Subject: DAYS OF OUR LIVES #100
Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 08:27:06 -0600

MAIL-call - PRESERVING FORGOTTEN MEMORIES

I welcome articles, BIO's, stories, etc and certainly hope that all ASA Turkey Vet's will contribute and make the newsletter worthwhile. You can write whatever message you would like, and it will show up right here for you to share with the ASA Turkey group! I will respond to all e-mails and will assist whenever needed, but reserve the right to edit for content and clarity and welcome any imperfections that may appear herein. It's obvious I do not have all the answers - but the main thrust is to work together. Those of us ex-ASA'ers who served during the COLD WAR years (1945-1977) deserve to be remembered with the same honor that has been bestowed upon other COLD WAR veterans and I feel that the DOOL's provides an opportunity for all of us to promote a bit of ASA's proud history while perpetuating our own. Thus, if the DOOL is to gain in popularity - you - the readers must embrace a host of new ideas and keep them coming to my in-box. Stop procrastinating! Is it that it's not later yet? But by then, who cares! The search for new ASA Turkey vet's is not easy! Thank you, Elder RC Green aka gH, ercgreen@yourinter.net

THE 2003 ASA TURKEY REUNION

THE 2003 ASA TURKEY REUNION WILL BE HELD AT SEVEN SPRINGS, PENNSYLVANIA ON LABOR DAY WEEK-END, 29-31 AUGUST 2003.

The 7 SPRINGS resort is near Champion, Pennsylvania in the beautiful Laurel Highlands. It is known as the place where you can do it all! The resort is easily accessible from either the Donegal or Somerset exits of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The Pittsburgh International Airport is the nearest metropolitan terminal. Pick-up from the airport is available by prior arrangement with the Seven Springs management at 800-452-2223 ext. 5000. Seven Springs is a picturesque resort surrounded by majestic hills and is tucked away in the southern mountain region of Pennsylvania. It is a excellent mountain top resort that is used year round, even though it is the BEST SKIING site in Pennsylvania. A chairlift next to the Alpine Luge is available to ride to the top of the mountain and down to enjoy unique views of the mountain scenery and the lodge itself For the brave - take the 2000 foot luge slide to the bottom. An indoor pool with access to outdoor hot tubs facing the ski slopes is also available for registered guests.

What other things should I know?

1. I have 70 rooms blocked off for the ASA Turkey reunion. The cost per room is $85.00 + tax for each room.

2. For reservations call 1-800-452-2223 or 1-866-437-1300. Note: If you want to arrive before the 29th or stay after the 31st of August - at the same rate - make that knoiwn when you make your reservations or later.

3. Inform the receptionist that you are with the ASA Turkey reunion group

4. Request a room on the 6th floor or above that faces the ski slopes. Each room has a balcony and the view is breathtaking!

5. We will use the ALPINE room on the 3rd floor as the main hospitality room and for the Saturday night buffet. After the meal we will be able to socialize in the Alpine room and for those who want to dance the night away - can use the Matterhorn Lounge for that purpose until 0145 hours. The Alpine room is most impressive and has a bar and an outdoor covered and uncovered deck facing the ski slopes at the resort. It is 3 times the size of the Pennsylvania suite at the Hershey reunion.

6. The other hospitality room will be on the 6th floor

7. For the golfers, there is a fabulous championship golf course nearby.

8. For the bowlers, there is a six lane alley available.

9. There is a impressive Miniature Golf set-up near the Alpine Room.

10. No Pets permitted.

11. There are 9 camper hook-up spots available on a first come, first served basis and are located in the upper parking lot. If interested, contact the resort.

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT 7 SPRINGS, Fallingwater GO TO:

<http://www.sevenspringspennsylvania.com/> and also www.7springs.com <http://www.7springs.com>

Fallingwater, one of Frank Lloyd Wrights most acclaimed works: paconserve.org <http://www.paconserve.org>

Kentuck Knob: www.kentuckknob.com

Days Inn at Donegal: http://www.the.daysinn.com/donegal04471

Days Inn at Somerset: http://www.the.daysinn.com/somerset05684

Whitewater Rafting: http://www.laurelhighlands.com

Johnstown Flood Museum: http://www.jaha.org

Photo's: http://www.mtmphoto.com

Winery: http://www.somersetcounty.com/winery and http://www.stonevilla.com

DET 4 QUESTION

DOES ANYONE REMEMBER THE NAME OF THE DET 4 GI WHO WORKED IN THE PERSONNEL SECTION IN 1957 WHO INITIATED THE IDEA TO COLLECT DONATIONS TO BUILD A CHAPEL AT SINOP?

TAPS

JOHNSON, Jerry B., E4-E5, 981, Det 4, 59-60, (Mary). born: 9 May 1933 died: August 1964. Per Phil Lemense - Jerry, like most others at Sinop, liked his booze. He played drums along with Jim Colucci, myself at the piano and a GI named Farmer on base. I knew Jerry Johnson, a 981, at Bad Aibling (where Jerry worked for SSG John Wellshouse who worked for Gene Cram and gH) and at NSA. Jerry and Mary like to party. Jerry had a massive heart attack during a party that he was hosting in his Odenton, MD government quarters just outside the BOOMTOWN gate of Ft Meade. and Jim Colucci on the drums and a guy named Farmer on base.

NAVARRO, Rocco 03, Ops OIC, 64-65, (Rachel),SLC, UT 801-277-8746, b-1930 d-2 October 2002 at age 72 in Salt Lake City, UT. I talked to Rachel on 14 January 2003 and she informed me that her husband was deceased. She met Rocco in Ankara, Turkey where she worked at the American Embassy. Rocco Navarro served 20 years in the US Army and retired as a Major. He kept in touch with a Dave Murray

PALIN, Jonas R Sr., Det 4, 64-65, b-5 July 1927 d-16 December 1990 in Virginia.

MAIL CALL

Here is additional information regarding Jack E. Dunlap.

Some of it is hearsay, some heresy from un-named sources. Jack Dunlap was a Boy Scout in New Orleans in his youth. Enlisted and became an Airborne Ranger in the Infantry. Served in the Korean War and received the Combat Infantry Badge (CIB). The circumstances of his joining the ASA is not known, but is assigned to Det 4 in 57/58 with an unknown MOS. It might have been as a MP. During the 57-58 period there were no known MP's assigned to Sinop. The security for the base was performed by the Turk conscript unit billeted outside the post. It is believed that the name of the blond-haired Hungarian was Alex Klopstock. Jack Dunlap frequented the beach area at Samsun and enjoyed the Russian females there. After gaining access to operations Dunlap was especially interested in the telemetry signals, etc.and on several occasions was seen going into the restricted COMCEN area, but because he was a Senior NCO, no one challenged him and it will NEVER be known if he secreted or photographed anything therein. Also, many thought it unusual that Jack Dunlap went TDY to Hq's USASAEUR with the CO at Det 4 in 1958 because he was not knowlegable of the mission as was Sgt Van Pelt. Sgt Dunlap shot a wild boar and all the Sinop dogs (except Gimp) with his .45. Perhaps we will find the name of the Major who commanded Det 4 in 1958. Jack Dunlap was transferred to Vint Hill Farms from Ft Meade after he took a polygraph at NSA. He probably knew that he had flunked and was now in a dilemma. He was seen driving a white Cadillac at VHFS and would be gone for days before his death in Maryland. At least one person swears that the autopsy of Jack Dunlap would show that he was 'beaten to a pulp' and that a 'snake in the woodpile' was responsible for placing the hose in his car which caused his death.

BINGHAM, Kenneth D., O1-O2, TC, Trans O, Property Book, Hq Co CO Det 27, JN64-DE66, (Linda), 3001 Marilee Cir., Garland, TX 75043, 1-800-323-8424, kenneth.bingham@ubspw.com . THANKS FOR YOUR EXCELLENT DOOL'S. I AM TRYING TO GET JIMMY NOLAN, KEN GIFFHORN, BILL WALTERS AND GIL TENNEY TO ATTEND THE 2003 ASA TURKEY REUNION AT 7 SPRINGS, PA. HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE.

