Page 58 - Stand Down Vietnam

I could type 125 words per minute. I was sent over to
an office where a guy said he’d heard I wanted to be a
clerk. I said yes sir. He showed me a typing book; he
had circled around the paragraph he wanted me to type.
I was given five minutes to complete the assignment. I
went over to the table with the typewriter and got all
set up to take the test. I put my paper in the
typewriter and got it ready to go. He said: “GO”. Two

minutes and forty-five seconds later, I finished it.

I went over to the Sergeant and started talking about
such and such. When it got to about four minutes he
asked if I was going to go over and finish typing. I
told him I was through. He asked to see it, so I gave
it to him, and he said: “He’s hired!”. That’s how I
got into Aviation Operations. I was with this unit for
about two years. My wife, Jean, was with me so except
for deployments life was ok.

We were fix’n to go on a Med Cruise; about two weeks
before we were to deploy, they came in and canceled my
orders. I was told I was headed for Port-au-Prince,
Haiti.

I was attached to the U.S. Naval Mission, American
Embassy, Port-au-Prince Haiti. This was 1959, I was
told to get my wife and kids together, get passports
and get to the airport and go to Port-au-Prince. So,

we got everything completed and flew out from
Charleston, South Carolina.

I was the junior guy down there, so they issued me a
van. I would drive around and pick people up to take
them to work every day. I was assigned to the U.S.
Naval Mission, Port-au-Prince. I was an operations
clerk for the three helicopters, we had five pilots and
three crew chiefs, and me. I was the administration
person.