This banner art was stolen from Wes Guidry's Missiles of Key West

Day Two - The Tour of the Tactical Sites of  the 6/65th HAWK ADA Key West, Florida           In the morning a MREC bus was waiting to ferry all of to the Fly Navy Building to straighten out our room arrangements. From there we traveled to each of the tac sites. We started with Alpha Battery just down the road on Fleming Key.
	Sunrise over the Boca Chica Naval Air Station was always spectacular. Somethings never change. It was always interesting that we could watch the sunrise over the water in the morning and then again watch it over the sea in the evening. All from the same spot.           We assembled in the morning for the ride to the Fly Navy Building on Fleming Key. This was a special place for Jerry and Lynne Rhyne. It was where they met while he was an Army Lieutenant and she a Navy Nurse back in ancient times.
After we got our accommodations straightened out we drove on to Alpha Battery. The old site is now in the Special Forces Special Operations group. Not much still stands from the HAWK years. To the right is the Generator building which is still there. Only the foundation of one radar still exists. The Ready Building is now a storage shed and the old converted ammo bunker is now a weight room used by the Special Forces cadre.
After our guided tour of Alpha Battery we once again mounted the bus and departed for Bravo Battery. Bravo Battery is located by the Key West International Airport and run by the City of  Key West. It is used by the local police to train their dogs and by the  FCC  as a communications site.           Years of  neglect and occupation by the homeless have left their mark on Bravo Battery. Graffiti adorns the buildings and several wrecked cars clutter the site. But in spite of this it is relatively well preserved.           Richard Whitt has been in contact with some local dignitaries who plan to restore Bravo and turn it into a living memorial to the Cold War veterans who served there.
After we left Bravo Battery we drove out to Delta Battery. Delta is located on Boca Chica and was the closest to the barracks. Bravo Battery looked like the Hilton in comparison to the state Delta was in.            Captain Scholl met us at the tac site where he was given a plaque in appreciation for his contribution in making our reunion possible and memorable.            Jeff  Barton had served at Delta Battery. He was there when the deactivation orders came in. Several times he looked like he was trying to remember where he parked his car.
	Then we went to Charlie Battery. Many of us served at Charlie Battery. It was the boys from Charlie that started the whole reunion thing. Don Scanga put up a website dedicated to it and ran a roster. Then Wes Guidry setup his excellent site and the game was on.           Despite being designated a National Historic site, Charlie Battery is by far the worse maintained of all the tactical sites. It was heavily damaged by Hurricane Wilma and crews have been clearing trees and debris from the area since last year.
After visiting Charlie we went to an old favorite watering hole, the Geiger Key Marina. Back in the day all you could get here was cold beer and smoked fish. Today it is a nice restaurant on the water with a full menu of local dishes. The food was great and the service slow.           We had to remind ourselves several times that Key West is in another time zone. They are in no hurry for anything and often you just have to wait . . . and wait . . . and wait. Eventually when the food comes it is excellent and well worth the time spent sitting there spacing out on the beauty around you.
	That evening we all went to the Hogfish Grill on Stock Island, to wait. This is a great restaurant with terrific food. Unfortunately they were all out of  Hogfish so we had to settle for Grouper, Shrimp, Lobster or whatever. It was a good way to finish off  our second evening in Key West.           The dining area was wide open and fans pushed the humid night air around. The restaurant is located on the water near the shrimp docks. It was another spectacular sunset and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.
We returned to the barracks after dining and prepared ourselves for the big pinning ceremony that was to come the next morning. Everyone was receiving a Freedom Team Award from Army Colonel Nossov and those who served in Korea were receiving their Korean Defense Medals.           Mike Mlinar volunteered to be our guidon bearer and we practiced the drill and ceremony for the mornings activities. Rumor has it that Mike punched several holes in the ceiling of  his room practicing.           And so ended day two of our Key West adventure. Again the hardy retired to the Recreation Room to work on those donated kegs of  Budweiser.

Lowell St. Cyr "Saint" Webmaster. 

© 2006 ALR Post 104

Last updated: Monday, May 22, 2006 11:51:37

Day Three
Home