HMMMMmmmm where was I

Oh yeah, in Virginia. No Melanie, grandpa wasn't ready to kill our neighbor. We just didn't make an
issue of it. At that time people were exploring open marriages, and some did and some didn't. We
didn't. Grandpa wasn't worried at all, after all I had held out for marriage (but then he hadn't offered
me a car). This was the beginning of an era where open marriages and wife swapping parties were
becoming a way of life. That happened a lot on Shipman in La Puente. We didn't believe in that style
of life and no one suggested we should. Anyway, back to life in the Army. In those days you either
enlisted (4 yr stint) or were drafted (2 yr stint) There was no choice when you were drafted, the
service would either make or break you. Grandpa always said, I didn't choose this, but I intend to
make the most of it. The strict rules and regulations surely were not his thing. He liked staying up
all night and sleeping all morning, the army changed that. The bugle blew at 5 am and you better
be ready. Living in town meant we had to get up around 3:30 am and drive Dick and grandpa to the
base which was about 10 miles away. Carol and I often went in our nightgowns and prayed we wouldn't
get a flat tire on the way. A funny service related story: these guys were not military minded or
regimented (you know the type) and it was politically wrong to call your rifle a gun. If you did this
you had to run laps on the parade field with no pants on shouting "this is my rifle; this is my gun;
one is for fighting and one is for fun!" Grandpa said he never had to do this, but Bob Linder admitted
he had to.

I told you earlier about the pillars at our apartment. Well, one Saturday, grandpa was CQ (in charge
of quarters) so he had to stay on the base for a 24 hour period. I wasn't sure what I was going to do
as there was a carnival in town, or we (other service wives) thought we might take in a day at the
beach or a movie, anyway plans were up in the air. Grandpa said, call me when you get home. OK
Well, the only phone in the house was downstairs. We were free to use it, so when I got home, I
put a call into the base, but they said that was a secured number and they couldn't put me thru. I
said OK just give Pvt Webb the message so he knows I am home safe and he wont worry. He said OK.
Iwent upstairs and got ready for bed, read a while and went to sleep. Next thing I know there is a
knock on my window. Mind you, I am on the 2nd floor. I got up walked to the window, lifted up the
shade and saw a face looking at me. I said Just a minute, went and got my robe and then went and
opened the window. It was Dick. He said Wayne is worried about you. I told Dick I tried to call
him, but I couldn't get thru and Dick said he had been calling me, but no one answered. As I said
the phone was downstairs and I couldn't hear it upstairs and the landlords were old and deaf. I
said I would go down and sit on the steps and wait for the phone to ring. Carol said to me, Why
did you make Dick go down the way he came up. You could have let him out the front door. I
never thought of it. He had to slide down the pillar to the ground level. Well, anyway, Grandpa
called and all's well that ends well.

As I said our kitchen was very small and whenever we had company for dinner (usually hot dogs,
couldn't afford much else) two people ended up sitting in the hallway. the table was long and
narrow and could fit thru the door, so two chairs in and two chairs out. Worked for us. The ice
box was our nemesis tho. We were not used to emptying the drip pan and the landlord would
yell up, Mr webb you are watering our plants again. Well, one night we decided to wrap up our
hotdogs and take them to the drive-in-movie. I told Wayne he'd better dump the ice box water
before we left. That meant carrying the almost full dishpan all the way down the hall to the bathroom.
It was at least two room lengths long and then a turn at the stairs, well he got to the stairs when our
good friend Dick shot off a firecracker. Our landlord (remember he can't hear too well) comes
running out to the steps and yells, who got shot, who got shot. Of course Wayne got spooked and
dropped the full dishpan and said "it's ok I just dropped the pan" We were laughing so hard, we
cried.

We did go to the movies tho and all 4 of us fell asleep and when we woke up we were the only ones
there.

Yes, we had fun in the army,j but we knew our time was running out and then the guys would be
sent overseas somewhere, facing who knows what for who knows how long.

Wayne got his orders a couple of weeks before Dick did. He was to report the end of June in
San Francisco. The Army paid his transportation (train) to SF via Chicago, where he had a 10
day delay-en-route time to go home before he had to report in Calif. As long as I was willing
to sleep in the same berth as he did my fare was included. We were on a troop train with only 1
other woman on (she was 7months pregnant) and 2 sailors. the 2 sailors got most of the teasing
until I came on board, then it was my turn. Probably 90% of these guys were shipping to Korea
and really not excited, so it was my patriotic duty to keep up their spirits, and if giving me and
grandpa a bad time, so be it. We didn't know at that time that Grandpa would end up on Okinawa,
so keeping their spirits up helped us a lot too.

The guy sleeping in the berth over ours stayed in the chair car all night so in case we wanted to play
house, we didn't have to worry about him. Yeah right, have you ever slept in a berth, well you
might as well try making love on a pantry shelf.

Grandpa gave me a poem that I carried in my wallet until I lost my wallet. I've been thinking about
that poem, and cant remember all of it but it was called
G.I. BLUES
It's G.I. this
and G.I. that
G.I. Haircut
G.I. Hat
G.I stands for Government Issue
and G.I. wish that I could kiss you.

Till next time love you all and thanks for letting me share