Monday, November 1, 2010

Join the Navy to see .... Norfolk?

My arrival in Norfolk was anything but auspicious.  We had been told our dark blue (wool) winter uniform was to be worn for travel and like a gigantic noob blockhead, I believed it. It was an extremely hot August day and I was traveling by bus to Norfolk in my unbelievably toasty, scratchy uniform, and hauling three large suitcases.  I arrived at the bus station in downtown Norfolk about 9:00 PM on Saturday, August 2, 1969.  I was hot, tired, hungry and feeling really sorry for myself.  My three bags were unloaded from the bus and set at my feet in the terminal.  It was then I discovered the Norfolk Naval Base, where I was to report to be issued a bunk in the female barracks (there were no female barracks on the CINCLANT / CINCLANTFLT compound) was more than a few miles away and there was absolutely no way I was going to be able to hike it, with or without those three suitcases.  I inquired about taxis (if you were a taxi driver wouldn't you look for fares at a bus depot?) but was told there were none to be had.  I called the barracks, but they didn't have any transportation available to pick me up at the bus terminal.  I had until midnight to report in or I was going to be considered AWOL.  This was not how I wanted to start my new job!


Now, I've heard all the stories about getting into cars with strangers, and as I had done that once previously and the result was staggeringly damaging, you could say I was more than reluctant to try my luck again.  However, a very nice looking young man apparently saw my dilemma and offered to give me a ride to the Naval Base.  He said he had come out that evening to pick up the "greensheet" which, apparently, was part of the Sunday newspaper published late on Saturday.  I really did not want to get in the car with him, but I could not see any other option.  I was bedraggled and disgruntled and just wanted to get the damn day over.  So he loaded my three large cases into the trunk of his car and off we went.  I'm sure we had a little chat along the way, but I honestly couldn't tell you.  Between the fatigue and the fear, I was spending all my energy praying.  He took a turn off the main road, down a dirt driveway to a house set back behind some trees and my heart stopped beating.  I just knew I had screwed up again and this was going to be another one of my classic errors in judgment.  He must have seen the stark terror on my face, because he said "I have to stop and give the greensheet to my landlady.  I'll just be a minute."  Then he jumped out of the car, greensheet in hand, ran into the house, and ran back out 30 seconds later.  I could have fled while he was gone, but I have no clue where I would have run to, how I would have gotten my bags, or what I would do about getting to the base once I was lost in the woods.  I doubt I was relieved to see him returning, but he jumped in the car and started back down the driveway and took me directly to the Naval Base.  He stopped at the guard shack, explained why he was there and that he wanted to take me to the WAVES barracks.  They gave him a temporary sticker and let him pass.  (WAVES stood for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service but is no longer in use for female personnel).  He took me to the front door, unloaded my luggage, got back in his car and waved goodbye.  He would not let me pay him and I had been so uptight throughout the entire episode I had not even gotten his name.  I did take out an ad in the greensheet a few days later to publicly thank my anonymous guardian angel, but I don't know if he ever saw it.  I never saw or heard from him again.


When I arrived in Norfolk in mid-1969, I was astounded to see signs in various places around the city that read "Sailors and dogs keep off the grass".  Obviously, the citizenry of Norfolk was not thrilled to have all those military people in the area.  A very large segment of that part of Virginia is taken up by the military -- not just the Navy.  Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, Portsmouth, James River, Oceana, Little Creek, Newport News all have generous complements of military personnel from all branches.  Many of these places would not exist were it not for the military.  Still, some folks would happily cut off their nose to spite their face.  I'd hate to see what would happen to the economy of these cities if the military were to just pull up stakes.


I reported for my new position as Flag Writer to CAPT John W. Fair on my 21st birthday.  I came to love the man as if he was my own father (well, since I never loved my father, I guess as if he was the father I would have loved to have had).  Originally I had resented his pulling strings to get me assigned to him, but within a very short time I would have given my life for the man.  It turned out my job in the Operations department was not going to be one of those ordinary jobs that many people have in the Navy.  Things actually happened in the Operations department, and those things occasionally required some pretty odd working hours.  Because I was often coming and going at erratic hours of the day or night, I was given permission to move out of the barracks and live off base.


Originally I moved in with some friends.  One of the girls from my boot camp company had met and married one of the guys from my Yeoman "A" school class.  I liked both of them quite a bit, and since they needed someone to help with the cost of the house they were renting, I moved in with them.  The house was a block off the beach.  What a fantastic place to be able to relax after some hectic days on the job.  My housemates were Stevie (actually Stephanie, but no one ever called her that) and Jimmie.  Stevie was the size of a pixie and Jimmie was a really cute guy.  They made a great couple.  Since they had rented the house in their name, I just gave them my portion of the rent and utilities each month in cash and let them take care of paying the bills.  Stevie came from Shawnee Mission, Kansas, but she apparently didn't realize she wasn't in Kansas any more.  She was taking the cash money I gave to her and adding more cash to it, putting it in an envelope and mailing it to the utility company.  At Christmas, when Stevie and Jimmie were on leave back in Kansas and my mother and sisters had come to Virginia to visit with me, the power to our house was shut off.  When I called the power company to investigate the problem, I was told the bill had not been paid in four months.  I called Stevie in Kansas and she explained about putting loose money in the mail.  The power company would not reconnect the power until the bill was paid and I did not have four months worth of money to pay it.  I did, however, have a friend who knew how to bypass the lock the power company had put on the meter.  So, yes, I illegally used power over the Christmas holiday while my family was visiting.  And, as soon as Stevie and Jimmie returned, we had a long talk about "real life".  Stevie borrowed the money from her parents to pay the bill.  When the service technician for the power company came out to restore our service he was taken aback by the lock having been bypassed, but he must not have said anything, because we never heard anything further about that issue.  Shortly after that Stevie discovered she was pregnant and I decided I needed to get a place of my own.  We parted friends, and though I never saw either of them again (they worked on a different facility than I), I hope they are still together and have had a wonderful life.


I got my own apartment.  It almost seemed like déjà vu all over again.  I rented an apartment in a complex that had been built for married military families in World War II.  Only these buildings were in far better condition than The Projects in Miami.  They had been maintained and continuously occupied by married military personnel.  While I lived there, every apartment in the complex was rented to someone who was in a branch of the military.  This was the first time I had ever lived alone in my entire life, and I was in Heaven.

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