15 September 2021
I confess I have an affinity for military bases. I come by it naturally since my Dad was in the Army Reserve when the Korean Conflict broke out in 1950. He was called up and I suppose the army wanted to make sure the reserve was ready, so they sent them to military bases for training.
The first I remember was Fort Rucker, Alabama. What brought this to mind was talking to a guy on Tuesday who had just finished with a massage therapist and I was waiting for mine therapist to call me back to begin my massage. He commented on his southern accent so I, of course, asked where he was from. He said Dothan, Alabama and I told him of my Dad being stationed near there at Fort Rucker. From there, we got off onto the size of eastern Diamondback rattlesnakes in the woods around Fort Rucker and how they were often as big around as a weightlifter’s biceps and long enough to hang over road signs and almost touch the ground.
In all honesty, that’s about the only thing I remember about Fort Rucker. I probably was only 3 or 4 years old. Maybe the snakes are why I studied biology.
Dad’s next duty station was Fort Benning, Georgia. I remember his office when Archie and I were there one day during a thunderstorm. Dad was on the phone and lightning struck the telephone pole outside. The surge in electricity over the phone knocked Dad across the room. Ever since then I don’t talk on land lines during thunderstorms.
My most pleasant memories were of Fort Bragg. We lived in married officers housing near a lake. Archie, Dad and I would walk down to the lake (we had our own private pier, it seemed). Dad had a square minnow net and we would put bread crumbs in it and lower it into the lake enough so minnows would swim into it and feed on the bread crumbs. We’d then lift it up and use the minnows as bait. I caught my very first bass off that pier, probably age 4.
That Christmas, I got a Lincoln log set and Archie got an erector set. I soon got tired of the Lincoln logs and Archie soon got tired of the erector set and I took over. I think that was probably the happiest time in my life. Dad eventually trusted us enough to go fish in the lake by ourselves (Archie had to be with me since he was the ripe old age of 10). In the summer, we would swim off that pier.
From there, we headed to Aberdeen Proving Grounds near Havre de Grace, Maryland. The memories there are snow, snow and more snow. We lived in a trailer with an oil furnace that would make Thor hold his hands over his ears. When Dad went to light it, he learned to send me outdoors until it quit the noise. That’s also where I got my love of train travel. Before we moved to Havre de Grace, we were back in Morton, Mississippi and we road the train from Morton to Havre de Grace. I’ve loved train travel ever since.
I graduated Ole Miss in 1970 and was sent to Coast Guard boot camp in Alameda California at the Coast Guard Base Alameda. Boot camp wasn’t pleasant but when we had down time, we got to visit the PX, the movie theater, and the enlisted mens club. We even got liberty in San Francisco one day which started my love affair with that city. Movies on the base were twenty-five cents, so was the beer at the enlisted mens club. Prices were exceptionally cheap at the PX. In reality, you couldn’t tell the difference between the army military bases in the 50’s and the CG base in Alameda in the 70’s. This was the age of Vietnam and Congress wasn’t too thrilled with the war and they pretty much starved the bases financially. You could take the movie theater at Alameda and compare to any movie theaters in the army bases of the 50’s and they all looked the same.
At Fort Ord, while in boot camp, I learned to shoot the 45 caliber automatic and the M-15 (back then, the M-16 was in production but not in much use in the CG). The Coast Guard put us on a school bus and drove us down to Fort Ord. I’m pleased to say I shot expert on both weapons.
After boot camp, I was sent to Governor’s Island, New York for radio school. That was a dream post for me. I had a meal ticket to the cooking school, a free ferry service to Manhattan, and free broadway shows compliments of the USO.
Again, you really can’t tell one military base from the other other than they may be different branches of the service. There is a military style that is quite unique and easily recognized. Since Governor’s Island was previously an old Army base, I was right at home.
From Governors Island I was sent to Corpus Christi. There wasn’t much of a base where the CGC Reliance was docked – just mostly storage spaces for buoy tenders and the CG radio station. However, at the other end of Corpus was Naval Air Station Corpus Christi and I was often sent over there by the Reliance or shopped the PX there. All medical care for us coasties was at Naval Air CC.
From the Reliance, I was sent to CG Communications Station New Orleans at Belle Chase, Louisiana. The base was the only “modern” military facility I’ve ever been stationed with buildings built in the 60’s. It was originally an ammunition depot for the U.S. Navy. There were about 20 or 30 bunkers all over the base that used to house naval ordinance. New Orleans was about a 30 minute drive (most of that time was getting off the base) and every day off, I usually went into the city.
Years later, when living with my cousin Jo in San Antonio, I would go to Fort Sam Houston. Not for nostalgia sake but Sam Houston would often host art exhibits by military and I would go over to their openings.
Most of the army bases had wooden structures: barracks, PX’s, officers clubs, enlisted mens clubs, chapels, theaters, etc. Governors Island was mostly brick buildings. Alameda had brick buildings but most of the enlisted barracks were wooden and left over from WWII. Yet, there was a unifying architecture to all of the places I was stationed. No frills, basic, and easy to maintain. Sounds like the military to me!
List of military bases:
- Fort Rucker, Alabama
- Fort Benning, Georgia
- Fort Bragg, North Carolina
- Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Havre de Grace, Maryland
- Coast Guard Base Alameda, Alameda, California
- Fort Ord, California
- Governors Island, New York
- Coast Guard Base Corpus Christi
- Naval Air Station Corpus Christi
- Coast Guard Communications Station New Orleans, Belle Chase, Louisiana
- Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas