ICE DREAMS - CHAPTER FOUR

I will be posting one chapter per week of my latest book, ICE DREAMS. Please note that the numerical chapters are autobiographical. The alphabetical chapters are pure fiction. 

I became one of the announcers on the AFRS radio station on Shemya. All the announcers were volunteers. At the end of my tour on Shemya, the Armed Forces Radio Service gave me a certificate for 400 hours service as an announcer. A copy of it went into my personnel file. All of the announcers worked at the radio station during the two days their shift was off duty.

The radio station was contained in a standard metal office desk. On the left side, where drawers would normally be found, there was a 5 watt AM radio transmitter. On the right hand, where drawers would have been there was a crystal oven. On the surface of the desk were two turntables and some switches. Going across the desk at eye level were various gauges and knobs.

Mounted in a rack to the right of the desk was an old short wave receiver (an RD-600). On the walls on either side of the radio station desk were bookcase like shelves with hundreds of 33 rpm records standing on edge. In another room, there were more cases and many more records.

We had a program schedule we had to follow. There were nationally known programs, like the Jack Benny Show, quiz shows, radio dramas which had to be aired on certain days at specified times. These programs were on a large size 33 rpm record which was mailed to the station by AFRS (Armed Forces Radio Service). Also at certain times during the day and night (the station was on the air 24 hours a day) we had to rebroadcast the news from AFRS. That is what the old RD-600 short-wave radio was for. We looked for AFRS on several short-wave frequencies and picked one with good reception. We connected the radio output to our transmitter. As the news began “at the top of the hour” we were rebroadcasting it.

On the schedule were a number of segments of one to six hours wherein the announcer played records, aired requests, talked, or read interesting items out of magazines. The one hour segments were a little restricted. One was devoted to country and western music, another to Broadway show tunes, and so on. After midnight it was “Katy left the barn door open.” When I was the announcer and had free-lance time, I called myself “Your roly-poly, bouncing ball of blubber.” I was overweight.

Even though the station was only 5 watts, the ocean waves carried the radio waves considerable distance. The sailors at a naval station a couple hundred miles east listened to our station and liked it better than their own. They sent messages to us by radio teletype.

The teletype was in the orderly room and generally received administrative messages from Elmendorf AFB and messages from higher headquarters. Some were messages that were put on the bulletin board. That is how I found out about the College GED testing. Also, the Red Cross used it to notify our Commanding Officer about family emergencies, birth, and death announcements.

The messages from the sailors were requests for specifuc songs to be dedicated to certain persons. The dedications were usually “coded” insults or poking fun at other sailors and sometimes at their officers. About once a month a high-ranking officer from the naval station would call the orderly room and demand to speak to the Base Commander. Most of the time that I was on Shemya, we were still a detachment and there was no base commander.

 The First Sergeant would beckon to someone who was shooting pool or playing ping pong in the recreation room to come to the phone. This person would listen to the navy officer’s tirade and keep saying, “Yes, sir.” The First Sergeant didn’t want to hear any of it because he wanted the radio station to be left alone.

Just as the radio waves traveled a couple hundred miles east, they  also traveled west and the station could be heard on the Kamchatka Peninsula of the U.S.S.R.  Periodically the Russians would “jam” our station with a powerful transmitter. When that happened, the announcer would turn off the radio transmitter, remove the radio frequency crystal, and put the crystal for another frequency in the crystal oven. It took forty-five minutes for the new crystal to reach safe operating temperature. After forty-five minutes, the new crystal was placed in the transmitter. The station began broadcasting on the new frequency. The Russians kept jamming the old frequency, unaware that we were now broadcasting on a different frequency.

During that year there were some hit songs in the States that the wives and girl friends would write to us about. Naturally, the men wanted to hear these songs so they would know what the girls and women were talking about. The most popular songs during that year were “El Paso” by Marty Robbins, “Running Bear” by Johnny Preston, “Teen Angel” by Mark Dinning, “Theme from A Summer Place” by Percy Faith and His Orchestra, “Stuck On You” by Elvis Presley, “Cathy’s Clown” by The Everly Brothers, “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” by Connie Francis, “Ally Oop” by the Hollywood Argyles, “I’m Sorry” by Brenda Lee, “It’s Now Or Never” by Elvis Presley, “The Twist” by Chubby Checker, “My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own” by Connie Francis, “Mr. Custer” by Larry Verne, “Save The Last Dance For Me” by The Drifters. “I Want To Be Wanted” by Brenda Lee, “Georgia On My Mind” by Ray Charles, “Stay” by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, and “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” by Elvis Presley.

