He was in automatic Morse, (next door to voice section) where he was team
leader. Before the Army, he had been a professional jazz bassist in the San Francisco Bay Area (first paid gig at age 17). For a couple of years he had been teaching himself to play piano and when he first got to Wildwood Station (WS) he arranged with the post chaplain to use the piano in the chapel for practice after regular hours. Woooeee! l sat and listened to a few of those
practices and l'd say he was already an accomplished jazz pianist at that point
in time. Soon after we moved into the cabin at Dick's and Betty's place, Gary
procured a fine up-right piano from someone in Kenai (l think it was his girl-
friend's mother or a friend of hers). Wherever it came from, l was plenty happy
to have it there for Gary to play. (Like having Oscar Le Vant for a roomate).
You may have noticed that l mentioned Gary's girlfriend. There's another way
Gary was ahead of the rest of us. Un-attached women were a rare commodity
in Alaska in General and Kenai in particular. But Gary was often accompanied
by Anita and they often spent time at the piano in our cabin. l enjoyed many
evenings in their company. A bedspread, draped over a wire gave privacy.
Gary often worked (playing bass or piano) at events at the officer's club.He
heard much of the conversations of those who were part of the command
structure at WS. About the same time that l was sent to the Alutians and
St. Lawrence lsland on TDY, Gary heard my name mentioned in such a way
as to cause widespread laughter among the crowd. Gary didn't know what it was about and he remembered only that the post commander had said "l'd
like to know how Gideon feels about that". After that, Gary regularly told me
of incidents in which my name attached to this story or that had, once again
brought a moment of comic relief.
On Jan.5, after a short train trip from Seward to the Port of Whittier, l rode a
troop-ship across the Gulf of Alaska to Seattle. l called Dulce and she said yes
to my request that she pick me up at Oakland lnt'l and drive me to the train station. When she picked me up,after only a minute of pleasantries, l went straight for the core and asked if there was anything l could say or do to save
what seemed un-savable.She thought not. l agreed. l really only asked because l thought l owed it to her. We parted amicably.
Arriving in Washington,D.C. ln mid-january '58, l first arranged for shelter in
a house in Falls Church,Va.,occupied by other NSA employees. l was able to
arrange for transportation, to and from NSA at Ft Meade with one of the other
tenants at 108 Sleepy Hollow rd. After a week of commuting from there to
Ft. Meade, l got together with a Realtor, Saturday who set me up with a lease
on a house at 6207 43rd St. in Riverdale,Md. Sunday, l drove to NSA, and put
"House To Share" ads on three bulletin boards. By the middle of the next week, we were at capacity.
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