

I was assigned to the 513th Military Intelligence Group with headquarters at Camp King, Obersursel, Germany.  I have never talked much about it because the work we did was classified.  I suppose that is why pop never talked about what he did in the Navy, the letter form granddaddy said his work was secret.  I will say we had duty stations all over Europe, including Berlin, both sides of the wall….

 

 

 

Here I am, sitting on a rail fence with the Berlin Wall in the background.  Did you know  I was in Berlin when that wall was built in 1962?  I saw east Germans shot while trying to escape into the American Sector.  Here in America we need to build a wall to keep people out, the Communist had to build a wall to keep their people in, how can anyone believe that freedom is not the most important thing we have?  Why do we have people that think their system of government is better than ours?

This man wanted freedom bad enough to risk his life trying to escape.  His freedom was death. 

The space between the fence and the wall was called a kill zone, anyone trying to cross would be shot.

The Berlin Wall went down the middle of streets, separating friends and families for decades.  This photo shows the wall going across this church’s steps.

JFK in open car, Berlin 1963

 

John F. Kennedy was my first Commander in Chief, and in his 1963 Berlin speech best explained the problem with the Berlin Wall, his closing words were:

Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe. When that day finally comes, as it will, the people of West Berlin can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in the front lines for almost two decades.

All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner."
John F. Kennedy, 1963

I loved Germany, there is so much to see, this is the Eagles Nest, Hitler’s mountain top retreat in Bertesgarden Germany

And this is me, it the rock above the Eagles Nest.  We were authorized a one week Retreat every 6 months in Bertesgarden.  Bertesgarden is in southern Germany near Austria.

These photos would have been in December 1962, I was promoted to Spec 4 in late 1962 and came back home in January 1963.

 

During my time in Germany this old country boy from a dry county in Georgia learned to like the taste of beer and booze, something that would become a problem later in my life.

I had drank a few 3.2% beers at Fort Jackson, German beer is another story, typical beer is 18% and taste good, oh my.  The enlisted clubs in Germany would would regularly have nickel beer night, yep, 5 cents for a draft beer.  I have been know to order a dollar’s worth.

TO BE CONTINUED

My Life (Page X)

Best Documentary Feature Thanks Sanni

In the fall of 1955 I started college at Shorter College, Rome, GA. I did not want to go to school but my father pushed me into it. I think he was remembering how badly he wanted to attend college. I was so done with school, oh well……

I suspect that in a persons life time they are entitled to make some mistakes, they tell me that is how you learn. In the fall of 1955 I made mine. In a moment I would later regret. Prior to my 18th birthday my girl friend from high school and I eloped, going to Chattanooga, TN and got married. There was no waiting period, just get a blood test, pay the man and you were married on the spot. At this point in my life I have no way to rationalize why we did what we did, I suspect it had to do with the morals of the 1950’s, look but do not touch. In August of 1956 she gave birth of my oldest daughter. Anyone who happens to be reading this story of my life, Cynthia prompted it by asking some questions about our family.

I completed the first year of college and dropped out, my father had grown weary of the commute to Lockheed every day so he and my mother moved to Marietta, GA. That left me with the farm which I continued to operate. It was my pleasure to finally sell that old mule team in 1956.

Egg production had become unprofitable so we did sell of our hens other that a dozen or so we kept for eggs for ourselves. I maintained the beef cows and continued to grow hay for winter feed for the cows. I also continued to have a large garden and we canned vegetables for our use.

Cash income from the farm was very limited and I had never managed the business end of the farm so I took a job in Rome, Ga to provide income for our family. Anyone interested minimum wage at the time was 75 cents per hour, which is what I was paid, soon there after it was increased to $1.00 per hour, I earned $40.00 per week working in a Cotton Mill and later in a Carpet Mill.

In 1959, the winter in north Georgia was very harsh, we had an ice storm that coated the trees with as much as an inch of ice. Needless to say that was so much weight on the trees that they snapped like twigs. We had near 100 acres of timber with thousands of trees on the ground. I quit my job and for the next 8 months with our John Deer tractor and a chain saw I harvested the timber. Mostly for pulpwood which was sold to a local paper mill, some of it went to the sawmill for lumber. At the time pulpwood was cut into 6 foot lengths, and I cut the logs, loaded them on a trailer, hauled and stacked them where a truck could pick them up. I do think it was the hardest work of my life.

Third United States Army

In early June, 1960 I received a letter form the Selective Service Board, It was very nice, saying that your friends and neighbors have selected you to be drafted into the US Army. On June 30, 1960 I reported to Fort Jackson, SC for in processing and Basic Training Since I was a draftee, at 23 I was older than most of the new recruits in my basic training company. Most of them were 18 years old, just out of high school and thought they knew everything, I did know everything and was in much better physical condition after spending 8 months in the woods. I was made an acting Corporal, and squad leader. It gave responsibility for the guys in my squad and some privileges like no KP.

After basic training I remained at Fort Jackson, SC for advanced training until January 1961. This photo was from that period. I remember the guy in the photo, he was from Atlanta, we were good friends in basic training and in the same company for advanced training, I cannot remember his name. As a private in the Army I earned about $120.00 per month so my wife and daughter continued to live with my parents and I would get home on a pass about once each month.

TO BE CONTINUED