From: "ercgreen" <ercgreen@yourinter.net>
Subject: DAYS OF OUR LIVES #136
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 08:49:18 -0500


MAIL-call - PRESERVING FORGOTTEN MEMORIES

This newsletter is intended only for the use of the ASA TURKEY Veteran's. Your memoirs are most welcome to the DAYS OF OUR LIVES and is an effort on my part to preserve the stories and memories of ASA veterans who served in Turkey. Certainly my goal is to collect and to preserve the stories -- that we honor the ASA Turkey veterans and that we educate future generations about what it was like for us COLD WAR veteran's. On the importance of the ASA Turkey BIO's - that not too many years from now people will be able to look back and understand what the ASA was all about and why ASA personnel served in Turkey and have a better understanding of the experience of veterans who went through the Cold War. Whether you choose to share your BIO is a personal choice. However, information not shared is the same as information lost. Keep in mind that the Internet is a universe unto itself and is a dang near veritable hell-hole filled with scams, scam artists, frauds, thieves, and greedy people, etc. In the old days, back when mail crossed the country in days, identity theft still took place. Today, e-mail crosses the country at the speed of light. The crooks do too. Your privacy is extremely important.
Therefore, if you wish not to receive future DAYS OF OUR LIVES, please send that request to ercgreen@yourinter.net. - When you send an email to me - PLEASE include the word ASA in the subject line to insure that I open it and not mistake it for SPAM. Thank you- - -gH

Make a 2004 resolution to write and share your ASA Turkey information with the DOOL gang. The DOOL spirit is all about sharing --contributing what we know or have compiled so that others with similar interests may benefit from your/other information, and expertise. Of course, we always hope to learn from others' contributions in return. If you are one of the newcomers, welcome, and here's some pointers to get you started. A good place to start is with the DOOL webpage: http://dool-1.tripod.com. The usual starting point on this page is the search block. Type in the remembered name, but remember, it is only a beginning and many entered names do NOT pop up and it doesn't mean that there is nothing to be found for that vet therein. Navigate through the numbered blocks and read what others have written about their TOUR of DUTY in the ASA and Turkey in particular.

GREEN, Elder RC (gH), DOB: 1936, RA13513638, E7, 982/98C, Det 27, 1-15MY61, Det 120, MY-JL65, Det 27, JN66-OC67 & Det 4-4, OC67-NO68, (Patty), 3094 Warren Rd., Indiana, PA 15701, 724-349-7395, ercgreen@yourinter.net.

HOW THE ARMY SECURITY AGENCY WAS DISBANDED
The massive drawdown of the Army after the Vietnam War led to pressures to achieve economies by the consolidation of intelligence functions. In 1975, the Army Chief of Staff accepted the recommendations of the Intelligence Organization and Stationing Study and agreed to a wholesale reorganization of Army Intelligence. The decision was made to create multidisciplinary military intelligence organizations within the Army at both the tactical and departmental levels. As a result, ASA was dismembered and on 1 January 1977, Headquarters, U.S. Army Security Agency, was redesignated as Headquarters, U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM).

THE 2004 ASA TURKEY REUNION

THE 2004 REUNION WILL BE HELD IN HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA ON 16-18 SEPTEMBER 2004. Mark your calendar and make plans to attend. You may make your reservation by calling 1-888-299-5174 or 256-830-2222. If you need to send a FAX - 256-830-1336. I would suggest that you call the 256 number rather than the national reservation desk. For additional information on the 2004 reunion go to: http://dool-1.tripod.com and click on the reunion ICON.

QUESTION: Would any of you ASA Turkey vet's be interested in obtaining a cap, T-shirt, sweatshirt, pull-over, coffee mug, etc. with embroidery/printing/patches/something to commemorate this gathering? If so, which, and what would you be interested in ordering? Charlie Rodrigues an ex-Sinoper is willing and able to take your comments/orders, etc. Give him a email at pcrodrigues@webtv.net. There is an "advertising" guy here in town who could do this in advance and have it available upon your arrival.

TAPS

ELAM, Douglas B., E4 Det 4, 58-59 & E6 Det 4, 64-65, DOB 18 June 1937 DOD 27 January 2003
Douglas B. Elam,CSM (Ret.) 65, of Maitland, Fl., passed away on January 27, 2003. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Doug Elam moved to the central Florida area in 1984 from Massachusetts. He served many years in the ASA and INSCOM branch of the US Army before retiring at the rank of Command Sergeant Major in 1982. During his distinguished military service, he was awarded score of honors and medals, including the Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam. In addition to his regular duties, he hosted a radio show in Sinop,Turkey, a talent he carried over to civilian life. He hosted the Douglas Elam Show on a Florida AM radio station, a weekly political discussion and commentary program. Several years ago, Doug Elam founded and became President of Humanalysis, Inc., an engineering support firm. In addition to being an accomplished author, he was also an integral part of many local charities, including producing, emceeing and performing in several talent shows for local civic groups. He was also the chairman of the Republican Executive Committee for Seminole County and was a member of the Southern Seminole Sertoma Club. Doug Elam was buried with full military honors alongside his son Timothy, at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, MO. He is survived by his wife Sieglinda, (Siegi) of Maitland, Fl., and a daughter, Kathleen E. Redditt of Fairfax, Va.

LA BRECQUE, Barbara J., DOB: 27 June 1937 DOD: 1 February 2001 - wife of LtCol Henry (Hank) La Brecque who served as XO and CO at Det 4 in 1968. See Below

NUTTALL, Tom 98C Det 4-4, 69-70, DOB: ? DOD: 28 November 2003. Mike Frazee wrote: Regret to inform you that Tom Nuttal passed away on November 28th, of 2003. I don't know all the specifics of Tom's tour at Karamusel (~1969-1970) and really all the specifics of his life (ie DOB, family members, etc.). Would be glad to assist in putting something together for the "Days Of Our Lives" publication. My father-in-law passed away x-mas day and our family has been in the grieving process. I still do not have needed information for Tom's obituary. Will try to call his wife ASAP and get back to you. Although I have not written anything with regard to my time in Turkey (I was at Sinop and Karamusel), intend to when I have time to devote to such a task.

SWARTWOOD, Jerry, E3-E4 Det 4, 63-65 - Mr. Green, This is in reply to your telephone call to my home tonight inquiring about my deceased husband, Jerry Swartwood. I have checked the Web site that you gave me and I will be happy to send you some information in a couple of days. It is getting late here in Oklahoma and have to get up early in the morning. Thanks, Carolyn Swartwood
TRASTI, Richard L., Det 4, 67-68 per Pat O'Brien. DOB: 4 July 1944 DOD: 18 July 1985, SSN: 286-40-9107 issued Ohio

THE ASA TURKEY MAIL CALL
In this issue - alphabetical order
*denotes photo attached

Robert Alexander, Det 4, 59-60
Tim Beam, Det 4, 68-69
Greg Berfield, Det 4, 68-69
Steve Bouser, Det 4, 61-62
*Jerry Box, Det 4, 64-65 & 72-73
*Dennis Brooke, Det 27, 62-64
Tom Broumel, Det 27, 61-62
Charles Burkett, Det 27, 60-63
Paul Burns, Det 4,
Terry Carmichael, Det 4, 68-69
*Ernie Carrick, Det 4, 57-58
Tony Cassise, Fet 27, 60-62
Lanny Couvillon, Det 27, 62-64
*Jim DeFord, Det 4, 68-69
Roy DesRussieux, Det 27, 61-62
Norman Dove, Det 27, 63-64
*Ron Erickson, Det 27, 61-62
Burley Estep, Det 27, 1966
Mike Fisher, Det 27 & 4-4, 66-69
*Camille Fraering, Det 4, 57-58
Matthew Gembala, Det 27, 60-62
Jerry Glaser, Det 4, 60-71
Ronny Graham, Det 27, 60-62
*Mike Hall, Det 27,
Jim Harber, Det 27, 62-63
Joe Hey, Det 27,
Gary Jorgensen, Det 27 & 4-4, 66-68
Jon Kettenring, Det 27, 63-64
Hank LaBrecque, Det 4, 68
Jeff McRaney, Det 4, 66 & JA67-DE68
Larry Mead, Det 27, 62-64
*Dale Nehring, Det 27, 62-64
Hank Neill, Det 27, 62-64
John O'Connor, Det 4, 68
Gene Peavler, Det 4, 63
Duane Sharp, Det 4, 65-66
Charles Shatzer, Det 27, 62-64
Rawligh Sybrant, Det 4, 68-69
Chuck Silvernail, Det 27, 62-63
*Connie Stallings, US Embassy, Ankara Turkey,
John Stonska, Det 4, 68-69, 75-76 & 79
*Ed Wagner, Det 27, 63-64
* Robert Weber, Det 27, 64-66

ALEXANDER, Robert W., E2-E3, 283, Det 4, JN59-JN60, klavier01@earthlink.net
Please let me say, how awesome I think your efforts are to collect and collate and distribute all this data, these memories. In the remainder of my career, I put a lot of memories of Sinop out of my mind (sic). Compared to other experiences, it was a tiny blip on the radar of life. I was stunned to see all the info now on the 'net about Det 4 and all the other ASA sites. I can't say the memories came flooding back, but some surprisingly warm memories returned from a place I had thought of as not warm, not "good". If I were your 1st Sgt, you'd get an ARCOM, at the least, for what you are doing. Thank you. MSG Robert W. Alexander, USA (Ret)

BEAM, Timothy K., YOB: 1946, RA, E3-E5, 98J, Det 4, AU68-AU69, (Kathleen), 3472 Stagecoach Trl., Loomis, CA 95650, 916-652-0519, tbeam@direcway.com - Contacted on 29 January 2004. Gave him the DOOL website and if interested will get back to me.
An amazing bus ride from Ankara took us to Samsun, Turkey, then inland south west to Ankara on a road that followed the Kizii River valley. The "pit" stop above was adorned with a marker both in English and Turkish commemorating one of Alexander the Great's big battles. This part of the road (though not paved) was not too bad. Bus driver looks fondly at camera.


BERFIELD, Gregory L., YOB: 1947, RA, E5 Det 4 68-69, (Lee), 143 Fawnbrook Dr., Greer, SC 29650, 864-879-6460, has email. Talked to Lee on 29 January 2004 and she was to pass along the info.

BOUSER, Stephen L., (Steve), DOB: 1942, RA17574779, E4-E5, 988RU, Det 4, 61-62, (Brenda), 155 N Weymouth Rd., Southern Pines, NC 28387, 910-693-4399, sbouser@thepilot.com . [edited] Steve Bouser grew up in Carthage, Missouri and after graduating from High School enlisted for a 3 year tour in the Army Security Agency. Trained as a Russian linguist at Monterey, and served 1961-62 at Det 4 in Sinop, Turkey. I called Steve Bouser on 25 December 2003. He was surprised to hear me ask about his Tour of Duty on the HILL and was curious how I was able to locate him. I explained and he then remembered entering a line or two on the web about serving with the ASA in Turkey. Steve had to cut short the chat for a prior commitment, but did say that he would get back to me. He remembered arriving in Ankara and the IKI PACHUK ride to Samsun and Sinop. Said that during that trip he witnessed an example of why the UGLY AMERICAN tag continued. The group was issued a box lunch for the trip and among the yeni's was a GI who was returning to Sinop from a 3 day pass to Ankara. In the box lunch was a orange. This Ugly American proceeded to throw his orange at a female who was walking along the road. When asked why he did it, he replied "just for the hell of it." Said that he remembered hearing about the Turk soldier who got shot at the front gate and didn't recall the details. Said that during his tour there was an incident involving a GI being blamed for insulting either the American or Turkish Flag. Hasn't thought about names of others that he knew at Diogenes Station, but that ? Young (Poss Gene Young, fm Huntsburg, OH per Howard Herndon, Det 4, NO60-NO61); Lee ?; and ? Cherkas come to mind. After Sinop was assigned to Fort Meade for duty at NSA. Steve grad-uated from Southwest Missouri State College in 1967 with a B.A. in English. Later he worked at papers in Wisconsin and Florida before lucking into North Carolina in 1973. He has been editor of The (Morganton) News Herald, The Shelby Star and The Salisbury Post. From 1993 to 1996, - he worked with USIA and USAID in programs of assistance to independent media in the former Soviet Union, living in Russia and Washington and traveling extensively in Russia and Eastern Europe. He returned to States in 1997 and became editor of The Pilot in Southern Pines, NC.

BOX, Gerald E., (Jerry), DOB: 1938, RA12496428, E5, 059, Det 4, AP64-AP65 & E7 05K MR72-MR73, (Yvonne), RR3 Box 117D Susquehanna, PA 18847, 570-853-4968, gbox@epix.net .
Contacted on 2 December 2003. Enlisted in the Regular US Army on 31 July 1956 and took basic at Fort Dix, NJ and took AIT at Fort Knox, KY where he served in the 11th Armored Cav Regiment. Served in the Armor Corps for 5 years and then was discharged as a SP5 in September 1961. In February of 1962 reenlisted for duty with the ASA and as a slick sleave to boot. Sent to Fort Devens and was a 058 wash out into the 059 MOS. Was sent to Fort Carson and duty with Co ?, 303rd USASA Bn. Then to Devens and then to Det 4. Some friends at Sinop were Doug Elam, Bill Johnson, Charlie Hedrick, Ike Chamness, and Jim Ford. After Sinop was sent to Bad Aibling, Germany until 1968, then to Devens as a 059 instructor, then to Pensacola, Florida - December 1969-August 1970, then to Hakata, Japan August 1970 til March 1972... I do have some pictures but I have to dig them out. When I have more time in the spring I'll do that. Right now I'm really busy.

