Aloha (/??'lo?h??/; Hawaiian: [?'lo??ha]) is the Hawaiian word for love, affection, peace, compassion and mercy, that is commonly used as a simple greeting but has a deeper cultural and spiritual significance to native Hawaiians, in which the term is used to define a force that holds together existence.
Aloha is an attitude, an outlook that is the greatest gift the Hawaiian Islands have bestowed on our white world.
Gilbert and I Joined the US Navy Reserves in Pearl harbor, Honolulu, Hawaii on November 22nd 1963. The day President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assinated in Dallas Texas. In reality these two events had nothing in common. It just sort of happened that way. We had been in the process of enlisting for about a week prior to that day. But we were sworn in to the USNR on that day. After we put our hands down we turned to each other and one of us said, I don't remember who,
"I think we just fucked up!"
Actually we probably said it together. We often did that, turn to one another and say the exact same thing to each other, we were that close.
We were sent to the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor and we were told to check in at the Transit Barracks. A place where you were put up while you were just passing through. We took our paper work they gave us and off we went. We got to the Transit Barracks and checked in, found our racks and went out to find food.
We had been eating rice, only rice for the past thirteen weeks. Well rice and what ever tiny fish we could spear on the reef at Ala Moana. And oh yes the ubiquitous coconuts that fell from the trees everywhere. We were very hungry for something that seemed like real food. We were directed to the mess hall and had meat and stuff. They were serving rice but we passed on that.
Since my dad was both a US Navy man and a US Marine, I'll get to that in another story. From his stories I learned a lot about how the Navy worked. So I said to Gil "Check this out lets see if we can get away with this."
Gil asked, "What?
"Watch" I said.
We went up to the guy in charge of the Transit Barracks, he was called the Master At Arms. He was in his late twenties and a second class petty officer an E-5 pay grade. Remember, we were just eighteen, had long, long hair, in civilian clothes, bare foot, surf trunks, and teeshirts. And tan, very tan. We looked so un-Navy.
So I said, "Excuse me but is there any chance of us getting liberty?"
He paused a second, then looked at us and said, "Let me get this straight, you have been in the Navy not more than five hours and you are already asking for liberty?"
"Yes sir," I said. Then he frowned and said, "First off don't call me sir, I work for a living!"
This became one of the most repeated phrases I heard in the Navy. It refers to the difference between Officers and enlisted men. You are required to call all officers, not petty officers "sir," which is an insult to an enlisted man.
Then shook his head and smiled and said.
"You guys are gonna do just fine in this man's Navy! Sure I'll give you liberty. You don't even look like sailors"
He handed us both liberty cards good for seventy two hours. Since it was Friday this was weekend liberty we didn't have to be back until Monday morning a 0700.
Liberty in the Navy is like a pass in the other services. It meant you got to leave the ship or base for a limited amount of time. It usually happened when you weren't working. Once a year you received, thirty days "Leave" which was like an extended vacation. Where liberty was neither required nor recorded. Interestingly in the seagoing Navy, liberty off the ship was refereed to as, "On the beach," had to be a throw back to old sailing ship days.
So we went surfing, of course.
Monday morning came and we took the bus to the base. There was a guard shack in the middle of the road to the base entrance. We started to walk by and I flashed our liberty cards at the shack. Out of the shack came this very large, fit, armed, black, Marine. Looking as mean as he could be he said forcefully "Where the fuck do you guys think you're going?"
"It's cool man we're at the transit barracks." I said and we started to keep walking. He drew his sidearm, a Marine issue 45 caliber automatic pistol. Which is a weapon capable of putting a hole in you so big that you could drive a truck through it. He drops into a stance and levels it right at me.
"There ain't nothing cool about it, mother fucker, you ain't going nowhere until I know who the fuck you are you are."
This was the first of several times in my life that someone has pointed a gun at me. I have never gotten used to it. To say I was scared would be a gross understatement. Gil and I both raised our hands. I was shitting bricks. Being me I started talking, fast. I explained our situation to him quickly and succinctly as I could. He could see how scared I was. He showed the hint of a smile.
"We could resolve this situation, without bloodshed," I said, "if you would pick up your telephone there," I could see a telephone in the shack, "and call the Master At Arms at the transit barracks. We shouldn't be too hard to ID." I said quickly.
"Oh great idea. What the fuck did you think I was going to do?" His smile flashed briefly. And he thankfully lowered and holstered his weapon.
Well obviously it got straightened out and we were allowed to go on our way. When we got back to the transit area the Master At Arms smiled at us and said, "I see you had a little trouble with the Marine Corps? Don't worry they are all like that."
"I know, my dad is an ex Marine," I said. He smiled and knowingly nodded his head.
"Okay I got word you guys are flying to the mainland on Wednesday. On a military flight to Travis air force base near Oakland, California."
"Great, do we get liberty until then?" I grinned. He smiled a big smile, "You guys crack me up, Sure I'll give you liberty then I won't have to babysit your asses. I'll even give you some temporary ID so you won't get shot before you even get to boot camp."
So we went to the chow hall, then went surfing, of course.
We got on a bus bound for Hickam Air Force base near Pearl Harbor Naval Base. As we went out the gate I saw the same Marine standing outside of his guard shack. He looked up as we passed. I made my hand into a gun shape pointed at him and wiggled my thumb like I was shooting at him. He got a big smile on his face pretended to go for his gun, then gave us a salute which we returned. In Hawaii even the Marine corps has aloha... sometimes.
The flight to Travis air force base was pretty uneventful. Except for one thing, when you ride on a US Commercial airlines flights all the seats face the front of the airplane. In the military the seats face the rear. As Gilberts Grandma would say Quien Sabe, Who knows.