Soon though, we were handed our weapons and the training began in earnest! We trained hard in a no nonsense course. One range, where you had to crawl and fire and duck grenades thrown by a sadistic instructor, made me feel like I was in Viet Nam. It was very realistic, exciting, even a little fun! The Germans didn’t waste time. In an American exercise, we spend more time in the field and the conditions are more primitive, but most of that time is spent waiting for this, waiting for that, waiting for some officer to open a range, finish his coffee, etc., etc... We trained hard and fast in Schwartzenborn, there was no waiting for anything! We used every weapon available to the German Army’s soldier and every tactic in their manual! I learned more in that two weeks with the German Army than I did in eight weeks of basic combat training at Fort Dix, New Jersey. I was awarded the German Army’s Geshutzenshneur im Bronze, which I still have on my American Army uniform today.
After I returned to Lee Barracks in Mainz, there were a few more nights of Chinese food near the Hauptbahnhof downtown, a few more nights at La Bastille, a disco...and a few more nights at a private disco on the Rhine and a jazz club in the old quarter, and then I got a new set of orders. I was being transferred to a place called Homestead Air Force Base in Florida. Florida! Sunshine! Oranges! Sunshine! I hadn’t seen the sun much in the last three years, so I was thrilled!
My friend Art was getting out of the service, and Chuck had already PCS’d back to the States (that means he changed stations or transferred, much like what I was about to do). Even Frank was getting ready to leave, I think...I have to wonder what Mainz was like after that.
It was about this time when I got bad news from home. A couple of my boyhood friends from the South Side of Chicago were dead, my mom wrote. There was a newspaper article, it said that Bobby had sold some drugs to a girl whose father was a Mafia boss. His father was enraged that this could happen to his baby (I guess he didn’t think about what his drugs might be doing to other people’s children) and so he hired a hit man to kill the man who sold this garbage to his daughter. The hit man accidentally killed the wrong brother, Jimmy. When he found out that it was the wrong brother, he went after the right one, killing Bobby. Wow, that was quite a shock! Then, years later I would learn that the whole article was wrong and both Bobby and Jimmy were alive and well! Guess you can’t believe everything you read.
Anyway, in the Army, when you fly back from Europe (and with prior approval), if you pay the additional costs, you can travel first class. Likewise, you can stay at the best hotels...as long as you pay the additional charges over the approved Army rates. The Army doesn’t, or at least back then it didn’t care. So, I got a first class ticket on a Pan Am flight from Frankfurt to New York. I got a room at the New York Hilton. Ah, New York...after three years in Europe, the food and sites and sounds seemed exotic.
My plans were to have a great dinner and then to fly home to Chicago for a little leave (vacation) with my folks and to see LuAnn again! We had been writing a little, and we both wanted to see each-other. It was spring time, and romance was in the air!
Rested and wearing a tailor made suit from London (although I had never been there, some company sent their tailors around Germany and made the suits in England). I flew on an airplane in which something went wrong with one of the doors in mid-flight! When we landed at O’Hare International Airport, I saw another reason to be concerned. The pilot and co-pilot looked like they could have been flying aces...in World War I! But, soon enough, I saw LuAnn, I saw my mother and father, I saw her mother and father! LuAnn’s mother said that I was handsome in my suit. ‘See the difference between off the rack and something tailored”; She asked her husband. My mother and LuAnn took turns hugging me, Dad shook my hand and hugged me, everyone seemed happy that I was home.
I think everyone, my parents, her parents, and LuAnn came in separate cars. LuAnn and I went in her car. I was so happy to see her, but it had been so long. I was clumsy and not sure of what to say. She was, as always able to talk about anything and to relieve my fears. “So, how do you like my car”; she asked. “Oh, fine”; I said: “Looks great.” I was enamored with her again though, I’m not sure I even knew what color the car was to tell you the truth. LuAnn looked a little disappointed though. “What’s wrong”; I asked. “Oh, nothing”; she mused: “It’s just that I thought you’d ask what the name of my car was.” I smiled and asked: “Oh, okay, so what’s the name of your car?” She smiled and said: “I call her Stephanie Starfire, get it?” “It’s a Starfire, so that’s her last name”; she told me...we laughed and talked until we got home to Riverdale, Illinois. My parents had moved within blocks of her house, so it was very convenient.
Like teenagers, LuAnn and I went out to movies, and restaurants, we went to dance at a place called ‘The Rotten Apple’. We shared some romantic times, and we went to visit her brother Michael in Minnesota. We had a great time...we even started planning our wedding and talked about having our reception at the place in Evergreen Park, where we couldn’t pay our bill on our prom night.
My father and I spent some time together...we drove around, even shared a beer. He let me use his car now, and I went checking-up on some of my other friends from high school. My old friend Tom was engaged now. He worked at the steel mills and laughed about how little they paid me to be a soldier. We hung out a little, but both of us had changed a lot. I couldn’t find Mort, I think he had gone away, maybe to school. My dad wanted to go fishing, but I was never really into the sport that much. I mean I hate to eat fish, so there’s little going for it. I told him no, maybe next time, besides dad...I don’t have much time to spend with Lu. He said he understood, that it was okay...but, it was one of those things that you wish you could take back. I wished I had gone out with him for at least a good day of fishing at Powderhorn Lake and hot dogs at Geno’s. Those were some of my best memories with him as a kid...even if I didn’t eat the fish we caught!
One afternoon, my mother invited LuAnn to dinner. What she had in mind was a nice soup dish, duck soup...in a way. Now, a lot of cultures have strange dishes, a lot of cultures have something similar. But, this soup is the strangest thing we served in our family, it’s called Czarnina (kind of like saying: black soup). It’s actually made from the blood of a duck! So, when LuAnn asked me what it was, I wasn’t too anxious to tell her. Hell, I didn’t want her to hurt my moms feelings or get sick at the thought (mind you, this soup can be pretty good). So, I didn’t tell her. The day came, Lu came over and ate the soup, and then we went out to her car. ‘I know what that was’; she told me with arched eyebrows and the notable absence of a smile. I stood there, and asked: ‘How do you know?’ ‘A girl at work, she’s Polish and she told me’; LuAnn said matter-of-factly. ‘Oh’; I said meekly: ‘Sorry.’ She laughed and shrugged: ‘It’s okay, it tasted good!’ ‘But, I have to admit that when she told me, I almost called to cancel.’
LuAnn was working at a bank in downtown Chicago, and I went there a couple of times to visit her. Once, I saw a familiar face in a crowd in the middle of a street by the Randolf Street Illinois Central Train Station. I thought it was her, but...no, I didn’t want to walk up to someone and say: ‘Haven’t we met before?’ No, that just wasn’t my style. Still she was an old friend, she did get me through biology by doing my notebook for me. ‘Olivia’; I yelled out, looking in the other direction. I turned towards her slowly and I saw she was looking around. Before I could say anything, Olivia’s eyes widened, her face lit up, and she yelled: ‘Jimmy!’ It was her and she did recognize me. We crossed to a sidewalk and talked. She was married now with children and everything. She worked for Prudential, an insurance company. We were really happy to have found each-other and we exchanged addresses to keep in touch.
I told her about what I had done and where I had been. We hugged and said good-bye, and I went off to plan my evening with LuAnn. We were going to see ‘A Chorus Line.’
I picked LuAnn up at the bank, and she was acting a little strange. We went to see ‘A Chorus Line,’ and I thought we were having a good time...then, she told me...on the train ride home. She told me that I left a book behind at her office and so she looked inside. In the book was a letter I just got from an old lover. She had a child, and wasn’t sure if it was mine or her husband’s. It wasn’t the kind of note you’d want your fiancée to find. LuAnn said that was it, we were finished! She nearly got hysterical on the train and then got off a stop early, I followed her, but she ran. I ran after her, but there wasn’t much that I could do, and I didn’t know what to say. I walked behind her to make sure she got home okay, but that was really it, we were really finished. I had never seen anyone so hurt in all of my life, and that hurt me as much if not more than our breaking-up. Two hearts were broken that night.
