Fred Remembers Part 17

Sunday Memories

Judy Wills

And so, in August of 1957, I left the family in Tokyo and flew on a PanAm flight across the Pacific Ocean with stops at Wake Island, Midway, and at Hickam AFB in Honolulu.

Hickam AFB flight line

Charles wrote:  It was during our assignment to the 41st  Air Division and Johnson Air Base that our older son, Fred, left us to return to the United States and matriculation at the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque. He was the first of our children to leave the nest and I felt his absence very keenly.  I know the other family members also missed him but, for me, it was a shock.  I was to feel that same shock when the other children, in their turn, left Kitty and me and I never did get used to it. Oh, I learned to live with the fact that we had our children only for a few years and that they must leave us to take their place in the world.  It was the will of God and we had to accept the reality.

A friend of mine, Pete Benefield, was on the same flight.

Pete Benefield and friends, Hawaii

While in Tokyo, we kept each other company.  We stayed at the same hotel.  Nearby was a theatre that was showing Around the World in 80 days.  The theatre had been built just for that movie.  A ticket cost 80 yen (360 yen = $1.00 U.S.).  It was in Cinemascope and full stereo sound.  We had seats near the back.  It was in English with Japanese subtitles.

The next day we flew out on a DC7  with four old propeller engines.  We stopped in Wake Island to refuel.  As we were landing, I could see the ocean white caps under the wing.  We used nearly all the runway to land.  After Wake Island, we flew to Hickam AFB in Hawaii.

Pete stayed in Hawaii.  I flew on to San Francisco International Airport.  I took a cab into town, to the train station.  I stayed in a hotel overnight, then took a train the next day to Los Angeles.  Aunt Eleanor (Mom’s sister) and Uncle Bob met me at the station.

A few weeks later, I took the El Capitan from LA to Albuquerque, New Mexico to attend the University of New Mexico.

Sandia mountains from my dorm window – UNM golf course

After registration, the University put me in a room in Mesa Vista Dorm – the only men’s dormitory at that time.

Mesa Vista Dorm

They put me in a small, two-man room, but instead of two single beds, there were two bunk beds.  They actually put four men in one small room.  Apparently they did not expect all of us to complete the first semester.  As it turned out, two did drop out by the start of the second semester.

~~~~~~~~~~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 his life.