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  • John, I really don't remember the name of any of the areas...except Admin Hill where I worked.  If you look at the satellite picture of GTMO (and zoom in a good bit so you can make out the buildings), you will see a long series of buildings that sort of zig zag down the hill from the mess hall.  By the way I was there in 1972.  If you were there earlier, they may not have had Jamaican nationals on base working odd jobs (such as bartenders, unloading ship stores, cooking and serving at Caribe Inn, etc.).  As you walk down to the main road from the barracks, you turn left and walk toward admin hill (which was actually too far to walk).  But the Navy Exchange was close enough to walk to.  At the time, the only thing between the barracks and the Navy Exchange was the Hey Mon shop.  The back of the barracks looked out over a cliff and over the vast expanse of the softball fields.  Eventually, across the softball fields from the barracks they built a new EM club and, for awhile, left the Barrel Club open for fleet sailors.  This is probably more detail than most people are interested in, but I wish I had spent my entire active duty there.  When I left GTMO I went to Adm McCauley's staff in Charleston.  He was commander of Naval Base GTMO when I was there.  I did some work for him in GTMO and ended up getting transferred to his staff as he was commander of the Mine Warfare Force in Charleston...which led me to Vietnam.  Sure wish I had stayed in GTMO.
  • Mark, which barracks are you referring to?  When I was in GTMO, our barracks were on Bay Hill and so was our Galley.  However, I don't remember the HEY MON SHOP.  Of course, I also don't remember any Jamaicans.  We had to go to Jamaica on weekend liberty aboard a tin-can that was down for training in order to meet Jamaicans.  I forgot, not all of you folks were there 50 years ago like me.

     

  • I thoroughly enjoy looking around on Google Earth and was just looking around GTMO.  It was easy to recognize the barracks up there next to the mess hall.  I was in the next to the last building farthest away from the mess hall on the third floor.  Spent many a night on the roof of the very last building watching storms way out at sea with plenty of beer and good shipmates for company.  I followed the road down the hill and a left turn onto the main road where we would walk past what we called the Hey Mon Shop (base hamburger joint run by Jamaican nationals) on the way to the Navy Exchange.  Remember going to the Cuban village for a cheap drunk and Cuban sandwiches covered in hot sauce.  But I noticed something different at the bottom of the hill near the barracks.  There's a damn McDonald's on that corner now.  I'm not sure how I feel about that...but I lean more toward the negative side.  I guess there's no place you can go anymore that corporate America hasn't invaded.  It sort of diminishes the Isolated Overseas Shore duty designation that GTMO used to have.
  • After commissioning the USS MILLER DE-1091 we took her to GITMO for sea trials.  I had the please of two visits to GITMO during my service about the MILLER>
  • Good morning Darrell & Rich.  It is good to hear from some other guys who were at GTMO in the early 1960s.  I get to feel that we may have crossed paths at the Barrel Club; on NEGDEF; or somewhere else on the island.  As far as the Boat Shed, a number of guys like Garland Summerall, Eugene Alliston, Ambrose (Bud) Farmer, etc. were at the Boat Shed the same time as Darrell and they have attended some of our reunions.  There are also some guys from NAS and VU10 who have become regular attendees. 

  • Welcome aboard Richard, I was in Gitmo from 1959-1961 also and remember Bob Hope. I was an EN3 stationed at the Boat Shed and lived on Bay Hill. My NAGDEF station was on the stern of an LCM with a M1 rifle. GEEZ those were the days.
  • John, I just found this site.  I have been going to the Indy reunions for over 10 years.  I have been looking for a Gitmo site for a while.  I just found out about the Gitmo Reunion and I am trying to see if I can make it.  I was sitting in the second row for the Christmas show and during rehearsel Bob Hope past out cold beers to a bunch of us.  I will do my best to make this reunion.
  • Rich, I was at NAVSTA GTMO the same time that you were at NAS.  I lived in the Bay Hill barracks which was right up the hill from the movie lyceum, where Bob Hope, Zza Zza Gabor, and Jerry Cologna put on the 1960 Christmas show.  I was also in NEGDEF as a machine gunner.  A number of guys who were there the same time as us come to our annual reunions.  You might want to check into it.
  • I was stationed at NAS Gitmo from May 1960 - Dec. 1961.  First at McCalla Field then Leeward Point.  Bob Hope did his Christmas Show, Christmas Day 1960 at main side.  Great show , great man.  I was AO3 when I left in Dec. 1961 to go aboard the USS Independence CVA-62.  I rememeber NEGDEF well, we had all the guns on the at NAS.
  • I thought that I already posted a notice about this year's reunion in Buffalo/Niagara Falls, NY.  However, I don't see it here and want to let everyone know that it will be August 23-27.  Any interested person can contact me at 717-266-1102 or johnkwolves@yahoo.com.  Our website is www.gitmobay.org.  Have a great summer!
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Gitmo, 1968-1969

I arrived here from Norfolk in January of 1968 and departed in August of 1969. I was a commissaryman 3rd class petty officer (cook) at Bay Hill Galley. When working the steam kettles I often had a wet towel around my neck to help stay cool. I lived in a separate barracks across from the galley for all the cooks called the “cook shack.” We had a small patio behind the barracks where we sat in the evenings and told stories and sang country music. Being a cook had some advantages as we could go…

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My Time in GTMO

I was in GTMO from April 1969 to April 1970. I worked at the O2 N2 generating plant that was adjacent to the Fuel Farm on Leeward Point. We didn't live in the barracks, we stayed in a Quonset hut right at the site. We worked for Chief Charlie Sullivan. Looking back I would say the time spent there was pretty enjoyable

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