A Veteran's Journey

Trivia Questions (Answers @ end)

1. Who said, “Slowing down is sometimes the best way to speed up.”?
2. In what movie (and who said it) did we hear, “It’s not time to worry yet.”?
3. In what song (and who sang it) did we hear the following:
   As I walk this land with broken dreams
   I have visions of many things
   But happiness is just an illusion
   Filled with sadness and confusion

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I write a lot about times on the flight deck during flight ops, which, as you may recall, are always exciting.

But it’s not all about an adrenaline rush. We weren’t always flying planes.

There was plenty of downtime, which we all needed. Sometimes in port, sometimes at sea. It wasn’t boring at all, and most of the time, I spent my downtime with shipmates. In fact, it gave us time to build lifetime relationships with “our family away from home.”

You get to know these guys when you spend a lot of time with a crew in a firetruck and are confined to a small space. I’m not just talking about where they’re from or where they went to school (or, in my case, where I flunked out).

You learn how to actually talk to people.

Sometimes our discussions got a little uncomfortable or confrontational, but we respected each other enough to either talk it through or get some space.

Unfortunately, that’s not always the case these days and times.

Helping Shipmates Through a Tough Time

There were times when a shipmate got a “Dear John” letter from home. At 18 or 19 years old, it’s amazing to see a group of courageous firefighters come together to care, support, and help get him through that time. I can remember some of those days during my early high school years when my girlfriend dumped me for another guy.

I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Fortunately, I didn’t have a girlfriend at home (nor was I married), so I didn’t get any Dear John letters.

On the other hand, because I’d spent a year at Florida State University (when I was 17) and met a lot of girls, I received a plethora of letters while in Guam. They seemed to taper off after a year, but I still received plenty from my mom & dad, and my sister, Anne. She was attending college in Florida but found time to write to her little brother now and then.

I still have all those letters I wrote home. And … I also have all the letters my dad wrote home to his parents during World War II.

One day, I’ll compare them—Pops’ versus mine. I’m sure there are plenty of differences between writing during a war and writing while cruising in the South Pacific.

Down Time in Guam

I arrived at NAS Agana, Guam in November 1973, after six weeks of boot camp and six weeks at ABH “A” School, plus a little leave. My job was with Crash & Rescue. For the 15 months I was stationed there, we worked 24 hours on and 24 hours off.

Crash had six fire trucks, each with four or five aircraft firefighters. The Navy shared the same airfield as the civilian airport, and we were responsible for any aircraft disasters, be they Navy aircraft or civilian aircraft.

Most of us spent two 4-hour shifts out on what was commonly called the “Alert Spot.” That’s an area between the two parallel runways where we’d park the Crash truck. We’d be the first on the scene if anything bad happened.

And let me be the first to tell you I had many “what if” nightmares about a Japan Air Lines 747 with 350+ passengers careening in. But fortunately, that never happened. In fact, during my 15 months there, no aircraft crashes, per se.

Imagine if you will, four or five guys crammed into the cab of a firetruck for four hours …

We could, of course, get out and walk around. But Guam is close to the equator, and although a paradise island with a steady breeze, it was still hot as the dickens. Several times, we’d take off our shirts, lay down on our asbestos coats and catch some rays.

We weren’t supposed to carry anything with us out on the Alert Spot, but no one really checked. I often brought a book to read. Sometimes, one of the guys would bring out a cassette tape player with some music. Keep in mind, back in the 70s, there was no Internet, no cell phones, no streaming services. Heck, CDs didn’t exist back then, and we had just “graduated” from 8-track tapes.

Money Out the Window

There was that time when I was driving and someone (not me) brought a game of Monopoly out on the Alert Spot.

A P-3 Orion (four-engine, turboprop anti-submarine & reconnaissance aircraft) was practicing touch & goes when I noticed out of the corner of my eye that they landed a bit hard—I could see a larger than normal puff of smoke from one of their starboard tires. And as they rolled by, we could all see the tire rubber flying about.

Not good.

I cranked up the Crash truck and began chasing the aircraft down the runway. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew were suiting up in their asbestos suits. I radioed the control tower, letting them know why we were out on the runway. I wasn’t quite sure they heard me, but after several hundred yards, I noticed the P-3 slowing down.

No one had time to put the Monopoly game away. Driving down the runway with all windows open, money flew out both sides of the truck. I’m sure it must’ve been a comical sight, but we didn’t have time to worry about that.

By the time the P-3 halted on the runway, I wheeled around to the port side. Both Gary Borne (R.I.P.) and Gary Cuzner (R.I.P.) got out and walked toward the aircraft. The co-pilot had climbed down and met them at the front of the aircraft. They pointed at the wheel, the co-pilot checked it, then came back and personally thanked them.

That could’ve been a bad day for us all.

And no, we didn’t go back to pick up the money.

Until we meet again,
Andy

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Andy Adkins is a US Navy veteran (’73-77) and the author of several books (www.azadkinsiii.com), many of which are free downloads (PDF, eBook format). He is currently retired and lives in Gainesville, Florida with his wife and life-long soulmate, Becky.

Previous Blogs mentioned in this Post:

• #26—That Adrenaline Rush
• #68—Flight Ops: Another Fine Day in the Navy!
• #99—Dismissed for Academic Reasons
• #11—Letters from Home
• #53—You Always Remember Your First…

Answers

1. Mike Vance.
2. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck).
3. What Becomes of the Brokenhearted (1967), Jimmy Ruffin; written by James Anthony Dean, Paul Riser, William Henry Witherspoonn.