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VISIT TO A TURKISH NAVAL FACILITY
Phil Tothİ 2003-2007
Click Photo to Enlarge
USS Kalamazoo (AOR-6)
It was in late May or early June 1985 when I
reenlisted off the coast of Cyprus. We had the USS Dewey (DDG-45) alongside
for fuel and a personnel highline transfer. This is a means of sending
people between ships in a chair that slides along a line between the two.
I took a hand held radio and the Captain said the oath from the bridge
while I repeated it in the middle of the two ships. Our next stop was Golcuk,
Turkey and the ship, USS Kalamazoo (AOR-6). was in for repairs. I was set
to transfer back to the states and had received my fourth Sea Service Ribbon.
I remember the trip up the Dardanelles. It was
some of the most beautiful coastline I've ever seen. Nothing really majestic,
but it was bright and looked well kept. At the time, I didn't know about
the battle at Gallipoli but it's hard to believe that such a bloody affair
was conducted in that area. We came directly into the harbor at Golcuk
in the early morning and saw many of the Turkish ships were anchored out.
It was like seeing the U.S. fleet from back in the 50's and 60's. Many
of our old destroyers were there including ex-USS Piedmont. |
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LIFE AT GOLCUK
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Golcuk had a ship repair facility which was why
we were pulling in. Our captain had rank pulled on him by the captain of
another ship (can't remember which one) which went to Toulon, France while
we got Golcuk. It was quite a chore getting us pierside. We were much longer
than any of the ships they had pierside so it took until early afternoon
before we were fully moored. Our bow stuck out from the end of the pier
and was secured with a rig of anchor chain and towing hawser.
Because I was about ready to transfer Stateside,
I had already turned over my shipboard duties but I still had to stand
shore duty with my section. I pulled Shore Patrol every third day. We did
this duty with our Turkish counterparts and it didn't take long for me
and my American partner to figure out the communication problem. Not only
could we not speak the same language, we didn't even use the same hand
gestures for the same meanings! But, after a couple times, we did figure
out a few things. The Turks are very strict with military courtesies. I
had a problem with their junior seamen saluting me because I wasn't accustomed
to being saluted. If they didn't salute one of their officers, look out.
Usually they would receive a backhand to the head. If you're wondering
whatever happened to all the Thompson .45 caliber machine guns.....they're
in Turkey! I wanted so much to bring one back, but I had heard of the toughness
of Turkish prisons and wasn't about to risk it. |
| I developed a passion for Turkish rugs. I like
the whole process of looking for them, haggling over price and eventually
buying. Every shop would serve hot tea in small clear glasses. There was
a young boy who did all the tea getting, rug folding and general chores.
The owners (there always seemed to be at least three per shop) would throw
the rugs out for inspection faster than I could check the pattern and the
boy was continuously folding behind them. |
| I recall there were only two bars in the
whole town. A friend of mine and I used to sit at one of those 6' by 20'
newstands and drink beer and watch American TV shows in Turkish. The Turks
are great people! We traded ship's items (lighters, ballcaps, t-shirts)
for beer. I got a Turkish flag (bayrak) from one of them. One night when
I went into one of the bars, I saw a fellow crewmember (already lit up
like a christmas tree) sitting in the midst of a crowd of locals arm wrestling
with them. All of a sudden, I'm in the middle, arm wrestling what seemed
like the whole crowd. I'm no Charles Atlas but I was beating all of them.
I'm imagining a riot breaking out over this and thought I'd "throw" a couple,
to calm the crowd but they could tell I wasn't trying and insisted I go
for it. I retired undefeated and didn't buy a beer all night. Afterward,
I would walk down the main street and be recognized by some of them. It
wasn't what I call a great liberty port, but I had a great time there. |
| I met a Turkish policeman who spoke English.
He grew up in Beirut, Lebanon and was a Christian. I was surprised at how
moderate Turkey was for a Moslem country. There were still the women in
traditional headress but many in western clothes also. I didn't go more
than 10 or 15 blocks in any direction from the Main Gate because there
was nothing but residential areas away from the city center. Golcuk was
a nice little town. |
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LEAVING TURKEY
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| I had been given a letter, from the Air Force
Liason Office at the Istanbul Airport. It explained why these 12 Americans
were leaving Turkey, but had no passports because they arrived by ship.
When we got to the airport, early in the morning, nothing was opened up.
I started sweating the load about being delayed. It never occured to me
that all these other people were waiting for the same flight. Anyway, I
decided to take a walk over to the Air Force office and see if they knew
about things running late. It had just begun to turn daylight. A Policeman,
armed with a small automatic weapon, asked me where I was going. I gestured
toward the building across the parking lot and said that was my destination.
He raised the weapon, without actually aiming it at me, and said that I
couldn't do that. Without any question, I said, "O.K." and returned inside.
When things started moving inside the terminal, we checked our luggage
and got our boarding passes. No one ever asked to see my passport letter.
I was somewhat disappointed. As we left the building, I could see our plane
on the tarmac. We were guided up to the luggage cart, which was very near
the cargo hold of the plane. Each passenger picked their bags up and handed
them to the attendant. This way, if you were placing a bomb on the plane,
at least you were getting on with it. The whole aircraft was surrounded
with armed guards. Even though there were quite a few shady looking characters
in our crowd, I wasn't worried too much about any hijackers being one of
them. Once aboard, it was a fairly normal flight. The meals were all certified
to be "Pork Free." They even had little tags showing a cartoon pig with
a circle and slash drawn over it, like a no smoking sign. |
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