BROOKE, Dennis D (DD), DOB: 1943, RA17608528, E3-E4, 058, Det 27, SE62-3MR64, (Barbara), 1720 Fender Rd., Naperville, IL 60565, 630-983-7296, vuu73@yahoo.com -


[edited] Merahaba Elder, Your call informing me of the existence of the DAYS OF OUR LIVES newsletter, the reunion and reunions and the attempts to locate ASA Turkey Vets has really got me thinking back. I was completely taken off guard by your asking, "Do you remember so and so, etc etc" Man a person at our age has to sneak up on these things. Well slowly but surely things are coming back to me. I was sitting in front of a pair of R-390 receivers, one tuned to the control frequency and the other searching for the out- stations, when told that JFK had been assassinated. The airwaves were full of signals of all types The 058 bay went silent as no one could believe it! Within minutes we were placed on ALERT and we 058's were told to immediately bring to the attention of T/A anything that was unusual in the traffic we nornally copied on a day to day basis. As I now recall it was a most active day for the RM targets and many were sending in the clear expressing their sympathy. They knew full well that we were copying them and they wanted us to know that they were human too. The rumor was that Russia was involved in the assassination. I've been surfing the Newsletter site and the Det 27 site. Got the Memory Book mini-CD in the mail from Chuck Bergmann and am anxious to get into it. Great work by everyone involved. I have done a little searching since your call. Ward A. Wells was my roomy at Det 27 - we went through Basic, Fort Devens and Turkey together. Since your contact I've gotten in touch with Bill Hartranft who informs that my nickname at Manzarali was Delbert Dumbfu.. He said that he has kept in contact with Jim Harber, Walt Dubicki and Vern Negus. One incident Bill Hartranft related to me involved him getting a DEAR JOHN letter. In no time the news was all over Trick#1 and I was ragging on Bill and it made him so angry that he attacked me in room two. A few guys pulled him off, but the hum and scuttlebutt continued for a day or two. He said he was so horrified at his behavior that he promised himself he'd never lose his temper like that again. That was in 1963. It's been 41 years since he exploded and he now thanks me for the life lesson. He says he has held himself to that promise. Walt, please send me a "41" year old picture of you - it's the damn brain fart problem again. I have to "jump start" my memory - I guess it's better at our age to "jump start" our minds than having an EMT trying to "jump start" our hearts. Damn getting old is nice! Another item, didn't we have one of the Turks that worked on the site get shot through the head by one of the Turkish perimeter guards? I think the story goes that he was late to work and tried to go under the fence - Is this another of my war stories or is this one true also? I suppose all of you are having "Super Bowl" parties today - have a great time. I no longer drink (medication) so there just not as much fun. Anyway, time to try to clear up another brain fart, do any of you remember the name of the Ops NCO we had that got busted from E-6 or E-7 down to E-3 (I think) for gambling? He was a black guy and as I recall was a pretty nice guy. Set me straight on this one, Please!!!! Looking forward to the start of a new chapter in my life, 058 alum, DD aka Delbert Dumbfu.. aka Bumpa to my 6 grandkids.

BROUMEL, Tom, Det 27,62-63, broumel@msn.com
Elder my sister-in-law called me several days ago with reference to serving in Turkey at Det 27.
In all honesty I have forgotten your name. Please advise me of who and when. I understand you are planning a reunion. Hopefully I can make it. Give me a holler and let me know what is happening. broumel@msn.com [gave a holler, but NIL HRD]

BURKETT, Charles R., DOB: 1932 RA14434836 Sgt E5-SSG E6 452.6 Dental Tech Hq Co Det 27, 60-SE63, (Nelda-dec 2/W: Carlene), 3101 Hillman Rd., Kinston, NC 28504, 252-522-4672, bdl@icomnet.com BPED 7NO51 ETS 14OC63 per SO#46 dtd 26MR62 & SO#112 dtd 17AU61
Contacted on 15 January 2004. Charles recently has undergone several LUNG operations and is con-fined to his bed at the present. Was a SMOKER for 60 years and now regrets smoking even one cigarette! Charles informs that he was the Dental Clinic NCOIC during his tour. He arrived at Det 27 as a hardstripe E5 and made hardstripe E6 there. The other dental technicians that worked for him were H. Kenneth Jackson and Bob Boyer. Remembers a GI named Sims who worked in the Det 27 dispensary and said that this Sims was found guilty of impersonating a officer on the ship to Europe. The Dental Officer was a Maj James Karr. Some of the things that Chas Burkett remembers about his ONLY assignment with the ASA. Remembers the MISSILE unit and GI's that were stationed at Site 23 during his stay at Det 27. One was a Sgt Hicks Said that SFC Burl Estep was the First Sgt of Hq's Co at Manzarali and was friends with him and his wife Gladys. Chas and his first wife, Nelda, lived on the economy in Ankara and enjoyed the Turkish people. Charles said that he sold his 4-door 1956 Ford Fairlane to a Turk for a SMALL profit, then bought a 1962 Nash Rambler from a GI who did not want to sell it to a Turk. After Turkey was sent to Fort Hood, TX for 2 1/2 years, then to Anchorage, Alaska for 3 years and then to Walter Reed where he retired in 1971 as a Staff Sergeant E6. While in Ankara - they adopted Greek twins, a boy and a girl, who live nearby and have been successful. Nelda passed away and in 1972 he married Carlene who now is his constant caretaker.

BURNS, Paul H Jr DOB: 1943, RA18680333, E4-E5, 059, Det 4, MY64-JN65 & JL66-JL67, (Donna), 113 Notre Dame, Lafayette, LA 70506, 337-269-0368, bachinburn@cox-internet.com and bachinpops@cox-internet.com (Fraering & Stockstill also fm Lafayette) We have discovered the digital age !!!!!! We are moving from the old-fashioned dial up telephone ISP, to the NEW cable ISP, which is WOW....FAST AS LIGHTNING. But their e-mail service....SUCKS !!!
I guess you have to trade something. AOL is great, and has been great, but for the small savings in money, we are trading a great savings in time. We will be closing the AOL accounts on or about the 18 or 20th of February, 2004 BACHIBURN, BACHINPOPS, and UODFA. We will now be: bachiburn@cox-internet.com & bachinpops@cox-internet.com - Please change us in your address book. Thanks, Donna n Paul, Tawney, Blake n Blaze, Chloe, Devin, Bethanie, Callie, & Tyler

CARMICHAEL, Terry A., YOB: 1948, RA, E3-E5, 05K, Det 4, SE68-OC69, (Debra), 13347 Northumberland Cir., Wellington, FL 33414, 561-753-9879, tacwellyworld@yahoo.com - Received the disc and really appreciate it! I will be going through my Army (ASA) stuff soon and will let you fellows know anything interesting I may come across. Great to hear from you ASA comrads and will be keeping in touch

CARRICK, Ernie DOB: 1936, RA25358534, E3-E4, Personnel, Det 4, NO57-OC58, (Betty), 6111 Fairfield Dr., Huntsville, AL 35811, 256-852- 6180, ecbccar@surfbest.net -

BETTY'S SUGERY WENT VERY WELL. SHE WENT IN AT 3 PM AND WAS IN HER ROOM AT 7:30 PM. SOME OF YOU MAY NOT KNOW WHY. SHE HAD HER VERTERBRATES IN THE LUMBAR CURVE FUSED(L-3-4). DR AUST SAID THAT HE SAW NO REASON WHY SHOULD NOT BE HOME IN 3-4 DAYS AND A COMPLETE RECOVERY IN A FEW WEEKS. HE WAS REALLY SUPER TO ALL OF US KEEPING US INFORMED 5 OR 6 TIME DURING AND AFTER SUGERY. SHE'S IN ROOM 379 AT HUNTSVILLE HOSPITAL, 256-265-8379. THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR CONCERNS. ERNIE. See The Carricks attachment.


CASSISE, Anthony L., (Tony), YOB: 1941, RA16640477, E3-E5, 982.1, Det 27, OC60-AU62, (Linda-dec), 1462 Fairfield Dr., Clearwater, FL 33764, 727-539-7849, acassis1@tampabay.rr.com . I contacted Tony Cassise on 13 January 2004. His name was on Det 27 SO#112 dtd 17AU61 that was sent to me by Art Ellis in 2003. Tony was puzzled by my inquiry, but it din't take long for him to start laughing and talking about his Tour at Manzarali as a Traffic Analyst. The only T/A man that he remembers is William C. Williamson from Wedowee, Alabama. Tony enlisted for 3 years military service in the ASA in October 1960 at Detroit, Michigan. Took basic training at Fort Benning (Sand Hill), Georgia and then was trained as a 982 at Fort Devens. Before he knew it he was a McGuire AFB in New Jersey waiting to board a MATS flight to Frankfurt, Germany and a stopover at the 21st Replacement Bn at 94 Holzhaussen Straussen for tickets to Ankara, Turkey. . The trip to Germany consisted of screaming kids. When he arrived at Esenboga Airport he thought he had died and gone to hell. He simply couldn't believe the aroma and couldn't believe that people lived like this. Was picked up along with a few others in a 2 1/2 ton truck and driven to Det 27. In October 1960 there wasn't too many GI's at Det 27 and operations was only half operable. Somewhere he has a listing of the GI's who were there in 1960. Was assigned to one of the 4 tricks and it was here that he became friends with William C. Williamson who had arrived at Det 27 about a month before Tony and was a 982 also. Once at the NCO Club a group of friends bet that he didn't have the balls to dress up as a Captain and go to the Officers Club. He DID it and said that the caper resulted in his being busted to E3 on a Monday and the following Friday got the SP4 stripe back. Said that he was stone sober when he impersonated a Captain and the caper won him the $50 dollar bet. Even with the Article 15 bust, he made SP5 and had 18 months in grade when he departed Manzarali. Remembers the lineup of taxi's at the Det 27 front gate waiting to hire GI's for a trip to Ankara. The taxi ride to Ankara was hectic from the get go. The Turk drivers would speed up going down the hill and then kick it into neutral and not once touch the brakes going down the hill. He now wonders how many vet's remember the taxi's. When asked about the KARI-HANI he broke into a hearty laugh. Said that he visited the Kari-hani in Ankara more than once, but less than 20 times. Said that he and most other GI's visited the OFF-LIMITS bars and made out with many horny females. Remembers volunteering for an undercover sting to Det 4 in Sinop where he was given another name in order to gather some needed information. Tony would not discuss what the 3 weeks undercover operation consisted of or what the results were, but said that he would discuss it at the 2004 reunion at Huntsville. Remembers getting several cases of C-rations and loading them on iki-pachuks and going sightseeing all over Turkey. Also went wild boar hunting, got a shot off, but no success. Had to sign out the rifles at the USAF Rod and Gun Club in Ankara. All things considered he enjoyed his Turkey tour. Said that he was in love with a gal from Detroit and was horney as hell and took leave and went home to Detroit and got hitched to Linda on 27 January 1962. He returned to Turkey without his new bride and rotated after being extended 6 months by the Cuban Missile Crisis. Said that the crisis caused a Red Alert at Det 27 for 48 straight hours. Those in operations stayed there and grenades, etc were readied to destroy the documents and equipment. The crisis passed and Tony was discharged at Fort Dix, NJ and returned to Detroit and took up housekeeping and was trained as a Tool and Die maker field and worked there for 21 years and in 1981 moved his family to Clearwater, Florida where he started a tool and die operation (TLC.tool.inc) which he still owns and employs 5 workers. Sadly he told me that his wife of nearly 42 years had passed away on 6 December 2003 of kidney failure. Tony assured me that he has Det 27 orders and that he will find them along with photo's and forward them to me in the near future. Also would like to hear from others who remember him.

COUVILLON, Roland V., (Lanny), YOB: 1942, RA: 1978257., E3-E4, 058, TK#3, Det 27, OC62-AP64, (Jackie), 51 Oak Ave., Novato, CA 94945, 415-897-7933, rcouv@jps.net - I enlisted 29 January 1962, in Los Angeles for a 3 year tour with ASA. I joined on the "buddy" program with high school friend Barry Meredith. Basic training at Fort Ord where I met Ed Cummings, spent the night in the shower for some "gigs" and won the company PT competition. Went to Fort Devens and soon separated from my "buddy" as he failed morse and went into 059 training. I was playing wingback on the ASA Battalion flag football team when orders for Turkey arrived. The Battalion Commander called me in to inform me that he could have delayed my orders if he knew in advance before they were cut.... Oh well... Then went home on extended leave due to the Cuban missile crisis but finally left on Pan Am 707 Clipper. Esenboga was something out of a foggy dream. Then 2 1/2 in the middle of the night along with Jay Hunter, Joe Botta, Ed Cummings, Doug Potts and others we were dubbed the "Rat Pack" which stuck for quite a while. I made good friends at Manzarali and played as much sports as I could to travel TDY. I played with the mighty TK 3 Wolfcocks and made post teams in Volleyball-Football-Softball-Track and twice on "small" teams for Badminton. I seemed to be the designated runner to train with Ted Nelson, the Post Jock. During the winter, I would sometimes hide in my wall locker to avoid running in the snow with Nelson. At he 1964 Post track meet in Ankara Ted won every running event except the hurdles. He went on to an exceptional running career and was recognized as a world class elite runner. I believe he was the 3rd man to break the 4 minute barrier and set a world indoor half mile record in Berlin. He is now a retired fireman living in Santa Monica, of course still runs. He has completed the LA Marathon 4 times and hopes to do it again this year at age 65. In 1964 Joe Botta and I won the post doubles Badminton but I lost to Doug Potts in the singles championship match. In Athens I finished runner up in singles to an Air Force officer and was selected to compete in Europe. Steve MacCartan went with me as a doubles partner. We set at the time a record of 41 days TDY playing Badminton and having fun. In 1964 I competed with the Mediterranean track team in Wiesbaden. I took off for a couple of days to visit with my "buddy" Barry Meredith stationed with the 320th USASA Bn in Bad Aibling after Fort Devens. On return to Wiesbaden, I discovered the track team had returned to Turkey. I finally got down to Athens and called Sgt. Shatzer and I paraphrase his comment..."Couvillon get your ass back to Manzarali, now...." Sgt Shatzer was a great guy and had the respect of all of us that competed. It would be nice to see him at a reunion and I'm sure that he is grateful that his daughter, Dixie, prints the DOOL and mails it to him. While at Manzarali we named the softball diamond, "SHATZER FIELD". I transferred to Bad Aibling in April '64 after missing my rotation date while on TDY with MacCartan. By the time I got to Bad Aibling, my orders promoting me to Sp5 were laying on my bed waiting for me.
I played on the post softball and football teams at Bad Aibling and was discharged in Munich in January 1965. I stayed with Floyd Hunsaker and others in a leased house in Jochberg (near Kitzbuhel), Austria for six months before returning home. I finished college, married Jackie, we have 3 sons and a grandson and have lived in Marin County near San Francisco for 18 years. I retired after 32 years as a Y professional in January 2000. Early in my career I worked with John O'Brien at the Long Beach YMCA. I still see John regularly and also Doug Potts and Ted Nelson. I did communicate with Ed Cummings until his passing in March of 2003. We attended the 2002 reunion in Hershey with Steve MacCartan and hope to hook up with Joe Botta this year. Since retiring we have done lots of travel and I still consult with YMCA's in Orange County. I hope we can work out getting the old "rat pack" and others back together at the Huntsville reunion. I called Floyd Hunsaker and he thinks Bob Deines passed away a few years ago. He says Jesse Sammis was in Special Services and has a B&B in Vermont. I will try and track him down. Also, he said Moon Mullins lives in Ohio. Anything else I pick up I will forward.


