It is Thursday morning, May 20, 2010 and I have just took off on a flight to Los Angeles, California. A lot of things going through my mind. I am going back to the west coast and to a place that is dear to my heart. Fifty-three years ago I graduated from a private military high school, called Army Navy Academy. I was born and raised in Los Angeles and this is truly an experience that I thought I may never have again. After graduating from ANA in June of 1957 I joined the Navy and with the exception of one trip to Carlsbad after I retired in 1977 this was the first time back.
There had been an alumni gathering at our 50th anniversary in 2007 but I could not make it. I wanted to but financially could not afford the long trip. I had spent most of the past fifty odd years stationed wherever the Navy wanted me and after retirement found myself staying on the east coast because of job opportunities at the time. Now those dreams of returning one more time had finally come to pass. Anticipation was high while the trip was very long. Six hours in a modern day jet is still a bit tiring when your nearly 72 years of age. I wondered what my fellow classmates would look like after all these years. I had only my yearbook to remember back and I was bringing it with me. My classmate and roommate, Ray, was waiting for me at the terminal and even then I did not recognize him. He and I had kept in touch and I did have a group photo from the 50th reunion to help we out. Ray had volunteered to meet me at the airport and we arranged to split expenses while in Carlsbad for the weekend. I am so grateful to him for assistance because I sure would have got lost. I must confess, he was waiting at baggage pickup and I did not recognize him at first. It really was one of those double takes. I looked around, saw him, looked around some more, looked back and then thought well maybe. I walked over to him and said "excuse me, are you Ray Hymer? Of which he returned "only if your middle name is Walter". A moment I will never forget.
Driving out of LA was an experience in itself. The new interstates built in the past fifty years helped a lot. But I noticed a lot of changes. All the way down I-5 it was nothing but wall to wall buildings and homes until we reached San Clemente. It would have continued to the border if it had not been for the federal government lands which contain the very large United States Marine Corps Base at Camp Pendleton. The other thing which was quite apparent was the hispanic influence in the Southern California area. Every exit was marked with a sign that stated that is was Avenida this or Avenida that. This was true all the way to San Diego. It was not a long drive. We covered the distance in about 90 minutes. Back in the old days it was easily about 3 hours on the crowded city streets of Los Angeles and a two lane Coast Highway. We got off at the Oceanside exit and he drove me down to what used to be the "main drag" through town. Again, I was amazed how everything had built up. As we crossed the lagoon into Carlsbad, one thing stood out...the campus of ANA. There was the old guardhouse and the walkway up to the Administration building. The clock had turned back to June 1957.
No comments:
Post a Comment