There were two very popular songs that year which AFRS banned and did not send us the records. “The Battle of New Orleans” by Johnny Horton was banned because it was offensive to the British who were our allies. “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” by Brian Hyland was banned because it was considered too risqué. However, the guys received copies of both of these records in “care packages” from home. We played them all the time. They were on 45 rpm records, but we could change the turntable speed and we had an adapter for the spindle.  

One item that dominated the AFRS news and also bull sessions in the barracks was the Presidential election campaign that year. The Vice-President Richard M. Nixon was running against John F. Kennedy. The major talking point against Kennedy was the fact that he was a Catholic. The assertion was made, by those arguing against him, that the Pope would be telling him what to do. In fact, one guy was passing out a leaflet against Kennedy which focused negatively on his religion. The guy could have been in a lot of trouble if someone had complained. Men in uniform are not supposed to participate in politicking and electioneering. They also are not to participate in attacking a religion.

Also in the news that year, a number of former European colonies in Africa gained their independence: Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Madagascar, and Zaire.

Another major item in the news was the U-2 incident and its repercussions for the Paris summit conference. More about that later.

Shortly after I began to be involved with the radio station, I was appointed by the Shift Supervisor to be one of the two mailmen on our trick. He wanted someone who had recently arrived so they would serve a long time. The first thing I had to do was read all the postal regulations which concern a unit mail room. Then I had to take a test.  I don’t know who graded the test, but in a couple weeks I received in the mail a wallet sized card with my name, rank, serial number, and military unit. The card authorized me to handle the mail.

The mail room was in the building with the Orderly Room. We did not handle money. Stamps and money orders had to be purchased and packages sent in a tiny one-room post office. When a plane came in with mail, the sergeant in charge of the post office went to the plane and pick it up. A mailman from the trick that was off duty would get the bag of mail for our unit. He would take the bag of mail back to the mail room. One wall of the mail room was plexiglass. The mail boxes for each man were fastened to this plexiglass.

The two mailmen from the off duty trick opened the mail sacks one at a time and put the letters in each man’s box. The crowd of men outside the mail room could see when they had letters. Inside the mail room we would be working as fast as possible to put up all the mail. Of course, when I was new at the job, I was slow. I had to look for each man’s name on the box. In time, I knew where every man’s box was located. At first, I had to look for each box.

Meanwhile, the door was locked from the inside and the window was closed. We could see everyone through the plexiglass and they could see us. We were not allowed to give mail to anyone until every piece of mail was out of the sacks and in a box. The men knew that, but still they would pound on the plexiglass and on the door alternately begging and demanding that we open up and give them their mail.

When we finally did open the window, and begin to distribute the mail, one of us would be running back to the boxes to get someone’s mail while the other was handing one man his mail and asking the name of the next person. It was an exhausting job, but no one understood better than I did, the importance of letters from home.

There was a bus to work and return which stopped at the barracks buildings. However, when we were off duty or going someplace besides work, such as the mess hall, the mail room, the Base Exchange, chapel, radio station, we had to walk. In the winter, it was gray and gloomy even at midday. The weather was very changeable. It could be mild when you left the barracks and then there would be a ferocious wind with specks of ice from off the snow blowing around. The temperature would drop. Of course, there were icy patches on the ground. When you were walking in a strong wind, it was hard to be watching the ground where you were walking. I had several bad falls while walking someplace. They said the weather was very changeable because the Island was between the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic Ocean. Their currents met there.

The only medical care was out of the Corpsman’s bag. If you had a cold or cough you were given turpenhydrate and two aspirin. If you had a sore throat he told you to gargle with warm salt water. Whenever we had to work two shifts at work, the Corpsman walked around to the work stations passing out “pep pills” so we could stay alert. I’m glad that I never broke an arm or leg when I fell. It would have been a minimum of two days before I could have reached a clinic or hospital 1500 miles away.

