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Bill,
Landed San Francisco pier late
September 1951 aboard the USNS Anderson,from Okinawa to japan to pick up troops
from Korea,Army,Marines and then sailed for Hawaii then onto San
Francisco.
Remember seeing people
handing out coffee and donuts at the dock,but all Air Force personal were rushed
to the ferry to go to Camp Stoneman ,but as we pulled away from dock were told
over PA that we were to go to the Navy base at treasure island,Myself and 26
other Airman from my squadron at Naha AB Okinawa were to stay there for
almost two weeks before receiving orders to report to Westover
AFB,Massachusetts.MATS.
After 1600 hrs
every day we could leave the Navy Base and we did so to travel over to the
city,pulled very little duty,made sure your area was ship shape and clean,no
KP
Les
Hanson A
LongAgo Airman 1948-1953
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2003 9:55
PM
Subject: Re: Vets, "Where Ya Been?"
Mike, when I stepped off the USNS Gen. Weigel in
late June, 52, at a San Francisco pier into a warehouse we received a cuppa
Joe and a donut and we were marched out a side
door where we were required to pay for the RC "Goodies" before we left the
building. I still haven't forgiven the *#+^%## s for that.From there we
boarded a big ferry boat and they transported us to Camp Stoneman
Repple-Depple where we were confined for three days. From there, those
from the SW (OK, TX, NM, KS, etc) boarded an Army Troop Train destined for Ft.
Sill, OK. Being close to home they gave most of us Okie NGs a
week's furlough and I returned back to receive my re-classification from
NG-Active Duty to NG-State Control (still under my original NG
enlistment). Of course I received my muster-out pay, combat pay, OK
Bonus pay, ,etc. all totalled $350-400. Man, I thought I was RICH!
However, as for Parades, Welcome Home Banners, etc. I saw none other than my
immediate family & a couple of friends who met the train at Ft.
Sill. Of course, all I wanted was to be back home in one piece...that
was good enough for me. I felt that I had given what Uncle Sam had asked
and I was ready to get on with my life. The first thing I did was enroll
in High School to pick up my Senior year as I had went to the Army
between my Jr/Sr years. What a hellava way for a kid to grow up
huh? That's what ya can really call the School of Hard Knocks!
LOL
Bill Scott
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2003
6:37 PM
Subject: 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
>
>
> __________________________________
> 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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