COUVILLON, Lanny E3-E4, 058, Det 27, OC62-AP64, (Jackie), 51 Oak Ave., Novato, CA 94945, 415-897-7933, rcouv@jps.net - [edited] - The updates are great. Last month I met up with John O'Brien and Ted Nelson for sharing of our Manzarali stories. They are both doing well. John O'Brien was a fantastic basketball player and still is slim and trim. In fact he played with Elgin Baylor at the Univ of Seattle and while in Turkey was 'drafted' to play for the 63-64 ASA Europe BIG BLUE powerhouse basketball team. John resides in Laguna Niguel and recently remarried and returned from trips to the east coast and also to Ireland. John and I worked for the YMCA here in California, he for 17 years and me for 32 years. He met his first wife Betty Hastings (deceased in May 2000) while stationed in Turkey because of my good friend, Floyd Hunsaker who had an apartment in Ankara with Jesse Samins. Floyd and I served together at Bad Aibling after Turkey and both took a European out. While in Turkey I played several sports and was the "designated" partner to train with Ted Nelson, he about killed me. And speaking of Ted - nickname the " PostJock" - at the 1964 MSC track meet, he won EVERY running event! Also in 1964 Steve MacCartan and I set a post record for 41 days TDY playing Badminton in Europe. I believe it was during this TDY that I called Sgt Shatzer from Athens and told him that we couldn't 'find' a flight back to Ankara. His response went something like this: "Couvillon you and MacCartan get your asses back to Manzarali immediately or I'll have you both court-martialed" We jocks all liked Sgt Shatzer and I sure would like to see Sgt Shatzer at the 2003 reunion. Ted Nelson as you know was the third person to break the 4 minute mile and is a retired fireman living in Santa Monica. He still runs on a regular basis and has completed the Los Angeles Marathon several times--most recently at age 60 and hopes to complete it again in 2004 at age 65. My wife and I are tentatively planning on attending the 2003 reunion at 7 Springs, PA. The only glitch is a wedding in Seattle on August 31. I hope to work something out and maybe get the O'briens and Hunsaker's to attend. Thanks for the updates. Lanny Couvillon

CRAM, Eugene C., (Gene), W2, W2215309, OIC T/A, Det 27, 66-67, (Phyllis), 5180 SW Gardenia Ct., Dunnellon, FL 34431, 352-489-9085, mailto:superchief3@msn.com - In reference to Jack Dunlap, I think that I must have known him since we were both assigned to the NSA ASA Company at the same time, but I have no recollection of him. However, I do recall two of the bastards who defected to Russia, Martin and Mitchell. Since they were students of mine at the NSA Traffic Analysis Course in the mid-50's. Later, while stationed at Baumholder (1958-59), I was visited by a pair of strange interrogators who asked many odd questions since they had identified themselves as CID agents. It didn't seem to me that they would have such information as they were asking me, but be that as it may, I went ahead and told them what I had taught in that TA course, with security levels, etc. I can't say that I would recognize either of those "queers" if I met them in my porridge bowl. But very well do I remember the material I presented to those classes, and if nothing else, they got a good deal of information about the Baker C/S system. They also must have gotten more about our analysis successes than we could afford to lose. I guess that every time since, whenever I meet a person with the surname of Martin or Mitchell, it had brought back bad memories to me. Thanks for the info about the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. I shall apply for it soonest. Regards, Gene

DesRUISSEAUX, Roy, E3, MP, Det 27, JN61-AU62, (Josie),176 Springton Rd Upper Darby, PA 19802, 610-622-3343, desrx2@comcast.net http://www.stormpages.com/robo/nudet27.htm is his Manzarali website - Elder: I've been reading the reports of the Sinop riot. Very interesting. I'm sure at some point I asked Bruce Mondale what happened, but I don't remember him saying much. As Charley Eberhard says he doesn't think Bruce was even at the main gate. I sent an e mail to Eberhard thanking him for the story. He seems to have a pretty fair memory. I told him it sounded like a good made for TV movie; pretty exciting stuff. As for when the riot happened, - I really can't say. I am almost 100% sure I didn't get to Det 27 until early June. I remember taking leave in the States and going to a sports car race at the Cumberland Maryland airport. I still have a few pictures from that race. They always held the race in May, but which weekend?? I know we flew out of McGuire AFB on a MATs and spent a week or so in Frankfurt, Germany before flying Pan Am to Ankara. I came over with 2 other MPs Daryl Wiltse who stayed with me at Det 27, the other guy whose name I can't remember was going to Sinop. Wiltse and this guy had been caught stealing hubcaps in Arlington Va. and were turned over to the Army. They both got 30 days hard labor at the Ft. Belvoir jail. Daryl told me he'd never cleaned so many garbage cans in his life. - Morning to night. I myself had gotten an Article 15, two weeks punishment 2 hrs a day of details, really not too bad. I had been working a swing shift having just come back from a couple of days off. At Arlington Hall we were not allowed to eat, write letters, listen to music, or anything else. We were supposed to sit in these dumb little guard shacks and look out at nothing. Or you could go outside and stand and look at nothing. So on this particular evening I was sitting there and closed my eyes,didn't fall alseep, mind you, but it didn't really matter as the O.D. walked right by and up to the door of the shack before I knew it. Relieved of duty and an Article 15 for dereliction of duty. I think that helped get me out of Arlington Hall and the rest is history. Not sure if we'll make the reunion or not but we'll try.

DODD, Jim DOB: 20SE40 E4-E5 72B60 Det 4, JL61-JL62, (1/W Linda, 2/W Karin, 3/W Meg), 13480 W Richardson Rd., Skiatook, OK 74070, 918-396-0241, mailto:okie2k@earthlink.net . - Merihaba abi........ Arrived at TUSLOG Det 4 a SP4 and left Sgt E5. When I arrived at Sunny Sinop By The Sea we were billeted in the Jamesway huts and wooden barracks then after about 6 months the "new" concrete barracks were finished and we moved into them. Also the messhall was finished about that time and we started "messing" there. Both the EM and NCO clubs were in older wooden building throughout my tour. The Ops building also was an old wooden building and that too was finished and we moved into the new concrete building during my tour. Most of my off duty time was spent on the hill but I did visit Sinop where I purchased a very nicely built sailboat and enjoyed sailing on the Kara Denis (Black Sea). Once being towed back to town because of lack of wind by the Black Sea steamer. I look back on my tour as a great experience that I would never want to repeat. I have forwarded your email to a buddy, Deane Bavis, who graduated Crypto school with me and also was assigned to Det 4 with me, hopefully he will send you information on himself.. I spent the remainder of my enlistment at Ft. Wolters, TX and then at 9th USASAFS, Clark AFB, P.I. and ASA HQ Pacific, Helemano, Hawaii. I then went to work for NSA for 3 years and then for NASA for 25 years (70-96), retired now and living in Skiatook, OK. I arrived at Sinop after the RIOT and don't have any new information to add to what I've read about that tragic day. I've been married three times. First to Linda which ended in divorce and 2 children, then was married twice more, each ending in death. Thanks for the newsletter.... SFC (ex) Jim Dodd

DUBICKI, Walter L., E5, 05H/K Trick Chief #1, Det 27, DE61-JN63, (Beverly), 6701 Tamarind Ct., Louisville, KY 40219, 502-969-1534, mailto:502-969-1534,WLND40@aol.com mailto:wldubicki@juno.com - gH - Thanks for everything. I believe that I am up to date with the DOOL's.. I'm in the process of learning this new juno system - it's just a little different than the aol that I cut my teeth on.. A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR to all Later - Walt & Bev Dubicki

FRAERING, Camille M. Jr., DOB: 28JA36, E4, 982, SE57-SE58, (Mary), 2408 Blue Haven Dr, New Iberia, LA 70563-2133 ,337-365-5418, mailto:scientificinternational@cox-internet.com , mailto:scientifictools@msn.com and mailto:cinvent@earthlink.net Contacted on 15 January 2003. Started off by saying that he has CRS (can't remember shit), but then proceeded to relate his Sinop experience like it was yesterday, but really was 45 years ago. Served 2 years and 9 months on active duty plus about 10 years in the reserves and made E7. Remembers his MATS flight to Turkey via Bermuda, to the Azores, Tripoli, Rome and Istanbul before boarding a 4-prop Turk airliner to Ankara. Has over 1000 slides that he took in Turkey. Remembers exploring a cave in the Sinop area, possibly with Ray Gill.

Enjoys Cajun cooking and his parents sent regular CARE packages to him in Sinop. Remembers the dogs of Diogenes Station and the time in the Spring of 1958 that two Soviet MIGS flew over the post at tree level and the resounding BOOM, BOOM that vibrated everything. Recalls Jim Payette and the rat shit in his popcorn. Also Sgt Mowrey and his Scotch and milk drink. Duing a visit by a 3-star General - the General was shown one of the huts - and stepped out the back door and fell down on the YELLOW ice. The yellow ice was the way the occupants relieved themselves during the nights instead of going to the outdoor latrine. The occupants of that Jamesway later had to dig a new latrine 18' long, 8' deep and 5' wide. He did not say that he was one of the guilty persons, but believes that one of them was Jim Payette. He related a story about a Charlie Wilder who was a Russian lingie and a native Indian who would get drunk as a skunk and start shooting arrows from his bow from his bunk many times. At least once they had to tie Charlie to his bunk so that he would not harm anyone during those drinking sprees. Charlie was well known for throwing the MILL at his position onto the floor because it kept malfunctioning. Once he did it in the presence of a 3-Star General who had previously fell on the yellow ice. Was a good friend of LT Tom Isophoring and would go to Sinop with him until the CO put a stop to it. Said that he did not want officers hobnobing with EM during off-duty hours. Remembers that someone in the mail room was opening outgoing mail and taking money therefrom. He reports that he lost nearly $1000 from that thief. The suspect never was caught. Purchased a 9mm Browning FN pistol from another GI at Sinop with the intent to use it in case Det 4 had to be evacuated. In that case he was prepared to walk out in old Turkish clothes and use the pistol for his defense. Camille had no paperwork (ben ami) for the pistol and took care in disassembling the pistol and packed it in his luggage when rotating to the states. During a customs check at the Ankara airport - the barrel fell out and he had thoughts of spending time in a Turk prison. Camille related to me that he will never forget the look on that inspector's face which he interpreted to be saying, "YOU GOT TO BE THE DUMBEST SOB ON EARTH - TRYING TO TAKE THIS PISTOL OUT OF TURKEY!!" Camille promised to sit down and put my jumbled words into a readable BIO and send it to me soon

GILL, Raymond O., DOB: 20JA38, E4, Det 4 DE57-DE58, (Earlan),7270 Flowery Branch Rd., Cumming, GA 30041 678-513-7123, mailto:rogill@yahoo.com . Contacted on 15 January 2003 and had a interesting chat with Ray. Remembers his time at Ft Devens and being told that the 74th Regimental Combat Team would be the next assignment for those who flunk out of school. Remembers the Russian quail that landed on the post and the difficulty of keeping the Turks from over-running the post in their attempt to get at the quail. Has fond memories of his tent-mate, Nick Coole. Also of Bill Becker and Camille Fraering. I gave him the http://dool-1.tripod.com website to review the Days of our Lives newsletters. Enjoyed photography. He will write a BIO and scan pictures to share with others.

