Page Last revised: Tuesday, August 08, 2000.

(click on the thumbnails below to see the full size photos)

The Hill viewed from Sinop	Ron's last 1SG Photo	Laurenzen "Smitty Smith (L) and Ron

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SINOP, TURKEY 1964-65
First Tour

It was late July 1964 that I de-planed from Pan American Airlines (Flight 1) in Ankara, Turkey. I was a young, eighteen year old soldier on my first overseas assignment- Turkey, for God's sake! There were five of us enroute to the site at Sinop, and none of us had the slightest idea of what to expect.

Our first stop was to the Army reception desk at the Ankara Airport. There we were directed to a bus that took us to the Air Force billets, where we remained for several days awaiting our transportation to Sinop. As we were all Private E-2s, there were no special arrangements necessary.

After several days of typical Army in-processing and getting used to Turkish cigarettes, we were notified that our transportation had arrived. We were ushered out to the front walk where awaited us---an Army Deuce-and-a-Half! I was naive enough to ask just how long a drive it was to the Hill. About twelve hours, we were told. Actually, due to recent rains, it took fourteen. But what's two hours among friends! The worst part of the trip was the section between Samsun and Sinop. There wasn't any road to speak of-just rocks! There were several creeks that I thought we would never get across.

Sinop was not even close to what we expected. We figured it would be small, but at least we thought it would be a real Army Post! The truth? A small enclosure on top of a desolate hill overlooking a primitive village! The entire top of the hill was enclosed in a tall chain link fence patrolled by... us, of course.

There were barracks, at least. Brand new, at that. The guys stationed there earlier had to live in Quonset Huts. We did too, at first, because that was where the Yeni's lived during in-processing. A Yeni is a---well, you don't really want to know what a yeni is. A yeni is lower than whale crap, and that's on the bottom of the ocean! Once your clearance was verified and you were assigned to a Trick, then you were assigned to a permanent Barracks room. But you were forever a yeni to anyone who was there before you.

I was assigned to Trick 2, under 1LT Deeds. We worked Rooms 1 and 2, Main Ops. Of course, The Main Ops Building was the only site there at the time, with the exception of "A" Van, "P" Van, and the Moorehouse building.

There were no women on site in those days, with the exception of a few Turkish women. They didn't count. Don't ask why! There was a small Library where I read every book...twice! There was also a movie theatre that got a lot of attention. I remember one night when I and a few friends got plastered and went to the movies. Something about surfing I think. Anyway, the post Commander--a Colonel-- was sitting behind us and I told my friends in a loud voice that they were doing away with popcorn at the movies. When asked why, I told them I thought everyone knew that Colonels (kernels) weren't allowed to get bagged in public! The EM Club was not my favorite place simply because it was always so crowded. They did serve a mean Tequila though!

There were approximately 450 soldiers there in '63-64. Most were lower enlisted operator types, but there were some real characters as NCO's. We had some support types--Finance, Personnel, etc., but it was a real close-knit outfit. I do seem to remember a sign on the outer windows of the senior NCO Mess that said "Please do not feed the animals", but then, my memory could just be playing tricks on me.

Guard Duty came around about every two-three months. It was a real pain, as we had empty weapons (M-1 Carbines), and during the rainy season you had to walk the perimeter fence because the MP Jeeps couldn't get through (We were expendable,but the MP's had to wash them jeeps!). Otherwise, it was tolerable. Brad Hathaway and I waltzed around one night in a thunderstorm bellowing "Singing in the Rain" until the NCO of the guard told us to shut up.

The most fun was Operations. The mission was totally absorbing, and we all were really professional when it came to the job. The mission was then, and probably still is, classified, but Sinop was a very special place to me. As a PVT E-2 in those days we had no chevrons. I discovered that a small rectangle of masking tape could appear to be a gold bar under the red lights of ops. Complimented with crossed strips for rifles and a name tag spelling "GODD", and anything could happen. For instance, did you know someone like that could go to the yeni Quonset and call everyone out on alert, and THEY WOULD REALLY GO? Hummmm.

Although Sinop has a bad reputation as duty stations go, it really wasn't deserved. There was plenty to do to keep yourself occupied. A few friends and I got together and bought us a 17-foot sailboat -- We only paid a few hundred bucks for it, and we spent many a summer hour between shifts sailing the Black Sea. I can remember getting off after our 6-on Mid shift and having three days to sail the area. Then there was simply walking around and seeing the sights and meeting the people. Turkey is straight out of Biblical times, and it was very interesting to see the places and people from that time still living today. As with most duty overseas, I think it depends on your mental attitude as to whether you enjoyed Sinop or not. Although it was expected of us to gripe and complain, it really wasn't all that terrible.

We were assigned there for a tour of 11 months and 10 days. If you were really good and ate all your beans and corn, you were allowed a three-day pass (yes, just one!) sometime during your tour. The good part was the three-day pass didn't start until you signed out in Ankara. We all went to a Hotel and spent three days sleeping and drinking and looking for girls. Well, we did get real drunk.

                       Operations OIC: CPT Rocco Navarro
                  Ops "B" OIC:    1LT Richard Deeds 
                  Ops "B" NCOIC:  SSG Isaac (Ike) Chamness 
        
      __________________________OPS "B" TROOPS___________________________
      Ed Aldrine       Clay Fisher      Ed Lilley         Dick Sayers
      Al Archer        Barry Ford       Ron Mellott       Richard W.Scott
      Gene Brickey     Mike Halpin      Jonas Palin, Sr   John Shea
      Bill Childress   Bob Hasket       Bob Powell        Charlie Smart
      John Darga       Don Hill         Mike Principie    Laurenzen Smith 
      Ron Eddins       Ted Junkin       Ron Richardson    Harry Thomas 
      Lane Whitley     Andy Williams 

OPS "B" Troops

Click Here for Ron's Second Page - "SINOP 1972-73 Evil Knievel, Turkish Style!"

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