Diane Stark (McConnell) Sanfilippo
Chapter 63 Aloha! Hawaii
The last day aboard the Lurline began the same
as all the others with our son walking with the
steward and ringing the bell for the first
sitting for breakfast. I have to admit that I
was not looking forward to getting off the huge
ship, not only because of having to set up house
again, but because I knew that Billy would not
be allowed even a moment to help me get settled
before he reported for duty.
After that, I knew that I would see very little
of him since the 25th would be getting ready to
depart for Vietnam, and the training would be
intense, the hours long, and our time together
more precious than ever. Thus, a rather glum
mood accompanied me to breakfast while Billy
looked like he was more alive than ever before.
We asked our waiter when we were due to arrive
in Honolulu and he told us that it would be
about 3:00 p.m. Honolulu time, or an hour after
the 2nd dinner sitting was finished so that
those passengers had time get back to their
cabins and prepare their luggage ready to
disembark. We received a note from our stewards
to have our suitcases in the hall by 1:00 p.m.,
so Billy would change into his uniform and I one
of my nice dresses before lunch. The only things
that we would be required to carry off would be
the baby, of course, who Billy could not carry
in uniform and her bag of food, diapers, and
all the other required paraphernalia for
infants, and this was indeed much heavier than
our daughter in her infant seat was. I just
hoped that Michael would be able to manage the
gangplank by himself since both of us would
have our hands full.
Billy found a Laundromat on board and right after
breakfast, we planned to wash the clothing and
diapers in order to have most clean since we had
no idea what facilities were available in the
temporary housing where we would be staying until
Billy and Rusty had an opportunity to look for
houses close to each other. Thankfully the
machines were free since we had barely enough
left to give our waiter, stewards and stewardess
(who had done nothing for us really), the minimum
tip. The chef had gone all out for this last
breakfast, although I was told that the Captain’s
dinner the night before for the first class
passengers was absolutely opulent, but we must
have been fortunate enough to get their leftovers.
For that last breakfast, we all had fresh pineapple,
and I wondered if I would ever be able to eat the
canned variety again since there was very little
resemblance in texture or taste. Billy and I had
Eggs Benedict with fresh asparagus, although Billy
quickly put his asparagus on my plate, Michael had
a pancake shaped like Mickey Mouse with his big
ears, and he was very pleased, although we had to
convince him that he could eat ‘Mickey’. The waiter
passed a platter of fresh exotic fruit, and this
time I joined Billy in turning down the mango and
papaya since I had not been impressed with either.
I did like this strange green fruit called Kiwi,
and pomegranate but Billy would not try either,
just stuck to his fresh pineapple. The waiter
told us that the island of Oahu was awash with
pineapple plantations, although the trend was now
to move out to the larger islands as land became
worth more money than a pineapple or sugarcane
farmer could earn on well-developed Oahu, but he
assured us that we would find plenty of fresh
pineapple. He also told us that it was a $100
fine if caught picking a pineapple out of the
fields, but that there was a tourist stand on
the main road from Honolulu to Wiamea, not far
from Schofield Barracks, where cold fresh
pineapple was available daily. Billy put this on
his list of things to do and see for the weekends,
and I just hoped that he have some time at home
for us to explore the island before he left.
After breakfast, we washed and dried our small
amount of clothing and at least three-dozen
diapers before we took our customary walk around
the decks. Unexpectedly and suddenly, Michael ran
to the railing and when Billy grabbed for him so
he would not go over, we really had no fear.
Michael got about halfway there, stopped short,
looked at the ocean, and said that he did not
want to swim in that big pool, it was too deep
and too big, and too many fishes since he had
seen the porpoise and dolphins from the safety
of his father’s broad shoulders. Even then, he
would fuss if Billy got too close to the railing.
All I could think of was sharks since my father
used to tell me that sharks would follow the
ships during WWII waiting for them to throw the
garbage overboard, and all I could think of was
huge schools of sharks following the big ship
and devouring the leftovers. Yes, I still had
my lifelong fear of sharks from my encounters
living on The Isle of Palms, and I was not too
sure that I wanted to go swimming in these waters
either, although they did look cool and inviting.
