I received this email from my buddy Stev Pitchford who I followed at photo school and then I followed him again at Taiwan USTDC. He wrote this to me and my other buddy Dave Posey who I served with in Washing, D.C. before going to Taiwan. Any of you that went to photo school in Pensacola will enjoy these excerpts.
Hi Guys,
Mom and Dad saved the letters I wrote to them while I was in the Navy. After about 50 years, I've gotten around to reading them. Some things I remember pretty well, but there's a lot I don't recall.
Since you guys were there with me, I thought you might enjoy these excerpts.
Feb. 13, 1959
. . . . This base is really something. At Norman you could tell the place was military. Here there are only 3 blocks that even resemble the military. The rest of the base looks like civilian town, country, parks, and beaches. We even have a sight-seeing attraction, an old Spanish fort. . . .
. . . .There are Waves on this base, too. . .
Feb. 20, 1959
. . . . I’ve been had. Wednesday, I got stuck in mess cooking. It will last for about 60 days, so I won’t start school till May. It isn’t bad, except for getting up at 4:00 a.m. and losing a lot of liberty. They say everyone gets it sometime and this is a pretty good place to get it at. Now I’ll have it out of the way. . .
. . . . The temperature took a mad drop here. It was 35ยบ today. . . .
March 5, 1959
. . . .The 3 stripes will mean airman. They also mean a raise from $86 to $98. . . .
. . . . I had a ball last Saturday. Four of us went swimming in the gulf and boating in the bay. On the way back, we stopped at a boat-in restaurant. We were wearing dungarees rolled up to our knees, unbuttoned shirts with the tails out, and no shoes. They let us in though, and the food was pretty good. . . .
April 3, 1959
. . . . Whoopee! - - I’m out of mess cooking. I start school Monday. . . .
. . . . Tomorrow, I’ll go boating and swimming. I haven’t been out in daylight for quite a while now, and it shows. Now I’ll change that. . . .
April 12, 1959
. . . . It took them till Thursday to teach us enough that they would let us take any pictures. They grade our negatives when we turn them in as one punch, if they pass, and two punches if they don’t. I’ve turned in 5 negatives and am batting 100% one punches. . . .
June 26, 1959
. . . . I don’t know when I’ll leave here. I’ve heard they were going to push us all out before the 4th, then I’ve heard they aren’t going to send us out till after the 7th. . . .
. . . . We got our dummy orders today and I know I got in the Pacific. What part of the Pacific I don’t know yet. . . .
Well now we know don't we Stev you went to warm up the island of Taiwan for me and you sent Dave Posey to work with me at the Photographic Interpretation Center in Suitland, MD.
