Portland, OR

I came to the Pacific Northwest in October, 1945, and didn't leave until January 1947. I had a particular reason for staying so long. Her name was Susan Keys. But let me give you the whole scenario, including the biggist mistake I made with her. We tied up to the dock in Portland, the 500 Seabees got off and headed for discharge. The ship's management became very liberal with shore leaves, and it was great to be back stateside.

I had learned to roller skate while in Chicago, so one night I went roller skating. While waiting in line, I spotted her, a very pretty girl. At the same time, she spotted me. She was about seven or eight people ahead of me. But after a while that evening, I encountered her, and asked her to skate with me. That way we ititially got acquainted. She said she was temporarily living in Portland with a lady who provided room and board, but she was in Portland going to school and or getting training to work for the telephone company.

I told her that when I got out of the Navy I intended to travel around the country, and would want to look her up, so asked for her real home address, which she gave me. It was Fossil, Oregon. She was just 3 years younger than I was. I can't remember the details, but maybe it was later that same evening I got her Portland address and phone number.

So on another evening, I came to call on her. It went well for about 15 minutes, and then the lady came in and said that she had promised Susan's parents to look after her while she was in town, and that it would be best if I didn't see her, especially going out alone together. I asked if it would be OK if I stayed and we played checkers. The lady said OK, so that's what we did. I didn't care what we did; I just wanted to be with Susan. We may have had a number of "dates" like this. I saw her a good number of times in the course of the next year, and often her girl friend served as a "chaperone".

The USS Topeka was not all that long in port, so I had to say goodbye to Susan. We headed for drydock in San Pedro, CA. We got some liberty there also. I remember taking something like an interurban trolly and going to Hollywood and Vine, and attending a radio show in that viscinity. I also remember standing in line to go to a movie somewhere around San Pedro, and some old guy saying to us saylors. "Oh, I know you guys will all be coming back to California after you've been home a while in your cold climates." To myself I said "No way." It may have been December, and it was warm, the sun was shining, there was green grass around; it was late afternoon. I decided to call my dad, long distance. I talked with him and back in Connecticut it was cold, dark, and snow was on the ground.

We were in drydock, and the ship had little or no use for most of the crew. I, along with most, was given a 30 day leave. So I headed for the train station in Los Angeles, and bought a round trip ticket to Hartford, with a return via Portland, OR. Later that evening, looking out of the train window as we slowly climbed the mountain pass, I saw an older, scruffy-looking fellow walking next to a burrow that had a pick and some other gear tied to its back. A day or so later we passed through a desert in Utah, past acres and acres of "mothballed" military aircraft. We passed through Wyoming, where there was nothing in all directions. We finally got to Chicago and changed trains for New York.

In New York I got the train for Hartford, and in Hartford I got the bus for Rockville, getting off at Ogden's Corner, and walking home. Actually, I can't remember how I got from Hartford to home. Maybe my dad picked me up at the train station. Anyway, it was great to get home. My parents thought I had matured. I wanted to do some electrical wiring for them, and they did let me do some. But my main thoughts were elsewhere. After a couple of weeks, I headed for Hartford, and the train station, and after a few days arrived in Portland, Oregon. I got a room at a cheap downtown hotel, and called on Susan, who was very glad to see me. I continued to see her evenings until it was time to head back to San Pedro.

I took the sight-seeing train named "The San Juaquin Daylight", which was double-decker for the upper obserevation deck.

The USS Topeka was refitted and ready to go. This time she was headed to Shanghai, China. I didn't know how long she would be gone, but it didn't sound to great to me. I didn't have enough "points" to get a discharge yet, but I wanted to be available for it ASAP. So I didn't want to go to Shanghai. Another shipmate had enough points so he wouldn't have to go to Shanghai, but he wanted to go. So we traded places, Emmet Kendall and I, and the ship's management was kind enough to let us do it. Thus I stayed stateside, and Emmet went with the ship to Shanghai.

Now I'm unable to recall the exact situation, but I wound up with another 30 days leave or maybe delayed orders. Anyway, with very little money left, I hitch-hiked up to Portland, OR, to be with Susan again, only to find out that she had gone home to Fossil, 200 miles into the hinterlands. And I had no money.

I got a job with a contractor, and again stayed at a very cheap hotel downtown. The contractor and his family fed me in the evenings. He was excavating the dirt under a house to make a basement. I operated a horse-drawn shovel that I walked behind, holding onto its two handles. You raise the handles, he leads the horse forward, and the scoop digs in and takes a big bite of earth; then you pull down on the handles, and it slides along the surface carrying the load of dirt out from under the house. When we get to the dirt dumping area, I raise the handles way high, and it flips over, dumping the dirt. Thus I earned my money, and the contractor earned his.

Susan was not set to return unitl after I had to leave, this time for Seattle, Washington, so I didn't get to see her. At this point I may have reported to the Naval Personnel Receiveing Station in Seattle. And maybe it was during this time I took a few flying lessons on a Piper Cub fitted out as a float plane. I practiced landings and takeoffs on Lake Washington, taking off on one siide of the pontoon bridge and landing on the other side.

Shortly, I was assigned to the USS Autuga, an ammunition ship parked out near Port Townsand, WA. We ate well on that ship. The captain was a Naval Academy graduate, but was an old drunk. One night he had had too many and was singing songs to the gangway watch. There was almost nothing for an electronics technician to do on board that ship. Time was heavy on my hands. The radiomen on board wanted me to stand radio watch, but for this I had to know the morse code, and be able to type. They very gladly taught me how to type and it has stood me in good stead until the present.

After a while it got time to unload all the ammunition, and the crew was given 48 hours off and 48 hours on (for some strange reason, ha ha). I remember one time during this operation I was on gangway watch, and one of the amateur cargo boom operators had a big cargo net full of ammunition,, swung it rather hap hazardly over the side too far, lowered it, and the load went "Wham!" agains the side of the ship. I mentally held my hands over my ears. That ammunition must have been well built.

The 48 off and 48 on continued for a while, and it was a wonderful thing to me, and for the 2 days off, I took the bus down to Portland to see Susan.

Well, it's time to go now; more later.