Contributed by Harvey L. Hartman, Jr.

Remember the movies in our little theater (all six month old blockbusters): Jaws, The Towering Inferno, Patton, The Poseidon Adventure, Airplane, and at least one kung fu movie each week because the Hawaiian lieutenant in the orderly room who ordered our movies loved them. Remember how few guys had TVs because the Galena AFTV station didn`t come on until 6pm and went off the air at 10? Remember how it only showed old Elvis movies or Sea Hunt reruns anyway?

Remember how the only radio station that we could receive was AFRN on the AM band? Remember how the signal was remoted up from Elmendorf to Galena and then sent to the transmitter that was located in a room off of the 743rd Orderly Room? Remember the announcer Charlie Tuna? How about the Chicken Man serials? Remember when the Elmendorf legal office sent out the teletype (remember teletype?) memo shutting down all of the outlaw dorm room radio stations that had popped up at the AC&W sites throughout Alaska? Remember how "We Gotta Get Outta This Place" by the Rolling Stones was the most popular request on AFRN?

Do you remember hiking through the woods at 2AM with the sun shining brightly to go swimming in the Yukon? Do you remember playing softball at midnight (with sunglasses!) in the summer months? Or braving the bitter cold outside on a January night to watch the northern lights? Do you remember how cool the radomes looked on a winter night with all of the heat banks giving them an orange glow?

Do you remember how most of the site personnel would go outside and "get in position" to catch an inbound F4 Phantom who Ops said was going to give us a bubble check?

Remember how the commander required that all letters to new troops from their Campion sponsors be reviewed before sending because too many of them started out with "This place really sucks!" ?

Remember the excitement of the "Cool Barge" arriving because that meant fresh beer for the NCO club? Remember how the E-4s and below were tasked to help unload it? Remember how those workers were rewarded with a few cases of last year`s Falstaff beer and how, in all of the history of mankind, they were the only ones who understandably turned down free beer?

Remember the Yukon Ice Breakup betting pool in April? Do you remember how, after a winter of howling winds and -30 degree temps, you went outside in April in short sleeves, even though the high was only in the 40s? Do you remember setting a warm beer outside your dorm window on a winter night and then bringing it back in a minute later, perfectly chilled? Remember the first time you left it outside for too long (two minutes) and it was frozen solid?

Do you remember how, even though it was normally considered wrong for a man to cry, it was perfectly understandable when your friend had to spend his Christmas away from his wife and kids? Do you remember sharing his joy a week later when this same man jubilantly showed off the pictures of them he just received in the mail? Remember how, during those times that the mail plane was late, we would stay up until after midnight if necessary. Remember how the projectionist would pause the movie when "Mail is up" was announced over the PA?

How about bowling in the claustrophobic 2-lane bowling alley on the side of the gym? Remember the leagues? Remember "Midnight Bowling" on Saturday nights? Remember how it was more fun to watch the drunks try to bowl than to watch the non-drinkers?

Remember how the Chow Hall door was never locked and if you couldn`t sleep you could go in and get something to drink? Remember how there was always someone else in there who couldn`t sleep either? Remember how the chow was generally great but you could always tell if Saturday morning`s cook had too much to drink on the Friday night before because all you got was toast and tomato juice that morning?

Do you remember the killer stereo systems we could order through the BX and how EVERYONE in the Airman`s and NCO wings had monster systems, probably capable of being heard in the Soviet Union? Do you remember the day that your system arrived in the mail? Do you remember how everyone taped everyone else`s albums and how all of our tapes had a buzz every 12 seconds? Remember the elaborate boxes we all made out of window screen or aluminum foil to encase our stereos in to try to eliminate the buzz? Remember how none of the ideas worked and that annoying buzz persisted? Remember how when someone returned from leave with a suitcase full of new albums (remember vinyl albums?) he was instantly elevated to hero status? Remember when someone would return from leave and would bring back a dozen or so Big Macs and French fries, he was instantly the most popular guy of the moment? Remember wolfing them down cold because nobody had microwave ovens back then?

Do you remember how exciting it was to catch the bus once a month or so to spend a Saturday in Galena, even though we all knew that there was nothing exciting to go to in Galena? Remember how we would do it again the following month anyway?

Remember Hobo`s Bar in Galena? Remember how it was off-limits almost every other week? Remember how there were always a few Campion drunks who could be counted on to be there every Saturday night, off-limits or not?

Do you remember when they shot that bear off the back steps of the NCO wing and we all ate bear stew for weeks afterwards? How about that big batch of homemade Sangria and how nobody could stand to look at wine for weeks after?

Do you remember the first time you inadvertently stepped on tundra and watched in awe as the "ground" moved up and down for several yards in front of you? Remember the first time you stepped through it and had to hike the several miles back to the radar site with one wet shoe and sock?

Remember the mosquitoes that were big enough to saddle up? Remember how one of their bites would itch like hell and welt up for over a week? Remember how loud one could be in the dark in your room at night?

Remember the mind-boggling hunting and fishing opportunities that the area offered? Do you remember checking out a boat and motor and spending the weekend exploring the many creeks and tributaries of the Yukon? Do you remember the first time you saw a moose or caribou in the wild? Remember how you could hike 5 or 6 miles from the site and possibly be standing on ground that had never seen a human foot before? No litter, no spray painted tree trunks, nothing but unspoiled nature!

Do you remember how when the alert buzzer went off, the Ops Duty Crew went running down the hall to report to work, often in pajamas? Remember how they were usually followed by most of the radar and radio maintenance guys, even though they weren`t required to report?

And best of all, remember the day you climbed on your freedom bird to go home and couldn`t wait to leave that place, only to privately whisper goodbye to the most memorable year of your life as you watched Campion through the airplane window disappear in the distance? Isn`t it amazing how you hated every day of it back then but these days you`ll tell everyone who`ll listen about how great that experience was? (And that, all in all, the place didn`t really suck that bad?)

I miss you guys!

Rabbit