"WAR STORIES"
BILL BRINKMAN
Key West
Key West
was a very interesting place to be in the early 1960's. I shared an apartment
with another shipmate . Our landlord was Bruce Sales , a WWI veteran who went to
war with his friend , Ernest Hemmingway. Bruce showed me the scars on his legs
caused by being gassed with mustard gas in the trenches. Also Bruce had books
from the 1700's which used human skin as the covers ( both black and white ). I
guess back then there was a shortage of Naugas ( to make naugahide covers).
So Bruce told me stories about his friend Ernest who wrote many of his
stories in Key West. Key West is an island about 2 miles long and 1.5 miles
wide. In 1960, there were over 200 bars on this tiny island. President Truman
liked to go there to escape Washington. His home ( the " Little White House " )
was the Admiral's Building when I was in Key West.
Right after Puerto
Rican nationalists attempted to kill President Truman in 1950 , Truman was on
the Sub base in a car headed for the "Little White House ". A sub sailor in
dungarees wanted to dump garbage in the dumpster across the road from his sub. A
security guard said it would be all right as long as he wasn't spotted by Truman
wearing his dungarees. ( All the other sailors were in dress whites). So , just
as the cars came around the corner , a guard told this poor sailor to jump into
the dumpster. When Truman's car came in sight , a Secret Service agent spotted
movement in the dumpster and they opened fire on the dumpster! After many rounds
were fired, and President Truman was safely clear , the Secret Service
surrounded the dumpster and told the poor sailor inside to come out with his
hands up. The mound of garbage moved ( our sailor had burrowed under it ) and a
head poked up with one scared sailor really shaking in his boots!
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