HARGUS, Julian D (Zip) 059 & 711, E3-E4, Det 27, DE60-SE62, active duty 60-66. Ret in 99 fm MO State Gov't, (Linda), 400 Acorn Dr., Jefferson City, MO 65109, 573-893-4267, ziphargus@yahoo.com <mailto:ziphargus@yahoo.com> - Maybe I'm the last one to hear the Ballad of ASA but I loved it and want to make sure others get to hear it. Go to http://www.asalives.com and click on the ballad icon. It is great. Have a great day. Julian

HENRY, Donald E., E4, 981, Det 4, 57-58, 14645 SE Renton-Maple Valley Rd., Renton, WA 98058, donaldehenry@cs.com

HERUBIN, Felix T., DOB: 1MR38, E4, 981, Det 4, 4AP57-7FE58, (Betty), 1765 Lynn Mar Ave., Poland, OH 44514, 330-757-8007, no e-mail. Contacted on 14 January 2003. Sinop was his first overseas tour. He and about 30 other ASA'ers sailed on the troop ship George W. Goethals for Istanbul and then went to Sinop on a old ricketty Turkish bus. Enjoyed working as a cryptanalyst. I just remember that another ex-Sinoper - Tom and Maureen Yanko reside at 7576 Locust Ln., Poland, OH 44514, 330-757-7535, :tom@associatedpaperstock.com

HIGHLAND, Wm H (Bill), DOB: 12NO37 E3-E5 05K Det 4 MR62-AU62 & 4-2, AU62-NO63, (Patricia), 5742 Wrightsboro Rd., Grovetown, GA 30813, 706-556-0604, gabillh@aol.com First, let it be known that I was proud to be called "LIFER" (Over $300K since my retirement in 76') and proud of it. I was on the E8 list (doesnt mean that I would get it tho.) and did give up a stripe to retire, as I didnt want another trip to Alaska. (Shemya) no less. But thats a whole another world. I first arrived in Sinop in April 1962. Was selected to go to Frankfurt for high altitude training. (Did I volunteer to get off the Hill and go TDY to Frankfurt, Germany)? Are you kidding, you betcha I did. Along with Pfc Michael A Hilliard PMOS: 993; Pfc Dennis R. Allen, PMOS: 993; Pfc Roy W. Lofquist; Ssg E-6 Charles B. Sagebiel PMOS: unk and Myself Sp5 William H. Highland, PMOS 059. Well after we finished Altitude Flight training, we all shipped to Det 4-2, Incirlik AFB, Adana, Turkey. My time at Det 4-2 was very short lived. It seemed that everytime we had a false bogie, the Cpt would go into all of the different types of training exercises that the US Navy deemed mandatory....i.e., blowing pressure, and diving for lower altitude, an event that not only left me with baggy britches at times, but also destroyed my hearing. I now wear a hearing aid because of these little manuvers. Well after only 3-4 months flying on the A3D, they grounded me thus, I went back to Sinop. My replacement was another 05K type by the name of Joel Tatroe, Sp4 (an ex-jar head, turned army).........we kidded him about that but it was always in good fun. Let me relate an incident not unlike the incident that every one spoke about in 1961. I recall an incident that transpired shortly after I arrived, in April 1962, It involved a GI that was waiting on the Icki-ba-chuk (deuce and a half to all you yeni's) in downtown Sinop proper (only street in town in other words). The story goes that he was waiting on the bus run from the hill and while standing there waiting, he looked up at the store across from him (I believe it was a chi house) the family usually lived up over the store in most cases. Well any how, this Turk living there saw him looking up at him and accused the GI of being a peeping tom, peeping no less at his acid faced wife (well she wore a veil for some reason who knows). The Turk came down and began chasing him back up the hill. He never caught the GI, but did in fact, slash his back a few times as he ran. The next day (because we were the off trick) we were called to go to the the main gate as there was a group of civilian Turks gathering outside the gate. (during that era no Turk soldiers were allowed beyond the main gate, as on the inside of the gate, only American MP's were allowed to guard the compound). I suppose this came about because of the 1961 incident. I really dont know for sure. When I arrived at the main gate that morning, I could see the Turk soldiers on the other side of the gate and they were not even trying to calm the civilian Turks, if anything they were stirring them up, and the scene really began to look pretty scary. About this time a Turkish Jeep came roaring up to the gate and a young Turkish Lt. jumped out and stood the Turk Soldiers at attention. He began asking them questions......when one of the soldiers refused to acknowledge the young Turk Lt in the affirmitive...... the Lt. simply pulled out his weapon (it looked like a standard 45Cal. much like the ones our MP's carried back in those days). He plastered the Turkish soldier up side his head....That was a sight to see, I could not believe what he had just done. Well the soldier sank to the ground, and the young Lt. then moved on to the the next soldier, which I might add, answered rather rapidly in the affirmative. The soldiers immediately began to break up the crowd that had gathered. The civilians began to respond to the prodding of the Turkish soldiers, and started heading back down the hill to Sinop......Later, I learned that the GI that had his back slashed was shipped to Samsun via a mail pouch. Perhaps some of my Sinop buddies of that era can shed more light on this incident........It has been such a long time it really is hard to recall exactly what happened that day, but it is very interesting...two stories, perhaps one in the same, you just never know. I Wasn't there for the one in 1961, but I will never forget this incident

.

HUNSAKER, Floyd DOB: 29FE40, E3-E4, 723.10, Det 27, 62-63, (Mary Jo), 15280 S.E. 232nd Boring, OR 97009, 503-658-4063, shunsaker@woodworth.com - Contacted on 10 January 2003. Floyd and Jesse Samins (from Connecticut) shared a apartment in downtown Ankara. It was in that building that three or four American females who worked at the American Embassy and at AID resided in the penthouse apartment. It was through this connection that John O’brien and Rick Hasbrook met their future wives, Betty Hastings and Maggie respectively. Remembers Bob Drosky and a few others. Floyd was very good friends with Lanny Couvillon. After their Tour of Duty at Manzarali both were assigned to Bad Aibling, Germany and both took a European out and spent the winter of 64 in Austria. Later he received a BA and Master’s at Utah State and a EdD at Oregon State. I gave him the https://dool-1.tripod.com/ website for my weekly missives and he promised to review them and then would send me his BIO and photo’s, etc

JENNETTE, Terry W E4 C/C Det 27, JN62-DE63, (Sharon),9010 Royal Oak Dr., Louisville, KY 40272, 502-933-9735, terryjennette@juno.com - Dear Elder, Jim Harber sent me a copy of your message about the 2003 reunion in Pennsylvania the last of August. As of right now, Sharon and I will not be attending. We did enjoy the 2002 Hershey reunion. If there is any change I will let you know. As you can see I now have E mail. If you ever run across the history of how and when the ASA was disbanded I would be most interested in reading it.Terry Jennette, Sp/5 Det. 27, 1962-1963.Thank you

LEMENSE, Phillip H., DOB: 17AP36, 981, E4, OC59-OC60, (Barbara), 2812 Fleetwood Dr., Portage, MI 49024, 269-342-2755, zarathustra65@aol.com . Contacted on 13 January 2003. Enjoyed his year at Sinop. Had to ride a 2 1/2 ton truck to Sinop from Ankara. It was cold, rainy and the mud was red. Remembers riding horses through the back country. Was there when the U2 was shot down and remembers the anxiety that it caused. Played piano with a group that included Jerry Johnson [I knew Jerry Johnson, a 981, at Bad Aibling and at NSA. Jerry had a massive heart attack during a party that he was hosting in his Odenton, MD government quarters just outside the BOOMTOWN gate of Ft Meade - - -gH] and Jim Colucci on the drums and a guy named Farmer on base. The CO during his TOUR was Maj MacKenzie who had a picture of Blackjack General Pershing on the wall behind his desk. He remembers and respected CPT Rintoul who made Major and believes that he took over command of Det 4 upon Maj MacKenzie's departure. Phil was assigned to NSA after Sinop and ETS'd in April 1961, the Bay of Pigs fiasco took place on that date. Relates that he has been trying to find Clark Hosier, possibly from NY and whose father was a USAF Colonel in Hokaido, Japan. After discharge he returned and graduated from Western Michigan Univ at Kalamazoo. MI. Note that his email is that of a Pagan God.

