I had three brief stop overs at the Brooklyn Armed Guard for reassignment and boarded my first
ship in New York City. (S S Alexander Martin). In
my short lay overs I found the people very friendly and very supported of service people. I also got acquainted with several pen-pals on my lay overs. And these letters were morale boosters
when they finally caught up with you. One high lite in New York City I still remember. I and two
other sailors were in Times Square sight seeing. We could hear this female voice saying my name way off in the distance. And also saying wait up.
We finally spotted her waving at us. She was with
her parents who lived in New york City. They insisted on showing us around and took all of us to dinner at a very nice resturant. I had met this young lady at a U S O in New York on my first reassignment. She was still in school and about 16yrs. old. And volunteered her spare time at the U S O and also nelped out at the Red Cross. Plus she was one of my first pen-pals. As
I was just 17 and far from home. This was very important to me. The young people of the WW11 era
did their part and served a very useful contribution to winning the war. We don't hear much about this. Thanks for bringing this up Gerald. Your story was very interesting. We need
more of these type of experiences.
---Al
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