Subject: DAYS OF OUR LIVES #101
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 09:02:47 -0600

MAIL-call - PRESERVING FORGOTTEN MEMORIES

I welcome articles, BIO's, stories, etc and certainly hope that all ASA Turkey Vet's will contribute and make the newsletter worthwhile. You can write whatever message you would like, and it will show up right here for you to share with the ASA Turkey group! I will respond to all e-mails and will assist whenever needed, but reserve the right to edit for content and clarity and welcome any errors that may appear herein. Thank you, Elder RC Green aka gH, 3094 Warren Rd., Indiana, PA 15701, 724-349-7305, ercgreen@yourinter.net

TAPS

ACKERT, Wilbur A., Maj, QM, Det 27, JA59-61, born in the Bronx, NY on 8 August 1919, died: 8 June 1989 at their home in Battle Creek, MI., of cancer, SSN: 114-09-6489 issued New York. I called and chatted with Margaret Ackert, his widow, on 18 January 2003. Prior to the call I found Wilbur Ackert on the SSDI list and extended my condolences to her after ID'ing myself. She was very responsive to my inquiry about their Tour of Duty in Ankara. They arrived in Ankara in January 1959 and lived on Ataturk Blvd., Kavaklidere in a 3 bedroom apartment of a 2 story house within view of the statue of soldiers guarding the long contemplative promenade to Mustafa Kemal Ataturks mausoleum. She also recalls the call-to-prayer chants from the amplification systems that gave out each chanter's voice in an airy quality from the mosque minarets. She remembers the arrival date because she was pregnant and her son was born in June 1959 at the USAF Hospital in Ankara. She believes that her husband replaced Maj Charles Cambell, but did not know his place in the ASA chain of command while Det 27 was being built. She remembered WO Charles and Kathryn Habiger and a Lt Laine (sp?). She ask if I had information about a Joe Delnero who was the Turkish linguist who worked quite often with her husband. I told her that I had just located Joe and she ask several questions about him. She said that Delnero looked like a young Turk and that he often hid the fact that he was fluent in the Turkish language. The Det 27 assignment was their lone Tour of Duty in the ASA and they were posted to Philadelphia after Turkey and from where Wilbur retired in 1963 as a LtCol with 21 years active duty. She lives at 66 Wealthy, Battle Creek, MI 49015, 269-964-2208 and is 83 years young (born in 1920). Wilbur was a native of the Bronx, NY.

MOSKIEWICZ, Peter F., Det 4, 63-64, born: 20 November 1942 in Wisconsin, died: 29 October 1995 at Gilman, WI from a massive heart attack. I called his wife on 21 January 2003 and had a interesting conversation with Jo Ann. She resides at N5237 County Rd., Gilman, WI 54433, 715-668-5534. She informed that Pete had died without warning of a massive heart attack. They were married just before Pete was sent to Sinop from Vint Hill Farms. She remembers that Pete enjoyed and often talked about his Tour of Duty at Sinop. After Sinop Pete was assigned to Ft. Huachuca, along with Al and Nickie Van Brocklin, Jim and Jane Rose, Carl McKinney and Rich Woodcox, for the year in the ASA. Upon discharge he went back to the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point where he graduated. He worked in water quality and wildlife management for many years, then farmed for a few years and later was a superindent for a solar field in the Mojave Desert. Jo Ann does not have e-mail, but requested the DOOL website address so that she can view the weekly newsletters at a friends home. She will be sending me some photo's for the DOOL and the Memory Book and would like to hear from any friends that knew her and Pete.

SONS, Lawrence (Larry) 056 E4 Det 4, 1960, b-21 May 1937, died July 1979 in Louisiana

MAIL CALL

BOBBITT, Burnis, DOB: 21MY46, E6, Pers Sgt, Det 27, 67-JN68, (Barbara), PO Box 223 Smithville, TX 78957 512-237-3171, no e-mail. Contacted on 22 January 2003. Was one of the last seven ASA'ers at Det 27 when it was given back to the Turkish Army in June 1968. Burnis was on the 1967

Manzarali Post Basketball team. Doesn't remember the other team members. Separated from the ASA in 1968 and went to Stephen F. Austin Univ. Worked in various police departments for 9 years and then re-enlisted, this time in the MP field and advanced to Warrant and retired as a CW4 in 1996. Has been in law enforcement for 34 years and currently works in Austin. Participates on a regular basis in Bastrop County, Texas military funerals with others members of the VFW, Vietnam Vet's and American Legion units. Resides on 3.5 acre parcel that is frequented on a regular basis by deer.