MARTIN, Robt J Comm Center Det 27, 63-65, 706 James Rd., Glen Burnie, MD 21061 per Vandenbusch & Winch - This is from Gary Winch: Hi and Happy New Year, Elder! While out doing errands recently, I came across a long lost friend and ASA Turkey Vet! In fact, I'd mentioned his
name when I gave some brief remarks at the Hershey Reunion. His name is Bob Martin (Robert J. Martin) and he was in the Comm Center; he was at Manzarali Station beginning some time in 1963 and stayed for, at least, two years. Bob mentioned a couple of other guys whose names I didn't recognize, but he clearly keeps in touch with them. He doesn't have Email at the moment but his street address is: 706 James Road Glen Burnie, MD 21061. Bob is definitely interested in keeping in touch with fellow Turkey folks. Now that I know where he is, I'm happy to pass along messages if it's helpful. Take care and cheers/Gary Winch

McCLEVISH, Chas Jr., E1-E3, RA13772572. 711, S2, Det 27, 63-64, (Carolyn), 1908 Harrison Rd., Dundalk, MD 21222, 410-285-1416, cmcclev@msn.com NEW ADDRESS - Please change my email address. I got a new Dell (man is it fast, 1.5 ghz) and MSN is free for 6 months. I was sick of Earthlink anyway. Also, please send me the latest newsletter to my new address as follows: cmcclev@msn.com ps: I appreciate Bill Hartranft volunteering to redistribute the stuff from Elder. I enjoy them tremendously

OPELA, Norman V E4 05H Det 27, AP64-SE65, 3516 Union St., Eureka, CA 95501, 707-443-1729, nopela@aol.com [edited] Merhaba - Just checking in

OSSWALD, Buzz (Ozzie) DOB 14AU43 E5 989/991/93J Det 4, FE64-JN65, (Norene), 28 Greendale Rd., Hudson, NY 12534, 518-828-6492, buzzman66@hotmail.com - Elder.....Happy New Year!! Sorry I've not been in contact. Been really hectic. Right after we returned from the Hershey reunion, we were presented with a new grandson. Our first grandchild! Then the holidays, etc. Thanks much for the picture!! Hope this note finds everything OK on your end. I'll keep in contact. Best Regards,
Buzz Osswald ( Ozzie )

REYNOLDS, Justus Dandridge (Jud) 02 Watch Officer Det 27,61-63, (Gwen-div & Narcie), Rte 1, Box 48B, Pounding Mill, VA 24637 276-963-4147, jdrandnmr@aol.com - Hello Elder Green, Thanks for Sinop incident review. Very detailed I believe and really doubt that I can add much to it as I was in Manzarali, Det 27, the entire time. I do remember having to look after "Biff" O'Hara at the Opns Bldg when he was brought down from Sinop. I knew two people that were there, however, one has passed on. Col. George Mullen, died a few years ago and Col. Daryl Arena. I believe Daryl was the Opns Officer but can't help you with his location right now. Let me work on that. I owe you a brief bio and will get to it soon.....Regards, Jud Reynolds

RODRIGUES, Charlie E4 Supply Det 4, 59-60, (Pat), 210 Benham Ave., Syracuse, NY 13219, 315-487-1195, pcrodrigues@webtv.net Hey Elder... #99 was some DOOL!! What good reading, read once, and want to read sev more times. Thanx for info on reunion, will make reservations tomorrow.. Keep up the good work, and again thanx for all the good info you provide.

ROSE, Llewellyn P (Pat) 02, Det 4, 57-58, 12669 Greensboro Rd., Greensboro, MD 21639 410-482-7021 w5ozi@ktc.com - Dear Elder Green (is this the proper salutation?), Yes, I was one of the early ones at Sinop, and was detachment commander there when we had only about a dozen men. But we did some exciting stuff. I really don't remember very many things except perhaps a few details which stand out (still) in my mind. Also, I have recently met a man who was there before my time and I am hoping soon to have a chance to visit with him about his time in Sinop. Best regards, Pat Rose

SALCIDO, Donald J 55, E3-E5 05H Det 27, 66-AU67, 590 Azalea St., Chula Vista, CA 91911, 619-934-0575, dsalcido2@cox.net - I'm still in San Diego (Chula Vista) CA. I am reviewing my calendar to see if I can attend the 2003 Seven Springs Reunion!.

STOCKSTILL, Marshall J., (John), DOB: 26NO37, E4, 981/982, Det 4, FE58-FE59, (Rosalind), 328 Rena Dr., Lafayette, LA 70503, 337-266-2272, mjsto@webtv.net . Contacted on 16 January 2003. A native of Louisiana. Is in good health and because of the Cajun cooking tips the scales at 240. Has been a member of the Louisiana Bar for 31 years in and around Lafayette, LA. At Sinop he was a 20 year old that most knew as John (his middle name) because the Turks couldn't say Marshall and it stuck. Remembers meeting Camille Fraering for the first time because of the GUMBO aroma. Camille's parents regularly sent him CARE packages and everyone at Sinop became aware of the GUMBO and other Cajun odors emanating from Fraering's hut. Said that Fraering was famous for messing with the 'stovepipe' of the coal stove in his hut. There is no question that he enjoyed his Days of his Life at Sinop. Gave out a hearty laugh when I ask if he had ever visited a Hari Kara. Played center field on the post softball team and remembers that Richard (Dick) Jansen, a 058 trick chief and career type from Mass..., was the coach of that team. They kept in touch for a short time and then lost track of each other. Jansen would be around 75 now. After the ASA hitch - worked in the oil fields for a short time, then attended the University of Southwest Louisiana in New Orleans and then graduated from Loyola Law School. Has marked the 2003 ASA Turkey reunion dates on his calendar and hopes to attend along with others that he knew in Turkey.

TAVERNETTI, David E 61y O1-O2 Watch Officer TK#4 Det 27, MR62-SE63, (Suzanne-Sue), 238 Rio Vista Dr., King City, CA 93930, 831-385-4458, tavernetti@redshift.com - Relaying DOOL'S for you. Elder: If you don't mind that an issue of Days might sit for a week or so (as Sue and I are on the road) I can do some forwarding for you.

Elder: Something went wrong with our computer tonight and the inbox "went away". I had a couple of "Days" in the inbox that I had only glanced at, not printed and read in detail. The last one I have printed out is dated Dec. 9th and talks about the reunion in Sept. (at this point I am planning on attending). Do you have the "days" since this one and if so can you please send them to me. Many thanks. david t.

VANORDER, Leroy P., (Roy), DOB: 27SE36, RA11316800, E4-E5, 722 (Cryptographer) & 283 (Electro- Warfare Equip Repair), Det 4, 27SE60-MY61, (Toni), 8186 Kneeskern Rd., Bridgeport, NY 13030, 315-633-0418, rvanorder@aol.com and roy.p.vanorder@lmco.com Hi Elder, I received a copy of your email from a new found Det 4 trooper Charlie Rodrigues. It is great, I was on the hill from Sept 27th 1960 until about mid May 1961. My MOS was 283 Electronics Warfare Equipment Repair. I arrived an E4 and left an E5. I remember my arrival because it was my 24th birthday. I also remember the riot. I was leaving the NCO mess when a Turk with an automatic weapon told me to go back inside. Someone called the orderly room on a field phone and found out a Turk gate guard was shot and died, and that the Turk company just took over the hill. We all went back to our tents and nervously awaited the outcome. I recall there were about 6 to 8 guys in my tent in the evening all wondering what the hell would happen when we heard sporadic automatic weapons firing. All of a sudden we got a few holes stitched through the tent on an angle that entered about half way up the side and exited the top. We shut off the tent light and hit the dirt. After hearing a lot of yelling and running around we settled down to a rough night with no more excitement. The following day, as I recall, we were told that the company of Turks was replaced and that we should stay out of town for awhile. I left the hill some time in May of 61 and was assigned to Ft Devens with a side trip to Africa until I was discharged in Sept of 62 - - -Boy I can't count on memory anymore.... After looking at my DD214s, I did two hitches, July 1956 thru September 1962. Duty stations and TDY: 8612DU (12th USASA Field Station, Chitose, Hokkaido, Japan Mar 57 thru June 59.TDY USNS Lt J. G. Robinson Jan 62 thru May 62 (South Africa). I am still not sure when I rotated to the US from Sinop. I know I returned from Africa in May of 62 and therefore may have just thought it was the end of May 61 when I returned from Turkey. I will try to sort it out. It could have been in June; but, I know it was no later than mid to the end of June because I was at Devens for the 4th of July in 61. Sorry about the possible screw up. It is only 8am now so I will wait a few hours to call you. Thanks, Roy.

