submitted by Roy Stevens

I was stationed at McChord in Tacoma, [when] the Koreans highjacked the Pueblo. When this happened, all reserve units in the area were activated for an indefinite period of time, and moved onto the base. The base didn`t have enough barracks for everyone, so they offered permanent party personnel apartments off base. These apartments were very nice and life was good.

A short time later one of my roommates came home and said they were looking for someone to go tdy to Oregon for 16 days. "No way", I thought, leave all this behind. A little later I thought, "What the hell it`s only for 16 days and I`ve never seen Oregon before." Upon arriving at Baker, after driving what seemed like forever, the town looked like nothing in the absolute middle of nowhere. My sixteen day decision seemed like an eternity. This wasn`t bad enough, upon reporting to the commander he informed me that my TDY had been extended to ninety days. I left his office in complete despair. This being said I can only tell you that my ninety days turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life. I actually extended for an additional 45 days before I finally left Baker behind.

I don`t know whether it`s true or not, but I was told that when Baker was someone`s first assignment, Baker had a 100 percent retention rate. If it`s true, and I tend to believe it is, it speaks volumes for the moral at that site. I came to know the people of Baker and the people at the site. It was like one big happy family. You don`t very often see a relationship between a town and an installation like that.

Because I worked midnight shift at the site, I took a part time job at a small restaurant in town. This job afforded me the opportunity to supply meals to the movie set of "Paint Your Wagon" being filmed outside of town at that time. I also had the privilege of cooking a meal for Bobby Kennedy and his entourage while they were stumping through Baker. This experience left me with a desire to always take on new challenges and follow untraveled roads in my life.

Thanks for listening

Roy.