DEFORD, James W., YOB: 1934 at Savannah, TN., RA14542921, E4-E6, 98C, Det 4, JN68-JN69, 2055 Hamburg Loop, Savannah, TN 38372, 731-925-2173, jameswdeford@charter.net

Feb, 1955 - Basic Training Ft Chaffee, AR.
1955 - USASA STU Co, Ft Devens, MA (98B school).
1955-1958 - USASA SPT ELM (7200 DU), Ft Meade, MD.
1958 - 6943 STU SQ, March AFB, CA (98C School).
1958-1959 - HQ 15th AF, March AFB, CA.
1959-1962 - 6989 RSM, Misawa AFB, Japan.
1962-1964 - HQ USAFSS, Kelly AFB, TX.
1964-1967 - 6921 SW, Misawa AFB, Japan.
Mar, 1967 - Back in the Army. Basic Training 2nd time, Ft Leonard Wood, MO.
1967-1968 - USASA OP CO, Vint Hill Farms Sta, VA.
1968-1969 - Tuslog Det-4, Sinop, Turkey.
1969-1971 - USASAFS (JSPC), Sobe, Okinawa.
1971-1972 - 373 ASA CO, Ft Hood, TX.
1972 - CRYPTO SUPV CRS, Ft Meade, MD (CY-155).
1972-1976 - USASA SPT GP, Ft Meade, MD.
Jun, 1976 - Retired.
1977-1992 - TN State Parks, Pickwick Landing State Park, Pickwick Dam, TN.
Retired for good Aug, 1992.

See Det 4 - SP6 Jim DeFord attachment. Thats LTC George R Mullin
on the left and an U/I 98C warrant on the right.

DesRUISSEAUX, Roy, DOB: 1941, RA13668334, E3, MP, Hq Co Det 27, JN61-AU62, (Josie), 96 S. Bishop Ave., Springfield, PA 19064, 610-622-3343, desrx2@comcast.net - Elder: Thanks for the picture of Jon Wood. That's how I remember him! Josie and I are more or less into our new home. OK just letting you know I'm still kickin.

DOVE, Norman J Jr E3-E4 S4 Det 27, JN63-NO64,13490 Princedale Dr., Woodbridge, VA 22193, 703-590-7964, ndove@comcast.net - The last DOOL contained a bio on Bill Cook along with an email address. I sent a reply to that address and the server said it was a bad destination address. Do you know if maybe there was a typo error or if that address is correct? Would like to contact Bill as we both played softball and I wanted to query him on other names that I have been trying to track down. Thanks, Norm Dove.

ERICKSON, Ron, DOB: 1940, RA17575612, E4, 059, Det 27, MY61-DE62, (Kathy), 17204 E 37th Terrace, Independence, MO 64055, 816-373-3349, rke3349@cs.com . -

We made it through 2003 and pretty mild New Years with a few beers and couple shots of Jose Cuervo. The sky here in Independence was full of fireworks people had saved from the 4th. We still plan to attend the Huntsville reunion. Will wait till a little closer before making reservations and will probially get an update and a reminder for our $ also when it gets within a couple months. See Erickson's attachment.

ESTEP, Burley, DOB: 1945, RA14912996, E3-E4, 059, Det 27, MR66-23DE66, & E4-E5 SOU
23, DE66-NO67, (Diane), 74 Spencer Rd., Cumberland, KY 40823, 606-589-2607,
anemol@hotmail.com


FISHER, Mike E4-E5 982/98C (Turk Linguist), Det 27& 4-4, 66-69, (Alisa Quint), 2 Townsend St 3-307 SF., CA 94107, 415-495-5227, RehsifmjFisher@netscape.net El,Sorry to hear about Mr. Cram, I would never propose to call him Gene. One thing I do remember about him is that he was most enthusiastic in whatever he did. I feel for his family's and your personal loss. The highlight of 2003 for me was in July when I was able to play golf in Scotland at the Royal Dornoch golf links on my birthday (60th). It was one helluva experience. I still live in San Francisco, and I manage a golf retail store just north of here in Marin County. Occasionally, I see Brad Bivens, who also lives here. Some time ago I got in touch with Andy Pate, who lives down the road in Sunnyvale. Somewhere in my storage I have some old Manzarali Mauler papers and quite a few "action" softball pictures.. I will get them to you as soon as I find them. I trust the holidays have been good to you and your family, and to my best recollection, "Yeni yiliniz kutlu olson" Mike Fisher

FRAERING, Camille Jr., E4, 982, TK#3, Det 4, SE57-SE58, 2408 Blue Haven Dr, New Iberia, LA 70563,337-365-5418, scientificinternational@cox-internet.com , scientifictools@msn.com and cinvent@earthlink.net

See the Camille Fraering attachment. That's Camille with the beer can.
I enlisted on 23 July 1956 in New Orleans for a 3 year stint in the ASA. The recruiter had convinced me that I could be assigned to Embassy's around the world, civilian clothes and a $600. clothing allowance. I sucked it up and was looking forward for such duty. Nowadays they would say that that recruiter could have sold me some land in the ATCHAFA swamp for a hi-rise. Took basic at Fort Hood, TX then on to Fort Devens for 6 months where I was trained as a Traffic Analyst. I had failed the test as an 058, not a brain for it. Funny, after 48 years I still remember dit dar dar dit dit dit dit dar dit dar dit dit dit dit dar dar dar dar. If I got it right that is pvr50.
I had finished 6th in my T/A class with a promise for duty in Europe to the first eight in the class, however we were designated for Turkey, none the less. I quickly sought out information about Turkey and discovered that it is the only secular Muslim country among all the Muslim countries in the world and that it was established in 1923 as a Democratic Republic of Turkey under the leadership of Kemal Atatürk. I was sent to Arlington Hall for some Russian language training,but Russian was incomprehensible to me so I failed there and was still sent to Det 4.
MY ROUND-ABOUT FLIGHT TO SINOP, TURKEY
I had flown to Bermuda and we had to change planes as the radar went out so we had to change planes. We got on a Super Connie and flew to the Azores. The Super Connie was one of the most distinctive looking planes of her day, and therewith was very famous. She was touted at being able to fly the Atlantic in 8 ½ hours. Halfway there the inboard left (PORT) engine went out. Joy to the world. We were halfway across. We made it and they told us the engine had an oil leak. The Connie could fly on two engines, so they said. Yeah Sure. Well we finally arrived at Lajes Field in the Azores. It was known as the crossroads of the Atlantic. It didn't take long for me and Charlie Harvel to find a bar. An Azore Pimp tried to get Charlie Harvel and I to go with him where they had a bunch of women. Well to make a long story short the Ambassadors daughter who was very pregnant got me to the side and said don’t go, there is a lot of VD on the island. We then flew and landed on the Mediterranean Coast of North Africa at a place called Wheelus AFB in Tripoli. We spent about a week there. Charlie Harvel who was from the boot of Missouri, and a bunch of other troops and I toured the Castle, Fort, and the Harbor. We saw the Calips dungeon which was a hole about 30 feet deep with a ladder. We spent a great 5 days or so touring. The barracks we stayed in were at the middle of the noisiest runway where the F86's jets hit their afterburners. That and we enjoyed the flys. I think it is the national bird of Libya. You would wake up with flys all over you, on your face and in your mouth. And it was hot. Writing about Libya reminds me that Khadafy took over in 1969 and the irony of the COLD WAR - the SOVIETS moved some MIG's and Tu-22 Bombers there and, of course, the 'old' Wheelus AFB was one of the targets during Reagan's raid to get Khadafy. Next it was off to Rome Italy via Air Italia. The stewardess in our section had been endowed better than Dolly Partin. Stayed until the money ran out. Flew to Istanbul, changed planes and took a Turkish Airlines plane to Ankara. Checked in and went to an apartment house they had for transient troops. We were told of a Bar where they had a good bar and some performers. We walked there remembering the way home and walked into the Bar. I can’t remember the name of the bar for the life of me. Well I found a stool and a pretty Turkish girl came up to me and displayed her English. "No shit GI....I love you.... buy me some Champagne." This was August 1957. Some GI just saved me a lot of money. God Love him. Then it was off to Sinop by L-19. Well I arrived and my first billet was a tent where I met Bob Kehr. It was a Squad Tent with about thirty troops sleeping there.
THE SPUTNIK'S
I started working in operations on 2 October 1957 and with only 2 days on the job the Ruskies launched Sputnik. As I recall SPUTNIK, meaning "fellow traveler" in Russian, was about the size of a basketball and weighed 183 lbs and the flight took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path, with 2 transmitters on frequencies at 20 and 40 MHz broadcasting the "beep-beep-beep" signals that symbolically ushered in the space age and allowed the Soviets - and the world - to track the orbit of this satellite. I believe that it had been launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. I don't remember if any one at Det 4 anticipated it or if anyone there copied the broadcast. I'm sure that the launch of Sputnik brought about the expansion of the MISSION at Det 4. I'm equally certain that ASA and NSA could not disclose intelligence gathered by the U2 flights at that time. Thus the "Missile Gap" argument was born and it marked the start of the space age and the US-USSR space race. One must remember that back in 1957 the R-390 had vacuum tubes and was the beginning of the "Cold War" and each were prepared to engage in global war at a moments notice. The Soviet dictator was Nikita Khruschev, remember him? I've researched and found that construction of the BAIKONUR COSMODROME in Khazakstan had begun in January 1955 and that there were many attempted flights before SPUTNIK was launched. Up until the time of launch, the Soviets were able to keep the Sputnik series a secret from the majority of the world. Sputnik II blasted off on 3 November 1957. It weighed half a ton and carried a dog named “Laika” Sputnik II failed to detach from its booster, and Laika became the first casualty to space exploration. Sputnik III was launched on 18 September 1958 as I was departing Sinop. Through the Sputnik series, the Soviet Union ushered the world into the Space Age. At that time, the world was in a race to create the ICBM, or the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.
I WAS LITERALLY A SCREWBALL FOR NEARLY FOUR MONTHS ON THE HILL
For the first 3 or 4 months I had it very easy. The Warrant Officer, Mr.Dan Taylor was a first class officer. I have never been anywhere with men such as the ones I served with there. Since I had nothing to do I was the file clerk. There was not much to do so after filing everything I could leave and go screw off. For a screw off it was heaven. This gave me time to explore the hill and go to town quite a bit. As I said this lasted almost three months. Once some friends and I went climbing a cliff out on the eastern end of the hill facing the Black Sea. It was a miracle none of us were killed. When we got onto the side of the hill the first 50 feet was no problem, then we found out the rock was rotten, (it broke off as you put weight on it.) You had to get two hand holds and one good foot hold. Some foot holds broke off. There must have been 8 or 9 of us idiots. Long and short of it we all made it. Later I discovered a tunnel on the hill that I first thought was a water tunnel but years later found out it was not a water course but something else. There is no evidence of water or erosion and the tunnel is from ancient times. There is Greek writing on the column in the entry chamber much like Kilroy was here. During this time one of the fellows crawled about 150 feet into it and came to a lot of fill that blocked the tunnel. We did not go any further as it may have been an archeological site. I often wonder if it was an entrance to a Tomb, possibly the tomb of King Lydia who is buried in Sinop? I doubt it because it is not ornate. The column must have been put in after the entry chamber was built because it has a piece of rock on top of the column to shim up the top of the anti chamber.
WOW - - I STILL REMEMBER THOSE MELONS
I developed Planters Warts at Det 4. Had difficulty walking and was sent to the USAF Hospital in Ankara to have them removed. Well they promised novocain but either they did not know how to use it or it was not novocain, they were great surgeons and did a fast first class job of the Warts. As for a pain killer they had the next best thing - a gorgeous nurse with a very nice chest that held down my leg, Oh, she was fantastic. She had melons. This nurse made me forget about the pain. The only sad thing was she did not accompany me thru the rehabilitation. Had she accompanied me through re-hab I am positive I would never had recovered. Pity! When I returned they put me to work as a T/A man which I really enjoyed. I could not believe you could get paid for working as a T/A. I would have done it for free.