I am also interested in attending your reunion in PA. Do you have a web site?? I would like to keep in touch with what is going on with the ex-Sinop group.

BAKER, James (Jim) DOB: 1931 E5 1717/058.982 Det 4, 57-58, 38005 Poudre Canyon Hwy., Bellvue, CO 80512, 970-881-2758 bakerpoudr@aol.com - Elder, Many thanks for your kind words re my story. I finished code school at Devens in 1952, was stationed with the 334 C/R Co - first at Devens and then in Germany - from 1952 to 1955. Returned to Devens and went to T/A school. Following school I was an instructor for about 8 months and went to Sinop. From there to Meade/NSA until 1960. From 1960 to 1963 I was at Zweibruecken, Germany with the 6901st SCG (Airforce). Interesting tour. Returned to NSA and stayed until 1966 when I went to Viet Nam. Split tour - March to June with Det 4/404th RRD in support of the 173rd Airborne. Made Warrant and went to the 313th RR Bn at Nga Trang for 3 months. Then to Pleiku with the 330th and the 374th RR Co's. Returned to NSA for three more years and went to the 8th RRU at Udorn Thani, Thailand. Good tour. Back to NSA until 1974 when I retired (23 Years.) Worked for NSA as a civilian until 1993 when I retired for good and came out here. As you can see, I had an eclectic career with much time at NSA. (Strange place.) I have a website where I'm trying to put down some of my experiencies. Only a few so far. Site is at http://www.geocities.com/coloforest . Also, you may want to check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASAbyINVITE. You have to be a yahoo member to get in but you can register there. Stay in touch. Jim Baker

Now then, I do, indeed, have memories of Sinop. About five years ago, I set down some of those memories because my own memory was getting a little rusty. Originally I wrote the piece for a journal called "After Action Report," and since then for the ASA vets website. I have attached it and you can do with it as you wish, so long as I get credit for the writing( that is like giving birth, you don't want anyone else to get the credit). Let me know what you think. Jim Baker

Sinop -- Another View
By Jim Baker

Sinop is a magical place. Now, before you sign the papers committing me, hear me out. Over the course of a 23 year career, there aren't many places that are so etched in my memory that events, sounds, and even smells remain years later.
There were a few for me. One was a gastehaus-cum-GI-joint in Herzogenaurach that was upstairs. I remember vividly sitting at the bar, eating a fantastic gulaschsuppe mit brotchen and listening to Katerina Valenti sing, "The Breeze and I."
Another was being at The Bull Run near Fort Devens, eating that wonderful cheese spread, drinking beer, and listening to a certified genius explain Kantian and Hegelian philosophy. Bart Wilson and I were going through code school (at that time the MOS was 1717) and we frequently went out together. Why, I don't know. As I said, he was a genius, a lousy soldier, but a marvelous teacher. I was a high school drop-out before it became popular. My highest ambition was to be in the Army and to make it a career. But listening to Bart ignited a passion for learning that continues to this day.

SINOP AND ME
And then there was Sinop. When I first saw it, it was shrouded in mist. Now, I think of the Rogers and Hammerstein song, "Bali Hai." But instead of its head "--- sticking out of a low-lying cloud," as in that song, Sinop was mysterious and featureless. Probably a lot of it was that that was my first experience in the East. The sights, sounds, and smells were strange and, going to a new post, there was a great feeling of wonder and anticipation. I've tried, in the following memoir, to describe what Sinop meant, and means, to me. In many ways, I've failed, because you have to have been there to really understand the experience. We didn't (I didn't) have that fear of looking at a woman and being found floating in a river somewhere. For one thing, at that time Sinop was really small and remote, and the women mostly adhered to the convention of wearing a shawl and pulling one end over their face when they saw a stranger, so we didn't really see them. Another thing was, we mostly stayed on the base. We didn't have transportation or the opportunity to travel. When we were "off duty" we either were at work or drinking. That sounds funny to say that when we were not working we were working, but that was the way Sinop was then.

DIOGENES STATION
Diogenes Station took its name from Diogenes, who, legend had it, searched the world for an honest man. He supposedly was born in Sinop. I have often wished that I had seen more of Turkey. I've studied it extensively since my time there, and there were so many things that I would have liked to have seen. I did see the tomb of Kemal Mustafa Attaturk in Ankara. And I've read about him and how he dragged Turkey from the sixteenth century into the modern era literally in twenty years. I would have liked to see the ruins of Troy, and Ephesus where, it is said, Mary the mother of Jesus lived out her days following the crucifixion. I would liked to have seen the many ruins in what was Galatia. I now know that Galatia was named by the Romans because the people of that province were Gauls. And my interest there comes from the "Gallic Wars," when Caesar wrote of the people, "..who in their language were called Celts and in ours Gauls." And I'm a Celt, albeit one from the land of Hibernium. And, while our wellspring was somewhere north of the Danube in what is present day Romania, we Celts are all related, and I would have loved to see Galatia.

THE MISSION AT SINOP

But mostly, my strong affection for Sinop was because of the mission. It was at that time one of Morse and voice. Operations was small enough that we could talk to one another about what was going on, and we knew enough that we could follow the target and understand his problems. I remember one exchange where I copied one end of the link and a fellow in front of me copied the other. My end sent "WX IMI," and his end answered, "WX BD SNEG." And when Sputnik I was launched, shortly thereafter I said to the whole room, "I don't know what happened, but I know when it happened." And we heard from a "collateral source," Radio Moscow, just what did happen. I should tell you that I was assigned to Sinop as a Traffic Analyst, having just come from Devens, where I first completed T/A school and then taught T/A to intercept ops. I did do T/A at Sinop, but whenever I got the chance, I sat position. Once you have Morse code coursing through your veins, you can never get it out. And don't tell me that I was the only one who found copying 22GPM at school an erotic experience. So, with that long introduction, please allow me (humor me) to explain what was happening in Sinop in 1957.

I WAS IN THE SECOND WAVE OF ASA'ers TO BE ASSIGNED TO SINOP
I wrote the following for a publication called, "After Action Report," and I wrote it in response to an article they had reprinted from a house organ sent out from Arlington Hall in the '60s and '70s, called "The Hallmark." Catchy title. They published articles about different ASA posts around the world, probably trying to get people excited enough to volunteer to go to those sites, but the article on Sinop was so depressing that I doubt anyone would want to go there, so I wanted to give my impressions.

Your reprint of The Hallmark article on Sinop in the December 1994 edition, evoked powerful memories of Diogenes Station, but my tour at Sinop predates the article (1973) by some 16 years, being from March 1957 to March 1958.
While our mailing address was (as it probably still is) TUSLOG Detachment 4, we, too, referred to it as "The Hill," not so much in a pejorative [derogatory or disparaging] sense, as just an apt description of what and where it was. I was in the second "wave" to arrive at Sinop, replacing those who establish-ed the station in 1956. And my arrival differed considerably from that described in The Hallmark article. There was no Turkish Airlines flight from Ankara to Samsun, but instead we flew in an L19 (a single-engine, high-wing, four-seat aircraft) from Ankara direct to Sinop. The aircraft was used for mail and classified courier delivery, and transporting personnel back and forth, with "deuce-and-a-halfs"
(GMC 2 1/2 ton trucks) as backup. These trucks were on the road almost constantly, hauling supplies, rations, Class VI supplies, etc., from Ankara to Sinop.

TRAVELING THE ROAD TO HEAVEN...NO TO SAMSUN...THEN TO SINOP
That's why the soldier's comment in The Hallmark, "..when the roads become a quagmire, and we don't get mail for a week.", was surprising. There were two roads used between Sinop and Ankara. One left Sinop, went to Bafra, approximately halfway between Sinop and Samsun, and from there over the mountains to Ankara. Because of those mountains, and some small streams that had to be forded, that road was only used in Summer. In Winter, the road went to Samsun, where you stayed overnight, and from there to Ankara. While primitive by Western standards, it was at least passable year round.

MAIL BOMB'S - - OOPS, NO MAIL DROPS AT SINOP!
Also, because everyone including the aircraft pilot was acutely aware of just what mail meant to those on The Hill, it was flown up three to four times a week. If the weather was particularly bad and the aircraft couldn't land, the pilot came in low-and-slow over the base and threw the mail-bag out of the window. He knew in advance when this would happen and he deliberately left all packages for ground transportation.
THE WILD BLUE YONDER TRIP TO SINOP AND THE BLACK SEA

Getting back to my introduction to The Hill, there were four of us scheduled to go from Ankara and one other guy and I flew up on the L19. Either we flew because of rank (we were both E5 Sergeant's with a rocker underneath) and the others went by truck, or flew up later, I just don't remember. (Although it was a four-seat aircraft, the fourth seat was taken with our duffel bags and packages for The Hill.) At any rate, immediately after we were airborne and on course to Sinop, the pilot un-capped a thermos of coffee and passed us donuts and coffee. He mostly steered the aircraft with his knees and thighs while regaling me (I was seated up front with him) with his flying stories. He said that on one occasion he had encountered particularly heavy fog on the way and had overflown the base. When he finally turned back, it took him about an hour to get back to Sinop. All that time he was flying out over the Black Sea in that light aircraft! The landing strip (so-called) was a pasture outside the town of Sinop. When we circled and came in on our approach, a herd of horses galloped across in front of us. The pilot pulled up sharply, circled again and landed without incident. My breakfast, the coffee and donuts, and my heart were all competing for room in my throat, but I, too, managed to land without incident. We were met by the Executive Officer (a captain), who had come out to pick up the courier material, and were transported to the base in a jeep with all of the other stuff bouncing along behind in the jeep's trailer.

