Woody: I remember the name, ref: Cpl. May, but can't put a face on
it. I was thinking he was one of our techs at the MATCU, but maybe
not.
You mentioned a name though, that I had completely forgotten
about. I first met Ken Hresko at Glynco, when I was sent there for
GCA School. I had gone through the Air Force ATC School at Keesler
AFB, but when I got to NKT, the Navy decided they didn't recognize
the AF school, because it wasn't FAA certified. That's another long
story I'll address at some other time.
I was reunited with Ken, when the MATCU got sent to Europe for the NATO Exercise "Bonded Item", circa 1976. We crossed the Atlantic in the LPH USS Austin City. It was the first boat ride for all of us, except maybe Larry Murphy, who was the MATCU NCOIC.
The SNCO Quarters was in the bottom of the boat, and calling it cramped would do it an injustice. Ken and I ended up on a top bunk, side by side, seperated by a crack of about two inches. Ken had been married for a number of years, I was still a bachelor. We had put in a 24 to 36 hour work day, getting equipment and personnel uploaded, so when we set sail that night everyone welcomed, "hitting the rack". I, and I suspect everyone else, went quickly to sleep after lights out.
I couldn't have been asleep 30 minutes when I felt this big hairy arm fall across me, and start pulling me toward it's owner. It was pitch black, and being in unfamiliar quarters, I remember laying there thinking, "what the f--k is going on here. When I came to my senses, I realized what was happening, and gave Hresko the hardest elbow to his ribs I could muster. He jumped up yelling, "what the f--k are you doing?". I told him I was getting him off of me, and he had better stay the f--k on his side of the bunk. He mumbled something and went back to sleep.
I slid to the furtherest space I could find, away from him, and spent
the night sleeping so that I was always FACING him. I guess the elbow
worked, as I had no further problems throughout our voyage. I did
always warn younger Marines to never take one of those side-by-side
bunks on a ship with a married man.