THE SPAM EPIDEMIC When I first got there - my pay as a Private First was $538.00 a month. .Then the CO whom I do not remember got sick and decided to take away our subsistence allowance (which hacked everyone off) and buy the Mess Hall food from the Ankara AFEX. The quality of food then went in the toilet. This was the start of the Spam epidemic. All we had was Spam for well over a month. I actually think it was two months. The poor cooks worked their hinies off trying to make it palatable. It was horrible. We had Fried Spam, Grilled Spam, Stuffed Spam, Spam on a Shingle, Spam anyway you could imagine. I have not eaten Spam since I was in Det 4, over 45 years ago. I did eat a small quarter sized piece of Spam 6 months ago and spit it out. Some Idiot or masochist brought a can to the office and opened it. The reason the CO got sick was not the Turkish food supply. Rather it was the latrines and the fly’s. They would visit the latrine and then the Mess Hall. Later in the Spring we all got sick as hell on the Air Force food. Probably brought on by the flies. They brought in some medics and everyone got to go to see doc and the medics. They gave me a large 12 ounce glass of some white liquid and the medics (Whom were over 6’5" it seemed) made sure we drank all of it. Biggest medics I ever saw. We had to go for a week or so every day. If you did not go, they came and got you. Then we would go to the EM club and get a few drinks to rid of the taste. I never did get cured until I was at Fort Bragg in November 1958. Seems when I left Turkey I had a re-occurrence because as the medic at Ft. Bragg said the microbes did not have the same diet as they had in Turkey. I was laid up for a month or so.
MY DENTAL EXPERIENCE IN TURKEY I can relate to Richard Riedy's BIO and his dental experience at Sinop. I remember when he had his wisdom tooth removed and I was terrorized by it. I had a broken tooth and waited until R&R in Ankara to have it repaired. There was an Air Force dentist, who was a full bird that ordered me to have the tooth removed and I refused. Finally he repaired it with a temporary cap. I still have it and hope to use it as an anchor for my dentures, 44 years later. Thank God I still have it.
I WAS PART OF A ROUSTABOUT TEAM TASKED TO GET A GMC ENGINE AT SAMSUN
I will not say who what or when but we went to Samsun on R&R. We needed an engine for a iki ba chuk, but six men got one out of the Air Force motor pool in Samsun. I was not involved other than keeping the zoomie occupied drinking as the hero’s got the engine. Now whether it was a legit deal or worked out beforehand - I do not know. All I know is we got an engine and that was important.
THE KARI-HANI'S About the Kara hanis. How's this for a disclaimer: No one I know ever went to the Kara-hani’s. You would go thru the gate which was manned by Turkish Conscript Infantry, and then into a two lane street which had a few (5 or 6) Turkish troops. You could go to any house on the street, they were four stories, with I am told the girls were on the second floor and drinks were free. To rent a girl was 7.5 lira, the exchange rate was 2.5 to the dollar but the black market was 10-12 to a dollar. Dinner and a girl was 12 or 15 lira for the night. Most of the women were unfortunates that were convicted of a minor offense. Supposively the offense may have been for rejecting an assigned husband, shoplifting, divorce, family strife, rebellious teens, etc. Some I am told were 20 to fifty etc. Most were young. They had a fine to pay off by whatever they earned. So much for Islamic law. So, how exactly do you think I was able to write this....and will neither confirm nor deny....at least that's the version I've managed to piece together, others might have a slightly different twist. Did you know that one of the barracks at Det 4 was named Karahani Hall? We had four tricks and one was assigned to each trick. One trick was named KARA-HANI HALL. Some if not all on that trick - came back with the creepy crawler bugs. THE BEST DAMN 058 ON THE HILL - Jim P Damn, it was paradise at the Hill and Sinop. Especially if you were on a Trick as you had a lot of free time. You did not need permission to go to town, you just had to be back in time for work, sober. One fellow on my trick got bombed and came to work. He was a great 058, and the way he got caught was for the time of the intercept he typed in the time as 0800 etc. Trouble was it should have been 2000 hours. I caught hell, cause I didn’t catch it, he caught a lot of hell for being drunk on duty. I felt bad because if I had caught it I could have told him it was nite time. I don’t remember his name, it may have been Jim P. but I am not sure. He was a great 058, a legend among us. He could copy anybody no matter who was sending or if there were three transmissions on the same frequency. I recall this same GI - after a good night at the club was recovering one morning early and was getting his norishment (breakfast, a beer and some popcorn from the night before picking thru the popcorn, the rat turds, and yellow kernals (rat P.) As he stood up to go take a shower, everyone yelled, NO~ as he braced himself against the hot stove. Severe burns to his right hand. We saved him from very severe burns by taking him outside and immersing his hand in the white, not YELLOW SNOW.
THE GREEN SNAKE OF SINOP One day I caught a ride back from town and there were a lot of us in the 2 ½ ton and someone saw a large green snake. Well the truck stopped and we jumped out to catch it. Well we could not find him. Thank God, it appears he was a one step snake. Two years ago I found a web site on Serpents of Turkey. They have all types of poison snakes in Turkey, Cobras, a type of Rattle snake, go look and see at http://reptile.fisek.com.tr/ It made me think of climbing the hill and going into the tunnel. I would have had a heart attack. I never saw another snake in Turkey.
YELLOW SNOW AND THE 3 STAR GENERAL I remember the visit of a 3 Star General to the HILL and his wish to inspect the HOOTCHES. We were all ready for his tour of our barracks, but LUCKILY the General went next door. It had snowed, the ground had ice and snow on it. For days it had rained and snowed. It was cold, freezing and the pee tube was 50 yards away. The Pee Tube building was enclosed to waist high, the rest was screen. Everybody would go to the back door of the hooch and let it go. Well the General went out the back door for one reason or another, slipped and fell. He looked up and said "Yellow Snow" Those duds dug a Latrine for two weeks. He could have gone to every hooch and had the whole HILL digging.
The Hill in those days was paradise. Drink Eat, Drink, work, eat, play softball, Scratch Football, eat, drink, explore, drink eat work ad finum. Then came the ruining of the Hill. Dang Barracks. It was horrible. Drafty, no privacy, people walking in and out all the time. I do not remember when we had too vacate the huts. It was so sad. Then came the disaster. Seemed like we were invaded by a new commander and then about 150 troops. Seemed to me there were 300 more. To that time we had less than 300 and everybody knew everybody. This influx ruined the Hill as we knew it and Sinop itself.

The new troops did not know about the pricing in Sinop. There was an asking price and a cost price. We all tried to talk to them about bargaining and got the cold shoulder. I am convinced the relations between Sinop and the Hill started a downward slide. The town people could not buy shoes, get knives made etc. Prices of critical items went up as the new TDY troops were buying everything at the asking price.

The effect of the new Commander.

He was Regular Army and by the book. At work, in 100 degree heat in the intercept building everyone had to wear class A uniforms. Everyone had to wear a tie, coat and all while copying. He wanted everyone searching day and night. Poor fellow did not have a clue. I think Mr. Taylor got him straight but I do not remember.

This and we all had to do Guard duty walking around the perimeter with a night stick. I remember one night I wanted a smoke real bad. I was in the area outside the fence where it was hilly. I walked up to the top of the knoll and could see back as far as the medic building. I walked back down the knoll and lit. I took two drags and a hand went up my liner and a voice said Cigarette abbi? I damnned near had a heart attack. Served me right. He had been laying on the ground waiting for me

Then the IG came to hear the bitches. The line was a mile long. No good came from the IG. All of the changes brought about the Riot. There was a lot of unrest due to the CO not listening. It is a miracle the Officers quarters wasn’t burned down. Funny, I remember a lot but I do not remember the Riot. Maybe it was after I left but the fire had been lit by all the chicken stuff.

I left SINOP in the back of a iki pachuk at the end of August 1958 for the trip to Ankara. I was out-processing in Ankara on 2 September 1958 when Soviet MIG-17's shot down a C-130 after it inadvertently penetrated denied airspace. I'll never forget that incident as we had to stay in an apartment with some Air Force zoomies. It was terrible. We didn't go anywhere - except to Esenboga Airport.

Recently I researched that incident and find out that the U.S. Government did not confront the Soviets until 6 September when the Soviets denied knowledge of the incident. Four Soviet MiG-17 pilots intercepted the C-130 tail number 60528, took turns firing on the C-130, and shot it down, killing the 17 Americans aboard. The crew consisted of 6 USAFE flight crew members and 11 United States Air Force Security Service (USAFSS) reconnaissance crew members who were based at Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany, but were on TDY at Incirlik Air Base, Adana, Turkey when the incident occurred. A status quo ensued and the Soviets provided no information on the 11 missing airmen for over 30 years. Finally in 1991, Russian President Boris Yeltsin began releasing information on the shoot down. In 1993, local villagers of Sasnashen created an Armenian memorial at the crash site honoring the 17 Americans who perished in the crash. Sasnashen is 34 miles northwest of Yerevan, the Armenian capital. I LOVED THE HILL All in all I loved the Hill and Sinop. I still dream of the place but not as often now. More later and it will include info about the GI that got caught in a private residence with a woman and my tour of the Hill.

GEMBALA, Matthew S., YOB: 1939, RA16647564, E3-E5, Finance, Det 27, 60-62, (Gloria), 6957 Margaret Ct Yard, Tinley Park, IL 60477, 708-633-0053, no e-mail BPED 12FE60 ETS 11FE63. - Contacted on 9 January 2004. Enlisted 12 February 1960 and took basic at 'Little Korea' (Fort Leonard Wood) and then was sent to Finance school at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, IN. Said that he lived in an apartment in Ankara for 6 months before moving into Hq Co barracks at Site 23. Said that his OIC was CWO J.P. Dube. Remembers Mike and Dixie Brubaker and Mike Simon. Also remembers that several GI's were found to be GAY and were shipped out. Played Flag Football and Golfed several times on the Ankara Golf Course that oiled green's and rough's that one could hardly walk into. One of those times was in a 3-team MSC Tournament and that the Manzarali entry finished third, a thousand strokes behind the 2nd place team! Spent a lot of off-duty time in the Hippodrone area watching and betting on the horses at the race track. Also remembers that 2 days before his departure a Turk was shot and killed while trying to take a TARP over the fence, and is curious as to what happened to the GI who did the shooting. Also remembers visiting the Kari-hani.

GLASER, Gerald (Jerry), DOB: 1940 RA15612661 E3-E4 056 Det 4, 60-61, (Joan), 1211 Lakerise Overlook, Gallatin, TN 37066, 615-822-3672, geraldglaser@aol.com [edited] A BIG THANKS FOR REMEMBERING MY SON. Yes, he is now out of harms way. There were some very tense moments. His Tactical Operations Center (TOC) got hit and lost some good people, he came out with a few small injuries, but did get two Bronze Stars, one for the first night they went into IRAQ, and one for his action the night the TOC was hit by a missile. He is now at the Country Club, Fort Leaverworth, KS. Will be going to the Command General Staff School. I certainly plan on trying to get to the 2004 reunion at Huntsville and trying to get some Turkey vet's from this area to come with me. Hope I can talk my wife to coming along. Thanks for all your great work. I am going to send for the Memory Book.

GRAHAM, Ronny B DOB 1943 RA17561419 E3-E4 641 (Driver, Motor Pool), Hq Co Det 27, NO60-AU62, (Lillie), 5040 Skeeter Pond Rd., Grifton, NC 28530, 252-524-5462, no e-mail
I was assigned to the Det 27 Motor Pool when I got there in November 1960, then ran ration breakdown for the rest of my tour. Worked for Sgt Hunter and Sgt LeSeure in the Motor Pool. Some of my fellow drivers were John Lax, Tommy Bunch, ? Brantley and Richard Madsey. We ran convoys of semi's and deuce and 1/2's up to Samsun and Sinop. About a dozen of us took a train to Istanbul one time and drove a bunch of new iki pachuks back to Site 23. On one of our trips to Sinop the guy named Brantley rolled a deuce and 1/2 over and hurt himself pretty bad. I volunteered to drive his wrecked truck back to Manzarali after we got it turned back on its wheels. The windshield was busted out - so that made for a COLD 100 miles back. Some other names that I remember are Neal Gold, Jim Thompson, Bill Bailey and Jim Loomis. I finished up the last of my hitch at Arlington Hall and was dis- charged in June 1963. Went to Barber college at nite while I was still in the Army. Am living in the small town of Grifton, NC and still cutting hair. By the way I also met my wife while stationed at AHS and we're still happily married after 40 years. Raised 2 boys and love to fish. Elder, I appreciated the phone call last week. It brought back a lot of memories, most of them good. Please keep me on your mailing list and if I can help in any way - let me know.

HALL, John M (Mike), DOB: 1937, RA16743226, E3-E4, 059, Det 27, AP63-AU64, (Gail), 658 Royal Crest Dr., Saint Joseph, MI 49085, 269-429-8046, johnmhall@ameritech.net - My life was limited until I signed up for Uncle Sam and the ASA. Before that my experiences were between Decatur and Kalamazoo, Michigan. Two weeks after graduating from Western Michigan University I enlisted. Student deferments make you do such things. Basic training was endured at Fort Leonard Wood during July and August,1962. Greatest weight reducing program I know of. From basic training I was shipped to Fort Devens. There I learned not to be an 058 expert. 059 was waiting just for me. While at Fort Devens the Little Club was a week-end hang out with the diner just across the street. Met quite a few interesting people at these establishments. Gail, my wife, and I visited Fort Leonard Wood in 1994 and Fort Devens in 1998. Upon arriving at Ankara Turkey I definitely caught the smell even at 2300 hours. Smoked a turkish cigarette with the driver. First and last. After arriving at Manzarali Station I went right to sleep. The next night I asked myself many times, "what did I get myself into?" After checking in and pulling some clean-up details I was assigned to trick 3 where I met some unique people. One who made the assignment fun was Jim Pope. What no one else could think of he could. We became good friends. It was Jim, his ex-wife, Diane, Ted Midtaune and his wife Merry, that helped me practice my wedding ceremony before I got home. Gail and I were married one week after I got home from Turkey. 39 years later we are still married. Many other friends were made by my coaching the trick 3 flag football team and playing on the post volleyball team which won the Mediterranean Sports Conference championship allowing us to play in the All Europe championship held in Wiesbaden Germany. TDY was great! To finnish my ASA career Gail and I spent one year at Two Rock Ranch in California. You could definitely tell who spent time at Manzarali Station and who didn"t. They couldn't speak Turkish. OK, bad joke. However, what a way to end a career. Work a shift and on break drive up and down the coast. After I finished my ASA career I came back to southwestern Michigan and started my teaching career. Retired in the year 2000 with 35 years under my belt. Now I am drawing teacher retirement, social security and medicare. Now for my finnishing statement. My ASA life was a million dollar experience, but I wouldn't pay a dollar to go through it again. Best to all. John Hall.

See the Mike&Gail Hall attachment.

HARBER, Jim E3-E5 058-Tk 1 Det 27, 19MY62-27OC63, (Becky), 1326 Oakmont Dr., Acworth, GA 30102, 404-771-3074, jimharber@juno.com - Hey Bumpa! (Dennis Brooke) - Don't know if you got my previous e-mail or not... about table tennis, etc... However, I am attaching a JPG image of Walt 41 years ago... who is standing with Sgt Bob Munn (yes, busted for gambling)... and a terrific singer - he could really do Misty and the like... along with these 2 spiffy soldiers is our Trick Officer , Lt Jon Kettenring... and I might add, a fine soldier and a very nice gentleman..... US Army via College ROTC... who was present at 2nd annual ASA/Turkey reunion in Hershey, PA in Sept '02. He received a PhD in Statistics and has been with Bell Labs for many years... (Don't recall if the current company name is Lucent or not) Mighty fine looking bugs you attached... Keep in touch.

HEY, Joseph W., (Joe), E3-E5, 058, Det 27, 66-67, 1532 W Ridge St., Marquette, MI 49855, 906-226-9562, heyjhey@aol.com - Hi El, I did finally get in touch with Jorgy Jorgensen and we've been going back and forth, We actually live fairly close to one another. Did you know a Sergeant in Turkey named Bill Peshek? He was from around here someplace, I'm going to try to scout him up. Joe sent me a photo of the 9 point Michigan whitetail deer that he shot this year. It had a 21 and 1/2 inch inside spread and Joe shot it with a traditional hawken .50 with a round ball. I've pasted the photo in the Memory Book.

