Skip to content
FREE STANDARD SHIPPING! Use code SHIPNOW at checkout
FREE STANDARD SHIPPING! Use code SHIPNOW at checkout

Picky Eaters

We called it “The Rock” and counted the days when we would rotate back to the land of the big PX. Hawaii wasn’t exactly the paradise we expected. The Marine Corps Base at Kaneohe is on a peninsula that forms Kaneohe Bay, with the Pali mountains as a backdrop. The Air Wing enlisted barracks was a group of two story, flat-roofed, stucco buildings with open squad bays that were connected by breezeways. The 212 barracks had the MPs on one side and the helo boys from HMM-161 on the other. Next to the 161 barracks was the mess hall. I arrived with a group of replacements for the guys whose two year tour was over. The barracks had an upper and lower open squadbay arranged in cubicles marked off by green metal wall lockers, and a central corridor. Each cubicle had six single bunks (or racks), as I recall. Each rack had a mosquito net which was a necessity on that side of the island, called the “Windward Side”. The mosquito nets were needed because of the mosquitos that were bred in the swamps between the base and the mainland. Those bugs were huge. One night, I forgot to put my net down. About 0300 I felt a thump on my chest. Looking down, I saw a Kaneohe mosquito turning over my dog tag to check my blood type. Not only were they huge, they were picky eaters.

Norm Spilleth
Cpl. 1960-1964

Submit your own Story>>

Previous article Vietnam War: Facts, Stats & Myths
Next article Why it started

Comments

Lark - January 27, 2024

Table runners: a simple way to add color and texture to your dining area, perfect for all seasons and styles. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1649419708/crochet-table-runner-macrame-table

Cpl C.Eggleston - July 2, 2020

What about those centipedes they were big and painful .

JIM OTIS SGT 1833 - July 2, 2020

WHAT 4th AMTRACT BN I WAS IN THE 1st 2nd AND 3rd AMTRACT BN’S.

Bud Davis L/Cpl 1969/1963 VMA-212 - July 2, 2020

I was there with you Norm and didn’t have too much trouble with those bugs, they must not have had a taste for AB blood.

Jim Hart - July 2, 2020

I was there from 1981-1984. I was with HMS-24, VMF 232, and VMF 235, I did west pack with 235. My tour their was outstanding . It was a shocker upon arrival, due to my prior tour being on the drill field at Parris island. After about 6 months I got use to the Air Wing again.

PB McDonald Sgt. 4th Amtrac Bn 64 / 70….. - July 2, 2020

I lived in. Tampa, Fla. at that time…I aways had to tie one of my feet to the bed…the skeeders would pick you up and fly away with you…the lighter you got the heavier they got…once I ended up in the Bay…surrounded by a bunch of bloated skeeders acting as. fish food…blood in the water…not a good thing…our mosquitos never did learn to read…they didn’t care what your blood type wars … that it was red, salty, and in you was enough…😎

Daniel Cunningahm - July 2, 2020

arrived Jan 61 on a sunday went to H&S 1/4 Comm no net until Monday my pillow looked like a war zone blood and bugs everywhere. cockroached burn out of wall lockers lighter fluid

Fidel Lominchar - July 2, 2020

I was there from 1976-1978. The description of the barracks fits what I found when I got there; the grunts used to come around early in the morning running in formation, we would go to the windows to exchange “pleasantries” with them. I remember the day we flew in, we got a quick orientation talk centered around the evils of Hotel Street, so, after the lecture, everybody wanted to know how to get to Hotel Street. I was attached to SOMS (Station Operations & Maintenance Squadron) working as a mechanic on T-28B Trojans (single-engine trainers), we share a hanger with a heavy helo squadron, I believe it was HMH-463. I had a good time in Hawaii, it was a lot of fun to hang out in Waikiki over the weekend.
Cpl. F Lominchar 1975-1979

James Clontz USMC (Ret) - July 2, 2020

Brings back memories. In 1966 I was in the second deck. Felt like a native. Those were the days. One pay phone per barracks and it was on the bottom deck in the middle of the breeze way. I worked in the E-club and called my wife in Kentucky with the tips I made.
Oh to be young and dumb again.
BTW, she divorced me once I got to Nam. Guess who she married? The divorce lawyer.

felix maresh - July 2, 2020

– FELIX MARESH –IWAS THERE WITH VMF-235 – IN 1952 —I REMEMBER .IT WELL — FRONT OF BASE (ENTRANCE) to the base all grown up like a jungle – No grunts there at that time

Leave a comment

* Required fields