MY FIRST LOOK AT SINOP

Since our route was through the town, I got my first look at Sinop, at that time considerably smaller than the 16,000 figure quoted for 1973. I would estimate that the total population in 1957 was probably 3000 to 5000. There was one huge fortress that caught my attention which turned out to be a Turkish Federal Prison.
This being March, the top of The Hill was mist-shrouded, adding to the almost surreal feeling. There were few "permanent-type" structures on the hill at that time. The BOQ, the enlisted club, a supply warehouse, the Orderly Room, the messhall, the dispensary, a crudely-built theater where 16MM movies were shown and where monthly "training" classes were held, and the operations building were finished. Within 15 days of my arrival, the NCO club was completed. When I use the term "permanent-type" buildings, I'm referring to wooden structures, mostly with concrete floors. I'm sure that all of those buildings were gone by 1973. Our quarters were Jamesway huts, which are nothing more than small, canvas-covered Quonset huts. Each hut held four men, each man provided with a metal GI cot, a footlocker, and a doweled rack about three feet long on which to hang a few clothes. Senior NCO's [E6-E7] were billeted either singly or two to a hut. In the center of each hut was a cannon heater, a coal-burning stove about a foot and a half in diameter that, while not keeping the hut warm, at least allowed you to take off your field jacket when you were inside. The huts did have wooden floors, but the "incessant" wind quoted in The Hallmark story, and the muddy conditions in winter, worked to keep the floors dirty. That same wind, beating against the canvas of the huts, kept an almost constant "plop-plop" sound going all winter.

We did have "houseboys" to clean the huts, make beds, clean and shine boots and lay and start fires. Turkey being a Muslim country and Sinop being both geographically and culturally remote, all of the laborers on post were men. This included all of the houseboys, the kitchen help (KPs and dining room servers), the construction force, etc. Also, our houseboy took dirty clothes with him at the end of the day and returned clean, pressed clothes in one or two days. (I keep saying "houseboy," but Maumet was probably 35 to 45 years old, and to a 26-year old, that seemed ancient.)
Of interest, just before I left in March 1958, they began constructing single-story, wooden barracks and had moved some of the lower ranking EM into them. In conversations with those who had moved, it was obvious that they didn't at all like the barracks, preferring instead to remain in the Jamesway huts.
The reason given was the lack of privacy in the barracks, where there were open bays with double-decked bunks.

As far as organized sports, there were none. The field between the quarters and the road to town, probably about six acres, was rocky and muddy. That summer we fashioned a drag with large bolts through it every six inches or so and, with two or three guys standing on it, pulled it behind a jeep over
the field. This worked to get most of the rocks out of the field and we were able to set up a primitive softball diamond and football field. Also, over by the EM club, a volleyball net was set up.. Because of the weather, i.e., windy and rainy, outdoor sports were mostly chancy anyway. The Hallmark piece had it right, the wind did blow constantly and half the time we were squatting in a cloud bank. I don't remember. however, that much snow, so the ".. flakes fly[ing] horizontally," is not a memory. That's something I heard in a description of our sister station, Shemya, Alaska.
HERE'S HOW THE SINOP CHAPEL WAS BUILT

Of course we didn't have the paper, we got our news from Radio Moscow, The BBC, and the English version of Voice of America. Halfway through my tour a fellow who worked in personnel had the idea to collect donations from the troops to build a chapel. He had checked and found out that there was no chapel in the master plan for Diogenes Station, so our donations were used to buy the materials and hire the labor to build that chapel. I did read sometime later (probably in The Hallmark) that the chapel was completed and in use.[When I first published this story in the After Action Report, I got a call from that guy. His name is Jim Boyce, he lived somewhere in the Carolina's and had heard that the story was out. We talked for over an hour and I got his address and sent him a copy of the piece. Never heard back. So don't know what happened. He had published a memoir covering his entire life, including Sinop. The book supposedly had some pictures of The Hill in 1957. The book was called, "Look Homeward." I tried to get a copy but it was out of print.]

THE RADIO STATION
Also, we established a low-power radio station in 1957 that broadcast a few hours each evening. There were several aspiring disc jockeys among the troops, so there was no shortage of help for that project. Mostly it was a matter of playing records, reading the album notes to introduce them, and reading news on the hour. News items were gleaned from news service copy that we picked up at operations.

THE PX

The PX was stocked mostly with just the basic necessities; i.e. soap, shaving supplies, some snacks (those were considered premium items by the troops, so they went very quickly), some pocketbooks (there was no library on post at that time), and tobacco items. During my stay there, the PX expanded quite a bit, stocking some clothing items, aluminum porch furniture, etc. Most of what they had was unusable on The Hill, so didn't move very well. You could special order audio items (tape players, record players, etc., but that was prior to transistors, and those things were large, bulky, and heavy.
Therefore, there was little space in the huts to keep them. I bought a reel-to-reel tape recorder/player from someone that was leaving. It was about eighteen inches square and ten inches deep. I didn't keep it, though. When I was leaving, one of the Turks who worked on post bought it from me for the same price I paid for it. I vividly recall one item stocked at the PX: remember, we had one field-grade officer on post, the base commander, who was a Major. Well, the PX stocked six field-grade officers billed caps (with the scrambled eggs), all size 7 1/8!! Needless to say, those were still there when I left.

There was no Class VI on post, but one could buy beer and an occasional bottle from the club. Of course, without refrigeration, beer in the huts got warm rather quickly.
MY REGRETFUL FRIENDSHIP WITH SFC JACK E. DUNLAP

AND THE CONSTRUCTION FOREMAN

The year I was on The Hill was definitely a watershed concerning the post. There was a constant round of construction of barracks, additions to the ELINT and COMINT facilities, upgrades to the power, etc. Power was supplied by diesel generators that were increased in size practically monthly. Because of the mission, it was critical to have an uninterrupted source of power. Commercial power from Sinop was nowhere near satisfactory, so we generated our own. All of the construction meant a large force of Turkish workers who were mostly locals hired by the company that had the contract for all of the renovation and new construction. One of the foremen, if not the main boss, of these workers was a blond-haired Eastern European. Because his physical appearance was so much different than the Turks, he certainly stood out. I learned much later, back in the States, that he was a Hungarian Intelligence agent who was assigned to learn about the mission at Sinop. Another person assigned as a facilities engineer was an SFC whose background was in the Airborne Infantry. Sinop was his first assignment with ASA and, following his clearance coming through, he was brought to operations and thoroughly briefed on our mission. The rationale was that knowledge of the mission would impress upon him the importance of uninterrupted power. I became good friends with him and our friendship continued after we both left Sinop and were reassigned to Ft. Meade, with duty at NSA. Since he had no operational background, his initial assignment at NSA was as driver to the NSA Chief-of-Staff (the position would later be Deputy Director for Operations [DDO] ), MG Coverdale. He continued in that assignment until General Coverdale left NSA, and, at the General's request was given an assignment in an operational position. This was some two years later, in 1960, and I left Ft. Meade for a three year tour in Germany. Upon my reassignment to Ft. Meade in 1963, we resumed our acquaintance, but I had married in the meantime, so we weren't as close. The man's name was Jack Dunlap, and in the summer of 1963, he planned to quit the Army and seek employment at NSA. During the routine poly-graph examination, several discrepancies were noted and the FBI was called. It was discovered that Jack had defected and had been providing the Soviets with information for some two years. In the end, he committed suicide. All of this is, of course, another story, but I wanted to mention it to give some idea of the great, worldwide interest in the mission at Sinop in 1957.

