As per the two earlier stories about my Uncle George this one is once more about his time as a Navy construction battalion officer. Once more Uncle George and I sat in his home office, he in a big leather swivel chair behind his desk and me on an overstuffed leather sofa. A bottle of Wild Turkey bourbon and an ice bucket sat on his credenza and the two of us engaged in the lengthy discussion where he reminisced about both his time in the military and the various encounters that he had with the fairer sex along the way. To say that the Wild Turkey failed to well-lubricate the conversation would not be accurate.
His time on the aviation project at Pensacola had ended and he had received orders to report to Charleston where he was to become deputy project manager for a dry dock project for a new class of frigate. He had enjoyed his time at Pensacola, a time when he had been promoted twice. Arriving as a newly minted ensign, Uncle George had soon been promoted to lieutenant junior grade and then to lieutenant. Just a few days ago he had received notice that he was now a lieutenant commander (select).
A couple of weeks prior to his departure he posted a note on the bulletin board stating his time and destination in the event someone wanted to have a ride. Much to his surprise several days later he received a call from a Lieutenant Emily Graves, a Navy nurse who was being temporarily assigned to Charleston.
He received his pay advance, packed his belongings, and put his seabag plus an overnight bag that contained only the essentials in the trunk of his 1955 Chrysler. The car was a story in itself, being it was owned by his father's firm and actually bore Florida license plates. It was hardly a stripped-down version in that it had air conditioning, genuine leather seats and its distinctive green and white two tone was well known for various reasons on base. The MPs knew it because of numerous parking violations, but for members of the Nurses Corps, let's just say, it identified its driver. This story is getting a little ahead of itself so I'll let Uncle George tell it like it happened and I'm certain that he won't omit any of the interesting details.
"Well, LT Graves and I had a couple of phone calls where we were able to agree on a day and time. I was to pick her up at the Medical BOQ Annex at 0700 on Tuesday. I had no idea what she looked like, but given her rank I guessed that she was likely a bit younger than me but not by a whole lot."
"So how did you know who to look for?"
"Easy. Being that we were not traveling in uniform there was not going to be many late 20-year-old women dressed in civies dragging a seabag. I also told her to look for the green Chrysler. At the appointed hour I drove over to the Medical BOQ Annex, the residence for the Navy Nurse Corps. Sure enough, waiting at curb that morning was a petite woman wearing civilian clothes--a yellow sundress--and sporting a short pixie-like hairdo. When I say petite, I mean not much more than five feet tall with not much in the way of boobs to speak of. "
"Sounds pretty tiny to me."
"She was and when I got out to put her seabag in the back of the car I also noticed that there might have been a lack of boobs, but she did have a terrific pair of legs. She was a very cute woman."
"I don't know what you would have done if she had been an overweight ogre."
"I don't know either. But anyway, she got in the car, and we set off on our road trip. This was in the days before the interstate highways, so it was going to take two days to get to Charleston being over 600 miles away. At first our conversation centered around where we grew up, where we went to school, and why we selected our respective career choices. All the usual small talk."
"Where did she come from?"
"She came from Allentown, Pennsylvania and went to school at the local hospital school of nursing. She joined the Navy because as the recruiting posters say, 'to see the world.' So far she only saw Lakehurst Naval Air Station and Pensacola."
"Eventually the conversation got less sterile, and I learned that she had had a boyfriend, a Navy pilot, but he took an assignment in Hawaii where after more training he was to be assigned to a carrier, so that was the end of that. The travel office had gotten us reservations at the Magnolia Inn in Lake City right off US 90. Being that Emily and I were not married, the travel arrangements were for two single rooms, but that is something that got changed upon our arrival."
"So, you already had thoughts about bedding her early into the trip?"
"I wasn't dead yet. No, eventually the conversation came around to her knowing my reputation on base. During the time that I was in Pensacola I had had dates with several of the other nurses and had actually bedded several of them."
"Guys talk and so do women."
"Yes, they do. Anyway, about six hours later we arrived at Lake City, grabbed some chow at Ellie-Mae's Diner and after a little driving around found Front Street and the Magnolia Inn, the place the travel office had arranged. We each signed in, got our keys, and headed up the stairs. Our rooms were pretty close together, a circumstance where Emily took the upper hand and suggested that we room together since my room had bigger windows and the opportunity for better ventilation."
"I assume you went along with this idea, but bigger windows is an excuse that is really not that imaginative if you ask me."
"I did, but you know we could each use a little refreshing of our drinks," said Uncle George adding some more bourbon to our glasses."
