"Helping Veterans Find Veterans"

"Guantanamo Bay 1972-73" by Ron Allbritain I was stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (Gitmo) from 1973-1974 as a Ship Rider while serving in the Coast Guard. I was transferred there because while I was stationed on the Coast Guard Cutter Midgett as part of the Commissioning Crew, in 1972, I was going out for liberty one day through a hatch that is ALWAYS open, but for some reason it had been closed and I hit my head really hard on it requiring stitches. I had hit my head several times on the overheads because of my height (6’5”). So I put in for shore duty anywhere. I got Gitmo. The place is gorgeous, if you like tropical islands. I remember the water almost always being 85 degrees, and the air temperature was the same. I remember going to the outdoor drive-in theaters and sitting in your own lawn chair to watch the latest run movies that the base could get a hold of. Almost all of the cars there were quite old. I had taken my brand new 1973 VW Super Beetle there and everyone thought I was crazy, I found out later why…the gas was a mixture of fuel and water, which tended to not be too friendly on the engines. There was one stop light at the main intersection on the base, which had a sign under it stating that “This is a stop light” for those born on the island and was heading back to the states, and never seen one before. At the golf course on the base you had to carry around your own little piece of Astro Turf, because you were basically playing on coral rock…so you would place you ball on the piece of turf and then hit your ball, so you would not destroy your clubs. I was a Sonar Technician there. My job was to ride the ships that were in port for underway training and grade them on how well they performed Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW). My problem was that there was rarely a submarine in port to chase, and if there was, we would only see them once for a teaser and then we would never be able to find them. So I enjoyed going to the wonderful beaches quite often. I also remember that part of our jobs as ship riders, was to try to break security on the ships that were in for training. I got on board one, which was having a small open house for one reason or another, and I was assigned an escort to view the ship. I had asked to go to the restroom and he escorted me there and waited outside while I was inside. I found there was a second exit and proceeded to go up to the CIC and was able to break their security. Needless to say, they flunked the test. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the land crabs. You would see them crossing the roads all the time to go from their homes in the hills and going into the ocean. It was strange seeing smashed crabs in the middle of the roads. There were also a lot of Iguanas, which fed on the smashed crabs, I mean LARGE Iguanas too! Since Gitmo is in the news lately with the terrorists being held there, it has brought back some memories….good ones. Ron Allbritain USGC 1970-76

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