Going to town involved riding the back of a deuce-and-a-half on the bouncy, jouncy road down and back. Because of the dirt road down The Hill, by the time you arrived there, you were pretty dusty. During the year I was there, I went to Sinop maybe three times. I also went to Ankara once, and to Samsun once (more on those trips later). But dinner in Sinop for us meant, not donner kebob or shish kebob, but a steak dinner at Ali's restaurant. There was no "Yenni Hotel" at this time, and Ali's was the place where we went, probably because he understood English sufficiently to provide us with a fairly decent dinner. Since beer, both the brewing process and the product, was imported to Turkey from Northern Europe, the word remained the same "bira (beera)." And while the beer, to someone who had experienced German beer for three years, was less than perfection, it was at least drinkable. It was also at Ali's that I first encountered the fiery anise-based liquor called "raki." All across the Mediterranean basin, one can find this concoction, being raki in Turkey, anisette in Italy, ouzo in Greece, and Pernod in Southern France. Another way to have a decent meal was to go to one of the Black Sea coastal cruise ships which made Sinop a port-of-call. They would arrive during the afternoon and stay until late at night, giving the passengers time to debark to tour Sinop. Diners were welcome on the ship, despite not being manifested. All one had to do was take a water taxi out to the ship, climb up a ladder and make your way to the dining room. The ship had it over Ali's restaurant, since you dined on clean linen cloths, on respectable china ware. But going up and down that ladder when you were half in the bag was a real experience.
All this to-do about food stemmed from what happened shortly after I arrived on The Hill. At that time there were no rations in kind to be had in country. The US Forces there consisted of the logistical group and the Air Force support units in Ankara, a joint forces air base at Adana, and the three Black Sea sites, Sinop, Samsun, and Trabzon. The latter two were manned by Air Force personnel. We were drawing money for separate rations, some of which was immediately put into a pot and rations were purchased locally. I'm not sure where the food was purchased, bread was of the European style, crusty and un-sliced, so it probably came from the local bakery. Vegetables were available seasonally,
and meat came from the local butchers. When we had beef, we could tell if it was real beef or water buffalo just by the taste. Anything other than real beef was referred to as "asak (donkey)."
This system worked well enough until the new base commander took over. He developed a bad case of the GIs shortly after he arrived and decreed that henceforth all rations would be purchased at the commissary in Ankara. The mess sergeant tried unsuccessfully to explain that the commissary was quite small and was there for the use of dependents in Ankara. The commander was adamant, so ration runs to Ankara were instituted. The commissary officer said that his primary customers were the dependents in the Ankara area and whatever single personnel shopped there, so we were given rations after all of these were taken care of. Consequently, during one 30-day stretch, our main courses consisted of chicken and hot dogs.
One problem on The Hill was the lack of water. Water was taken from local streams by pumping it into tanker trucks. These in turn were emptied into storage tanks at the base where it was treated and dispensed. The mess hall, of course, had first priority on water. The only facilities with running
water, other than the mess hall were the BOQ and a central shower room/washroom. All of the latrines outside the BOQ were pit toilets, strategically located around the base and what were commonly called "piss tubes" in Viet Nam. One time, a couple of the Ops NCO's were drinking with the Ops officer and the Ops officer took them to the BOQ where he had another bottle. Being completely wasted, the guys sat on the floor next to the Captain's commode and kept flushing it and saying, over and over, "What a great invention!"
The houseboys left kettles of water in the huts. Most everyone had bought a small basin that they used for shaving in the hut. The idea was to heat the water on the stove and shave there, usually in the evening, and not have to walk over to the shower room. As I said, water was taken from local streams and that worked well in winter, but in summer the streams had a habit of drying up, causing the water detail to have to go farther afield to fill up. As a consequence, showers in the summer were limited to two a week. I can't remember that we stank that bad, so either time has smoothed over that memory, or we just didn't pay that much attention to our smells. Of course, the beverage of choice was beer, with a close second being coffee or soda pop, so lack of drinking water wasn't a big deal. The weather was temperate to cold, so that helped, too.
We did get a desalinization unit that summer, powered by diesel generators. I don't remember that it made much difference in the water situation, only one more thing to break down.
We got a new Warrant Officer (WOJG) in that year, Arnold Taylor. New in both ways - new to us and new to the Officer's Corps. He came in wearing a brand new summer tropical worsted (TW) uniform, but his baggage didn't make it in with him. He wound up wearing that uniform for two weeks straight! Even with his nightly showers in the BOQ, his TW's kept him pretty gamy. I felt sorry for him, and after we got to know him, he was a pretty good guy.

About midway through my tour, the NCO club committee decided to purchase some used slot machines from the Air Force NCO club in Ankara. I was picked to go down, check them out, buy them and bring them back to Sinop. It being summer time, we took the mountain route in a deuce-and-a-half. It really was picturesque. One stretch was a single-lane dirt road cut into the side of the mountain. It reminded me of the World War II newsreels of the supply trucks on the Burma Road. The initial part of the slot machine deal was made by telephone from Sinop to Ankara, so the club sergeant was
expecting me. I, however, was not expecting the junk machines that he was offering. There were three: a nickel, a dime, and a quarter machine, and the agreed upon price was $600. I thought that was exorbitant considering the condition of the machines (as I remember, the nickel machine didn't even have a back), and called Sinop and told the club sergeant of my misgivings. He said my feelings were duly noted and to buy the machines. So much for my business acumen. From that time forward, the NCO club had money for whatever we wanted. Because of the condition of the machines (I was right about that), they were constantly breaking down, but we had a secret repairman in the person of the operations crypto-repair NCO. He was able to keep the machines functioning. When the IG made his annual inspection, he asked to see all of the documentation for the money collected and paid out. Every thing was in order, but the amount of money we had on hand was staggering. I remember his
comment: "Maybe you should change the odds on these things." A second thing that the IG was concerned with was the amount of booze (mostly beer) consumed on the hill. At that time, any mixed drink was 25 cents and beer (all American beer) was 15 cents. I asked the NCO club custodian why all mixed drinks were the same price when differing liquors had vastly different costs per bottle. He said he didn't want to confuse the Turkish kid who tended bar, so he arbitrarily made everthing the same price. During his check of the EM club, the IG was told that some guys spent up to $75.00 a month at the club. He thought that was outrageous, and asked the SFC who was helping count the money what he spent a month. He asked the wrong guy, because he was noted for his ability to knock 'em back, despite working long hours and never missing work. His reply to the IG was, "Some months $150.00, some months $155.00. Some months have 30 days and some have 31 days." The IG let it go after
that, and I didn't hear anything further about the excessive drinking on the hill. Sometime later, I went into the club one evening and there was a brand new 150-play jukebox. The total number of records
we had was probably 10 to 15, so the jukebox seemed a little extravagant. When I said something to the club sergeant, the same one who had instructed me to buy the machines, he told me quite proudly that the jukebox had cost $1500, and he was delighted to be able to spend that kind of money just to get
rid of it.
Another time I was fortunate enough to go to Samsun on a weekend trip. There were four of us (all NCO's) and we went down in a jeep. As I remember, we went to scrounge something from the Air Force. We got to stay overnight in the hotel where the Air Force troops were billeted, so that made for a very nice change-of-pace from life on The Hill. I, of course, did not go to the Karahani while we were in Samsun, but a friend with remarkable powers of observation and description, gave me this version of the place. I have heard the Karahani referred to as a women's prison. That may well be, but it did not look or feel like a prison, not in the way we understand the word. The place was enormous. At the front (only?) gate, Turkish soldiers were stationed, but their function was kind of nebulous, since they didn't seem to do much. There was no check of personnel going in or out and, since the place was relatively quiet that night, there wasn't much one could see that they did. Inside was like a self-contained city. There were shops, restaurants and block after block of apartments where the women stayed and worked. There were hundreds of men walking the streets, ogling the women and talking both to the women and with one another. The noise, smells, and the undercurrent of raw sex was truly unforgettable. I have to say that none of us felt the least bit threatened while we were there.

The next day, Sunday, we left Samsun for our return to Sinop. As luck would have it, we had a flat tire in the town square in Bafra. We couldn't have picked a better place for this inconvenience to happen, and, as it turned out, we weren't inconvenienced at all. We climbed out of the jeep intending to fix the flat, when the head man in the village came out, instructed some of the locals to take off the tire, repair it and replace it. Meanwhile, we were taken into the local coffeehouse where we were given glasses of the sweet, hot tea that everyone drinks. (Why they call them coffeehouses is a mystery, since no one drinks coffee.) When the tire was ready, we offered to pay for the repair and the labor, but the head-man refused our offer. There was a small restaurant adjacent to the coffeehouse and, it being around noon, we went in for lunch. Because of our lack of Turkish, and the proprietor's lack of English, we chose our lunch by looking into pots until we saw something we liked. It turned out to be stuffed peppers, a staple throughout the middle east as well as Eastern Europe. They were really good
and, washed down with ice water, made a very satisfying lunch. When it came time to pay, I tried to give the proprietor ten lira (about a dollar) but he pushed that away and took an ici bucuk (equivalent to a quarter) and gave me change. Not bad for lunch for four. (At that time the official exchange rate was ten lira to the dollar. Now it's 638,000 and change.)