JORGENSEN, Gary C (The Kid & Jorgy), YOB: 1947 RA17721914, E3-E5 058/05H Det 27 & 4-4, MY66-SE68, (Virgie), 211 W House St., Duluth, MN 55808, 218-626-3676 g_jorgensen@hotmail.com -El, how's things in Pennsylvania? We've had some winter weather. It was -61 degrees wind chill in Duluth the other day. You don't want to lick the flagpole in this weather. Does anyone have any idea where we could see some pictures of old Det 27? I would think somewhere out there in cyberspace there would be some recent pictures floating of the site or vicinity. I'm curious to see Attaturks forest 37 years later. I heard it was the Turkish Armys equivalent of the Pentagon but can't find any pictures at any Turkish Army sites that I've checked. To update your MASTER ROSTER my YOB was 1947, hence "the kid" with all the old geezers I was surrounded by. The only hunting I did in 2003 was bear hunting which was over successfully in one day. I haven't hunted in Alaska for a couple years due mainly to the cost. My main thing in the fall here in Minnesota is trapping. I really like catching beaver and we have an abundance. I'm doing some beaver removal for the State and Carlton County along some abandoned railroad grades that have been turned into bike trails, snowmobile trails etc. I caught some really nice large ones this fall. Not much money in it but I love being in the woods and I need all the exercise. I do some Fisher and Pine Marten trapping also but that is a limited two week season with a combine limit of 5 total. Usually they are easy to catch but this year I only got one each. Looks like you and your coal miner friends have a good time at the Owl's Nest hunting shack. That's all part of it and I'm sure as the years go by the hunting camp will mean more than the shooting. I've been meaning to try and look up Al Hayes who I think lives in Colorado, from Boulder I think, but just haven't had the time. Work seems to interfere with lots. I don't think we'll make the 2004 reunion in Alabama. Another guy has already put in for vacation and pretty much it's one guy off at a time due to we work round the clock 24/7. I'm glad you are still hanging in there with the DOOL's. I'm sure like me many guys still find it interesting reading even though we don't contribute like we used to. Take care, Jorgy

KETTENRING, Jon R., 2LT-1LT, AIS, Watch O TK#1, Det 27, JA63-JL64, (Pat), 29 Pine Grove Ave., Summit, NJ 07901, 908-273-8625, JPKett@earthlink.net or jon29@earthlink.net Elder, Thanks for your contact. I had been in touch with Tony Salinger and looking forward to meeting up with him soon as we are close by. Jon was from Seattle, Washington and received his BA and Masters Degree from Stanford University. While there he received a ROTC commission and his first assignment was to Manzarali Turkey in January 1963. His sponsor was 1LT Ralph and Brenda Stevens. For a short period of time SSG E6 Bob Munn was his Platoon Sgt for Trick #1 and as the Watch NCO for Trick 1. Said that Sgt Munn had been married just before arriving in Turkey and that he was reduced in rank to E2 by the Company Commander, Maj Gibbs for money related problems, etc in the USA and also in Turkey. Said that SFC George Vacek was his Plt Sgt and Watch NCO for a short period of time and he too had problems. Was and still is in contact with ex-LT Wallace B. Millner from Richmond, VA. Remembers Maj Lyle Garrity as being not too friendly to young Lieutenants. Said that Garrity was the Adjutant and wore Military Police brass. Jon and Pat attended the 2002 ASA Turkey reunion at Hershey, PA and said that he doesn't usually go in for such things, but this was fun and rewarding. Obviously it would not have happened without your efforts.

LA BRECQUE, Henry J., (Hank), DOB: 1930, Maj-LTC, XO & CO, Det 4, 68-DE68, (Barbara-dec), 6515 Walters Woods Dr., Falls Church, VA 22044, 703-941-1492, hlbq@cox.net - Hank informs that his BIO is almost ready for the DOOL and that he will prod his good friend, John O'Connor to get his BIO finished for inclusion in the DOOL's.

LONDAHL, Jan Peter, 059, Det 27, 63-64, 1710 Ne Irving St., #45, Portland, OR 97232, 503-235-6463, jlon92@aol.com - Elder: I tend to agree with the lawyer joke wherein a mother who had given birth to a baby by a lawyer and when the lawyer found out she told him, "Well, when my folks found out about my pregnant condition, we sat up all night talkin' and talkin' and decided it would be better to have a bastard in the family than a lawyer." Rooms full of lawyers give me hives. On the other hand, like plumbers and children, there are some who do it well and some who do it badly, some with integrity, some who can play big league baseball, some who cheat and some who do not. Cheers.

MAKAY, John J., 058, Det 4, JN61-JN62, (Leigh), 26681 Mohawk Dr., Perrysburg, OH 43557, unl, , jmakay@bgnet.bgsu.edu - Merhaba, Yes indeed, I spent one year at Det 4 as a "ditty bopper." In June 1962 I took the long truck ride back to Ankara, flight to Frankfort, and then on to the USA. Would like to connect with any Det 4 folks who also spent time on "the hill." Regards, John J. Makay, Ph.D., Prof & Chair, Dept of Interpersonal Communication, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green,Ohio 43551, 419-372-8400 http://personal.bgsu.edu/~jmakay
John J. Makay is a Midwesterner who has included Western New York as part of his career path. He received his B.A. from Adrian College (1960) where he majored in the Humanities with a specialization in speech and theatre. After three years in the Army Security Agency as an enlisted person, Dr. Makay attended Kent State University for his M.A. (1963) and followed his work at Kent with earning his Ph.D. at Purdue University (1969). At Kent he focused on rhetorical studies with cognate work in theatre and mass media. His work at Purdue continued in the area of rhetorical studies with cognate work in American politics. Purdue University, The University of Maryland, The Ohio State University, The State University of New York at Geneseo, and Bowling Green State University are the primary institutions where Dr. Makay has served as a communication educator. He has also worked as an adjunct at several additional institutions as well. Dr. Makay is a father in a blended-family of six children (five woman and one guy) and he has been married to Leigh Makay, Ph.D. since 1982. His roots are in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He is currently a full professor at Bowling Green State University and resides with Leigh and his Shelty Pooch in Perrysburg, Ohio. When not on the campus Dr. Makay is a struggling golfer, a traveler to warm weather locations, a jazz buff, and a movie goer, and a student of the human condition via reading work in philosophy, theology, psychology, politics, and, or course, human communication. Courses Dr. Makay has taught include "Philosophical Foundations of Communication Theory," "Rhetorical Theory," and "Rhetorical Criticism" at the graduate level, and "Political Campaign Communication," "Communication Criticism," "Perspectives on Freedom of Expression," "Persuasion," and "Leadership and Communication" for undergraduates.

MARTIN, Chuck, E4, 05H, Det 4-4, MY70-MY71, (Corena), 223 Northbridge Dr., Stockbridge, GA 30281, 770-474-3402, mchas42@aol.com . 1SG,E8, USA(Ret). gH - I'd appreciate it if you would share this Vietnam story in a future DOOL.
Honor Among Soldiers -By Joseph L. Galloway
If you have fed from a steady diet of Hollywood movies about Vietnam you probably believe that everyone who wore a uniform in America's long, sad involvement in war in Vietnam is some sort of a clone of Lt. William Calley---that all three million of them were drug-crazed killers and rapists who rampaged across the pastoral landscape. Those movies got it wrong, until now. There is one more Hollywood film now playing called We Were Soldiers and it gets it right. Ask any Vietnam veteran who has gone to see the movie. In fact, ask any American who has gone to see it. It is based on a book I wrote with my lifelong friend Lt. Gen. (Ret) Hal Moore; a book written precisely because we believed that a false impression of those soldiers had taken root in the country which sent them to war and, in the end, turned its back on both the war and the warriors. I did four tours in Vietnam as a war correspondent for United Press International---1965-66, 1971, 1973 and 1975. In the first three of those tours at war I spent most of my time in the field with the troops and I came to know and respect them and even love them, though most folks might find the words "war" and "love" in the same sentence unsettling if not odd. In fact, I am far more comfortable in the company of those once-young soldiers today than with any other group except my own family. They are my comrades-in-arms, the best friends of my life and if ever I were to shout "help!" they would stampede to my aid in a heartbeat. They come from all walks of life; they are black, white, Hispanic, native American, Asian; they are fiercely loyal, dead honest, entirely generous of their time and money. They are my brothers and they did none of the things Oliver Stone or Francis Ford Coppola would have you believe all of them did. On the worst day of my life, in the middle of the worst battle of the Vietnam War, in a place called Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley of Vietnam, I was walking around snapping some photographs when I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. It was a tall, lanky GI who jumped out of a mortar pit and ran, zig-zagging under fire, toward me. He dove under the little bush I was crouched behind. "Joe! Joe Galloway! Don't you know me, man? It's Vince Cantu from Refugio, Texas!" Vince Cantu and I had graduated together from Refugio High School, Class of '59, 55 boys and girls. We embraced warmly. Then he shouted over the din of gunfire: "Joe, you got to get down and stay down. It's dangerous out here. Men are dying all around." Vince told me that he had only ten days left on his tour of duty as a draftee soldier in the 1st Battalion 7th U.S. Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). "If I live through this I will be home in Refugio for Christmas." I asked Vince to please visit my mom and dad, but not tell them too much about where we had met and under what circumstances. I still have an old photograph from that Christmas visit---Vince wearing one of those black satin Vietnam jackets, with his daughter on his knee, sitting with my mom and dad in their living room. Vince Cantu and I are still best friends. When I walked out and got on a Huey helicopter leaving Landing Zone X-Ray I left knowing that 80 young Americans had laid down their lives so that I and others might survive. Another 124 had been terribly wounded and were on their way to hospitals in Japan or the United States. I left with both a sense of my place, among them, and an obligation to tell their stories to any who would listen. I knew that I had been among men of honor and decency and courage, and anyone who believes otherwise needs to look in his own heart and weigh himself. Hal Moore and I began our research for the book-to-be, We Were Soldiers Once.and Young, in 1982. It was a ten-year journey to find and ultimately to bring back together as many of those who fought in LZ Xray and LZ Albany, a separate battle one day after ours only three miles away in which another 155 young Americans died and another 130 were wounded. We had good addresses for perhaps no more than a dozen veterans, but we mailed out a questionnaire to them to begin the process. Late one night a week later my phone rang at home in Los Angeles. On the other end was Sgt. George Nye, retired and living very quietly by choice in his home state of Maine. George began talking and it was almost stream of consciousness. He had held it inside him for so long and now someone wanted to know about it. He described taking his small team of engineer demolitions men into XRay to blow down some trees and clear a safer landing zone for the
helicopters. Then he was talking about PFC Jimmy D. Nakayama, one of those engineer soldiers, and how a misplaced napalm strike engulfed Nakayama in the roaring flames. How he ran out into the fire and screamed at another man to grab Jimmy's feet and help carry him to the aid station. My blood ran cold and the hair stood up on the back of my neck. I had been that man on the other end of Nakayama. I had grabbed his ankles and felt the boots crumble, the skin peel, and those slick bones in my hands. Again I heard Nakayama's screams. By then we were both weeping. I knew Nakayama had
died a day or two later in an Army hospital. Nye told me that Jimmy's wife had given birth to a baby girl the day he died---and that when Nye returned to base camp at An Khe he found a letter on his desk. He had encouraged Nakayama to apply for a slot at Officer Candidate School. The letter approved that application and contained orders for Nakayama to return immediately to Ft. Benning, Ga., to enter that course. George Nye is gone now. But I want you to know what he did with the last months of his life. He lived in Bangor, Maine, The year was 1991 and in the fall - plane after plane loaded with American soldiers headed home from the Persian Gulf War stopped there to refuel. It was their first sight of home. George and some other local volunteers organized a welcome at that desolate airport. They provided coffee, snacks and the warm "Welcome home, soldier" that no one ever offered George and the millions of other Vietnam veterans. George had gone out to the airport to decorate a Christmas tree for those soldiers on the day he died. When we think of ourselves we think Shakespeare, Henry IV, Act IV, Scene 3: "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he today that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother."

Honor and decency and uncommon courage were common among these soldiers and all the soldiers who served in Vietnam. I think of how they were, on patrol, moving through jungle or rice paddies. Nervous, on edge, trying to watch right, left, ahead, behind, all at once. A friend once described it as something like looking at a tree full of owls. They were alert for sign, sound or smell of the enemy. But they also watched each other closely. At the first sign of the oppressive heat and exhaustion getting to someone the two or three guys around would relieve him of some or all of the heavy burden that the Infantryman bears: 60 or 70 pounds of stuff. Rifle and magazines. A claymore mine or two. A couple of radio batteries. Cans of C-Rations. Spare socks. Maybe a book. All that rides in the soldier's pack. They would make it easier for him to keep going. They took care of each other, because in this situation each other was all they had. When I would pitch up to spend a day or two or three with such an outfit I was, at first, an object of some curiosity. Sooner or later a break would be called and every-one would flop down in the shade, drink some water, break out a C-Ration or a cigarette. The GI next to me would ask: What you doing out here? I would explain that I was a reporter. "You mean you are a civilian? You don't HAVE to be here?" Yes. "Man, they must pay you loads of money to do this." And I would explain that, no, unfortunately I worked for UPI, the cheapest news agency in the world. "Then you are just plain crazy, man." Once I was pigeonholed, all was all right. The grunts understood "crazy" like no one else I ever met. The welcome was warm, friendly and open. I was probably the only civilian they would ever see in the field; I was a sign that someone, anyone, outside the Big Green Machine cared how they lived and how they died. It didn't take very long before I truly did come to care. They were, in my view, the best of their entire generation. When their number came up in the draft they didn't run and hide in Canada. They didn't turn up for their physical wearing pantyhose or full of this chemical or that drug which they hoped would fail them. Like their fathers before them they raised their right hand and took the oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. It is not their fault that the war they were sent to fight was not one that the political leadership in Washington had any intention of winning. It is not their fault that 58,200 of them died, their lives squandered because Lyndon Johnson and, later, Richard Nixon could not figure out some decent way to cut our losses and leave the Vietnamese to sort the matter out among themselves. As I have grown older, and so! have they, and first the book and now the movie have come to pass I am often asked: Doesn't this close the loop for you? Doesn't this mean you can rest easier? The answer is no, I can 't.
To my dying day I WILL remember and honor those who died, some in my arms. I WILL remember and honor those who lived and came home carrying memories and scars that only their brothers can share and understand. They were the best you had, America, and you turned your back on them.
Copyright Joe Galloway

