merhabaturkey.com contributor: Jan Claire

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FOUR YEARS IN THE NAVY
TWO AT KARAMURSEL

FOUR YEARS IN THE NAVY

BOOT CAMP

Jan in Boot Camp
Is there any picture NOT
worth a thousand words?
If so it's the official "Boot
Camp" graduation photo!

A high school buddy of mine, Wil Schutz and I decided, after graduation that we just weren't cut out for college. Our parents firmly suggested we join the U.S. Navy which had a "buddy system" in place at the time, somewhat guaranteeing we'd be together - at least through boot camp. After which, we never saw each other again. So went to the U.S. Naval Training Center in San Diego for 9 weeks beginning September 4, 1958.

Due to some test scores or something, I lucked out and missed the joy of carrying a rifle the entire time, and, instead, carried a small knife in a holster as Company 547 Yeoman. I think it was because I was 6'3" tall and had the longest legs in the company so it made sense to have me march out front with the "Guide-On Bearer". It seemed that just about when it dawned on me that boot camp was all about marching, things changed and it was time for KP. I wound up on the serving line, and cleanup - cleaning the copper steam table pipes with tabasco sauce! (it works).

BAINBRIDGE, MARYLAND
I graduated from Boot Camp in November, 1958 and then was allowed to go home (San Francisco) on leave for a couple of weeks, and on December 6, 1958 I boarded a plane for the propeller-driven TWA flight to Chicago and then on to Washington D.C. because I was on my way to Bainbridge Naval Training Center in Maryland for "Yeoman School". On the flight, I met a sailor who lived north of Washington in Pikesville, Maryland and since I didn't have to be in Bainbridge until the following Monday, the plan was I'd stay the weekend with he and his mother in Pikesville, then they'd drive me up to meet the bus from Havre de Gras, MD to Bainbridge. They knew the basic area well, and after a great weekend I found myself at Bainbridge.

Shortly after I arrived in Bainbridge, I kept hearing from friends and relatives that they had been "interviewed" by Naval Security for a clearance. The friends/relatives wanted to know what was going on. Heck! I didn't even know!

As it turned out I was really going to become a Communications Technician - A-Brancher. Same job, different title. And had a great time going through school, meeting new buds, and getting those first blushes of being an adult and on my own. I seem to remember doing well in school, and have very positive memories of the experience...until just before Graduation, in late February, when our next duty stations were announced. TURKEY? Suddenly everyone around me was gobbling, or talking about having to ride camels. I was teased mercilessly because I think I was the only one going to Turkey.

After graduation from Bainbridge Yeoman/CT school, March 7, 1959 I flew home to San Francisco for some more leave then had to fly TWA from San Francisco to New York City, where several of us were met by a military bus and transported to the Brooklyn Naval Yard for "processing". After a couple days we were then bused down to McGuire Air Force Base in Trenton, New Jersey to await a MATS flight to Turkey. A 'hop skip and a jump' as far as this ignorant soul knew.

ON TO TURKEY
We left McGuire AFB on April 6th, my orders showing I had to report not later than 12 April, 1959 at Tuslog Det 28, Karamursel Turkey. Again, there were a bunch of us Navy guys headed for Turkey, so we bonded during the lengthy overnight flight from McGuire to the Azores and on to Rome where we had an overnight at the Excelsior Hotel downtown. Unfortunately we didn't allow for traffic the next morning and missed our plane. Seriously! So we "had" to stay two more days in Rome in order to be booked on the next British European Airways flight out of Fiumicino Airport and on to Athens for a short layover, then to Yesilkoy Airport in Istanbul. We never got into trouble for missing the flight as we were a few days earlier then the stated date in our orders.

At the airport it was bedlam. Crowded, loud, children begging, we felt like we were under attack as we boarded a bus to take us in to central Istanbul to the Kahan Building where we'd spend the night and get a little briefing on the country, its people, customs and where we were going to go the next day. After a fitful night's sleep halfway around the world from where I had left, the group of us went to Galata Bridge and boarded a ferry for Yalova, stopping at Byukuda in the Princes Islands. When Trotsky was asked to leave Russia, he exiled himself for a time in Byukuda, according to one of my new friends traveling to Yalova. Later, a reading of history books confirmed this to be true. I remember that coming into Yalova wasn't all that different than coming into San Francisco on a ferry boat. The weather was remarkably mild, spring flowers were blooming, and the Turks were helpful and friendly. Again, another bus, this time east on a dirt road along the Sea of Marmara to Karamursel Air Station.

PENTAGON
After 2 great years in Karamursel, I was sent to work in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations at the Pentagon, handling communications between that office and State Department, the White House and other locations. Then, in what seemed a snap of a finger, I was out! Suddenly it was September, 1962 and Navy life was over. It wasn't until a decade later I had my first thought that "I shoulda stayed in the Navy!" but by then I was well into a career in broadcasting (see below) and there was no turning back.

