I joined the US Navy in July of 1968 during the Vietnam War. I had completed my college schooling and on June 3, 1968 the Selective Service System removed my college deferment.  I was reclassified  as 1-A meaning available for unrestricted military service.  It was a stressful time for me and I spent some frantic time exploring alternatives to being drafted into the army. I spoke with recruiter for the Coast Guard and Army Reserves and even the Yale war resistance league.  There was no hope with these. However the Navy accepted me.

The Navy was a good choice. My Associate’s Degree in Electronics proved to be a boon and after Boot Camp, they sent me for a year of Avionics training. Memphis is as far away from the ocean as  you imagine, but my next duty station was the Ream Naval Air Station in Imperial Beach, California.

Imperial Beach is located south of San Diego, not far from the Mexican Border. We could see the Tijuana Bullring from the air field.  I was assigned to the Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 1 (HC-1) and my my job was working on the navigation and communication equipment on the Kaman SH-2 Seasprite helicopter which we called “Kaman Killers” after a few of them crashed.  When I arrived I heard the phrase “Twist and turn, crash and burn” in reference to these.

Ream Field was a small base dwarfed in size by North Island to our North. I liked the size of the place. We had a movie theater, Navy Exchange and NCO Club.  I was able to walk to the beach which was about 2 miles away. I remember that after the Santa Barbara oil spill getting tar balls on my feet at the beach and trying to convince the guard to let me come on the base in my bare feet. A little power is a dangerous thing and he insisted I put on socks and shoes over my tar covered feet.

Payday was interesting. We were paid in cash and they would set a table up outside with a pile of money. Armed guards on each side. We lined up and one by one were paid. If we needed to spend it immediately there was a bar called “The Whirlybird” just outside the gate.

The base had nice living arrangements almost like college with two men to a room.  It was much better than the open barracks at Memphis, where the first person to fall asleep would be the one that would snore the loudest.