Unlike the green waters of the Atlantic, the
Pacific Ocean is blue, and I wondered why the
difference briefly, but my brief respite forgotten,
I snapped back to reality as Margie woke up and
let me know that she was hungry.
Billy still did not want me to nurse in public, not
even on the almost deserted deck, and I did not
either since the shy Southern girl did not think it
'proper’ behavior for a lady, much less an officer’s
lady. I told him that he could stay up here with Michael
if he wanted, but he said that he would rather go back
to the cabin, pack and have our bags out early, so all
of us headed down to the tiny cramped cabins.
While Billy packed and I nursed Margie, Michael was happy
to sit out in the tiny hall between our two cabins and
play with his cars. He exhibited no desire to run away
from us and obediently took Billy’s hand or mine when
told. As bad as I felt about the bruise over his eyebrow,
and of course, Billy felt worse, I hoped that Michael
would never try to run away again. In vain, I was sure,
but one could hope.
When he finished packing his and Michael’s clothing, Billy
came into the cabin to pack Margie’s diaper bag with the
needed food for several meals, plenty of diapers, several
changes and her heating dish since we had no idea where or
when we would be able to settle down into quarters of our
own. By the time I finished putting the clean clothes into
my own suitcase, the steward came around looking for Michael
to ring the lunch bell and to remind us to leave our
suitcases outside of our door and to pick up any valuables
in the purser’s office. Now that would be nice even to have
valuables, but all of mine were living and breathing, and
frankly I would not have had it any other way!
Mistakenly, I thought that lunch would be slight since the
crew also was preparing for their ‘turn-around’ to the
mainland within twenty-four hours of reaching port, but the
menu was as extensive as usual, and not in the least like
anyone was in any great rush to get us off so they could
prepare the ship for more paying passengers. The mainland,
meaning the United States mainland since Hawaii was now a
state and it sounded awkward to refer to the North American
Continent as ‘America’ or ‘the states’, so they called their
sister states the ‘mainland’. I had learned that we were
called ‘haoles’ since we were not of the Hawaiian heritage,
and that each syllable in each word was pronounced in their
language, thus making it simple, at least to the Hawaiians,
but it was similar to our native American words, like
Chattahoochee and Mississippi. I simply found it rather
difficult to pronounce words that were sixteen or more
letters long!
Following lunch Billy checked our cabins again while I nursed
Margie, and with our luggage gone, we went up on deck to watch
the big liner dock and to see what we could of Pearl Harbor.
This too was on Billy’s list of things to do and places to see.
He wanted to visit the Arizona Memorial to all those boys who
had lost their lives during the Japanese attack on the island,
which really was not so long ago, and I too was interested
since I had heard so many Navy war stories from my father. He
had been a student at the University of Georgia when Pearl
Harbor was bombed, but instead of waiting to be drafted, which
would have put him into the Army most likely, after graduation,
he enlisted in the Navy. He was sent to New York City to attend
what was called the ’90 Day Wonder’ School at Columbia
University where recent college graduates attended extensive
classes for 90 days and came out a Navy Ensign. My parents were
married in New York City at The Little Church around the Corner
after my mother, discovering that she was pregnant with me,
followed my father to New York. This was wartime, and I am sure
that they were just one among thousands of young couples who
married this way, and while I used to hold it against them, of
course with maturity, I found it quite romantic. After all, the
same thing, almost, had happened to Billy and me. Anyway, now I
could see first-hand the infamous Pearl Harbor where WWII really
began for the United States of America.
When we finally spotted land, the island seemed so small, and in
actuality, it is not very large. Soon the ship was in water that
was as clear as a swimming pool, and a deep aqua, the prettiest
color I had ever seen. With the sun glistening off the swells,
it appeared to be an undulating sea of aqua chiffon.
Before the ship could get close to the terminal, where I could
see a crowd waiting around the base of the Aloha Tower, we
received a local native aloha. Divers in briefs and women with
long blue-black hair wearing grass-skirts and bra-like tops in
colors and patterns that rivaled the tropics in color, came out
to the ship in their strange double-hulled boats, called
catamarans. Soon passengers were throwing glistening dimes and
quarters overboard for the natives to dive after, and I watched
fascinated while some coins never completed their downward spiral,
while others came to rest on the white sand bottom of the clear
sea. I doubt if many coins found their way to the bottom as diver
after diver even some that looked as young as twelve-yrs, flung
themselves vertically from their boats to dive to the ocean floor.