The fall scared me. I felt uneasy about being so far from everyone that I knew, so far from Lorraine. My initial bravado had gone and a lot of realities hit me in the face like an icy snow ball. I wouldn’t be with Lorraine when the baby was born. The baby wouldn’t even know me. He/she would be seven or eight months old before hearing my voice or being picked up by me. So many decisions would already have been made.

The fall on the ice made me afraid for Lorraine. It was also snowing and icy in Baltimore. She was going out to work every day. She had a ride to work, but she had to walk across the parking lot. One of her friends fell on an icy patch on the parking lot.  I wanted her to quit working, but she wanted to pay off the car and build up a nest egg before the baby was born. Every time that she was paid at work, she would send an itemization of how she had used the money.

When she went to work, there were two other women and Mrs. Sauders, the supervisor, to do the work. Then one woman retired and the other was transferred to another department. That left Lorraine and Mrs. Sauders to do all the work. Budgetary cut backs meant that Mrs. Sauders could only hire one person to replace the two departed women. She interviewed four girls, with Lorraine assisting in the interviews. They both agreed none of the girls were qualified.

Then Mrs. Sauders was told that she was to interview a man who had cerebral palsy. The man was coming with a call from the Governor’s office urging that he be hired. With many misgivings and under duress, Mrs. Sauders hired him and told Lorraine to train him. He was a quick learner. Despite a complete lack of manual dexterity, he was soon working so well that he more than replaced the two women who had left. He was very pleasant. He would go with them to the cafeteria or their favorite restaurant to eat lunch. He would stumble and fall down, grin, and get back up. He was a Jewish man, was married, and his wife was pregnant.

Lorraine’s best friend in school was Alma. Alma lived close to Lorraine and came from a large family. We went to her wedding and the reception afterward. It was the first Polish wedding I had attended. Alma lived across the city but came back one Saturday to see her family. She confided to Lorraine that she was pregnant, but was waiting to see the doctor before she told her husband or family. A couple months later, Lorraine learned that Alma had had a miscarriage.

Lorraine’s letters contained a lot about the baby. Sometimes two pages would be devoted to an itemization of supplies and clothing she would need for the baby, in another letter things she was making for the baby, and in another letter things other family members gave her or loaned her for the baby. I was surprised that she estimated fifteen diapers per day for the baby. She had decided to use a diaper service and she sent me brochures from the three services that she could choose from. She planned to buy her own diapers rather than have the diaper service supply their diapers. It was much cheaper that way in the long run. She decided to buy enough for seven a day when she saw they were on sale at one store. She would wait and see how many diapers she might receive at baby showers before buying the remainder. She told me that diapers are a popular gift at baby showers. She had already been to three showers. In fact, she was in charge of games at my cousin Darlene’s baby shower.

One of the Air Force programs that attracted my attention was the     “3-D” program. Under this program, you reenlisted at the end of your first overseas tour, received a bonus for reenlisting (in my case it would have been $650), were promoted to Airman First Class (which would have been a raise in pay for me to $162/month), were given 30 days leave, and then were sent to another overseas tour where you could have dependents.

In my case, since I would not have four years time in grade as an Airman First Class, I would have to pay air fare for Lorraine and the baby, shipping costs for their luggage and other belongings overseas, and we would not be eligible for base housing.

Lorraine was not in favor of the idea. Her reasons were that we could not be sure the baby would be born altogether healthy. Suppose it would need hospitalization or specialized care. How could we be sure such care would be available overseas? What if there were a war or some crisis and the dependents were shipped home? We would be separated again. The air fare would be as much as the enlistment bonus. Where would we get the money to put down when we found a place to rent overseas? Think of how lonely she would be living in a foreign country where she couldn’t speak the language and I would be gone all day.

Dad and Mom had bought a baby crib for her from their neighbor across the alley and Dad had brought it to her. She had pretty well decided not to use it for several reasons. It did not have a mattress; she would have to buy one. There was another single bed in her old bedroom in her family’s house. She would have to take it down to have room for a crib. Her mother said NO to that. She decided to get crib rails for the other bed and use it for a crib.