Yesterday, or the day before, I wrote
telling you the preliminaries of how I got to Midway. If you
are ready I would like to continue. I told you about my time at NAS
Kaneohe (1947) on the windward side of Oahu. I had only been there a year
when I received orders to Midway. I wasn't exactly thrilled
about the idea because I thought for sure we would be going back to the
mainland. Before we departed Kaneohe and Hawaii, we drove over
the Pali into Honolulu to the Sears and Roebuck store. At that time
(1948) it was the largest store on the island and they did a
great business. We bought a console Packard Bell radio with the
knobs on foldout door assembly. It had a 78 rpm record player and
even a storage area down below... with doors. You can't imagine the pride of
ownership that came with it. We were always short on cash back then and
this radio was one of our prized possessions. Whatever few household
items we had, including the radio, all of it was shipped to
Midway in packing boxes, the slow way, by ship. I don't remember how
long it took but I'm sure we were happy when our meager belongings
arrived. Like you, so many memories were created on Midway.
During the two years that I was there, this story is one of the most
memorable.
We lived in the Quonset hut for probably six weeks
or so before we were assigned to a two-bedroom duplex up on the hill
which the residents later referred to as "A" housing. After
our household items arrived and we were unpacked, I strung a long
antenna wire and discovered that, on our new radio, during the early
evening hours we could get one station from Los Angeles. The
program that drew our attention was hosted by the famous Steve Allen. This was
in 1948. I believe Steve was the "first" host of the
"Tonight Show." He was a funny guy and he was great entertainment for
us. I thought, how neat it would be if I were to write him a letter and
send a picture of a goony bird. So I did. I was hoping that he
would talk about the island us folks who were living on Midway. In
a few days we started listening every night hoping that our letter
would have reached the station and that he would have been
impressed. We waited day after day with nothing being said. Of
course, we had told most of the island of what we had done. I suppose it
was about 10 days or so when we started getting discouraged and we knew that
it wouldn't happen. One evening a particularly good movie was on at
the theater and we decided to go see it. Yup, we sat in those same seats that
you did. I have an idea that you have a pretty good idea of what took
place and you are right. The next morning several people asked us if we
had heard Steve Allen's program the night before. They told us that most
of his program that evening was centered around Midway and the
goony birds. You have no idea of how disappointed we were and I was angry at
myself for being so impatient. And that was the sad end of that
story.
The next part......
A divorce changed my lifestyle in the early 70s and
after living alone for a period of time I found that staying busy was the best
thing I could do for myself. I was retired from the Navy and Civil Service and
was still young enough to do lots of things. I rode my bicycle (OK..
horse) every morning and eventually became a hospital volunteer with
the Scripps Memorial Hospital in Chula Vista which is about 8 miles south
of San Diego. I worked there 17 years and accumulated 10,500
hours. I became deeply involved on the floors as a patient
representative and I was active with the fundraising projects that takes
place with such groups like this. I even became President of
the Auxiliary. With all the women in the organization, what a dumb thing
for a man to do. But, I did it, and I think I did it welI. I
attended several self-improvement classes specializing
in patient care. I was offered a scholorship to attend
a special workshop in San Francisco. It was titled, "Humor In The
Hospital." Mankind, that was right up my alley. I was further impressed
when I learned that Steve Allen was the guest speaker. After all of
those years, perhaps 40 or so, I was hoping that I would have
the opportunity to speak with him and ask if he remembered my gooney
bird story and the picture. There were probably 200 in the workshop.
Steve's son was with him and with all the activity that was taking
place, the opportunity didn't come and I wasn't able to ask him. By this
time Steve had reached the autumn years of his life. He was a
little frail and needed assistance in getting up and down the
steps of the stage. He still had a great sense of humor and that crazy
wonderful distinguished laugh. Not too long ago he passed away and I
was never able to ask that all-important question. One of many questions
in life that I have that still goes unanswered. And that is but just one of my
many stories. I hope you liked it.
And... that's life.
God bless....
Bob Merry (now 82 years old)
48-50
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