CARVALHO, Joe E4-E5 058 Tk#3 Det 27, MY64-NO65, (Marcia), 1708 Annetta Dr., Petaluma, CA 94954, 707-763-6146, kohala61@pacbell.net . - Hi Elder, Please post in your next newsletter: I am trying to contact an old buddy from Manzarali, Lynn Seabury. He was a linguist, got out in '65 and returned to California. We kept in touch for awhile but lost contact along the way. He played football on Trick 3 and the Post team in '65 that won championships. Any news would be appreciated. Bergmann, Dandridge and Hollenbeck knew him, too.

COMROE, Mike E4 059 Det 27, 61-62, (Jane), 205 Pinetown Rd., Audubon, PA 19403,610-666-7402, pennstateblue@enter.net - gH: Happy new year to you and Patty from beautiful, warm, sunny, Valley Forge, Pa. Hope your holidays were as good as ours. Have a quick question for you...does our reunion resort have any trap or skeet shooting facilities like some of resorts in the Poconos. Really hoping for a trap range. Regards, Mike Comroe

DELNERO, Joseph H., (Joe), DOB: JL36, E4-E5, Turk interpretor, Det 27, SE57-JN59, (Josie), 690 E Lafayette Dr., West Chester, PA, 610-793-1812 and 301 W 4th St., Bethany Beach, DE, 302-539-6416, jhdelnero@aol.com - Found Joe on switchboard.com and contacted him on 16 January 2003. He told me that his assignment orders to Det 27 in Ankara was a PURE MISTAKE that was made at Ft Dix and that Richard Riedy was supposed to go to Det 27 and not him. Joe loved his assignment at Ankara, but does not remember any names except Reidy and Sgt McKenna who was the Supply Sgt

From: JHDELNERO@aol.com Sent: January 18, 2003 3:55 PM Subj: Re: Det 27 names

Got your msg and it jogged a lot of memories and names - I knew Jerry Coker and now recall Capt Loving -- also knew Maj Charles Campbell very well -- the SFC who was supply Sgt (Mckenna) as I said must be long deceased, as he was near that point in 1958 from too much libation -- his oft repeated statement was "It was never like this in Yong Dong Po" -- I cannot offer more at this time because I question your attention to all needed security measures -- which should not be a new msg for you !!!

DODD, Jim DOB: 20SE40 E4-E5 72B60 Det 4, JL61-JL62, 13480 W Richardson Rd., Skiatook, OK 74070, 918-396-0241, okie2k@earthlink.net - Hi Elder, First let me thank you for the phone call, I really enjoyed talking with you. Here are the addresses and email that I promised. (This is my cousin, he was in Sinop 55-57), Ernest Lewis & Johna, 3545 Ferguson Ave. Ponca City, OK 74604, 580-692-4144, no email Deane Bavis, 890 S. Main St., Bristol, NH 03222, smartnoni@aol.com
(Deane and I attended Tech School together and assignment to Sinop)

FRAERING, Camille Jr E4 982 SE57-SE58, 2408 Blue Haven Dr, New Iberia, LA 70563-2133 ,337-365-5418, scientificinternational@cox-internet.com , scientifictools@msn.com and cinvent@earthlink.net - Elder, I know we had security guards and I think they were MP's. One of the what we felt were to harass the troops deals was we had to walk the perimeter on guard duty at nite with a damn nite stick. That was always fun. We used to run into Turk Infantry from time to time. That is it for now.. I do remember Jim Baker. Super nice guy

HOSTETTLER, Nicholas R SP5 05H Det 27, 61-63, 30472 23 Mile Rd., New Baltimore, MI 48047-1844, 810-598-4280, nhostet@michbar.org - Aside from a few complications, I am okay. I had the kidney transplant. However, they over-dosed me on one of the immunosuppressive drugs, cyclospirine and this had an adverse reaction on the new kidney, resulting in damage to the new kidney. As a consequence, the toxin removal function of the kidney is not at full capacity. It is working, however at only about 50% capability. The fluid (urine) removal part is gangbusters however. However, I have been told that the toxin removal function should improve with time. The reason you have not heard from me, is because I spent almost all of December in the hospital, including Christmas. However, since my daughter spent the afternoon with me, I actually did not mind. Because of the setting, we were forced to spend "quality time" together doing something old fashioned and very rewarding-- communicating! Belated holiday wishes and greetings

