Brief Geography Lesson: Find Shemya, Alaska on your computer. It is a 4 x 2 mile rock at the western most end of the Aleutian Islands. During WW II this small island was a major factor in defeating the Japanese during their 1942-43 occupation of some islands in the Aleutian chain.
In 1967, I served a one-year remote, unaccompanied tour of duty on this treeless island that GI's simply called "The Rock." (We would tell newbies there was a pretty girl behind every tree!) My job was the most demanding, yet the most interesting I experienced in a 20 year career.
Satellite TV was still a dream. We did receive the Armed Forces Radio Network. Mail planes often could not land due to very high winds or fog so thick even Superman had to walk!We once went 6 weeks without a mail plane. ( Ditto a food plane. We eat a lot of frozen liver! For old times sake, I am tempted to order liver and onions in a restaurant and tell the server to scrap off the liver!) Even in good flying conditions, newspapers would be 10-20 days late. I missed the letters and newspapers more than the fresh food.
I received two newspapers: A free subscription to the Chicago Tribune and the North Vernon Plain Dealer. (I once tried to get a job with editor/publisher Dick Mayer.) Maybe I was born a newspaper junkie. During 20 years of moving I have read most of daily papers from our major cities and many international editions.
In spite of very little money, my Dad subscribed to the daily Louisville Courier-Journal and the two North Vernon weekly papers, until he and Mom moved to North Vernon. Even today, my brother buys the Columbus, Madison, North Vernon, and the Louisville newspapers for our almost 97 year old Dad. Maybe we have printers ink in our DNA!
Every now and then everything seems to go just right. My evidence follows:
At 11pm, Shemya time, I met a high ranking DOD official at our mini base operations building. He immediately opened his brief case and gave me a Washington Post that had the current day's date on it. He had left Washington, D.C. around midnight and as he prepared to board, he bought the early edition of the Washington Post. The flight to Seattle was on time; the flight to Anchorage was on time, and the flight to Shemya was on time. Because Shemya was 7 hours behind Washington, D. C. and perfect connection I held a newspaper with the current date on it!
For a few brief and wonderful moments I felt I was back home with my wife and special daughters. One was born while I was at Shemya. I saw her for the first time in mid-December when I had completed my one year of remote service.
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