During the First Year, Jack & Sherry

Our experience  really learning each other, over all, gave us a great life, I was promoted to Corporal which gave us a little more spending money, but we kept the same budget. Sherry was very sweet and kept my uniforms starched and ironed.  A lot of that required in the Corps. We were known for spit and polish. With military creases so sharp they could cut you.

We only had one major problem, MY jealousy. If I could warn  young people in our family of one thing, IT is when the animal JEALOUSY shows its head, work together to chop its head off. I don’t think we really dealt with it, but to Sherry’s credit, she lived with it for awhile, until I grew up (probably 35-40 years).

During that first year that we made many visits to the beach. The beach at Surf City was deserted. The dunes were high. We were having a ball and on top of one of the high dunes when Sherry got the idea to run down it. She said I want to RUN! and started down. After a few steps she went head over tea kettle. She was good natured at the laughing. She had a mouth full of sand to boot, those were hilarious foot loose times, still kids.

BUT  we took one of our trips to the Beach by ourselves. Wandering along the beach when were were swept out by a rip tide and almost drowned. WARNING TO ANYONE ON A BEACH, if you ever feel like you are walking on marbles and they are rolling toward the deep water, RUN with all your might either at a slight angle or STRAIGHT to shore, DO NOT HESITATE!!!. If you  get deep go left or right.

Sherry’s mother was from Eastern NC but I was still surprised to find some of her kin in Jacksonville. We did visit them a couple times.

We were once visiting a guy and his wife in my outfit. The apartment was about three or four times the size of our little trailer. He kept saying I don’t see how you  guys can handle that little place I need SPACE!  We just smiled, with ‘a we are okay with it’. His wife was working so they could pay the $70 rent plus utilities.

Then in Jul 1957 Sgt. Bell called me in and said, “Okay Darnell you have your first real job, screw it up and I will kill you.” He handed me a stack of papers. “NATO wants us to come to the Mediterranean  for a few weeks of exercises. Here is the paperwork, Our taxi is going to be the AKA107 the Vermillion. You are in charge of the loading Radio Relay and Construction Co.”

Nite Shipslog

PS:  Aww man, our first anniversary is coming up!

It seems all good things must come to an end.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Corporal Virgil Jensen owned this beauty. 1956 Crown Vic Ford. He was from Kirkman, Iowa. Family was farmers.