Page 84 - Stand Down Vietnam

We went to the Sunset Parades put on by military units
of the Marines and soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry
Regiment (The Old Guard).

That assignment was a great tour of duty and a place to
decompress from having been in Vietnam during the TET
Offensive. It was educational for the kids and a
relaxed duty assignment.

Kenneth had another tour in Vietnam and one in New
Orleans. We had orders for Hawaii about the same time
he could retire. He had civilian job offers in Texas,
and I did not want to go to Texas. So, off to Hawaii,
we go. I had always wanted to go to Hawaii.

Our oldest daughter had started college that year. I
will never in my life forget standing outside Louisiana
College, in Pineville, Louisiana, in the rain saying
goodbye to her. There she is 5’ and the most forlorn
child you ever saw. She said to me: “Mama, this is not
the way it works; the child is supposed to leave the
family, not the family leaves the child.” I cried
halfway to California.

I was the one that wanted to go to Hawaii. But, when
we arrived in Hawaii, our sponsor was not there. It
was ten o’clock at night and I have three tired
children; a three-year-old, a nine-year-old and a
seventeen-year-old, I was tired too.

We lived in an on-base hotel for a couple of months
before getting government quarters on the North Shore.