A now defunct station that was built sometime during or before World War II. It was my first duty station after leaving Great Lakes Naval Training Center in late 1965. It was located along the Columbia Pike In Arlington, across from the old Navy Annex, Bureau of Naval Personnel and the Marine’s Henderson Hall. Fort Myer, being just down the road, afforded me the opportunity to go to a movie in the evenings and take an occasional stroll through Arlington National Cemetery. The Cemetery, The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the other monuments which have been erected since, is something that all military personnel should strive to see if at all possible, or anyone for that matter.
The Pentagon could be viewed from the barracks which was located on a slight hill along the pike. These barracks housed many Waves and sailors who worked at the Bureau of Naval Personnel and, as I recall, the Pentagon also. There was a galley, store and a club where we would dance on Saturday nights. I met and danced with many Waves and also dated one or two. It was good duty, to say the least. I had my car there, a 1964 Dodge Dart Gt with a slant six engine and a four speed floor shift. I used to drive over to D.C. and the Smithsonian and the Museum of Natural History and on some Saturday nights go to the clubs in D.C. One that I recall was The Casino Royale with lots of good music, food and drinks and dancing. I can still hear the Beatles singing “We can work it out” over the smoke, noise, drinks and dancing.
A few buddies and myself would drive down route 50, on the weekends in the summer, to Ocean City, Maryland. We would camp out on the beach in Fenwick Island, Delaware or get a motel room in Ocean City.
I had guard duty at the main gate there about once a month as I recall. My job at the barracks was a compartment cleaner. I cleaned barracks and waxed and buffed the decks with one of those electric floor buffers. It was overall, very good duty which rather spoiled me with all the good night life and things to see and do in D.C. Having hundreds of Waves just across the lane from the men’s barracks was nice also.
It is gone now, and I do not really know what is there. I think I heard something about a parking lot or maybe it is just an empty lot now, near the Virginia State Police building. The Navy Annex was demolished in 2013. I have pleasant memories of Washington DC and Arlington Virginia.
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Thanks, we were not allowed to go to the other side of the lane where the Wave’s barracks was located but we could walk up and down the lane with them. Here is my 1964 Dodge Dart GT with a four speed Hurst floor shifter which I spoke of in the blog. I used to come home on the weekends in 1967 when I was stationed in Norfolk to visit my girlfriend who lived in Cambridge, Maryland.
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Great share Corky. D.C. sounds like a fun town. I rode the bus from Lakehurst to DC while I was in A school. I only had a Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning to see the sites. I would have liked to have more time to look around. At Lakehurst we had a women's Barracks, but we were warned not to go near it or there might be trouble.