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Re: Vets, "Where Ya Been?"
In the Fall of 1952, An army buddy and I went from Fort Devins,
Massachusetts to New York city on a three day pass. We hitchhiked along
the expressway and the fellow who picked us up went out of his way to
drop us off in the middle of the city. We shared a room at the YMCA for
some small amount like 75 cents each. We wore our army uniforms and were
treated well by the citizens.
We were given free tickets to a Broadway play. I don't remember
the name of the play but it was first rate as Henry Fonda played the lead
role. We were never allowed to buy a beer in the local taverns. The house
always bought the first beer then some customer would buy the second
beer. A USO recreation hall furnished us free food and soft drinks.
Everyone we met were friendly to us. It was a pleasant experience.
John C.
On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 12:37:35 -0700 (PDT) Mike Davino <mdavino@yahoo.com>
writes:
> Speaking about Seattle, oddly enough that is one town
> that did host a welcome home parade for one unit of
> Vietnam veterans. It was a battalion from the 9th
> Infantry Division (the 3rd Bn, 60th Infantry, I
> think).
>
> That is one of the few units that redeployed as a unit
> instead of individuals. What I think happened is when
> Nixon announced his drawdown, they picked that
> battalion to leave en mass to show he was making good
> on his promise of "Vietnamization." What the Army did
> was probably transfer most of the soldiers who had a
> long time left on their tours out of that battalion
> and transfer a bunch of "short-timers" into that
> battalion. The unit was paraded thru downtown and got
> a salmon dinner.
>
> Did anything similar happen for any Korean War units?
>
> Mike Davino
>
> --- John C Cheek <johncheek1@juno.com> wrote:
> > When I returned from Korea in April of 1954
> > a small band greeted
> > our ship as it docked in Seattle. I don't know who
> > organized that
> > greeting. However, I don't recall any special
> > greeting from friends and
> > acquaintances in my home town. Some might have said
> > welcome home but if
> > someone would have made a big deal out of thanking
> > me I surely would
> > remember it. However, it was not a issue with me. I
> > was just happy to
> > have survived and returned home.
> > My mustering out pay was somewhere around
> > $800+. It was the first
> > time in my life that I saw a one-hundred dollar bill
> > and they handed me
> > eight of them. Then the State of Washington gave me
> > a Veteran's Bonus of
> > $200. In total, that was over three months pay at
> > the job I left behind
> > when I went into the Army in 1952.
> > I am grateful that the GI Bill allowed me to
> > obtain a college
> > education. I could not have done it solely with my
> > own finances. I had a
> > pregnant wife and one child when I started
> > engineering school at
> > Washington State in 1956. Four and one-half years
> > later I had a BS degree
> > in Civil Engineering, a wife and four children - the
> > winters are very
> > cold in Pullman, Washington.
> > I bought my first house in 1961 with GI Bill
> > backing for $50 down
> > and a 25 year mortgage at 5%.
> > In summary, there was no ticker parades for
> > returning Korean
> > Veterans but I don't think we were ignored. I think
> > my fellow citizens
> > were grateful and rewarded us (via their elected
> > representatives) with
> > generous benefits available only to military
> > veterans of the Korean War.
> >
> > How many of you used mustering out pay to
> > get a new start in
> > civilian life, purchase a home on the GI Bill, or
> > obtain training on the
> > GI Bill?
> >
> > Stay safe, buddy.
> > J. Charles Cheek (John)
> > Author of "Stay Safe, Buddy"
> > A Novel about Humor & Horror during the
> > Korean War
> > www.authorsden.com/jcharlescheek
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Tue, 29 Jul 2003 18:56:09 -0700 (PDT) Mike Davino
> > <mdavino@yahoo.com>
> > writes:
> > > I lived in Puyallup for about a year when I was
> > > stationed at Fort Lewis. It seemed like a nice
> > place.
> > >
> > > Mike Davino
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > > I can tell you with certainty that it happened
> > in a
> > > > restaurant in Puyallup
> > > > Washington about 30 years ago along with getting
> > the
> > > > finger a few times. I know
> > > > it happened, as I was the soldier it was
> > directed
> > > > at. I also may be a rarity
> > > > as I have gotten superb care from the VA (Iowa
> > City
> > > > hospital) along with an
> > > > offer for an all expense paid trip to Johns
> > Hopkins
> > > > for Gulf War syndrome
> > > > tests. Congress and the various administrations
> > may
> > > > have been less than willing to
> > > > fund the VA, but I can't knock the medical and
> > > > support staff at the VA, they
> > > > are first class people.
> > > > Glen
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > __________________________________
> > > Do you Yahoo!?
> > > Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site
> > design software
> > > http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > Stay safe, buddy.
> > J. Charles Cheek (John)
> > Author of "Stay Safe, Buddy"
> > A Novel about Humor & Horror during the
> > Korean War
> > www.authorsden.com/jcharlescheek
>
>
> __________________________________
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> Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
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>
>
>
Stay safe, buddy.
J. Charles Cheek (John)
Author of "Stay Safe, Buddy"
A Novel about Humor & Horror during the Korean War
www.authorsden.com/jcharlescheek