Soon I was on another plane, soon I was in Florida. When I finally got to Homestead Air Force Base, it was a little weird. The barracks had carpets and air conditioning! Having been in a World War I barracks for three years, I couldn’t believe it. There were two dining facilities (mess halls) on the base, a blue room and a green room. One had full meals, the other specialized in fast food...the blue room even had live music on Friday nights (local bands).
There was a problem though...they were over-staffed. Personnel made a mistake, and so, I was on an unofficial vacation at the base swimming pool until they figured-out what to do. It took about two weeks.
‘U.S. Naval Air Station Key West’; I gulped as I read my orders: ‘The Airforce is trading me to the Navy?’ ‘They have a slot’; some clerk said with a shrug of his shoulders. In less than twenty-four hours, I was packed and on a Greyhound bus heading towards a blip on the map, a tiny key called Boca Chica, a place called the U.S. Naval Air Station Key West.
I had always teased my father about being a sailor in the Navy. I had always given him a hard time. Both his father and son saw the wisdom of being in the Army, my grandfather was an officer in the war to end all wars, World War I. But, my father had a lot of interesting stories. Once he was in Panama and he told me about the poverty and how women and children would scamper to and fro without any clothes on. He got lost and walked down a jungle road...he got more lost! Somehow, some workers from like a banana plantation found him, fed him, and got him back to his ship. Once, he and his buddies pulled a practical joke on their shipmates...they got a case of laxative gum and a case of regular gum. Carefully, they opened the regular gum, dumped the contents and filled the innocent packages with laxative gum! Then, yes...they passed out the free gum!!! Or, there was the time when my dad’s ship was coming into port. The men had been looking forward to their liberty (passes) after a long tour at sea. My dad, who worked in the kitchen was walking through the mess hall at breakfast and all the men were yelling: ‘Hey Riley, you guys finally got some class in here!’ My dad smiled not knowing what the men were talking about. ‘Raisin toast, all right’; another man shouted across the deck: “What a treat!” My dad paused for a minute. ‘No’; he thought: ‘We didn’t have any raisins!’ He ran into the kitchen and checked the flour bins...they were full of bugs! ‘Damned’; my dad and his crewmates thought (and probably even more colorful language too). They couldn’t tell the men, their shipmates would kill them! They couldn’t let the officers or the port people know, or liberty would be canceled! So, they just dumped out the flour and cleaned the kitchen. ‘No raisin toast’; I thought as the bus flew down the only highway towards Key West. ‘Somehow, the Navy knows how I’ve teased my dad’; I thought in full paranoia: ‘This is a plot to get me!’
The Army first sent soldiers to Key West in the 1960’s, during the Cuban missile crises. The barracks though, were in such bad shape (reportedly condemned by the county) that the commander put his people in tents! The same for the Air Force. Together, they built new barracks, but the Navy kept the old ones.
The Armed Services all had their own philosophies about how to spend their money. At least this is what we heard...that the Air Force would get their appropriations for a base, they would build the barracks, recreational facilities, etc...running out of money as they prepared to build the actual air strip. Then, they would go back to Congress and ask for what they needed, and ofcourse they’d get it. The Army would split the difference and sometimes...run out of money for barracks and clubs and recreational facilities. The Navy though, the Navy would put all of its money straight into ships. Instead of ‘damned the torpedoes’ it seemed to be ‘damned the enlisted people!’
Then, I had to process through a maze of Navy clerks to get paid for all my expenses (minus my first class upgrades). I had a lot of problems explaining to the Navy clerks that I could travel first class and stay at the Hilton...they wanted me to eat the whole bill! I had to do some yelling and screaming and pleading and threatening. I had to tell these over weight clerks that I wanted to call the Pentagon and have the Army Inspector General investigate what was going on! A calmer mind prevailed though and finally I was paid.