HUNT, Carlos E., DOB: 21MY37, E3-E4, 058, Det 4, MR58-MR59, (Frankie), 10215 Hwy 79e, Henderson, TX 75652, 903-889-2391, cehunt79@aol.com . Contacted Carlos Hunt on 20 January 2003 and had a lengthy and enjoyable chat regarding his Tour of Duty at Sinop as a ditty-bopper. Carlos agreed to write a BIO for the DOOL in the near future. In the interim I submit the following regarding my new found friend, Carlos Hunt. They own a 73 acre ranch in Eastern Texas and raise Brangus beef cattle. Henderson, Texas is 70 miles from Shreveport, LA. and is where he and Jack B. Smith enlisted in the Army and ASA in 1957. After basis he was sent to Fort Devens for Morse Code Training. He and about 12 others arrived in Ankara and were transported to Sinop via a Turkish dolmus where they were introduced to about 12 inches of red mud. The bus driver began dropping the luggage from the top onto the mud. What a mess! Looking back, he says that spending a year on the hill was a very rewarding experience for him. He didn't particularly like the potable water situation, or the lack thereof, and made use of the Turkish bath in Sinop quite often. The tour gave him a chance to meet some wonderful Turkish people and learned to really appreciate their culture. Carlos was able to copy 10-12 wpm the first week of 058 school as he had dabbled in ham operations and CW in particular and sat side-saddle at Det 4 for only a short time before he was a certified 058. For the Christmas of 1958 his trick decided to find a Christmas tree for their barracks. He doesn't remember who or whom did it, but a fir tree was cut from the front yard of the Mayor of Sinop and brought back to the barracks and decorated with the foil from cigarette packs and used as tinsel on the tree.

HIS BARBER SHOP DISCOVERY

Carlos vividly remembers the time he went to the post barber shop shortly after arriving at Det 4.. The Turk barber had just completed shaving his neck when he noticed that the barber was wiping the razor on a yellow sheet of paper which had "TOP SECRET" and a codeword stamped on it. He couldn't believe his eyes and wondered if others had observed this breach of security, then discovered that still more of the yellow paper was on the counter. Nowadays he cannot remember the codeword that he observed, but remembers making a bee-line to the operations building and reported the "missing documents" to his superiors and as he recalls it was a very exciting day on the hill. He never was told how those papers got there or if any disciplinary action was taken for this breach of security. In hindsight Carlos wonders how or why those classified papers got there and how naive the barber and the shoeshine boy actually were, but now after reading about the exploits of ex-1958-Det 4'er Sgt Jack Dunlap being a loose cannon and a spy (58-63) for the Soviet Union, he now has doubts about the 1958 leadership at Diogenes Station.

FISHING TRIP AND HOME-MADE DYNAMITE

Carlos remembers the time that he and Floyd Allen (deceased - from Des Moines, IA) went fishing with a local Turk "one time". When they got about 3 miles from Sinop, the Turk reached under the seat and pulled out a stick of home-made dynamite. They watched in amazement when he lit the fuse with a Bafra cigaret and dropped it over the side. After the blast, fishing was really easy. He used about 5 sticks that day and they returned to Sinop with a boat full of fish. Needless to say, neither of them went fishing in Sinop again.

OUR TWO VACATIONS TO TURKEY

Carlos and Frankie have taken 2 vacations in Turkey--Mar '99 and April 2001. They were wonderful trips and they are ready to go again and this time would love to take a steamer from Istanbul to Sinop and spend a few days looking up a few Turks and sharing photos with them or their children. Do you know anyone planning a trip back to Sinop???

JORGENSEN, Gary C., (The Kid & Jorgy), 05H, E3-E5, Det 27 & 4-4, MY66-SE68, (Virgie), 211 W House St., Duluth, MN 55808, 218-626-3676 g_jorgensen@hotmail.com & gary.jorgensen@wlssd.duluth.mn.us gH, greetings from the frozen north. It's -12 now and expected to get to -25 tonight with -35 wind chills. I don't think there would be too many takers for a ASA Turkey reunion in northern Minnesota in Jan. The crazy thing is there is no snow. I'm still taking the dog for a walk in tennis shoes (me not the dog). I'm anxiously awaiting the new and latest version of the memory book. I'm impressed with your dedication. #100 DOOL was a milestone. There are still lots of undiscovered vets out there from Det 27 and 4-4 and I see a lot of response from Det 4. Jorgy

NODOREK, John DOB: 21NO46 E3-E4 76P 76T 95B Det 27, AP67-NO67, Det 4-3, NO67-NO68, (divorced), PO Box 50125 Albany, GA 31703, johnjnodorek@isoa.net . Please take me off the dool list. I will start going to the website to look at them. Right now I am too sick to read them off my screen.
Just got out of the hospital and will be going back in in a day or so. Got to have a bypass operation and will not be around a compurter for awhile.

