I left Karamursel from the air strip a few miles toward Yalova in a C-130 for Athens. Was the off-site DF shack there? I can’t remember. In any event, we flew to Izmir and then on to Athens where we spent the night.
    The next day we flew to Evereau, France. We took a combination of train and channel ferry from Paris to London, arriving in London 6 Jun 61. We spent the night at the Douglas House and went on to Chicksands the next day.
    I remember playing the slot machines in the DH for a long time. Next morning I was looking for some Greek money to save -- I think I was looking for 5 Drachma pieces, but I couldn’t find any. Turns out the 5 Dr piece, worth about 1/2 cent, was extremely close to the British 6 pence piece, worth about a dime. At some point down the line, someone who beat the machine got ripped off.
    I’ll do the rest of this in a shortened fashion. I met and married my wife while I was at Chicksands. We married in Dec 61. In Apr 62 they pulled my clearance. I have always found it ironic that, on Apr 9, they pulled my clearance and, on May 17 they awarded me a good conduct medal for “exemplary behavior, efficiency, and fidelity.” I was convinced at that time that the left hand did not know what the right hand was doing. That feeling was strengthened over the next months and years.
    On 6 Jun 62, I was assigned to the 20th Tac Ftr Wg at Wethersfield, about 70 miles SE of Chicksands. I cross-trained into the 271 field and worked in Base Operations. My eldest daughter was born at RAF Mildenhall during this time.
    We rotated to the U.S. on 1 Jun 64. I was at James Connally AFB, Waco, Texas where I worked in Base Operations until I got out on 17 Jun 66. My second daughter was born while we were at Connally.
    Near the end of my enlistment I applied for another shot at USAFSS. I was accepted and could have taken an unaccompanied tour to Peshawar, Pakistan. My wife did not want to stay in the States alone, and we didn’t have the necessary funds to send her and the two children back to England so I turned the assignment down and got out. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that decision cost me SSgt stripes. I was on the promotion list, but they don’t promote anyone who has already said they are getting out.
    We returned to Minnesota in June, 1966. Our son was born here in October, 1966. I worked for a couple of years while I lived with the delusion that I could save enough money to go to the university comfortably. When that delusion passed, I went to school full-time time and worked a full-time job and my wife did child care. I graduated from the U of MN (no basketball jokes please) and became a teacher, which is what I do to this day.
    In December, 2000, I qualify for full retirement, and I will probably hang it up at that time. Perhaps this is merely delusional, but retirement beckons strongly because of  the freedom I think I perceive. It feels as if I have been tightly regulated all of my life. I now want to do WHAT I want to do WHEN I want to do it. No NCOs, no officers, no principals, no superintendents, no students, no parents to answer to. I perceive that I will have to answer only to my wife. And I guess I don’t mind that too much. We have been pretty happy together since 2 Dec 61 -- 38 and 1/2 years is not a bad run.
Gene