Hey, Remember This Place?

[frisco-kid]

A blast from the past:

[frisco-kid]

This is about 10min. from my house, so Kath and I drove over to it a few weeks ago. It was a on a weekend and the gate guard [civilian] didn't want to let us in, but Kath talked him into it by telling him what sentimental value it has for us. Only a couple of the warehouses are used by the military these days. Most of the buildings are leased to civilian shipping companies. It's right next to the Port Of Oakland [the old Naval Shipyard], one of the busiest shipping ports on the west coast.

Like 95% of all VN vets, this was where I was sent to VN from. Even most of the guys that went over with their unit by ship left from Oakland. When I checked in here after my 2wk. leave after Jump School the end of JUN66, I only spent about a day and a half here. I was then put on a bus to Travis AFB where I boarded a commercial airline to take me to VN. I returned a year later almost to the day. When I returned to Nam in FEB68, I went with the rest of my unit in the 82nd Abn. Div. as part of a huge airlift from Pope AFB. We stopped at Travis AFB on the way to refuel. When I returned to ETS the end of DEC68 I, once again, landed at Travis. It was New Years Eve and pouring rain. I didn't care. We were put on buses and taken to Oakland Army Base. I spent the rest of the night getting processed out of the Army. The skeleton crew of REMFs doing the processing weren't too happy about working New Years Eve. I'm discharged on 1JAN69. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

In DEC67 I'm home on Christmas leave from Ft. Bragg. When I went to get paid before leaving they had somehow lost my pay records, so I didn't get paid. I was told that if I went to the nearest Army base to my home I could get a draw. The nearest one was the Presidio in San Francisco or Oakland Army Base. I decided to go to Oakland. It's Pearl Harbor Day, 7DEC. After getting some money I go to the mess hall for lunch. While in line, I start talking to a good looking WAC. She's a PFC clerk typist in the AWOL dept.. We have lunch together and start dating. On 23DEC67 we're married. I get a 2wk. extension on my leave. I return to Ft. Bragg and Kath stays in Oakland. By the end of JAN68 it's determined that she's pregnant. By the first week of Feb68 she's honorably discharged on a medical [SOP back then]. On the 15FEB68 I board a C-141 to return to VN. I don't see Kath again until 1JAN69, when she flys down from Spokane, WA to meet me. I don't get to meet my 3mo. old son, Scott, for another week, when we return to Spokane. On 23DEC04 we will celebrate our 37th anniversary. So Oakland Army Base DOES have sentimental value to us, being the site of some major turning points in our lives.

[phuloi]

What an amazing turn of events!
We convoyed all of our equiptment from Ft. Swampy (Stewart),Ga. to Oakland and loaded up on a boat for an all expenses paid trip across the big pond.

[Packo]

Thanks Kid!

Don't remember the sign, but due to a screw up on my orders from jump school, (with NO leave), I ended up spending a week in that damn place. After about 3 days of pulling KP endlessly, a Spec5 in shipping told me to just go hang out in the warehouse where you waited for the bus for Travis. He told me to come by his office every night, he worked graveyard, and he would let me know if and what formation I needed to go to. The 2nd day of sitting around the warehouse a SFC saw me and had seen me there for now over two days. He came over and said, "ok, now, don't bull shit me Trooper, what are you doing here." I explained what happened and he laughed. Told me to just continue doing what I was doing and he'll make sure nobody bothered me. (He also wore the wings) On the 5th day I was told to be at the a.m. formation. I shipped on the 7th day. It only took the Lord 6 days to create and it took the Army 7 to get me out of Oakland.

Kid, when Deb and I come out.....let's try and do that visit. I think I can remember the warehouse if the old barracks are still there.

Packo

[39mto39g]

For those that have a hammer and chizzle for a computer, Please go back to whereever you have them saved and resize them to around 640x480 , Looks like you have about a 4 meg cammera and you have it on its highest setting.

Ron

[frisco-kid]

RON: Yeah. Sorry 'bout that, Bud. I also have a thumbnailed size of the picture in the file, but I clicked on the wrong one. I tried to change it, but when you go back to edit a post it won't let you re-do an image.

ORIGINAL TOM: You got it . I hardly remembered any of it. Kath recognized the WAC barracks [actually they were in rooms; 2 per room] and where the PX was. The EM and NCO clubs were across the street from where the sign is. We didn't go over there to look for them. Maybe next time with you and Deb.