At the USNAS, we had one mess hall. It served slop...cold or hot, early or late, it was always bad. The only theater (it was a small base) was a hangar with wooden benches showing films from the Korean War!
But, Key West, well...I have to say it: ‘It was beautiful!’ Well, okay, one more gripe___the mosquitoes were so big (how big were they?), they were so big, that when you slapped them, they’d slap you back! Aggghhhhh!!! It’s okay to laugh, nobody’s watching you!
Anyway, it was really nice, almost tropical, and the water was clear, and with a large gay population...the women were like men everywhere else, desperate! Yes, I had a lot of fun there. It was a long time before herpes and AIDS.
I learned to eat raw oysters here. I’d spend hours in a bar called Sloppy Joe’s because I heard Hemmingway used to drink there. I guess I was hoping I might absorb just a little of his talent.
My job here, mainly as a Chaplain’s Assistant, although by now we were called Chapel Activities Specialists, consisted of helping a very capable Chaplain, getting the mail, arranging an occasional trip for the soldiers to Disney World in Orlando, and calling the local hospitals to see if any Army people were there.
Eventually, I asked one of the receptionists who I’d call day in and day out if she’d like to go out with me. She said no. I thought: ‘ofcourse she said no, why would she want to go out with someone she’s never seen?’ For about a week after that, I kept it all ‘strictly business.’ I’d call, ask for the information, then...after she’d tell me, I’d just say thank you and hang up. But, this was Key West, and remember what I said? So, one day, I called as usual and asked if there were any soldiers there. ‘Wait’; she said: ‘Don’t hang up!’ ‘When are you going to ask me out again?’ I stumbled, not sure what to say. I mumbled something suave and sophisticated like: ‘Huh?’ She repeated herself and I stuttered something about: ‘Is Friday okay?’ She agreed, and we made plans to meet at the first bar as you enter Key West itself.
I have to admit that I felt trapped. I thought: ‘She must be a real dog to want to go out with someone she’s never met.’ I thought about canceling, I thought about not showing-up, “but that wouldn’t be right’; I told myself.
Nervously, I ordered a vodka sunrise and looked at all the people in the bar. Then, she walked in and I knew it was the woman I had been talking to on the phone. She had shiny red hair and a face and body that were nearly as beautiful as her voice (she was a singer too, I would learn). We were both relieved and we both laughed. We took a taxi to the other side of the key and before we left the parking lot we were in each-other’s arms!
We had a wonderful date, a romantic date, it was a lot of fun! Like at one point, when we sat at a table drinking a little and talking a lot. I looked across the street at a bar called the Monster. Usually, there was a long line waiting to get in, but not tonight. She looked at me, we looked across at the Monster, and she asked if I ever wondered what was in there. ‘Sure’; I said. ‘Want to go see’; she asked. Well, now remember what I said earlier about Key West having a large gay population? This bar, the Monster, was a gay bar. So naturally I said: ‘Yeah!’ ...And just like that, we crossed the street and went in.
The Monster was clean, spotless, it was the cleanest bar I’ve ever seen (and my parents used to own a bar!). The drinks were cheap! Okay, it was a little uncomfortable at first...especially when the guys looked at me instead of my date, but it was a really nice place. Even the floor show with a female impersonator was pretty good. Eventually we left and had a romantic walk up the main road in Key West. We had a very nice night.
Key West even had its own rituals...like at sunset, most of the locals and tourists would gather at a pier, by the bars naturally, and watch the sun set into the sea. It is beautiful, and breath-taking. And there’s more, even a sense of community. It was a very nice place to live.
I took leave and flew to the Bahamas. I reserved a room in advance...yeah, I did it the boring way. But getting to Paradise Island from the airport was exciting enough! Our bags were late, our driver was wild, I was glad (and probably lucky) to get there in one piece!!!
I walked into the Playboy club casino and watched a man lose three thousand dollars on one toss of the dice! He laughed! Then, I saw a couple of beautiful young ladies from my home town, Chicago...and I wished I had three thousand dollars to throw away like that.
