Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:14:16 -0700 (PDT)
From: wegarrison749@yahoo.com
Subject: "Araxos By the Sea" My Remote Assignment by "Ardmore"/1 of 7 parts

Araxos By The Sea: My Remote Assignment
by "Ardmore"

Part I

I arrived on the Detachment about two weeks after Dennis, Sam, Sully, and
Suggs.  Dennis was the only one who was not in Security.  He was a cook and
it was easy to become friends with him.  He wasn't like the typical cooks I
had met.  He was very friendly and easy to be around with his wit and light
hearted attitude.  He became a part of our little group of friends.  We
were all close in age and had we been in college we would have been a very
popular fraternity on campus.

Actually, Sam, Dennis and I had some college behind us.  Sam had more than
the rest of us but close to his last semester he dropped out or was
suspended because of some of the things he had been publishing in the
school newspaper.  They must have been ideas that were not popular with the
establishment.  He only mentioned it one time and we never asked for
details.  He became our Adviser and Guide whenever we had any personal
problems.  We knew we could trust him and he would always give us good
advice to think out for ourselves.  He was much better than Dr. Phil.

It was about a month after I arrived that Jack came to the Detachment and I
was the first to meet him.  I was working as a clerk for the Officer In
Charge of Security, Lt. Russell.  The previous clerk rotated to another
assignment and I got the position because I had more typing experience than
the others in our unit.  My duties included correspondence with the Greek
authorities for security passes, investigations, etc.  So when anyone
processed onto the Detachment, I was usually the first and last person they
would see when they checked in.  If time were available I would give them a
quick tour.

We only had two barracks, three trailers, the Mess Hall (with two offices
attached) and a very small NCO Club that was not as big as a Quonset hut.

In Jacks case, it just happed that the only space available at the time was
the room I shared with three other airman, so Jack was assigned to be the
fourth in our room.  That meant that there were now two Security personnel
and two from Communications.

My first impression of Jack was a good one.  He looked to be about the same
age as I was at the time and he had a nice smile and eyes that beamed
mischief and action.  He appeared to be one of those guys you wanted to be
around because you knew that he was going to generate action.  His blond
hair and slim body made him very desirable just to be around.

There were close to one hundred of us situated on a small section of the
big Greek Air Force Base about 20 miles from Patras, Greece.  In those days
it took about six hours to drive through all of the villages before we
could reach Athens.  It was even longer by train because of so many stops
that were made.

If the weather was cooperating a C-47 (the workhorse plane of the military
left over from WWII) would bring us mail and we could get a ride to Athens
on their return trip which was about a 45 minute to an hour's flight if we
were the last stop they made before going back to Athens.  There were a
couple of other Detachments that would be on the manifested flight plan.
It was a great way to hop transportation for the weekend, but we would
usually have to find another means to return.  That would have to be a bus
or train.  That was the way it was back in 1969.

I happened to be the only one who got a consecutive assignment to stay in
the country and after my remote assignment I went on to Athens for three
more years.  By the time I left the country in 1973 that long ride from
Athens to Patras was cut down to about three hours after they completed a
super highway that bypassed many of the villages and stops that had
involved the old roads.

The summer was a fun time for us, if you could say that about serving on a
remote sight.  But we all knew that in the military situation at that time
there were many other remote sites that were extremely severe.  Here we
were in a paradise compared to other places.  We had the Mediterranean Sea
around us and it was a semi tropical climate for most of the year in our
area.  In the winter we could see the beautiful snow capped mountains north
of us.  It was beautiful.

There was a European Resort not far from us and on Friday and Saturday
nights during the summer a bus from the detachment would take us to the
resort where we would meet people from all parts of Europe taking a
vacation on the beach staying in a nice hotel, or renting huts on the
beach.  The bar and dance floor was outside and I don't ever remember the
weather getting bad.  It really was a paradise to those of us who had been
stationed in places that had no off duty amenities.

So, through the summer, Jack, Dennis and I became very close.  It seemed
that with the schedules we three were working, we very often were off duty
at the same times.  We found out that the three of us had many interests in
common.

One thing I recognized about being in the military and especially on this
remote assignment was that in the military you end up making friends with
personalities you probably wouldn't make friends with under other
circumstances.  I guess when you are in a situation where you know you are
going to be depending on those around you it becomes very much like family
dynamics.  You are willing to overlook shortcomings in others more than in
strangers, or people you don't depend on very much.  So, more than under
other situations, we tolerated and became close with people we might not
get close to otherwise.  These people became family for a year, and those
connections didn't end at the close of the assignment.  We were a
family. This is what happened for us.  It made it a remarkable experience.

It was a defining experience in my life for several reasons and those
twelve months have been a tremendous impact on my life.  For one thing, I
learned for the first time not to take life so seriously, but to enjoy life
as much as possible.  The culture of the Greeks taught me that lesson very
early.

I had arrived to this duty from a very stressful situation on a SAC base in
upstate New York.  Although I loved the night life in the area it brought
about several experiences that kept me a nervous wreck for a very long
time.

(END OF PART I)

Comments are appreciated: wegarrison749@yahoo.com