Fred Remembers~Part 10

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

In Biloxi, I remember having my first soft ice cream from an ice cream stand called Frosty Fred’s.

I remember that, while we were in Biloxi, I used to go fishing from a public pier, with a cane pole, using dead shrimp as bait, out in the Gulf [of Mexico] itself, and also in the bay behind the base. (Keesler AFB)

I used to catch a lot of croaker, some spade fish,

Atlantic Spadefish – credit Google Search and Wikipedia

and occasionally what we called sea trout, which is what my Dad called weak fish, which is what it was called up in New Jersey.

Sea Trout – credit Google Search and By No machine-readable author provided. Wolfgang Striewski assumed (based on copyright claims).

Anyway, I used to catch a bunch of fish, take it home and clean it, and eat it myself. I shared it with the rest of the family, too, of course.

I remember while we were in Biloxi, I went to one of the schools there.  I was in the 5^thgrade.  As I recall, I think I was the only boy who’s voice had changed, so in music class I had to sing baritone by myself – and was very embarrassed about it. The other boys were singing something called Cambiata, which was a strange mixture for boys who’s voice is in the process of changing.  I also played the harmonica.  That was at Howard Elementary School.

Fred – 1950-1951 – Howard Elementary School

Fred – 1951 – with Keesler AFB Chaplain

1951 – of course by this time the Korean War had started, and Keesler had gone from a few thousand to, I think, over 30,000 troops almost overnight.

Dad said:   During that year, my mother took the train down to visit us and was with us for a month. Everyone was very nice to Mama, and she thoroughly enjoyed her stay with us.  I remember that shortly before she came down, the Korean War broke out, and our base went from 13,000 to 33,000 almost over night.  As a result, our chapels were filled with new airmen.  My mother had wanted me to get out of the service, and return to a civilian pastorate.  I took her to the chapel one morning, and placed her on the first pew so that she could see for herself the ministry I was in.  Soon she was enveloped by hundreds of young airmen.  She found the chapel full of airmen, some were standing along the sides of the building, some were seated on the chancel in front of the chapel, and there were even some looking in the windows from outside the chapel. After that, there was no more talk about my getting out of the service.

But they also needed some other training bases, and one of them happened to be Tyndall AFB over in Panama City, Florida, and Dad was transferred over there in 1951.  So we piled in the car and, by this time I believe, Dad had traded in his Oldsmobile for a 1950 Buick, which was considerably bigger and roomier and had four doors, which for six of us was a much more comfortable car.

Photo credit WJHG.com
 Credit Google search

We drove over to Panama City.  For a while, we lived in a place called Victory Circle, if I remember right, which was right downtown, right near the harbor in Panama City.  As I recall, it was either a four-unit or six-plex, and it was very old and crumbly.  Eventually we bought a new house at 107 Cove Lane.  I think it cost about $7,000 for a three-bedroom, one-car garage, and one bathroom house.  There was no yard to speak of, only some grass in the front yard, and weeds in the back. One day I saw rain in the front of the house, while it was dry in the back.

While living on Cove Lane, I had a friend who had a paper route. While he was gone, he would let me do it for him.  When it came time to collect for the delivery, I found that I had the most difficult time collecting from the Major of Panama City.  Sometimes dogs would harass and chase me as I delivered the papers. I loaded a squirt gun with ammonia and would squirt them in the face.  No more harassment.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years

Tags: A military man remembers