On another day, baking in the sun near the pool, I saw another beautiful young woman eating a hot dog. She was getting-up, ready to leave, but how could I let this opportunity pass me by? I got up and walked towards her...what would I say? I opened my mouth and asked: ‘Where’d you get that hot dog?’ The hot dog stand was not ten feet away and in plain sight. I almost kicked myself, but she took mercy on me and smiled...she offered her hand and introduced herself. She told me her name was Monique, and she had come down from Canada. She would turn out to be one of the most intelligent women I had ever met and been blessed to date. She would also prove to be a very loyal friend throughout my life.
Some funny things happened on our vacation though. We decided, after that auspicious beginning, to go find something to eat. We were in a resort location after-all, and it wasn’t that late. Yet every place we walked to was closed, I think we finally ate a snack (and we were both starving) in a deli at the hotel. She was funny and witty and I was charmed. We exchanged addresses and she gave me her number.
Back in Key West, the local airline, who we called Air Lost, lost my luggage! My Chaplain picked me up from the airport though and we talked about the Bahamas. He had been there before. Back at the barracks, I called Monique in Canada...she was surprised. She told me that she didn’t think I would really call her like I promised. I was surprised, could some idiot have gotten her number before and not called? We held long conversations over the phone and made the telephone company rich!
Then, we made plans to take a vacation together. Monique and I coordinated a trip to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. I was the first to arrive at the La Concha Hilton. When Monique came, she looked better then ever, she was wittier and funnier than I remembered! We ate fresh pineapple that was so good, it would give your mouth an orgasm! We drank Pina Coladas on the beach. We walked around old San Juan, visited the fort, the old cemetery, and a restaurant that sounded like Rosanrosanadana (a character on Saturday Night Live on American T.V.). Monique was so worldly, she knew the different foods and cultures, she knew about cognac and jewelry...she just impressed the heck out of me.
Puerto Rico was fantastic too! It was beautiful, the sun was stronger, the wind was sweet, and the water was so clear you could walk out, up to your neck in water, and look down and still see your toes wiggle! It was like glass!
The Virgin Islands, well...there was this weird split where on the streets by the beach there’d be all this gold and valuable goods for sale...on another street would be incredible poverty. It didn’t seem right, it didn’t feel right. It was like some of the people got all of the profit from the tourists while others got none and suffered silently. Maybe I was wrong, maybe I was in the wrong place, I don’t know. It just felt bad for me to be there.
Finally, we had to part again. I had to go back to work. I think my Chaplain was the first to mention it. The 1/65th A.D.A. (Air Defense Artillery) was pulling out. We were going to Texas, El Paso, Texas, to the middle of the desert, the middle of nowhere!
But, no, my Chaplain wasn’t going. No, he was going back to the Chaplain’s School. So, and here’s where it gets good...I was not to report to the Chaplain at Fort Bliss, NO, I was to report to the Colonel...our commander. LTC Williamson, a tough as nails, take charge kind of leader. The exact kind of officer I always avoided! I imagined landing at Fort Bliss and having him hand me a rifle, tell me to march twenty miles through the desert, only to march back again! I imagined permanent field duty! I imagined that he’d make me shave my head like his!!!
With a heavy heart, and all these fears...I flew up to Canada where I spent some time with Monique and her two terrific daughters. The children are twins and at two years old, one of the first words they learned to say was ‘mustache.’ I had a mustache at the time and they would touch it and say: ‘mustache.’ It was all very cute.
Monique took me all around Toronto. We went to a flea market, to their Chinatown and ate at a Jewish-Chinese restaurant called: ‘Ginsburg & Wongs,’ it was different, it was great. They had mason jars for glasses. My favorite restaurant by far though, was a place called ‘Mr. Green Jeans’ where they served a great bowl of French Onion Soup topped with a thick slice of sour dough bread covered in oven browned cheese!
The thing that struck me the most about Toronto was how clean it was compared to major cities in the U.S. There was a touch, just a slight whisper of a touch mind you, of a European taste to the city. There was something else too...a little bit of greenery here and there. It was like someone actually planned the city out and thought: ‘it would be nice to see a tree here and some grass there.’
