vincent p. norris wrote:

Vince: I flew crew on transports in 1958-1959 for the Navy and we all
wore "half-Wellingtons". They were bought at the Navy Exchange, were
made by Frye, and were called "Jet Boots."


For some reason, I can still remember mine were made by Jarman. Odd
show memory works; I can never remember important things.


Never saw an officer or enlisted going off base in a flight suit, just
wasn't allowed.


At Cherry Point, early 1950s, we weren't even allowed to wear any
flight gear except from the ready room to the airplane and back.


You had to wear the uniform of the day to get out. This
was at Pax River, MD. Flight suits, flight jackets and boots went in
your flight locker at the hangar.


You remind me of the time I flew an R5C to Pax to pick up the ground
crews of an F4U squadron after the fighters departed for Cherry Point.

As I was taxiing out, a wall of fog moved across the field. I'd
never seen anything like it. Or since.

The tower said "The field is closed. The field is closed."

I couldn't even see well enough to taxi back to the ramp. They had
to send out a jeep to lead me in.

I had nothing on but a summer flyng suit, dirty and smelly. But
somehow the rest of the crew and I managed to get out the gate to a
bar right there. (Was it still there when you were at Pax?)

When I got back to Cherry Point, next day, the skipper of the fighter
squadron chewed my ass out, saying I just wanted to spend the night in
D.C.

vince norris

The main drag in Lexington Park, the town outside the base, was bars and
gambling arcades when I was there. Lots of slots, pinball machines, etc.
Lots of strippers, bands (mostly made up of off duty sailors), whores,
and an ocean of booze. Unfortunately I was a kiddie cruiser and didn't
reach legal drinking age until the day after I was separated from active
duty.

Early fall was fog time IIRC. Your skipper didn't know his geography
very well, DC is fifty miles away and the Greyhound bus only ran twice a
day when I was there, morning and afternoon.

Was good duty though, that's where I met my wife in 1958 and we've been
married since 1960. Two kids, five grandkids, and 1.5 greatgrandkids
later she's still a beauty and a good woman. Her Dad retired from Civil
Service on the base as did the youngest boy and a brother-in-law of hers
still works there at Flight Test, or that's what it was called last time
I was up there in 1991.

Alan Shepard was a member of MIL's church and I met him there. Met John
Glenn one day over at NATC, just long enough to salute him and say "Good
morning Sir." My total 15 minute touch with fame was meeting these two
gentlemen. Never miss a space shot on the TV since.

Yeah, we suited up at the hangar and walked to the plane. When we got
back we reversed the sequence and that was the law as established by our
skipper. Since he was a full Captain no one tended to disobey as we knew
he sat on the right hand of the Secretary of the Navy. Yup, old days,
long gone and not missed by anyone but us old farts.

George