That’s ironic that you had to get home to NJ from out processing. I was out-processed at Fort Dix and so took a bus to NYC.
There were two of us in the shipment who were from the West Coast, both of us a bit older, and both of us having worked intelligence jobs. We had the same idea: we weren’t going to rush home and it had occurred to both of us that we’d like to do some sightseeing because we might never get back to NYC again. So we took the bus up to NYC.
I’ve written before in other places about my train trip from Grand Central Station to Portland Union Station. It reminded me of what a great country the U.S.A. is. It also has a lot of elbow room, as the attached Montana scene shows.
I did miss Berlin. It’s like leaving a movie theater half way through the show. In the next year I was driving a motor pool car and my boss told me that I was making him nervous by looking in the rear view mirror so much. My (new) wife would catch me daydreaming and said that I was back in Berlin.
At the Oregon Department of Transportation there were a lot of veterans. We kidded each other about what terrible shape the country would be in if we were called up for duty, but enjoyed hearing the many different service stories. Most of the top people were WWII vets. The funniest experience was at a Ports Commission meeting when the governor dropped in unscheduled. I saw him in the doorway and without thinking I jumped up and stood at attention. And so did the commissioners! They were all former Navy men. The governor was, too, so he said “at ease” and chuckled and then said that he kind of liked that. He’d been an EM in WWII, so it was a new experience for him.
-- rwr