TUSLOG DET 28, KARAMURSEL, TURKEY
PHOTOS TAKEN 1959 - 1960
By Jan Claire, US Navy

I was stationed at Karamursel Air Station from April, 1959 through April 1961 at which time I was transferred to the Pentagon in Washington, DC., to work in the offices of the Chief of Naval Operations.

I consider my time in Turkey to be one of the most positive influences on my life, and the friends I made there among the best I have ever had. It is wonderful to be in touch with many of them to this day, some I've searched for off and on over 40 years. It was also at Karamursel, while serving as an aide to the administrative assistants (Yeomen) of the commanding officer and executive officer, that I had an opportunity to edit the Navy's newspaper and to participate in some wonderful adventures - such as climbing on board the new Navy radio station, WUSN, begun by Doug Cook and Mickey Martin. We're still friends to this day, and it is hugely gratifying to know they have done very well in their post-Naval lives. Doug lives in Vienna, Virginia where he recently retired after serving many years with the US Government. Mickey (now known, rightfully, as Kenn - I never knew "Mickey" was a nickname!) works in southern Indiana (Evansville area) and also has been successful in his life. I'm the only one of the "originals" at WUSN who actually stayed in radio broadcasting after leaving Mainsite. 22 years worth. More about my stuff on my webpage.

Two other friends from Karamursel, Brooks Loomis and Ken Cadran have had very interesting lives. Brooks was the Captain's yeoman, and Ken was Executive Officer's Yeoman. I remember them both as belly-laugh-inducers, wildly funny, always up for a good time, and we even once "put on a show" at the Chief's Club in Degirmendere. Both would sing at a drop of a sailor hat, the jokes ran endlessly, and they saw humor in nearly everything. Ken now lives on Cape Cod, is very active in NCVA and the Goat Locker (retired Chiefs) due to the fact that he stayed in the Navy for a full and exciting career. Brooks Loomis also "stayed in", and, now retired from the Navy, he lives in the Philippines and does seminars and other public speaking as well as consulting - a natural since he also is a long time member of Toastmasters International.

My immediate superior in the executive office, was Shannon Janes, a brilliant, low key sort of guy whose idea of fun was taking virtually every correspondence course the Navy offered and acing every test. It only stands to reason that Shannon is now associate Vice President of University of Texas in Austin in Student Affairs.

Unfortunately, there are many good friends I have been unable to re-establish contact with. Most are shown in the pictures below, and any help with names, locations, or hints as to how to find them, would be appreciated.

Only recently, I became absorbed into the Karamursel Air Station '60-'61 group which is making a concerted effort to locate existing members of the Air Force, Navy, Marines and even Army who served at Karamursel either during these years, or thereabouts. They're not picky. If you're reading this and aren't tuned into the KAS 60-61 group, Send e-mail to Pete Johnson and get tuned in....there's going to be a reunion of all of us in October, in Gatlinburg, Tennessee and you should definitely be there!

OK Now on to the photos..."(NF)" Indicates someone I've not found.
If you know anything about these people, be sure to .

