After 4 1/2 years----- CIVILIAN !

My name finally came up.  Why did it take so long
to get out ?  Because I had no dependants.
No job to go back to , no dependants, single,
dumb, uneducated----  The Navy was in no rush
get us back on the street, so they discharged
everyone else first, then finally we dregs.

Why have`nt I told you about all the exciting
things that happened ?   Because they were
not exciting at the time.   What you might
consider exciting ,  I thought of as just another
day at the office, or sweat shop, or sewing up
wounds, or what ever you need to call it.

I will think of some of those adventures and
go back and tell you all about them-----
Remind me.  OK ?

So, somebody gave me a bus ticket to Portland,
Oregon.  In Portland a ship was to pick us
up and take us to San Francisco.

In Portland, a ship (No , I don`t know the name
of it.  It was a big GRAY ship). We filed on
and the fog came in and we sat in the middle
of the river for a week and a half.   The
sailors on the ship told us they could not
move because they might hit a mine.

Finally,  back on the high seas, then under
the Golden Gate and in to the middle of the
street in San Francisco.   You heard right.
The Captain signaled for full reverse as he
moved in to a berth, so the engine room
turned her up to high power, fast and th e
bow of the ship sliced into the Emarcadero
for about 30 feet.

All the servicemen standing at the rail, went
flat. 
Then an anouncement over the loudspeakers,
"All contraband will be confiscated as you
leave the ship".  "Anyone with contraband
will be detained ".   One could hear the instant
rain of guns and other contraband as it was
thrown over the side.

I walked off the ship with my Japanese rifle
over my shoulder and boarded a bus bound
for "Camp Stoneman" somewhere near
Livermore , California to be discharged.

We sat at a table while a young sailor
typed out a small sheet of paper with the
story of our life, handed us the paper and
we were given a bus ticket back to
San Franciso.  Arriving there, I called home
and somebody came over and picked me up.

The next morning, bright and early , I was
in front of the Employment office.   Damn,
I needed a job and soon.
No, there were no jobs, but we can give you
$52 for 20 weeks.... NO !   I  did`nt want
government money .  I wanted a job.

For a couple of weeks I went to San Francisco
day after day, then to Oakland , day after
day until I decided there were no jobs.

Letter from Beverly---- Come down here,
Daddy can get you a job.

So,  first I bought a new suit,  they were all
cut from surplus officer`s pinks.
Beverly picked me up at the bus depot.  They
had arranged for a room with an old couple
who loved me and I them, out on American
Blvd., in Long Beach.

-----  John Crowley