Part 13 My Air Force Years 1968-72...R and R in Hawaii April 1970...

February blew in like a Lion this morning, low around 5 above with a accompanying chill factor of some -15 Below...but it is February, the end, while still awhile away, is in sight....

Basketball at Crestview, a Girls JV game last night....we didn't call a lot of fouls, and were finished in 55 minutes.  Tonight the boys variety, a Northwest Conference League game at Spencerville..then tomorrow, a morning girls make-up game at Van Wert, then an evening boys contest back at Crestview...my legs, heels, and knees, will feel it by Saturday night, I will need a couple of days off Sunday and Monday to rest all the limps, joints, etc.

My Hawaii Vacation, April 1970....

Shortly after being switched to "Blue Patrol" in late March of 1970, my Rest and Relaxation (R & R) was approved for Hawaii...for you guys that were in the war zone, you know that most of the guys who choose the 50th State, were married or engaged and would meet their wives or girlfriends there. My reason was more simple...

I had been traveling alone for all my Vietnam trip...went on the trip over by myself, with no old comrads on the same flights or duty stations, from Tan Son Nhut to Nha Trang same wat was the return trip to TSN from Nha Trang...so there was no reason not to take the 5 day vacation to the beaches of Waikiki on my own.  I figured I would be the only single guy on the trip from Saigon to Honolulu, but I ended up meeting a guy from West Virgina, Army dude,  named Denny Moneypenny, who was flying solo as well...we figured with us being NCO types and not a lot of extra bucks, we could share a room, and maybe a rental car, thus saving us a few hundred bucks each.

The next five days were spent at the beach at Waikiki during the days nightclubs at night, and traveling the Island of Oahu with our rental Jeep on occasion.  Plenty of booze, a few good restaurants, almost a fight with some locals, and we loaded ourselves into a Love Cab, with another Vietnam Veteran, who happened to be the driver of the cab...he had gotten out a year or so earlier, let his hair grow, moved to Hawaii, got a job as a cabbie, and was smoking lots of pot...on the way to the Honolulu Airport for the return trip, he pulled out a small jar of already rolled joints and we smoked one on the way...figured "What the Hell, why not"?

So while many guys were heading to Hong Kong, Sydney, Taipei, or some other Asian location...I got to visit the states...sort of.  I don't regret it a bit...I save a bit of money, rooming with Moneypenny{whom I never heard from again, don't know what happened to the guy, hopefully he survived his remaining tour, I am sure he did, since his name is not on The Wall}, splitting a rental car, and finding a few good places to drink and eat...it was a great five days.

Landing back at Tan Son Nhut refreshed...I realized that I only had about 11 weeks left in Vietnam, and working with "Blue Patrol" frankly I was looking forward to it...my biggest decisions I had left were...{1} Do I sign up for a Vietnam extension?  {2} If I decide to head back to the states for my final two years, where do I want to go? {3} When do I cease going downtown for "entertainment"?  After all, nothing worse than buying it or coming down with something with just weeks to go...questions, questions, I would answer those in the remaining weeks...meanwhile the memories of Hawaii would remain strong in my mind.

back later>>>>

Photos-Top..Diamond Head the photo I took when I first viewed it from the beach at Waikiki...a Couple photos of me stepping into the water at Waikiki Beach for the first time early April 1970 was the date....our hotel, the Kalakauan...nothing fancy, but it did have a kitchen and was a block off the beach...the rates were about $60 split two ways, it wasn't bad, even back in 1970....and finally me, at the Airport...getting ready to head back to Saignon for my final 2 1/2 months. {Check Out the Pants!...Not sure why  or where the Hell I came up with those?}