First WACs at Sinop From: "Don MacKinnon" DMACKONE@aol.com
Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2000
Subject: A Couple of Items For youHI Bill:
I was just cleaning out some "stuff" and found a July'73 copy of the Diogenes Review with an interesting article about the arrival of the first Female troops at Sinop. I was there, so this is authentic.
==========================================================='First' WACs arrive at Sinop
By Claire Curtice
Staff Writer"Oh, Lord, what have we gotten ourselves into?"
This was PV2 Barbara Washington's remark as she first viewed the "hill" from the cabin of the U-21.
One of the four WACs arriving at Diogenes Station on July 5, Barbara was vocalizing the bit of anxiety seen on each of the WAC's faces.
SFC Joanne First, noting the size of the installation as she flew over, said "hope we, get along;that's all we've got."PFC Pamela Lewis was delighted to be met by the airplane in Samsun. Pam had been told about the bus ride to Sinop. She had anticipated "turning into a yoyo for four hours."
PV2 Prudena Rita Haley riding to the "hill" from the airfield was optimistic about her tour.
"I'm going to like it here. Look at the people and that bread smells so good," she exclaimed.
Met at the gate by a friendly MP, the girls commented on his "grin from ear to ear with his mouth wide open."The welcome didn't end there.
While signing in, the hallway of HQS & SVC Co. echoed with such phrases as "This place is alright--alright!'Col. Anderson expressed his regrets saying, "You're finally here and I'm leaving Saturday."
The WACs stationed here are not all here on a volunteer basis. As a matter of fact, Barb, Pam and Rita were sitting at Fort Gordon expecting to go to Germany.When on June 3, the assignments were read, there were three assignments to Turkey. Captain Taylor of the Liaison Det at Fort Gordon had a catchy phrase for our three WACs: "Turkey, Turkey, Turkey! Gobble, gobble, gobble!"
Joanne did not volunteer to come to Sinop either. However, the four of them have now joined SP5 Barbara Allen.
Joanne is from Lakeland, Florida. Prior to being assigned to Det 4, she was stationed at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. Her present duty is with S-1
The three WACs from Fort Gordon are communications specialists working at Hippodrome. Pam is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Barb is from Hampton, Virginia. Rita is from Jefferson. Ohio, Arriving in Ankara on the night of July 3, the four WACs were impressed by the city lights as they travelled to a hotel. Returning to the airport the next morning, Rita’s interest was sparked. - "LOOK! Water buffalo! Get a picture. This is great!"
With the July 4 flight oversold, the WACs had to spend an extra night in Ankara.
A trip to the PX and to the Ataturk Mausoleum filled the afternoon.
Dinner that evening was at a Turkish seafood restaurant. The girls were introduced to cold lobster, bean salad, and baklava.
Going to Genclik Park proved to he fun. For no apparent reason, crowds would follow them everywhere.
Barbara was wearing many gold bangles. Unknown to her, to the Turkish people gold bangles are a symbol of wealth. Could she have been considered a potential bride? Or was it her Afro that was the center of attention?
At the park they were introduced to the fun of a magic show in a foreign language. The sight of Ankara from the top of a ferris wheel was breathtaking.
Leaving the park it was back to the hotel for an early start to the airport the next morning.
This time Joanne, Pam, Barb, and Rita made the flight and it was off to Samsun with THY.
The offer to take the WACs via U-21 to Sinop was accepted with sighs of great relief.
And then--Sinop.
The last words heard from Joanne were "How far to New York?"
365 days!
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From: "James Bedner" <j.bedner@worldnet.att.net>
Subject: First WACs at Sinop !!!
Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2000
It was with interest that I read Don MacKinnon append about the first WACs at Sinop. I had less that 45 days to go before I left "the hill" when word arrived that WACs were being stationed at Sinop.
I was so short that I didn't even pay too much attention to them when they arrived (busy shipping all my stuff home). When they first arrived, the guys were all tripping over themselves, like a bunch of bucks tracking down some does in heat. I was concerned at first that the arrival of the WACs would change the tight-knit group that we had developed over time.
Interestingly enough, as a few guys started to pair up with some WACs, the group that we had developed got even tighter. The following pictures were taken of a gathering that we decided to have at the sportsman club (or is it the Falcon's Nest ??) in honor of the WACs' arrival.=============================================