Here's the conclusion of the story
So, with all of the primitiveness of Sinop, what was there to recommend it? Operations, of course.
Operations at Sinop were unique in many ways. The original Ops building was built by the troops. The initial floor plan called for hut trucks to back up to openings in the building, and intercept was conduct-ed in the huts. This changed soon after I got there, and the intercept bay was doubled in size,
with the original wall where the huts were, removed and all positions set up with receivers in racks inside the building. At that time, the mission required four Morse and two voice positions. But because of the rapid expansion of the target during that year, we installed another five Morse racks and
manned them during special events. All that year we continued our coverage with up to nine positions active at once, using off-duty operators who voluntarily came to Ops for these special missions, even though our POEI remained at four Morse positions. Never once did any higher headquarters question why or how we were able to provide this extra coverage!
The most unique thing about our mission was that this was the first "marriage" of COMINT and ELINT. Until 1955, ELINT was the sole prerogative of the Signal Corps. In that year, it was transferred to ASA, with all of the equipment and personnel. The kicker was that most ELINT personnel had only a SECRET clearance, weren't allowed access to the COMINT Ops building, and had only a vague idea of what we were doing. The entire operations area was laid out with the two buildings (COMINT and ELINT) inside a secure fence, with a second fence around the COMINT building. Coming in through the guard shack, there were two exit doors, one leading to the ELINT area and one to the COMINT. Since the personnel complement was small enough, and everyone knew the exclusionary rules, there was no problem with the guard knowing where everyone should go. We didn't use badges, relying instead on the guard's knowledge. This being my first experience with ELINT, I was given a thorough briefing and tour of their operations early on, and the huge dish antennas and high-speed, wideband recorders that they used reminded me of the movies of the "mad doctor's laboratory." During special operations, we communicated with the ELINT building over a land-line intercom, using special codes to
describe where we were in an operation. For any expansion of information, we had to use a runner. We had the usual conflicts between headquarters and operations. For example; a big cookout was set for Independence Day. Makeshift grills were constructed, hamburgers, hotdogs, potato salad, and all the fixin's were prepared by the mess hall, and a beautiful, isolated beach on the Black Sea just
east of Sinop was set up for the festivities. All the troops were loaded in deuce-and-a-halfs and trucked down there - all, that is, except operations. The target picked that day (coincidently? I think not) for extended operations, causing us to keep not only the normal complement of people there, but also as many as we could convince to help out. We did get a small measure of satisfaction hearing later that the beach, as beautiful as it was, served as a reflector for the sun, and folks were getting drunk on two or three beers, drastically shortening their party. The same thing happened on Christmas Day. The target picked that day to act up, and turkey sandwiches at operations were had instead of the normal feast.
As both an example of the Army's less-than-perfect personnel system, and as a kind of harbinger of what would happen, there were three Vietnamese linguists assigned to Sinop. Of course, we didn't have any use for them, so they were given OJT and cross-trained to work either cryptanalysis or traffic analysis. All three turned out to be exceptionally good workers, becoming highly productive in a short time. Eight to ten years after that, they would have had quite a different experience.
That summer, they moved in DF equipment that had been located at Ankara. The set was an AN/TRD-4 (how many of you remember those?), and, because of my past experience, I was picked to set it up and get it operational. WOJG Taylor had no experience in DF, but he had a TM that went into great detail on how to orient and erect the equipment. First of all, we had to acquire land in an area far enough away from other equipment and manmade structures that the DF equipment could operate without interference. Sinop Birnu (Sinop point) is shaped like a giant footprint, if the giant were wear-ing shoes, with the toe pointing inland to Turkey, and the heel pointing toward The Caucausas. At that time, all of the base was located in the toe of the point and the heel of the point was under cultivation, or open fields. We scouted the open area, picked a likely site, and had our GI Turkish interpreter locate the owner. The owner was more than willing to lease the land to us, but he couldn't understand why we wanted undeveloped land when he had a fully mature cornfield that he was also willing to sell.
Mr. Taylor and I took a jeep and drove out to the point one night to our newly acquired site, taking with us a transit and the TM on DF operations. As I remember, we had to sight on Polaris (the North Star), wait until the Big Dipper swung around in the sky so that the handle stars of the Dipper were aligned with Polaris, and at that time the transit was aligned to true north. We knew the magnetic declination for our location, so we set that on the transit, drove in a stake with a nail on top, and that gave us our N-S line for the equipment. This procedure took approximately five hours. Now all you have to do is use the Global Positioning System (GPS) that will give you a perfectly oriented position within ten
meters of a spot anywhere on Earth. How things change. Setting up the equipment was uneventful. The hut was carried out there on a deuce-and-a-half, off-loaded and we operated out of the hut on the ground. The equipment proved very reliable, even though we were using diesel generators for power, and had to shut down whenever we were fueling or servicing a generator. Driving out to The Point (our name for the DF site) was itself an experience. We had to pass a small farm where there was a water buffalo. This buffalo hated jeeps and charged after them every time we went past. It obviously had worked out the geometry of its approach, since it revised its angle of attack each time it charged us. When it looked like it had solved the vector problem sufficiently to cause us grave damage, we
switched from a jeep to a 3/4-ton truck. The difference in size both confused it and caused it to reevaluate its position, thus heading-off a potentially dangerous situation. Before we switched vehicles, we had mentioned our nemesis to the guys at operations. They, of course, thought we were
exaggerating. But one time we took Mr. Taylor out. He was in the right-front seat, I was driving and a third man was in the back seat. The guy in back had a pistol, a personal weapon as I remember, and, when the buffalo commenced its attack, Mr. Taylor was convinced we were done for. He was shouting, "Shoot him!! Shoot him!!" Now that I think about it, that was when we started traveling in the 3/4-ton.
After the site was up and running and personnel were picked to man the equipment, I kind of eased out of the daily operation of the site. At that time, the target was changing rapidly, and Mr. Taylor picked me for a new task. When my tour was up, I left The Hill riding in the back of a truck. Because of the weather (March, 1958) we burrowed into pile-lined sleeping bags, trying to keep warm from Sinop to
Samsun, and from Samsun to Ankara. Even so, it was cold enough that I remember it to this day. Lunch on the road consisted of sandwiches from the messhall washed down with straight bourbon. I was so cold, that bourbon didn't even burn on the way down. As a kind of compensation, we were given first class flights from Ankara to Wheelus AFB, in Tripoli, Libya, where we caught MATS (Military Air Transport Service, the predecessor of MAC) flights to the States. I was booked on KLM, first class to Rome. There we stayed overnight, and, because we were traveling first class, we were put up in a deluxe hotel. The second leg of the flight was on Alitalia to Wheelus. That was an incredible experience for me, both the flights and the hotel. Nothing before had prepared me for either the pampering by the
flight crews, the food in first class, or the opulence of that hotel in Rome. There was a mixup in my orders and flight operations at Wheelus had me booked on a flight to the States ten days after
I reported in. Typical bureaucracy, I was told if I just showed up, I could leave immediately, but, since I was already manifested, I was stuck there for the whole time. As a casual, there wasn't anything to do except eat and sleep. The messhall there was probably the worst I've ever encountered (so much for the myth of Air Force chow), so I ate either at the PX snack bar or at the NCO club. The transient barracks was directly in the flight path and every morning I was wakened by F100's taking off. The weather was just cold enough that they always used their afterburners, really a nasty way to wake up.
From there it was just a reverse of my trip over. I caught a MATS flight from Wheelus to Charleston, SC and civilian flights from there to Detroit, my hometown.
I've never thought of my tour at Sinop as a particular hardship. I lived under field conditions for extended periods in Germany, Turkey, and Vietnam, and always felt it was just the luck of the draw. I also lived in some pretty swank surroundings, and figured it all evened out. Likewise, I don't remember that there was any more bitching at Sinop than any other place I was stationed. There's always some, that's the GI's nature. But when it was time to work, we worked hard. Probably, we worked harder than many other stations, but, again, that was the reason for us being there and there just wasn't much else to do. Also, like in every other tour anyone did in the Army, I met some great folks who became friends that I encountered many times over the years.I do agree with the overall sentiment in The Hallmark piece that, if you've been on The Hill you'll always remember it. To this day, the anniversary of Sputnik-I (October, 1957) and Sputnik-II (November, 1957) are dates solidly etched in my memory. I still remember the acrid smell of Turkish cigarettes and Maumet answering my, "How's it going?" with, "Good, Sarge, and you, Sarge?" And during the television reports on the seemingly endless wars that take place in the middle east, whenever they show pictures of minarets and I hear the plaintive sound of the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer, I remember my time at Sinop.

HERNDON, Howard, E3-E5, Det 4, 60-NO61, (Janice), 2073 E Hwy 54, Linton, IN 47441, 812-847-4557, hherndon@vredenburg.com - I remember the Black Medic NCO at Sinop that Pete Castigliano mentioned. His name was Sgt. Moon. I remember he smashed his thumb and wanted me to push a hot wire into his thumb nail to relieve the blood pressure...he finally had to do it himself.
Thanks Howard Herndon

WINCH, Gary E3-E5 982 Det 27, 25SE62-JN64, (Marian), 105A Askewton Rd., Severna Park, MD 21146, 410-647-2879, gwwinch@worldnet.att.net - Hi and Happy New Year, Elder! While out doing errands this morning, I came across a long lost friend and ASA Turkey Vet! In fact, I'd mentioned his
name when I gave some brief remarks at the Hershey Reunion. His name is Bob Martin (Robert J. Martin) and he was in the Comm Center; he was at Manzarali Station beginning some time in 1963 and stayed for, at least, two years. Bob mentioned a couple of other guys whose names I didn't recognize, but he clearly keeps in touch with them. He doesn't have Email at the moment but his street address is: 706 James Road Glen Burnie, MD 21061. Bob is definitely interested in keeping in touch with fellow Turkey folks. Now that I know where he is, I'm happy to pass along messages if it's helpful. Take care and cheers/Gary