Monique took me to churches and the riverfront. She showed me the culture, she introduced me to her friends. Two of her friends, Peter and his wife were members (I think) of the Society of Friends a very Pacifist group and they were the ones that I got to know the best. They were also very bright and I loved when the four of us would get together and talk.
She also had a lot of friends in the legal profession. Knowing that I had an interest in the legal field, Monique would invite them over and we’d talk. I learned that their biggest problem was American T.V. Television shows like Perry Mason and Owen Marshall, etc...were misleading enough to people in the U.S., but in Canada it was even worse. Things were different, for instance, sometimes...they explained to me, you’d go to see a client after they had been arrested. You’d ask them what they said to the police. Your client would look at you and say: ‘Everything!’ They’d tell their lawyers that it was okay though, because the coppers didn’t tell them their rights or didn’t tell them that they could see a lawyer. They saw it on T.V. But, in Canada, at the time, you only had the right to see an attorney after questioning!
Another problem they told me about was when your client was on the stand. The prosecutor would ask an incriminating question. Your client would then scream out: ‘I plea the fifth!’ The judge would then turn to your client, a smile on his face, and he’d ask: ‘A fifth of what?’ Again, at that time, the way that it was explained to me...in Canadian courts you did not have the right not to testify against yourself. It was interesting, it was Canadian Law 101 for me. I really thought I was learning a lot.
Anyway, soon...too soon, I had to go on to Fort Bliss, Texas. On the way, I flew into O’Hare International Airport and had a beer with my father. Not being much of a drinker since I left Germany, I think I got just a tad bit tipsy off that one drink. My dad saw it in my eyes, I think, and he laughed! I was surprised after having been used to the much stronger beers in Europe...but, I had to go. My father walked me through the terminal, there it was, my flight to El Paso. I gave my dad a hug, and I was off again!
I looked out the window of the airplane (I always pick the window seat if I can) and to my surprise, I saw tall buildings and busy streets. We descended past the business district awash in Texas sunshine...I was relieved, there was life in the desert! Whew!
Taking a short ride into Fort Bliss, I checked my watch. It was about noon, perfect timing, I thought. As ordered, I went to the commander’s office, knowing he would be out to lunch. I walked in, signed the log book...and when a clerk told me that he was out to lunch, I left a message that I came by, but now I had to go to the Post Chaplain’s office. I promised to come back as soon as they’d let me.
I walked, I ran, hell...I practically danced my way to the Post Chaplain’s office. There I was greeted with open arms. As an E-5 (Specialist 5), I would be the N.C.O.I.C. (Non Commissioned Officer In Charge) of the post chapels. I would have Saturdays and Sundays off! Regular office hours. ...And they promised to take care of the problems with the 1/65th A.D.A.
By the time I walked back to my old unit, the Chaplain from the Post Chaplain’s office was already in the commander’s office. The Executive Officer (X.O. - the second in command) was yelling: ‘God damned it Chaplain, we’re keeping Riley!’ I shuddered, everyone in the outer office was quiet, and listening. “And, I’ll tell you something else...when we’re through, we’re giving Riley a God damned medal”; the X.O. shouted!
I didn’t hear the Commander, I didn’t hear the Chaplain...I just heard the door slam. The Chaplain was gone and the Colonel called me into his office: ‘Riley!’
'...And then what happened Jim?'
I WANT TO KNOW MORE...(next page)
~ Onlinetheater Actors and Actresses ~ ~ Onlinetheater Lobby ~ ~ Onlinetheater Coming Attractions ~ ~ Onlinetheater Film Reviews ~ ~ Onlinetheater Guest Poets ~ ~ Onlinetheater Hot News ~ ~ Onlinetheater Library ~ ~ Onlinetheater Personalities ~ ~ Onlinetheater Poetry Corner ~
Created: August 26, 2000r.
Last Updated: April 1, 2001r.