UPDATE: Nov 2011 issue of IUSSCAA Newsletter, THE CABLE, and Membe
For those active members in the IUSS CAESAR Alumni Association, our Nov 2011 Newsletter, THE CABLE, and Member Directory are published. Yesterday and overnight last night we e-mailed both to more than 600 members. At 28 pages the newsletter is filled with a number of excellent articles submitted by your shipmates.
Topics in THE CABLE include:
Today's IUSS Leadership; Cold War Service Medal Act by Jim Donovan; PACFAST (Pacific Forward Area Support Team) by Jerry Juliana; A Facebook (FB) Ode to the OTA by Jay Stanley; Official NAVFAC Keflavik Closure Message by Jim Donovan; Hurricane Betsy 1965 by George Widenor; Finding Mysterious BIG Game on Little Nantucket Island in 1960 by Lou Haskins; Short Quips from Members; Our Book Excerpts by Ed Smock; NAVFAC San Nicolas Island by Steve Wardius; ASSIGNMENT GRAND TURK 1956-1957 by Dick Rentner; People News; In Memoriam.
Below is a sample of one of those articles for those interested in joining the association and receiving our newsletters.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Jim Donovan
CAPT USN (Ret)
Director, IUSSCAA
Early Days at NAVFAC Barbados
- by John Fisher
They say smells can evoke more powerful
memories than our other senses. That may be true
or not, but I have never forgotten that first rush of
warm, tropical air as we got off the long flight to
Barbados in 1965. I don't remember specific sights
or sounds from that night, but I certainly can
vividly recall that smell. I was reporting to
NAVFAC Barbados with a new job, a new wife,
and a new baby. We had just finished training at
Key West behind the famous 'Green Door', but I
was an ET rather than ST. I don't see much on the
Association website about the maintenance folks,
but we went to Key West as well.
We had been on leave in New England, so our
flight to Barbados had originated in New York.
That really is a long flight, especially for our little
girl who was then less than a year old. She would
later celebrate her first birthday at North Point Surf
Resort. Remember that place! We were met at the
airport by our sponsors, a couple from the
Electronics Maintenance Division. They were a fun
couple, but had no kids and that probably had a lot
to do with what would be a really notable first
night in Barbados. Richard and Pat loaded all our
bags and us into a really remarkable looking old
English car of some unknown vintage and roared
up very narrow, very dark roads to a large estate on
the beach near what I would later learn was
Speightstown. It was a very large, what I would
call a mansion with many high-ceiling rooms and a
high enclosed fence and palm trees in a sandy yard.
They promptly abandoned us there after Rich told
me he would pick me up in the morning to report
in at the base. There was a large old-fashioned
refrigerator in the kitchen, but there was nothing in
it. We had no food at all, and especially no milk for
the baby. I had no car, and I hadn't seen any stores
on our way in, so I started walking down the dark
road looking for a 7/11 or somewhere similar
where I could find some milk. The only activity I
could see was what I would later learn was the
local 'Rum Shack'. They not only didn't have any
milk, I don't think they even had a refrigerator in
the place. I did notice that you provided your own
glass or container when you bought a drink. I
passed on the drink and returned to the mansion. I
16
found my wife and new baby blissfully sound
asleep under mosquito netting.
In the morning we found ourselves in a beautiful
seaside villa for our temporary housing, and we
were awakened by a wonderful young woman who
informed us she was our maid and that we had a
'man' as well who went with the house! The maid's
name was Marva and she quickly took over care of
our daughter and somehow produced milk and
breakfast. Rich promptly showed up, and I was off
to the base to begin our two-year tour in beautiful
Barbados.
Jim, You should have received an e-mail with links to the Cable and our latest Member Directory. Let me check and we can resend. Please ensure we have your current, accurate e-mail address by sending an update.
