Cahokia High School Baby Boomers Alumni

[CherylK2]

Thank you, Mitch! That is fascinating! Sanctioned hazing. I can see where the whole thing would be fun. Scary, though.
I really appreciate you taking the time to go into such detail. I had no idea. I take it it doesn't happen anymore. At least not to that extent.

Wow!

[PROFBIMBO]

Mitch did an excellent job describing the events. I heard some REALLY bad stories from my shipmates. There are many other things for the new recruits.My last carrier we posted a mail buoy watch to retrieve the battle groups mail. We told them the subs would put their outgoing mail in a waterproof bag and attach it to a boy and zip it to the surface so a ship could retrieve it and forward it. Our skipper allowed the boatswain mate pipe "set the mail buoy watch" over the 1MC (loud speaker system in almost every compartment). We had about a dozen duing 15 minutes at a time. Several at the end were beginning to catch on when the Skipper showed up in the hanger bay and told the men to keep a sharp eye out because he was expecting an important letter. The guy on watch at the time was so excited to be doing an important job for the skipper that he got back in line. It was really hard trying to control our laughter!
When I first came in we had several prop planes, so prop wash was a good one. The air control men had people looking for the tuscan gate key.
The Helo squadron (HC-2 Fleet Angles) I was in had several detachments assigned to different ships and a home section that didn't go to the ships. Personnel was part of the latter and was mostly comprised of women. They decided to take unnecessary paper work out of all the personnel files. The women didn't feel the shell back paper work was official or important to be kept. Our Skipper had an open door policy that was used by the 20 or so irate salts at about the same time.

[PROFBIMBO]

Les,
I heard the Navy was doing something similar also. They now have official PT gear I wonder what they use in boot camp when you have to jump 60 feet into the water and use your pants for a life vest.
About nine years in I was changing my speciality to help my advancement chances and had to go to air crew school. Think An Officer and an Gentleman, just the technical stuff. Part of the routine was three days survival training in the Florida swamps and the high point was the pow experience. I was glad to have my flight boots. I had a black snake strike my ankle and a crab grab my ankle. All they got was the leather, but the crab left a bruise. I got caught late on the second day. The last in my class so I got the special treatment. When they released us they told me I was the fourth longest to catch and asked if I had been a Boy Scout. Of course I sed yes and the told me the scouts are usually caught first! Too noisy and predictable. I thanked my Grandfather for teaching me to be quite when hunting.

[les1972]

So, have either of you guys had a chance to return to some of those exotic places?

Last year I took Donna to Thailand so she could see what all the fuss was about. The base I was at. up in the northeast on the Lao border, has been stripped of just about every usable brick or piece of wood, and the jungle has reclaimed the site. The airstrip is still used as the local airport, and there is a small terminal building.

We crossed the Mekong and went into Laos, and I told Donna when we stepped off the ferry that 35 years ago we would have a been shot at that point. Instead, we were something of a local curiosity.

It was really weird seeing all the Hammer and Sickle flags flying.

Les W. '72

[PROFBIMBO]

Les,
Jeanette's best friend flew to London in Dec 02 and the three of us went to Greece for a week. We thought about flying to Italy while we were living there, but never found a good fare. Jeanett had to go to Amsterdam four times for business and I got to tag along twice. We also spent a week each in Munich and Paris. I liked Munich the best of all the trips we took. Paris Disney was second. Part of her deal was the company paid for two trips home a year.
The English took day or two day shopping trips on a bus to France. Calais was the most popular and was done by ferry or through the chunnel on a high speed train. Many daily use items liquor, and cigarettes were a lot cheaper. Your tour bus drove to the terminal and they loaded your bus, with all the passengers on board and away you went. Jeanett went once with me and I took three others by my self.

[Mitch72]

I never have gotten to take the wife out of the country. She had some opportunity. But she didn't want to go where I was going at the time. I have traveled a lot in Ukraine on missions trip. She didn't want to go there. When I first started going it was like stepping back 50 years in time.

Thru the navy reserve I travelled a good bit too. The last place I went was back to Hawaii. I was stationed on two ships there from '72-'75. That time was wasted in my youth. I got sent back for 14 days in '05, just a few months before I retired. A person isn't supposed to be able to go on AT once he is scheduled for retirement but they [i]swore[i] they needed me. We worked about 3 days on that trip. I saw a lot of Oahu on that trip. We were set to go back about a month later but that trip got cancelled.

I did go to Costa Rica once with the Navy. It was a drug op. We set up a communications station and relayed messages from ships at sea to the HQ in the states. It was a secret mission so we drove in a caravan of 4 white jeep cherokees 200 miles south to our op area. Drove right thru where a lot of local drug collaborators live and set up shop. But they probably didn't notice.

[Mitch72]

Oh by the way, all that about the equator. I have mastered the art of google. Yeah, I cheated.

[Linda R]

Cheryl,
Where in Iowa did you live? We lived in Ottumwa, that's where my husbands from, then moved to Eldridge, to Davenport and have lived in New Liberty for the past 17 years. States I've lived in or visited are South Carolina, where I was born, Mo.,IL.,Fl.,Arizona,Texas,Nevada,Arkansas,S.Dakota,Ohio,Indiana,PA.,N.Y.,KY.,AL.,New Mexico., MN. There's probably some I've missed that we traveled thru to get to another state. Linda Freeman Roe 71

[CherylK2]

OMG, Linda, I have been so busy, but no excuse for missing your post.

We lived in Iowa City for 3 years. My husband stayed longer. Very cool city. With the University there is so much to see and do. I loved the pedestrian mall. I saw Ronald Reagan speak in West Branch. My brothers roommate for so long has family in North Liberty. And Loved the Coralville Dam.....except when it was overtopped in 93. Ooh, that was scary.
We used to drive to Davenport to see the Mississippi and to go to Steak and Shake!

Hubby wants to be sent up there again before he retires.

[Linda R]

Cheryl,
We are about 45 minutes east of Iowa City. We live about 10 miles north of Walcott Truck Stop. Our daughter, husband and two boys live in North Liberty.
When does your husband plan to retire? Dave is thinking of retiring after the new contract in Oct.09 at Deere, then getting a parttime job to pay the bills instead of touching his pension. Sometimes I wish I'd continued working, but I have too many other interests that are my priorities. Right now with 5 of our 8 grandchildren living close by I spend alot of time with them and then I have my quilting. I was the women's leader at church for a while, then it was time to let someone else take over.