RIEDY, Richard, DOB 1936, Det 4, OC57-MY59, Fm New Mexico, burada@earthlink.net
[extracted and edited from 19 and 21 December 2002 entries on Bill Simons website] - Surfing around and found Bill Simons website, I had no idea there was anything like that on the web, and it certainly brought back a flood of memories from my Tour of Duty on the HILL. I was the interpreter/translator and the Det 4 commander's general flunkey from 10/57 to 5/59. I arrived there a greenhorn out of the Army Language School just a few weeks after the "mutiny." And from the looks of it, things really improved at least physically after I left. But we had one hell of a time on the Hill. I was amazed to see the picture of my old barracks, which I helped build, and also the church, which we had just begun constructing when my time was up. I'll have to spend the evening digging out my old pictures for a real trip way back. In 2001 upon the death of an aunt I corresponded with when I was at Sinop, her daughter sent me a packet of my letters. I read them and burned them. They were embarrassingly immature and obviously written with the idea of reinforcing my aunt’s strict Christian beliefs about the "heathen Turk." Though they shed little light on Det 4, they did impel me to think about writing a memoir, something, in fact, I had always thought about ever since leaving The Hill. People never used to believe some of the things I told them. And I have since been putting a few things on paper as I get a moment. When I left Det 4, I took along a beautiful walnut box I had custom made in Sinop that was full of Det 4 memorabilia--pictures, documents, notes I had kept, etc. As I had no home in the United States, I lugged that box around from coast to coast and back again and eventually back to Turkey when I returned as an airman to Det 3 at Karamursel. The contents would have been invaluable for reconstructing a history of my time at Sinop. Sadly, the box was stolen when burglars trashed my first apartment in New York in 1963. Fortunately some of the pictures were at the apartment of a friend I had worked with in Karamursel, and I had taken one document, my official statement on the "Boyabat" incident of May, 1958, to work to show a co-worker that day. I was born in 1936 and now and find that I simply can no longer put names to many of the faces I have gone on seeing in my mind’s eye over the years (perhaps I ought to try regression therapy). I cannot for the life of me even recall the names of the two commanding officers I worked directly for day in and day out at Det 4. . . . snip . . .At any rate, I will try to get something off to you in 2003. I’m currently in the process of translating two books from Turkish and also writing a book about these last few years here in New Mexico, so have my brains a bit scattered around, I’m afraid. PS Wish I knew more about the "mutiny" myself. By and large, mum was the word from the Americans, even in their cups. But the Turkish interpreter for the American maintenance company (replaced by Tumpane in July ‘58) told me what happened was the CO had tried to impose regular Army discipline and routine on the men. Which considering the place and conditions, was pretty unreasonable. Even the time frame is not sure: I heard "a few weeks ago," several times, but also once "a while back." I did of course see the wreckage of the exercise area where the EM’s had torn down the monkey bar type stuff. The Turks told me of the mob cornering the officers in the BOQ with the intention of burning the place down. True or not, I don’t know--the Turks had terrific imaginations and tended to emotionalize the simplest events. Neither the CO or any of the officers ever so much as hinted about it to me. . . . snip . . . Multiply the ill will he inspired in me alone, and who knows? (I did revolt at one point and ended up spending a week in the walking wounded ward at the Air Force Hospital in Ankara.) I’m sorry I lost track of Joe Delnero, my buddy from the Army Language School--he made it to Turkey a couple months before me and was at the TUSLOG Det in Ankara that handled a lot of Det 4 affairs. Somehow I suspect he might have known about this.

WEANT, Arthur L., (Big Red), DOB: AP40, US54339107, E3, 059, Det 4, 63-FE64, (Vera), 413 S Birch St., Owasso, OK 74055, 918-272-3897, no e-mail. Contacted on 21 January 2003. Was one of the lucky draftees to be drafted into the ASA. Was 6'6" tall and played center on the Det 4 post basketball team on the 63-64 team. Others on that team that he remembers are Frank Ott, Norman Swift and a black player who had his finger cut off while dunking a basketball at the Det 4 gym. Was in Ankara with the basketball team when JFK was assinated and remembers that it caused the tournament that was to be held at Det 27 to be cancelled.

WORLEY, Jerry M, DOB: 14JA40, RA18562162, E3-E4, 056, Det 4, 1960, (Peggy), 204 Cedar St., Haughton, LA 71037, 318-949-2183, hamsam@microgear.net

. Contacted on 23 January 2003. Jerry took basic training at Fort Smith, Arkansas, then on to Ft Devens for 056 schooling. Spent all of 1960 at Sinop and most of it was at the point DF site. The duty was okay. Went to Samsun for 3 days R&R. Joe Weber from Ohio had the top bunk in his hootch. Mentioned that a good friend, Larry Sons, is deceased. Keeps in email touch with Gerald Glaser. Jerry is the FIRE CHIEF for the Haughton, Louisiana fire department. Promised to get back to me with additional information.

TRICARE INFO

TRICARE does not cover hearing aids for retirees or their family members under any of the TRICARE programs. However, if the beneficiary who needs the hearing aid is a retired military member (remember you are also a veteran), he or she can check with the Veterans Administration (VA) to see if the VA can help. Additionally, some military facilities support a Retiree At-Cost Hearing Aid
Purchase Program (RACHAPP). Check with your nearest military treatment facility to see if it supports this program. The MTF may be able to purchase the hearing aid for you, and you reimburse the MTF its costs.