Some of the ‘greeters’ came aboard, climbing nets thrown over the
sides of the ship, just for the purpose of allowing this welcome.
Mostly the women came with leis so colorful that they reminded me
of a parrot’s feathers, and some made of stunning lavender orchids
woven into an enchanted garland. They were carrying pineapples,
mangos, papaya, and coconuts; at least those fruits I could
identify. The show was probably staged and paid for by The Matson
Line, and it occurred bi-weekly as the Lurline and its sister ship
neared their berths at the Aloha Tower, but still it was a fascinating
introduction to the rich and colorful legacy of the native Hawaiians.
Michael was awestruck, and especially when the conch shell sounded
with it plaintive wail, and Billy found some change for him to throw
for the divers.
Closer to the ship’s rail than he had been during the entire voyage,
Michael laughed and shouted with excitement, “Mommy, Daddy, that boy
caught my quarter before it hit the bottom”!
How I wished then that I could capture that day in his memory since
he probably would not be able to remember it for himself. As we
neared the dock, we could hear a band playing ‘Aloha’, which means
both hello and goodbye in the Hawaiian language, and all of a sudden,
I felt like I needed to pinch myself. After all this time dreaming
about paradise we were about to set foot on its very shore. I did not
need to pinch myself enough not to notice that Billy was enjoying the
sparsely clad native women and his eyes seemed to be riveted to those
with especially large breasts. I wanted to kick him, not pinch myself,
and I thought about thrusting his daughter into his arms so the girls
could see that my handsome lieutenant was not only married, but also a
father! Before I could follow through with my intentions, his attention
was once again on his family as we neared the gangplank to be among the
first to disembark.
He looked so handsome in his ‘suntan’ uniform with his airborne wings
gleaming on his chest and the gold and black Ranger’s crescent on his
shoulder. Soon he would be wearing the 25th Division’s red and gold
tropical lightning patch on his right shoulder, and he would have to
have them sewn on to all his uniforms just as soon as he reported for
duty. For now, he still wore the blue and white patch of The Infantry
School. He would have to buy the special epaulets and the accompanying
brass for his shoulders that denoted the 1st Battalion of the 14th
Infantry Brigade, also known as the ‘Golden Dragons’ that honored their
history of battle in China. Their motto was ‘Right of the Line’, and
Billy had been studying the history of this famous unit since he had
received his orders. Other than that, we knew that he would be
assigned as a platoon leader in Charlie Company, and he needed the
command time before he could apply for his Regular Army commission,
but he also would be ‘acting Executive Officer’, as the officers were
few, and most were assigned to more than one job.
Oh my, he was so proud, walking down that gangplank, the elite of the
United States Army, when all of a sudden, the diaper bag he was carrying
came open and jar after jar of baby food bounced down the gangplank in
front and beside him! After I recovered from my horror to what I feared
his reaction would be, I realized, as he began to laugh while rounding
up and accepting from others the wayward jars, that he was still a
husband and a father first this proud Airborne Ranger soldier of mine.
My Billy, the boy I had married when I was just a child myself, but our
love had brought us on a long, long journey, not just in miles, but in
life as well, and our love was stronger than it had ever been. Now if
Uncle Sam would just live up to his promises, and I threw God in there
too since I knew that we would need to have a strong faith on our side
to survive Vietnam unscathed.
Captain Armstrong, commanding officer of Charlie Company, was there to
greet us, and quite anxious to get a officer of Billy’s caliber. After
all, North Georgia College cadets had made their worth known throughout
the Army, and with Billy’s recent specialized training, like his own,
he had a ‘choice’ officer to share his rather magnanimous duties. He
greeted us with the traditional lei for me, he shook hands with Billy
and welcomed both of us to Hawaii, and after we picked up our luggage,
we were off to Schofield Barracks to have supper with his family in
their quarters. We may be on solid ground now, but I still felt as
if I was aboard ship, and it took a week for the feeling to wear off!
With that welcome, we thought that nothing bad could possibly be
awaiting us as we began our tour of duty in paradise.
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