Posted by Gerald Burr on December 8, 2009, 4:34 pm
Our ship was just back from England and we had a few days to spend at the Brooklyn Naval Yards, One night I and 2 other Sailors went to Times Square and went up to the top floor of a hotel where there was dining and dancing, we listened to the House Band while they were rehearsing, it was Sammy Kay, when it was time to start the festivities, the bouncers were going to kick us out. Sammy saw what was happening and came down and had the waiters take us to a front table, we stayed there all evening, he bought us a meal and his gal singer came down and danced with us. Talk about support for the troops. This was fall of 1944
New York City was one of my favorite cities. 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