Click on any photo to Enlarge

	Photo of Mainsite from street north of Navy barracks and looking northeast.
	I believe it was a new chow hall being constructed, across the street north and east of our Navy barracks.
	The "new" bowling alley being constructed at Mainsite. Construction.
	Our beloved base beach on the Bay of Izmit.
	A new base theatre under construction.
	Commendation from Commanding Officer regarding the 1960 CARE fundraiser described below.
	THE ADVENT OF WUSN Doug Cook and Kenn "Mickey" Martin, bright young sailors, used their spare time to build a radio station. WUSN went on the air early in 1959, and in January of 1960 the station hosted a "radio-thon" - 115 hours straight of playing the hits, doing outlandish fundraising stunts, and through the efforts of CARE (Cooperative American Relief Everywhere) we managed to supply nuns of the Little Sisters of the Poor, and the Kocamustafapasa Orphanage in Istanbul with a truckload of powdered milk and other goodies. They got the milk and goodies, but the WUSN staff members and others who attended the distribution of the donation got a real life lesson in how to help our fellow man. At right, and below are pictures of the "CARE-A-THON" and the radio people of WUSN.
	I don't know who this is (NF), but the guys at KTUS gave a large donation to the CARE-A-THON and this pic was whoever was on the air there at the time. Anyone know who it is?
	Here's another guy we'd love to find. The infamous Toad Hoffman (NF), remembered by everyone as a superior guy, lots of fun, and still missing in action. We doubt he goes by the name "Toad" any more, and nobody can remember his REAL first name.
	The late Frank Pezon, CT3 (NF), on air at WUSN. Dave Dembowski recently wrote me, "Frank passed away in October, 2002. They went through a lot of problems. He had several back surgeries, two heart attacks then went into the hospital with pneumonia, came out and they called him back. Tests indicated lung cancer but for some reason they missed it and when they finally isolated it , it was too late. He didn't suffer long from that, his wife related...less than a month after he went in for pneumonia he was gone. We talked for quite a while. She remembered being at my place here in Pa, the picnics we had at Karamursel and our tour together in Japan. I told her of your web site and the pictures of Frank. Dave. (Frank was one of the nicest guys I ever met in the Navy. What a shame. Jan)
	Mickey Martin on the air, surrounded by (from REAR left) Airman, Dick Mills (NF); Unknown (NF), Toad Hoffman (NF), Jim Whipple (white t-shirt). From FRONT left the back of Doug Cook's head, the back of Unknown's (NF) head, and a little bit of Jan Claire's head at far right.
	After the WUSN CARE-A-THON, our Navy commanding officer, the late Captain James H. Fortune presented the funds raised by the Mainsite denizens to R. V. Weeks, director of CARE's operations in the Middle East.
	Getting to know the kids at Kocamustafapasa Orphanage. Center, Ole Olson; right hidden somewhat behind a youngster, Jim Klipa.
	The fallout of our little fundraiser was a lot of publicity - front page in all the major Turkish newspapers - in this photo in Son Posta Gazette, the caption read: "PRESENT OF POWDERED MILK: American sailors at Karamursel gave two tons of powdered milk to 200 children yesterday. The children are at Kocamustafapasa orphanage. This 10-months supply of milk for the children was given through the auspices of CARE and American social and economic relief society, CARE, working with the Red Crescent society."
	SEHIR news covered the presentation, "Ther American sailors attached to the base at Karamursel distributed powdered milk to the orphans of Kocamustafapasa orphanage. This milk was procured through the facilities of CARE, an American relief agency, with money the sailors collected from among themselves. In the photograph, the head of the Children's Welfare Society, Mr. Zuhtu Cubukcuoglu and CARE Director, Mr. Fallon, are shown receiving the milk from one of the Key Sailors (yours truly) in the fund drive."

	This is CT3 Ralph Ranta, my roommate at Karamursel when I first arrived there.
	Road to Turkish Army base near Mainsite
	Two Navy barracks under construction, taken in 1960.
	Bachelor Officers Quarter over near the beach.
	This would be me, 1959 in the obligatory "photo to send home" pose, well before genetics kicked in and I gained 65 more pounds over the next 40 years!
	Doug Cook, left, and Mickey Martin, right, the founders of WUSN.
	WUSN staff members - the volunteers who made it work - The two guys far left, were Marines. And I remember the one with the pipe was named Mike (NF) and he was from Atlanta, Georgia. I don't remember anything about the guy standing in the dark sweater (NF). But I do remember they worked their hearts out along with everyone else to make the station work. Standing, in the checkered shirt is Doug Cook. In the light striped shirt, no idea who this is (NF). Grey sweater at right, Mickey Martin. Kneeling, myself and Daryle "Ole" Olson who currently lives in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota and is still a great human being.
	I've included this double exposure because it shows Mike-the-Marine (NF) at right and at left is the late "Cousin" Harry Burns, the country disc jockey who worked at both KTUS and WUSN. Every time I come in contact with someone from Mainsite, they say, "Didja ever run into Cousin Harry Burns since the Mainsite days?" Unfortunately Harry passed away recently...before we could contact him!
	Ensign Ralph B. Strand (on left) went with us to distribute the supplies from the CARE fundraiser.
	LTJG Joe Murphy (NF) was the Navy legal officer. Somebody gave a large donation to the CARE-A-THON - if LT Murphy would shave Bob Hogaboam's (NF) mustache. Bob consented, Joe showed up with razor in hand, and the deed was done live, on WUSN.
	Brooks Loomis gave a donation to CARE and made a demand that we broadcast, live, a concert by the singing group, "The Mainsite Mumblers". So the photo of the Mumblers now sees the light of day! From left, Airman Dick Mills (NF), Mickey Martin (earphones), Unknown (NF), Ken Cadran playing Ukulele, Brooks Loomis, singing... and behind them, the near-naked Jim Whipple playing towel!
	Brooks Loomis and Ken Cadran warming up (or as we called it, "Are we really gonna do this?" mode.
	Presentation of the CARE fundraiser proceeds: (L - R) Ken Cadran, Marine Captain (NF), Jan Claire, R. V. Weeks (NF), Doug Cook, Mickey Martin, Stephen "Shannon" Janes.
	Kocamustafapasa Orphanage: Not many in this picture whose names I remember. Top center, holding kid on my shoulders is me. To the right of me is Ole Olson, second from left in front is the late Jim Klipa. We were all engrossed in meeting these pleasant, beautiful Turkish homeless children and were in the midst of one of those epiphanies life tosses out to us when we really do realize the human animal is a caring one.