McRANEY, Charles J., (Jeff), YOB: 1942, LTV Tech Rep at Hippy/Bankhead-GS-11, Det 4, 66, & 67-68, (Cecelia), 3901 Tawakoni Ln., Garland, TX 75043, 972-240-1145, jmcraney@worldnet.att.net - Contacted on 29 January 2004. Most helpful and interested. Was a civilian at Det 4.
I enjoyed our conversation last evening. It has been a long time since I had any one to talk to about Sinop. I did look back in my records and I was a GS-11 equivalent when I was at TUSLOG Det 4. You sort of took me by surprise and I don't think as fast as I used to. The operations officer at Bankhead III was Major Marshal Breland, a very nice and well liked officer. His executive officer was Lt Robert McFarland. One of the maintenance officers was Capt Bill Hipp. Other LTV Electrosystems people there with me were Darrell White, Karel Wimberley, Ralph Kerstetter, Gus Winfield, John Surratt. I have lost my photos from that time. I did find a few items in my file that might be of interest to and I am attaching pictures of them to this email. I still have contact with Dan Thomas who was a maintenance troop when I was there. He lives in Thomas Mills PA. I was in contact with David Smith for many years but haven't heard from him in several years. David was SP4 maintenance type when I was there and he returned in the 70s as a maintenance contractor for EDL I think. The last I saw of him was in Omaha NB about five years ago. I will send you some more information in a few days. I can remember some other people and events and I want to get my old passport form storage so I can be sure about the dates. I'll include a picture of me and Cecelia at that time. I do remember Hank LeBrec. I think you told me you have a broadband connection. I see that your mailbox is capped so I will send the attachments one at a time. Regards, Jeff

MEAD, Larry T., (Easy), YOB: 1941, RA18578282, E3-E5, 058, Tk#4, Det 27 JL62-JA64, (Kathy), 1719S 141st East Ave., Tulsa, OK 74108, 918-437-5854, tulsacrawfords@aol.com (son-in-law)
Called on 9 March 2002 and talked with Kathy. Kathy worked for AID when they met in Ankara. After Turkey they went to Fort Devens and he then went to OCS and later made Captain and served as the Company Commander of Co F, USASATC&S. While he was a student in 058 school at Devens - he was in Co F. After 12 years on active duty he got caught up in the RIF program. Both are Christians.
Hello Sir, I'm Larry Mead's daughter. I'm sorry I'm just now responding to your emails. We did receive both of them and my parents really enjoyed viewing them. They asked me to tell you "thank you".
Sincerely, Dena Crawford


MILLER, Rush W., YOB: 1946, RA: Yes, MOS: 98C20, E5, Det 4, DE68-DE69, (Connie0, 37411 Neukom Ave., Zephyrhills, FL 33541, 813-779-3251, rush46@aol.com - My year on the hill was 1969. The first man on the moon was 20 July 1969 and we missed it. Sent home so many things, a hooka for my sister, wood burnings from downtown, meerschaum pipes, semi-precious stones from GI Joe's. Had jackets and shoes hand made. Never have had anything fit so well before or since. Remember the puzzle rings, 4, 8, 12 pieces? How about those worry beads? Spent too much time in the EM Club. Who could resist 20 cent beer and quarter shots. Played those slot machines til I was out of change. Nothing like a wild cab ride down the hill after pulling your last mid but not wanting to waste your first day off. Ate in almost every restaurant in Sinop. Could not speak a work of Turkish so they would just lead us back to the kitchen and let us pick what we wanted. Only time I got sick was on that 'pizza' stuff they sold by the docks near the American Hotel. The Russian Fort and the hippodrome. The birds that made first landfall on the top of the hill after their Black Sea crossing from Russia. The locals picked them up and put them in sacks for a once a year treat. Very eerie watching all those lanterns moving about the hill top that night. The landline 'radio'. Sometimes on a day off we'd buy a fresh round loaf of bread from the bakery, a big chunk of goats milk cheese and a bottle of Turkish wine and just relax near the water. Sometimes we'd just meander through town taking pictures, but not of girls of course. Sometimes we'd get a haircut which always came with a complimentary cup of chai. I liked the cinnamon flavored. The Turkish men walking hand in hand and whispering to each other. The call to prayer from the minarets. The Roman cobblestone road. The Black Sea everywhere you looked. The Cyclops residing in the cliffside caves. Oh, and don't forget the belly dances in the club. And what was the name of that band which was made up of four of the enlisted guys right from our midst? Was it meatloaf or something like that? Their advertising included the slogan, "You can't beat the meat." We thought they were better than the Beatles and the Stones put together. One by one they rotated and the band was no more. And of course that big donkey that was always excited about something. All these thoughts came flooding back when my wife was straightening up her jewelry box today and came upon two loose 'alexandrite' stones I brought home with me over 30 years ago. Then I looked for those meerschaum pipes that never got smoked. All great memories now that I'm 30+ years removed. Sure would be nice to have a reunion of sorts and talk over those times.

NEHRING, Dale E., DOB: 1943, RA16724025, E3-E5, 841, Photo Section Det 27, 4JL62-64, (Kathleen), 1103 W 6th St., Dixon, IL 61021, 815-285-4314, dalenehring@hotmail.com
BIO forthcoming. Dale has already sent me photo's that he took while at Manzarali.

See Jeep ride attachment for a long forgotten sign directing traffic to Site 23, aka TUSLOG Det 27.

NEILL, Henry W. Jr., (Hank), YOB: 1939, RA12646838/05875320, E1-E5/O1, MOS: 723.10/FC, Det 27, AU62-JA64, (Judy), 7417 Jenna Road, Springfield, VA 22153, 703-569-5163, hneill@erols.com - COL, USA (Ret) - [edited] Elder, I have a few photos (somewhere in my basement) of the MSC track and field team that went to Germany for the Armed Forces Championships in 1963. (I think I also have a trophy down there somewhere too as I took 2nd place in the 5,000 meter race! Believe it or not, I also have a photo of me leading Ted Nelson in a one mile race in Ankara. It was taken at the 3/4 mile mark before he blew me away on the last lap!) I think I can lay my hands on them fairly easily. Unfortunately, my scanner is on the fritz and I am having trouble finding someone in the neighborhood who has one in their home ... they are mostly old guys like me around here and, also like me, most are "technologically challenged!" So, I will mail them to you. Judy says, "Hi, Elder and Patty!" She is currently in Indiana (the other one) helping her sister care for her dad who is, sadly, in his final days ... an 88 year old WWII veteran (China, Burma, India Theatre ... who served in Calcutta). I expect I will be headed out there within the next week or two. Best to you, Hank

O'CONNOR, John S., (Jack) DOB: 1926, LTC Cdr Det 4, JA68-DE68, (Pat), 913 E Atlantic Ave., Altoona, PA 814-942-2642, oronnoco@charter.net - Still waiting for the BIO.

PAPCIAK, Marion R DOB 1936 RA: ??, E5-E6 72B NCOIC C/C Det 4, 64-65, (Dolores), 40831 Jellico Dr., Sterling Hts, MI 48313, 586-247-7818, papciak@prodigy.net - Called Marion Papciak on 25 December 2003 and left message on his answering machine. He called back on 26 December and we had a lengthy chat. Marion Papciak graduated from High School in 1955 and on 1 August 1955 enlisted in the Regular Army. Took basic at Lost in the woods, Missouri - then AIT at Fort Gordon, Georgia and was awarded MOS 72B. Next was sent to Korea and assigned to Hqs 24th Infantry Division.. While in Korea got wind of the ASA and re-enlisted for duty with the ASA. Was sent to the Washington DC area. Next assigned to Chicago. Next to Hq USASA Europe and duty in the I.G. Farbin building. Next sent to Fort Walters, Texas and duty with the Hqs Co., 303rd USASA Bn. Said that he thought that 2 companies of the 303rd were at Fort Hood, Texas. Next to Sinop, Turkey as a E5 hard stripe sergeant. Was the NCOIC of the Comm Center at Det 4. Promised to write complete BIO in the near future.

PEAVLER, Lloyd Eugene (Gene), YOB: 1942, RA16726625, E3, 059, Det 4, FE63-DE63, (Carol), 1604 W Mimosa St., Rogers, AR 72758, 479-246-0087, peavler@earthlink.net - Found Gene Peavler's name on the military.com website and called him on 23 January 2004. On 25 January I received the BIO from Gene Peavler. - Elder: I have been doing some thinking about my time on the hill, and have come up with the following things. I will probably add to it as time goes by. I checked out the WEB sites the other night after it got quiet around here, and really enjoyed them. I will be looking for the pictures and get some sent to you. Thanks for the telephone call.
I enlisted for duty with the ASA in Chicago, IL on 19 March 1962. Took basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, MO., then on to Co F, USASATC&S at Fort Devens. Soon was told that I would be going to Morse code school--started and passed 20 wpm, but froze up at that speed and was shifted to Non-Morse training which I completed and was awarded MOS 059. Flew PAN AM 707 Clipper and eventually landed at Esenboga Airport outside Ankara on 31 January 1963. I believe that a Don Long, Ray Rose and another GI landed with me and then on to Sinop. The next day, 1 February 1963 is a day that I shall never forget. While processing for the trip to Sinop - a Mid-air collision of a Lebanese Middle East Airlines Vickers Viscount 754D and a Turkish Air Force Douglas C-47 took place over a residential area of Ankara. I've since learned that the fuselage on the right side of the Viscount was ripped open, causing some passengers to be sucked out and the aircrafts fell into separate parts of the city; all 17 occupants of the planes were killed; on the ground 87 people died and more than 50 were injured. We were immediately told to call home and let our parents know that we were safe. The next day we were flown to Samsun, and then the four of us lucky GI's had to take the Sinop Express (2 1/2 ton truck) from the USAF Base in Samsun to Sinop. The weather was pretty decent, it just seemed to take forever to get there. We arrived on the "HILL" late at night, and the place looked deserted. After we got to eat, we had to find empty bunks in the YENI barracks. All of us lucked out and didn't spend a lot of time in there. We got put on our respective tricks and moved into the regular barracks pretty quick. I don't believe I was in the YENI barracks longer than 2 weeks. Many years later, Ray Rose and I were talking about our Military experiences and I mentioned something about a truck ride to Sinop. We got to talking about it, and it ended up that he was one of the four. Ray and I had actually been working together for a couple of years, and did not recognize each other. When I PCS'd, of course we had the familiar deuce-and-a-half ride to Samsun and then flew to Ankara for onward transport to the USA. When we landed in New York we were met by a Liaison Officer who checked our orders and made sure we had what we needed. When I checked into Fort Wolters, TX., I found that my orders had never been signed by the Admin Officer in Sinop. After my discharge went back to Illinois. Got married on 30 January 1966 and then hired on with NSA where I retired from as a GS-13 with a cumulative 36 years and 2 months of service.
During that period we spent 18 years in Yorkshire, England.
MEMORIES OF SINOP

1. THE DEUCE-AND-A-HALF RIDE FROM SAMSUN.
2. MY TIME IN THE YENI BARRACKS (BUTLER HUTS).
3. THE BASE BEING BUZZED BY MIG'S.
4. IT SEEMED LIKE FOR A MONTH WE WERE FOGGED IN, BUT THE FOG WAS CONSTANTLY MOVING.
5. THE NATO BARBER SHOP. ONE OF THE BEST SHAVES I HAVE EVER HAD. IF I REMEMBER RIGHT - THE WALLS WERE FULL OF PLAYMATE CENTERFOLDS. MOST WERE FROM THE '50'S.
6. ON A DAY OFF 4/5 OF US RENTED HORSES AT THE BARBER SHOP AND WENT HORSE BACK RIDING, BUT ONLY ONCE FOR ME.
7. I PLAYED DRUMS IN A 4 MAN ROCK GROUP. WE PLAYED ALL TYPES OF MUSIC. WALT BRASHEARS WAS A GREAT LEAD GUITARIST. WE WOULD GO TO SAMSUN AND PLAY IN THE OFFICERS CLUB ON FRIDAY, AND THE EM CLUB ON SATURDAY. WE EACH GOT $20 DOLLARS A NIGHT. WE ALSO PLAYED IN THE TEA GARDEN IN SINOP A COUPLE OF TIMES. BUT THE WILDEST WAS FOR A CIRCUMCISION. THE POST OFFICERS WERE INVITED AND WE PLAYED A SET AND THEN HAD A TABLE SET UP WITH ALL KINDS OF WINE AND BEER. THE BOY, WHO WENT THROUGH THE ORDEAL, WAS LAYING ON A BED IN THE CORNER AND WE ALL HAD TO PAY OUR RESPECT TO HIM.
8. I BELIEVE THE "NEW POST OFFICE" OPENED WHILE I WAS THERE.
9. THE HELD HORSE RACES ON THE BASE ??????
10. MY ONE AND ONLY RUN IN WITH OOZO, AND THEN WENT IN ON A MID.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXmaybe it was RAKIXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
11. THE EVENING THAT JFK WAS ASSASINATED. I WAS IN THE GYM PLAYING BASKETBALL. SOMEONE CAME IN AND SAID THAT THE PRESIDENT HAD BEEN SHOT. I THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO BE MUGGED. THEN WE REALIZED HE WAS SERIOUS. OF COURSE WE ENDED UP AT WORK. IT WASN'T A PLEASANT TIME. WE WERE CONFINED TO BASE.
12. I RAN THE POST THEATER FOR THE TRICK I WAS ON. I WOULD SHOW MOVIES AFTER WE GOT OFF SWINGS. OF COURSE WE HAD THE WEEKLY "SERIALS" THAT WERE SENT. THE FIRST COUPLE OF MOVIES I RAN ON MY OWN WERE QUITE AN EXPERIENCE. I BELIEVE THE MOVIE WAS EVERY WHERE BUT THE SCREEN.
13. THE DAY AFTER I GOT TO ANKARA THE PLANES COLLIDED OVER THE CITY.
14. WE HAD SOME PRETTY WILD PARTIES IN THE EM CLUB.
15. I HAD MY SHORT-TIMERS RIBBON OFF OF A SEAGRAMS BOTTLE FOR QUITE A WHILE.
16. I ALSO REMEMBER BEING TOLD RIGHT AFTER I GOT THERE THAT THE LIGHT ON THE WATER TOWER WAS TURNED OFF ONE NIGHT A MONTH SO PEOPLE WHO HAD NOT BROKEN 300 DAYS COULD JUMP. THEY WERE CONSIDERED TO HAVE AN ETERNITY LEFT.


