On the Street Where You Live…Part 11

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

One reason we had stayed at Tyndall AFB for five years, is that at year four, Fred made another rank, and the Air Force had plans for him, but it wasn’t for another year.  So when that year was up (year five), we left Tyndall AFB and Florida, and moved to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Fort Leavenworth was a temporary move – we knew we would be there only for one year, for Fred to attend the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College.

Credit Google Search and Fort Leavenworth website

Credit Google Search and U.S. Army CGSC website

As we moved, unfortunately, there was a trucker strike going on, and the trucker who had our household goods was afraid to travel.  Our goods were delayed more than one week.  So we borrowed mats (and possibly air mattresses), a card table and chairs, and some cooking utensils and set up house in the unit we were given to live in for that year.  Our household goods finally arrived and we set up housekeeping.

Two of the five units – ours is the second from the end

I must say that the houses were very cheaply built.  They were built in the early 1970’s and the five-plex we lived in only cost a total of $60,000 to build!  Five houses for that amount of money?  The walls were quite thin, and we could hear a lot of our neighbors goings-on.  We said we thought they had a set of wooden clogs at the top and bottom of the stairs and really clomped up and down the stairs!  We nailed pieces of carpet down on our stairs.  Another time, Karen was in our bedroom with me, studying for a spelling test.  The man of the house next door stood at the top of his stairs and yelled down “DID YOU HEAR ME?”  I responded “yes, I did!”  Karen was laughing so hard I thought she would roll off the bed!  They had a TV in their bedroom and it was always turned up loud enough for us to hear and understand what was being said.  Very thin walls, indeed.

The house was built on a “slope” thus creating a “split level” house.  Walk in the front door and there are steps going up, and steps going down.  Up leads to the bedrooms, down to the living room.

Going downstairs to the living room

Turn right and there is a half-bath on the left.  Further on is the dining room on the right, kitchen on the left with a laundry room off that.

Up the stairs the master bedroom and bath is directly ahead.  Small landing, then turn right to another flight of stairs to another “upstairs.”  Two bedrooms and a bathroom, with a large storage closet at the end.

It was a rather fun house to live in, but very cold in the winter – we even had to tape plastic sheeting over the living room sliding glass doors to keep the cold out.

The living room – Janet and friend

The living room was the entire width of the house, so a large room.  Our TV, piano, couch and chair, and stereo equipment were down there.  Fred did his studying on the dining room table, so it was a good thing the TV was downstairs.  We had a day-bed from San Antonio days that was also down there, along with a bookshelf.

The good news was that it was only for one year.  Fred received his orders – to Heidelberg, West Germany!!  Woohoo – we get to go to Germany again!

Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery – established in 1862 by President Lincoln

Credit Google Search and Fort Leavenworth website

1980 – Fort Leavenworth Cemetery in the Springtime – Fred and I used to jog here – even in the snow

~~~~~~~~~~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 .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

Tags: Fort Leavenwort, Military Life