Norfolk, Virginia

During 1947 a book was published titled, Misty of Chincoteague, written by Marguerite Henry.  In 1948 I was ten years old, and that is about the time I read the book.  That name of Chincoteague stuck with me through the years although I had no real idea where it was.  In July 1958, when I was another ten years older, I found it to be a quaint village located on an island of the same name along the Eastern Seaboard of Virginia, only a few miles below the border with Maryland on the Delmarva Peninsula.  The Chincoteague Naval Auxiliary Air Station was located near the island, and my squadron, VP-8 was sent there.

In December of that year of 1958 I was married and our first home was located at 108 Daisey Street on Chincoteague Island.  Our landlord was Dave Daisey who owned several oyster boats, and a factory where the creatures were prepared for market.  Our home was Dave’s former home next to the new one he had built on the corner.  We lived in half of it, while two single friends of mine, Ron Kleven and Bob Thompson, rented the other half.  We only resided there for about two months until a big change in Navy plans caused our squadron to once more be re-home-ported to Breezy Point on the Naval Air Station aboard the Norfolk Naval Base.

At the same time my brother Dell, also in the Navy, received orders from Brunswick, Maine to Key West, Florida.  His family had recently purchased a 1953 Champion 8’ by 35’ house trailer.  He was unable at the time to have it moved all the way to Key West so I bought it from him and had it moved to Norfolk, Virginia.  My wife and I lived in that home in a trailer park on Little Creek Road until I left VP-8 in the spring of 1960.

November 16, 1959, with a little over four years in the Navy I was awarded the rating of AMS1, First Class Petty Officer, pay-grade E-6.  Base pay was $225 monthly, while I also received $22.50 sea duty pay, $77 for food rations, and $77 quarters allowance, for a total of $401.50 monthly.  This was a large increase from the $78 a month of four years previously.  I could even afford to swap cars, which I did, obtaining a 1953 Ford to replace the aging ’51 Studebaker.  After a few months of marriage we also were able to afford to buy a used TV for $40 which we paid off in $10 installments.

During that summer of 1959 I volunteered for a flight crew and began flying for a living, but we’ll let that be another tale.