POLHEMUS, David W., YOB: 1932, CPT-Maj, Protestant Chaplain, Det 27, JN64-NO66, (Gwenneth), 208C Creekside Cir,, Prescott, AZ 86303, 928-717-8824, dgpolh@cableone.net. -It has been great to get news of the Manzarelli Station activities. The two and one half years we spent there as a family are still rich in our memories. Stumbling on the web site was a fortuitous event. Gwen and I are well retired now  twenty-five years from the army and 8 from active ministry. I am well past the need for any titles and respond best to Dave. Our three children are grown with children of their own. The baby,
Trudy, born in the hospital in Ankara in 1964 is a mother of two. Our older daughter, who started school while in Turkey is also the mother of two and our son, has four little boys. He is an Army Doctor
doing research at Walter Reed. The Turkey years were full for us and we have fond memories of the many things we did and people we met and worked with. The nearly forty years since we left have allowed names and faces to erode in our memories, but reading down the roster and looking at the pictures has sharpened the images. After twenty one years in the Army, eleven as a pastoral counselor and the remainder as a pastor in United Methodist Churches, we now live in Prescott AZ. We enjoy the freedom of retirement, are active in the Native American Museum here, work with the Arizona Archeological society in maintaining historic and prehistoric sites in the area, worship and participate in the local church activities and see our children and grandchildren in Phoenix from time to time. The political season is upon us and we are active with the Democratic party in town. Getting a patch from Elder Green was a hoot, and to find Nasaradin (sp) hodja riding his donkey backwards was great. Our oldest has a book of his stories and remembers him well. Keep up the good work and keep us informed of activities. Dave

RAMEY, Howard A., (Howie), DOB 1946, RA, E5, 058, Det 27, MR66-AU67, 1924 NW Cascade Ave., E. Wenatchee, WA 98802, 509-886-2277, w7oj@hotmail.com - gH, Merhaba & a Happy 2004 to you and your family! Elder, Wow! What you have accomplished is mind boggling. Just Out Of Sight! - One Big Atta-Boy!! I shall open my Turkey Keep Sake Box and start compiling some info for you, names and photos etc. I have the large jacket patch with the backwards riding Turk, actually two of them. The first one had the spelling wrong and two words ran together so it had to be redone for the corrections...I'll have too open the box and restart my memory and get photos to you. I also have some interesting memorbilia. I have a ASA recruitment booklet and brochure. I think I will donate it to the ASA Turkey organization. I had made some notes on some of the pages way back when but it hasn't been altered other than that. Once in the service and in the ASA I found the booklet quite interesting due to the photographs VS our security briefing. Big GOV. compromise!! As for hobbies, the w7oj is my Ham Call. This is one of two hobbies. The other is Gold Prospecting. Prospecting has been been a great retreat and thank you for the info on Charlie Cloke. I will give him an e-mail. What a great help you are! I shall compile what trinkets I have of ASA and Turkey and let you know. If there is anything I can share with the others..I WILL! I received the Memory Book CD-R. Mighty fine work you have done!! If you could use some financial support let me know. I had a local Photo Shop copy and transfer my 35mm slides to CD and will get them to you pronto. A few of the pics are of a trip by charter bus to the Mediterrain. Looking forward to exposing a great group of guys who were known to have a drink or 2 on leave. The Super 8's I haven't. Times have changed and it will be much better to get them copied to CD rather than the ole VHS format. When that happens I shall also copy and send. The following info is my life in the ASA as a Ditty Bopper. Took Basic Combat Training in Co. A, 2nd Bn., 1st Bde., 3rd Platoon at Fort Ord, California - 25 June 1965 to 27 August 1965, Then to Co. G, ASA Student Company at Fort Devens - 6 September 1965 to 18 February 1966 where I completed the Morse training and acquired the MOS 058. Then it was off to TUSLOG Det 27, Site 23, Co. A, Manzarali Station (Çerkheryewk, Turkey) otherwise known as Ankara, APO 09663. Then to Nam, 08-10 October 1967 at the 509th Radio Research Group canvas Hilton at Davis then to the 303rd RR BN at Long Bien (mortared all night) and later to the 175th RR Company at Bien Hoa (Rocket City Thunder Flats) from 13 October 1967 to 27 January 1969 and back to the World for a early out. My civilian career, for about 29 years has been involved with Domestic Water, either with City's or Water Districts. Currently with the East Wenatchee Water District for 18 years, two years in Yakutat, Alaska and 9 years with a City. Yakutat is isolated among the lowlands along the Gulf of Alaska, 212 miles northwest of Juneau and 225 miles southeast of Cordova. It is at the mouth of Yakutat Bay. The Hubbard and Malaspina Glaciers are nearby. Divorced, was married for 30 years, two sons and one daughter..all so called adults... 2003 has been one hell of a year here. Got married again, tripled the family size and have a couple of very ill family members with Cancer. I'm still a Ditty Bopper at heart - as a Ham, my call is KB7JUB (just ugly beep) Operate 99% CW with a straight key! Will be great to chat to new and old freinds!!.....AR Thank you for the great DOOL's. You are doing one whale of a job. For now, 73's sk w7oj Keep Smiling - Howie Ramey

SHATZER, Charles T., DOB: 1930, RA13264597, E7, NCOIC Special Services, Det 27, AP62-JL64, (Dot), 2903 Aein Rd., Orlando, FL 32817, 407-277-2934, d.l.rooks@att.net I am a native of Chambersburg, PA. Got married in 1947 and enlisted in the US Army on 7 December 1947. While at the Philadelphia Recruiting Station was talked into joining the ASA and remained with the ASA until I retired in 1968. The ASA was very good to me and my family - excellent duty assignments. Took Basic Training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, then over to Fort Monmouth for ditty-bop school. I could not keep up and washed out. Then attended crypto repair at Monmouth, but have now forgotten what MOS I was awarded. Was sent to Germany that lasted 5 and 1/2 years. First to Herzo Base near Nurenburg, then to the 116th Signal Service Company at Scheyern (21 miles from Munich), then to Frankfurt for 6 months and then back to Scheyern. Next spent 2 years at ASA Hqs in Arlington where I was awarded a Special Services MOS and later was transferred to ASA Far East Hqs at Ogi Camp in Tokyo for 2 years (56-58) as the NCO in charge of the Sports program there and in charge of all the ASA Far East tournaments. Retired in 1968 as an E7 with over 20 years. As an opener, I think you are doing a good job, and I enjoy reading all that individuals encountered in their Tour of Duty at Site 23 and the other sites. I arrived at Det 27 in April 1962. I had the same feeling as many others did when making the trip from the airport to Det 27 (far out in the Boonies). A CW3 Putterbaugh met me at the airport. He was the Personnel and Special Services officer at Det 27. The first thing he told me was that I was to take the post volleyball team to Crete to play in the Mediterranean Volleyball Tournament. Two weeks later I was on the way to Crete through Adana and Athens by hitchhiking on whatever plane we could get. It was 17 days later before we got back to Det 27. So that was my start at Site 23. I remember the COX case by being woke early on Sunday morning by the MP's to go look for the two men. We never had to go as they were found before we got going. My family came over in July 1962 and we roughed it out in Ankara (can't remember where in Ankara but it wasn't on the hill) for a couple of months until the post housing was completed in December 1962. One of our neighbors in Ankara was a American family---civilians living in Ankara---the father had a contract to work on the plumbing for the government for the new family quarters being built there on Site 23. So when we moved on post, they moved back to Pennsylvania. I wonder if anyone remembers a Turk named MOOSE. His Turkish name sounded like MOOSE so that's what he was called. He was in charge of all the Turkish workers on site and helped alot of the GI's and their families with Turkish matters. There was a Doctor in the dispensary that worked with alot of the athletes. He lifted weights out of Detroit, MI ---anyone remember his name? He helped me alot in our athletic programs. Some of the great athletes that served during my time were Ted Nelson, a runner, and Chuck Silvernail in Tennis, badminton and etc----a very versatile man . Bob Hicks and Roy MacMurry worked with me and later I talked to both of them. Hicks in Georgia and Roy here in Orlando, Florida. Hicks worked in the gym and MacMurry at the bowling alley. I also remember Jesse Sammis - he spent nearly half his tour on TDY playing sports. Initially Jesse worked in operations, but since he was gone most of the time - he was assigned to the gym with me. I worked at a couple Archery shops from 1969 to 1979. Went to work in 1980 at Randall. Made Knives and retired for good in 1999. Looking forward to attending the 2004 reunion in Huntsville, ALMemory book and Master Roster Dear Elder, I’m Dixie Shatzer Rooks-daughter of Sgt. Charles T. Shatzer. I print your newsletter off and mail them to my father. The other day while talking to him on the phone about your latest newsletter, he asked me to contact you and thank you for all the work you are doing. He said to tell you how much he enjoys reading all the current news about old friends. While I’m writing I need to inform you I have a new e-mail address: d.l.rooks@att.net Please update your records with my new address. And again thank you for all your work. Dixie

SHARP, Duane RA17676396 E3-E4 059 Det 4, DE65-DE66, (Pat), 825 Glenarbor Cir., Longmont, CO 80501, no email Contacted on 25 January 2004 after Ed Wagner gave me Sharp's name. Said that he would visit http://dool-1.tripod.com and then send his BIO
.
SILVERNAIL, Charles A., (Chuck), DOB: 1943, E3-E5, 058 & Pers, Det 27, 62-63, 1135 Wheaton Way, Bremerton, WA 98310, 360-782-2522, has email, but not interested. Contacted on 18 January 2004. He said that he enjoyed his tour at Det 27, but has no interest in looking back.

STALLINGS, Connie, American Embassy, 61-63 - friend of many Det 27 vet's, 349 E 50th St., NYC., 212-752-9047, cstallings@worldpress.org - [edited] Hi Elder, Thank you for the greetings, which I heartily return. How nice of you to want to include me in the ASA Turkey Memory Book. I've included two photo's per your request. I'm sorry the group photo is so spotted. That's from carrying the original in my wallet for 40 years. I recall distinctly a big batch of black-and-whites of an Ankara party, but danged if I can find them in either closet. I've not contacted or been contacted by John O'Brien., but I just did get a message from Lanny Couvillon. I can understand John's silence since his first wife, Betty, and I were so close and Betty's long, long illness and their daughter's heart trouble (from birth) and death. Happy New Year to you and Patty. Best wishes, Connie.

.......
See the Connie Stallings-1 and 2 attachments. Photo's were taken in 1963 at the Manzarali NCO Club & ID: Standing: Bob Deines (now deceased) & Betty Hastings O'Brien (now deceased). Seated, L-R: Jesse Sammis, two U/I A.I.D girls (one was Sandy Hogbin), Chuck Silvernail, Floyd Hunsaker, Connie Stallings, Maggie Love Hasbrouck, Dave Botts, Joyce Wilkinson Colvard & Frank Drosky.

STONSKA, John, YOB: 1948, RA, 98J, Det 4, SE68-NO69, JA75-FE76, JA79-MR79, (Janet), 3 Bridle Pass, Tinton Falls, NJ 07753, 732-922-6422, jstonska@yahoo.com - Talked with Janet on 29 January 2004. John spent 26 years in the ASA and INSCOM. Hopefully BIO will be forthcoming.

SYBRANT, Rawligh R., DOB: 1943, RA13996582, E4-E5, 98J, Det 4, NOV68-NO69, (Roberta), 18705 Willow Grove Rd., Olney, MD 20832, 301-774-2475, rsybrant@cpcug.org . - Found Rawligh Sybrant on the internet. Called him on 27 December 2003 and had a interesting conversation with him. Rawligh Sybrant is a Army brat and graduated from the Nurenburg American High School in Germany. He remembers Stalag Luft 13-D POW Camp was nearby and at one time approx 10,000 Allied POWs were processed here. His father, Erwin R. Sybrant, DOB: 13FE20 DOD:17JA90, was in the ASA and stationed at Herzo Base, Germany. STALAG D-13 was originally built to house delegates to Nazi Party gatherings. The camp was in terrible condition when the Americans arrived in February 1945. The POWs were told "Vas Du Das Krieg Est Uber" - "For You the War is Over." It had been used as an Italian POW camp. Sanitation was almost non-existent. Everything was infested with lice, fleas and bed-bugs. Men slept on the bare floors - each had two filthy German blankets. The barracks were not heated. Latrines were inadequate. Showers were available once every two weeks. On 3 April 1945, after an approximate three months stay, the Americans were told that they must evacuate Stalag 13-D and march to Stalag 7A at Moosburg. On 9 April the column reached the Danube River. Many POWs began to drop put of the march and guards made no serious attempt to stop the disintegration. The main body of the column reached Stalag 7A on 20 April 1945 and immediately were liberated by members of General Patton's 14th Armored Division.

WADLEY, Jeff, DOB: 1940, RA16713260, E3-E5, 058, Tk#4, Det 27, SE62-FE64, (Marcia), Oro Valley, Tucson, AZ 85737, 520-498-5078, jeffwadley@msn.com Thanks for contacting me about my time as a DITTY-BOPPER at Manzarali Station. WOW - Its been nearly 40 years....and I really enjoyed my 17 months and 10 days at Çerkezhöyük, Türkiye. And, yes - hind-sight I'd have done many, many more things that I did there, which were more than most. After Türkiye I was fortunate to get another great ASA assignment - Bad Aibling, Germany to complete my 3 year enlistment contract.
Will write a BIO and send some photo's for a future DOOL.

