I was playing around with Google Earth today... Looking at places I have lived and remembering events and people along the way.. Came across Craig AFB in Selma, Alabama. Craig was a small pilot training base, heavily used during WW2. By the time I got there the mission was to transition pilots from sub-sonic T-37 to supersonic T-38 aircraft.
This was my first duty assignment after Basic Training at Lackland AFB and helicopter training at Sheppard AFB, both of which were in Texas. I remember well the day at Sheppard when I got that set of orders. My first thought was “Damn, Selma, Alabama?... I don't wanna go there.. I wanted California” Guess I was thinking beach, surf, sun...
After a few days of leave time back here in Massachusetts, off I went for my first experience in the deep south. Now I of course had a preconceived opinion of what to expect... Stereotypes from having been exposed to media slant of stories of M. L. King being turned back at the Edmund Petus bridge, and all the racial rioting which followed those events. I knew well also that a guy with a Boston accent in the deep south might be in for a hard time dealing with “redneck southern boys” who were still pissed off over the outcome of the civil war.
I left Logan airport and in a few hours landed in Montgomery. My impression when I stepped off a 727 into the warm night air was disbelief that this was Montgomery. Simply couldn't be... The terminal was about the size of a three car garage... In a few moments all the passengers off the plane (maybe a dozen) had been picked up in all manner of vehicles and were gone...
So, here I was standing alone at some airport in Alabama looking at a sign which read “Welcome To The Heart Of Dixie” ... not a soul around for miles.. not even a parked aircraft... I remember also that all the lights at the airport terminal went out, save one bare bulb by the entrance to the building... guess they were on a timer and mine was the last flight of the day... Looking out across the dark, flat, featureless airstrip at the blue boundary lights I remember the crickets... (I always loved the sound of them.. and still do) I was thinking OK...what now?
After maybe an hour, out of nowhere appeared a taxi... I got up from sitting on my duffel bag and went to speak with the driver.. He was not very talkative.. took me to the Greyhound bus station in Montgomery (he did not wish to go to Selma).. Guess by now it was about 2am and the bus station was as deserted as the airport.. I remember looking at one of them florescent “Jesus Saves” signs which are so popular in the south... you know the ones I mean.. Jesus vertically and Saves horizontally....
About 6 am a “White Kastle” burger place just down the street from the bus station opened.. My first meal in Alabama was a sack of those tiny greasy burgers and a royal crown soda.
The bus driver knew his job... We rolled 45 miles west on highway 80 towards Selma, and he stopped in the middle of nowhere... told me this is where ya all need to get off... turned out to be in front of the main gate to the base..
Over the next six months I settled into a routine.. go to work and then back to the barracks... not too much interaction with non-military folks.. it was a boring and lonely time in my life.. loved the job, but that was all I had.. I learned a lot about my helicopter and helicopter theory of flight.. Got some hours of stick time, and pilots respected me for it... In spite of my rank as airman 1st. class, I managed to get selected to do an aircrew survival course in Washington State. That TDY (temporary duty assignment) won me some travel pay which was sorely needed. I learned how to play the travel pay game..
In that time though, I somehow managed to save a few hundred bucks.. (pay rate was $32 a week Plus $15. hazardous duty flight pay)... I also had earned some leave time... I had a decision.. Go on leave (the air-fare home would have busted me, and no one was there that I wanted to see, or for that matter wanted to see me) or save the leave time and buy transportation.. The latter won out..
Buying a car was too expensive for my wallet, so I took a bus back to Montgomery... found a motorcycle dealer.. Guy there no doubt took a look at my short military haircut and figured me out quickly.. I ended up buying a 175cc two stroke Suzuki and a helmet. Think the bike was a turn-in on someones trade-up deal.. Thinking back, I would be surprised if the gentleman broke even on the deal, but it still took all the money I had at the time to get the bike.. I learned to drive it pretty quickly.. Didn't crash it anyway... What a feel of freedom after being pretty much confined to the base... Got to ride through cotton fields, meet people, and experience good southern food... Got a cheap tent and a air force issue sleeping bag... I think it was the first time in a long while I had an real smile.. life got much more bearable.
With transportation taken care of, I got off the base more often and started to meet real southerners... Got a job in a Holiday Inn bar in Selma, and found a coffee shop called "The Glass House" to hang out in on my off time. Mrs. Nellie (bless her heart) and her husband Mr, Leon who owned the place, got to know and like me, and went out of their way to introduce me to a lot of their regular customers... Always will be thankful for that.. She sure could bake a great pecan pie!
Met some other motorcyclists on the base and traveled with them some.. With the extra cash from bar tending, Suzy got replaced. (still got a place in my heart for that little bike) A Honda 305cc “Super hawk” proved to be a much nicer machine to ride, and I could keep up with the guys I was riding with..
I developed a totally different opinion of southerners. Came to the conclusion that there was more racial hatred in the north than in the south. Now that's not to say there were not exceptions.. certainly there were people that were full of hate.. but I didn't see it as much there as I still (over 30 years later) see around here..
I grew to like the south and those who live there.. I like their traditions, manners, and respect for one another... I wanna go back and look it over again.. Sounds like the subject of a future bike trip.. I am working my body hard everyday to get closer to a ride...
All these memories from looking at Google Earth...lol
Have a nice day folks... be kind to one another... GDW
