I'm listing this as 1976/77 because I was assigned to the USS Francis Marion through my Reserve Center. As you know, once a year weekend warriors went on two weeks active duty. I remember when I was in the regular Navy what a pest the Reserve guys could be. Usually trying to be too helpful because they were board to death. So, when I was on my two weeks I either kept to myself or waited to be asked to do whatever was needed. But, this was a little different. Several of us flew into Norfolk, from La Crosse, Wisconsin, to pick up the ship. Little did I know that early the next morning we set sail, for GiTMO. Not again!! And on just a TWO WEEK assignment no less. USS FRANCIS MARION - RESERVE DUTY - TWO WEEKS 1976, Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (*GiTMO) in Cuba. 5 days of the 2 weeks USNR onboard the USS Francis Marion, an APA/LPA-249. Toward the end of 1976 I rode the Francis Marion from Norfolk to GiTMO on a two week Reserve cruise. It was in the late fall, nearly Christmas, of '76 and about a half dozen of us weekend warriors from western Wisconsin reported for duty in Norfolk on the attack cargo ship APA/LKA-249 Francis Marion. I had done my four years in the Navy back in the late 60's and early 70's, so, my reserve duty was voluntary, I needed the money, and I have to admit...it was an interesting way to spend a couple of weeks each year away from my mid-western job. The Navy seldom sent me to anything local and I would get a couple of weeks on either the east or west coast at government expense. It was a time in my life when simple pleasures amused me and this was one of those times because what I hadn't realize was that I had just reported on-board a ship that was pulling out of port and headed for Cuba. I was an IC3 and the IC Gang on this ship were about as laid back as any I'd ever worked with, which if you know anything about Interior Communications...we weren't exactly the hardest working group on any ship. Aside from fixing the occasional phone, one of our most important activities was scrounging around other ships trading movies and then showing the flick on the mess-deck in the evening. It was the only thing I remember accomplishing in the short period we had before leaving Norfolk...the day after we arrived. We left Norfolk and headed into the Atlantic. I remember a bit of rough weather and once after lunch I came up topside to some salt spray and a quick lean over the side. Lunch was over and I guess I didn't need it any more anyhow. I wouldn't call it seasick...just a little barf and it was over. By now I must have learned we were headed for Guantanamo Bay and within a few days we arrived to bask in the sun, far away from the frozen north of Wisconsin or the cold rain of Norfolk. Then it hit me...how are we going to get out of here? How long was the ship planning to be in GiTMO? There wasn't time to sail back to Norfolk and surly they realized we were just Reservists on a two week assignment. Not that I sat around worrying about it, after all, I was in the hands of our Uncle Sam and in case you ever doubted him...there was no need to for concern. On or about the 13th day of our two weeks we were told to pack our sea bags and head over to the airstrip. There on the tarmac in the pre-dawn was a large four engine turboprop Douglas DC-6 with #228 on the sides below the cockpit windows. As we settled down for our flight back to CONUS one of the crew told us this aircraft, number 228, dated back to the Kennedy Administration. The only thing I remember about the flight was the old prop-job was so noisy I had to take the cotton from the top of a bottle of aspirins and shove it in my ears in order to get some sleep. We landed in Atlanta and went through an intense customs search. They must have been looking for drugs because they examined each of the seams of my uniforms. Unable to find anything I was sent on my way with another airline ticket, home. The fun was over for another year. I always wondered what a trip like that must have cost?? I took a couple of nice shots which I will post of her along side a pier in Cuba.