WAGNER, Edwin R., (Wags), DOB: 1939, RA17620046, E3-E5, 058, Tk#4, Det 27, NO62-AU64, (Phyllis), 12 Juneau Pl., Longmont, CO 80501, 303-776-8690, phyllisedwagner@juno.com -

Thanks, Elder, for the ASA Memory Book mini-CD. Hi Elder, I read and responded to Ted Rasmussens BIO. In reading DOOL#135 which I finally got into. I noticed an address for Moon Mullins. I think there must be two of them, and they are blended together now. The Moon Mullins that was there with us in 63-64 is not the same one that lives here in Colorado. I'm pretty sure the M.M. of Colo. said he was at Det. 27 in 66-67.
I got so wrapped up in ASA Memories that I couldn't get it off of my mind until I contributed to it, so here is my BIO I spent hours going through it again and again.
Reading several of the BIO's and other information brought back many memories and recall of many names and visions of guys I hadn't been able to remember until I saw their names mentioned. That era was a different lifetime. Most of it is a memory and some seems like it was just a dream. As I sit here thinking back to 63-64 at Det 27, I find myself remembering the highlights, of course, and looking back at those experiences from this end of things, most of those memories seem like they were the good ole days; but I keep finding myself slipping back to the frame of mind and attitudes that we had when we were that age, there, and under those circumstances. Most of us, if not all, were not happy to be there. We didn't care for the Turks, even though we had very little contact with them. We didn't like Turkey, we didn't like Site 23. We didn't like the Army.
Most of us were in the ASA because, by enlisting, we could avoid being in a fox hole or armored or artillery, etc. Outside of basic training at Fort Leonard Wood (Little Korea), my experience barely resembled my military or army conceptions. Fort Devens was like college or OJT--not much like soldering. Being sent to Turkey, Det 27, was like going to an intern camp to work at a job. The atmosphere for us there was one of unity because we had to make the best of the situation. We all had our job to do and we did that. And we took pride in what we were doing. But the off duty time was in civies and as far from the military as we could make it. The majority of our time was on base, there at the "Internment Camp"--as our West Point Company Commander, Captain Gerald G. Gibbs referred to it.
When we first got there in November 1962, the guys that preceded us had been there for their regular tours--only to have their tours extended for several months because of the Berlin Crisis. Those guys were mad, upset, very unhappy troops and could hardly wait to rotate out. The attitude that they conveyed to us was fock the army, lifers, Turks, Turkey, etc. That may have been the beginning of the idea for the "FOCK ROCK." By the way, in the enclosed picture taken from the top of the stairs at the end of Trick#4 barracks , looking toward operations--you can just barely see the FOCK ROCK before it was "THE FOCK ROCK."
The only inspections we had were of the barracks, maybe once a month, and they were walk-through inspections done while we were at work in operations. Otherwise, our rooms and the barracks , in general, were left up to us to live in as we wished. For some of us that was very messy. The only formations we had were going to and from operations. I can remember only one other time when we had a formation in dress uniforms. We had no army gear or equipment. In late '63, there were rumors that we were going to receive miscellaneous gear and maybe rifles. Finally, after several months--maybe it was early '64--we did get some gear, which we made fun of because we felt we were operations--not really soldiers.
After getting the gear, of course, we had to use it. So we had a few practice alerts where we would don our gear and go outside--not even in formations. At one of these alerts I remember Lt. Tavernetti climbing up to the top of the water tower for observation. It took him a long time to get up there.
Many of us were into sports because there was little else to do. I still have two trophies from TK#4 for Basketball and Volleyball. I don't know why I keep them--except that it was a different lifetime.
I remember the bunch of us--"THE TEAM"--trying to sing harmony of those ole 50's songs in those big tiled, gang showers. Sounded pretty good at times.
I remember good booz--cheap, but no ice or coke! So we learned to drink it straight--warm and out of the bottle--resulting in many a sick, sick night.
And then there was the threater, which never seemed to have any decent movies; but, we went anyway, just to have something to do. They did have the old movie news reels. Remember those? That was the only contact we had with the rest of the world! There was no TV and only Turkish music on the radio, if you had a receiver. And how 'bout PAN AM?? Every time they would show an advertisement of a PAN AM flight coming or going we all cheered and whistled 'cause we knew that some day we would be getting on one of those flights to go back home.
Probably the best experiences we had were going on leave. I think everyone took a leave or two to various places. Those are memories we will never forget. Despite how much we thought we hated the army and where we were--we at least got to see those different parts of the world. So, I feel now that that time in my life and that tour wasn't all bad. After all, for some of us, if it wasn't for the army, we would never have had the opportunity to see the Asia Minor area or Europe, etc.
To the many, many fellow GI's that we met, lived with, worked with, and otherwise shared that special time in our lives--sometimes good, sometimes bad: Overall, it was a good experience. Thanks for the MEMORIES!! Wags

WAITE, Daryl L., E3-E4, Det 66, DE63-JA65, (Hope), 33 N. Washington, Carthage, IL 62321, 217-357-2884, k9jpq@hotmail.com
Mt. Ararat
In 1964, American Community Tours had scheduled a tour of Eastern Turkey, but had cancelled due to a lack of interest. So, I decided to go it alone, circling Turkey in two weeks. Got within 15 miles of Mt. Ararat, a good photo op from Dogubeyzit - a border town. On a recent Discovery/TLC program on Noahs Ark searches, it was mentioned that an Airman was among many who had climbed the peak and signed the guest book at the top. Would anyone in the group have any idea who he may have been?
I did not attempt to get any closer than 15 miles, my photo of the mountain is posted on Mark Hamilton's Det 27 web site.

Direct Comissions
Several members have mentioned receiving direct comissions while at Manzarali. Did anyone apply and not make it? (at Manzarali) In 1963 I was encouraged to apply while at Ft. Gordon (519th Sig)
but turned down. Basically, they weren't needing officers quite that badly! Daryl Waite
Carthage, Il (Land O' Drinkin') Offiically Land of Lincoln

WEBER, Robert A., (Bob), DOB: 1944, RA16782557, E3-E4, 286, Det 27, 64-66, (Jeri), 16417 Abela Dr., Clinton Twp., MI, 48035, 586-790-8282, rweber@wideopenwest.com -
I receive the DAYS OF OUR LIVES newsletter from Norman Mau and enjoy it, but my problem is that I simply cannot remember names, just faces. I do remember some of the things that I did while at Manzarali Station, however. After reading the many BIO's and seeing the photo's - I thought I would try my hand at writing a BIO.

I grew up in the Detroit, MI area and graduated from St. David High School in 1962. Enrolled at Wayne State University in Detroit for one year. I was getting pretty tired of school by that time and decided to see the world. Went to the recruiters and listened to their offers - then chose the Army Security Agency over all others, even though it required a 4 year enlistment and the others were for 3 years. Signed the dotted line in September 1963 and was assured either language school in California or Intercept Equipment Repair at Fort Devens. Took basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. I was a squad leader in Company E, 5th Battalion, 2D Regiment and successfully completed basic in December1963. MY STAY AT THE USASATC&S FORT DEVENS, Massachussets I was then sent to Fort Devens for ASA in-processing. Was told that my scores qualified me for Language School, but that none were available at that time. I ended up with MOS 286 after 22 weeks of school. I made a lot of trips into Boston while at Devens. A group of us would go into town, spend some time seeing the sights, and end the evening at the USO or sometimes at a dance sponsored by the YWCA. Exciting, huh? I was 20 when I got orders for Turkey. I was kinda hoping for Germany but what the heck, Turkey sounded exotic. As I recall, the PAN AM plane landed at Esenboga Airport outside of Ankara around midnight. Didn't know what to expect. Was hustled into a mini-van along with 4 or 5 other GI's and we were driven by a maniac Turk to Det 27 where we were given a brief indoctrination of the do's and don'ts of Turkey. "If the cab you are riding in gets in an accident, throw some money on the seat and run." That sort of thing!. BELIEVE IT OR NOT - I CAN’T REMEMBER WHAT TRICK I WAS ON After the in-processing was completed - I was assigned to a rotating trick and for the life of me can't remember which trick it was. I think it was the fact that for the next 2 years and some months I was on that 6 on 2 off rotating day, evening, night, work schedule. I don’t remember too much else. THOSE P-E-S-K-Y 058’s AND THEIR STATIC REDUCER BOX FOR YENNI’s My living space at Manzarali was on the 2nd floor of the barracks next to the football field and across from the HQ building. Anyone remember what trick occupied that barracks? In ops I primarily worked on the R390 receivers and got to know some of the 058's who were always playing pranks on each other, especially the new guys. When I arrived for duty in ops I was introduced to a small metal box with a toggle switch on the top and two female terminals on the sides. They called it a 'NEWK BOX' and a few other names that I've forgotten. I later found out that a 500 volt capacitor was inside and was charged with about 70 to 90 volts. The 058's called it a STATIC REDUCER or simply THE BOX and whenever a newcomer who was sitting side-saddle with an experienced 058 - complained about the static - the Trick Chief asked us to bring the STATIC REDUCER for that 'newk' to plug into and then was told to activate the reducer by switching the toggle switch to the ON position. Even today I chuckle at remembering the reaction when the toggle switch was activated. Everyone in the room knew what was about to happen. Usually the surge of voltage would stiffen their arms up to the elbow and the NEWK BOX was thrown every which way, but never was damaged. And, oh yes, that NEWK later enjoyed pulling the STATIC REDUCER on other NEWKS. I think that the 059's also initiated NEWKS with the BOX. Later someone complained or the BRASS got wind of the NEWK BOX and we had to get rid of it. THE MANZARALI ONE ARMED BANDITS I remember the food runs to the NCO club on the evening shift and I still enjoy a good grilled cheese and tomato sandwich. I spent a lot of time in the NCO Club and fed a lot of money to the nickel slot machines as time passed. I got hooked quickly on the slots winning about $40 the first week. I figured that if that luck continued I'd be rich by the time my 18 month tour was over. Of course, that never happened and spent the rest of my tour waiting for the big jackpot. I SPENT 29 MONTHS AT Çerkezhöyük My 18 month tour lasted 29 months as I liked it so much that I extended for 11 months. Actually, the advisors we were sending to Viet Nam were starting to get fired upon and killed, and it looked like things were really heating up over there. As boring and backward as Turkey seemed to me at the time, it was still better than getting killed. My extension request was approved and I served 29 months at Site 23. MY 10 DAY R&R TO ATHENS, GREECE I remember taking a C-130 MATS flight from the Ankara Military Airport for a 10 day R&R stay in Athens, Greece. Three of us decided to rent a hotel near the beach. The hotel had a verandah and we would sit there watching the interesting people go by. We tried our best to act like rich tourists. Also noted that there was a lot of cars cruising the street that we were on. It didn't take us long to realize that we were living on a RED LIGHT district of Athens. Really enjoyed those 10 days. THE KARI-HANI VIEW FROM THE CITADEL I remember visiting the Citadel in downtown Ankara with a couple of guys who were avid photographers and looking down at the compound which everyone referred to as the KARI-HANI. I WAS A MEMBER OF THE DET 27 BOWLING TEAM - THE GUZZLERS At Manzarali I was a regular at the theater, swimming pool and 4 lane bowling alley. Someone mentioned bowling when they were at Det 27. I was a devoted bowler who maintained about a 170 bowling average and was a member of the 5 man GUZZLERS bowling team. Can't remember the other team members, but one was a young 2nd Lieutenant who bowled left-handed. I still have THE GUZZLERS yellow team shirt with our names on the back along with Cerkezhoyuk Turkey underneath. The patch shows that THE GUZZLERS were the 1964-1965 League Champions and we received trophies, which I proudly displayed in my room. I went with THE GUZZLERS team that represented Manzarali at a Mediterranean Sports Conference (MSC) tournament in Izmir, Turkey. While there I did some more sightseeing. Went to Ephesis and visited some other holy sights. TWO ROCK RANCH, PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA I was assigned to 2-Rock Ranch for the last 9 months of my enlistment contract. I enjoyed the time at 2-Rock as I had bought a car and drove it up and down the coast whenever I had free time.

I was discharged in California and went back to the Detroit area and enrolled at Wayne State University which lasted for one year. Next I attended and completed the Rets Electronic School in Detroit. Was then hired by the Michigan Bell Telephone Company and worked at Mt. Clemens and New Baltimore for 25 years. In 1994 they offered a retirement package that I could not turn down. MY BEST FRIEND My wife, Jeri, also worked at Michigan Bell and we were married in 1974. Jeri is a US Navy veteran who was trained as an Electronics Technician. Jeri joined the Navy in 1964 right out of high school and was one of the first women to graduate from the Electronics School in Great Lakes, Illinois. She spent her basic training in Bainbridge, Maryland in the old W.W.II barracks which she says were cold and drafty because she was there over Christmas. She also was one of the first direct hire Switchmen at Michigan Bell in 1971 when women were really rare in the Electronics field. Jeri retired from Michigan Bell in 1999 to take care of me after my operation. In 1999 I had a quadruple bypass and since then have been in relatively good health. I work out on the tread mill and have to watch what I eat, but I feel pretty good. We have a son who married a beautiful girl from up north and now have an infant granddaughter. Sorry about the dry reading, my life up till now has been more-or-less uneventful. Hope to hear from anyone who remembers me and can recall things that will open my memory bank to those GOOD OLD days spent on the hill called Manzarali and also known as Çerkezhöyük, Tükiye.

See Weber-5 attachment.

WELLS, Ward A., DOB: 1939, RA18637010, E3-E4, 058, Tk#1, Det 27, SE62-MR64, (never married),
6304 Pemberton Dr., Dallas, TX 75230, 21-4-361-5824, no e-mail. Name given to me by his roommate at Det 27, Dennis Brooke. Contacted on 18 January 2003. Initially said that he did not enjoy his tour of duty at Det 27, but after he started remembering names, events, etc., it sounded as if he had a change of heart. Was in Co A at Devens and graduated on 25 July 1962. Remembers going to parties at Ted and Merry Midtaune's apartment in Ayer. Flew from JFK to London, to Munich, to Istanbul, and finally arrived at Esenboga Intnl Airport on a PAN AM Clipper with three other GI's, one being Andy Marmin (sp). Stepping off the plane he thought "This place is the PITS" and then when he walked into the terminal - the Turkish cigarette aroma was such that it still exists in his memory/sensory bank. A Tumpane Turk driver showed up in a 2 1/2 ton and it took them 2 hours to get to Det 27. It was a bumpy ride that he still remembers. After orientation was assigned to Tk#1 under the leadership of a young blonde ROTC 2nd Lieutenant named Jon Kettering. Remembers undergoing 'side-saddle' OJT, then copied the RMN and RMP targets as those Russian ops normally sent at about 20-25 wpm whereas the RMC and RMR ops were much faster and the better 058's sat those positions. One of the better 058's was Vern Negus. Remembers some of the LIFERS. One was a black 058 Sgt on TK#1 who got caught up in the Black Market game and got busted and shipped out. Don't remember his name, but it may have been . Was at the Manzarali NCO Club when informed around 2030 hours that JFK was assinated. The next day everyone had to wear the Green Uniform and stand formation in honor of the fallen C-in-C. Visited the Hari-hani twice.

R Weber bowling.jpg
Erickson's.jpg
The Carricks.jpg
Mike&Gail Hall.jpg
Det 4 - SP6 Jim DeFord.jpg
Camille Fraering.jpg
Det 27 Dennis Brooke.jpg
Ed & Phyllis Wagner.jpg
Weber-5.jpg
Connie Stallings-1.jpg
Connie Stallings-2.jpg
Jeep Ride.jpg