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| This year the day after thanksgiving Bobbie and I traveled down to the “ Peach State” to visit with our daughter Kim who is relocating there. During our stay we took one day to travel even further to the area of, Smyrna, which is a suburb of Atlanta. The reason for this journey was to finally meet up with an old Marine Plankowner; George “Papa” Griffin.
Ever since the planking project was started I have been E-Mailing my friend George on an almost daily basis. We have become great friends but had never met. While George spends a great deal of time in his hot rod motorized wheel chair he can do some limited walking with a walker. He has not been able to attend reunions but has a great memory of his time aboard the Macon and also the USS Houston. He keeps up with the computer on many of his old USMC and Navy shipmates. He likes to write short stories and I read all the ones he sends with interest. All of these scriptures are segments out of his real life experiences. He is a wonderful guy. He is a very proud former marine and at about 6 foot 3 or 4 and close to 300 pounds I would not want him to be mad at me. His wife Betty volunteers at the church helping less fortunate children. During our short stay we exchanged some war stories and ended up going out to lunch. We went to a very nice restaurant in a newly renovated section of Smyrna. George and I have a lot in common and even ordered the same “Meat Loaf Special” It was the best I’ve had in a long time. We want to thank George and Betty for having us visit their home and treating us to a wonderful meal. Hopefully we can meet again when we go there in the future. Now just to let you know that the world is small and it pays to wear a USS Macon hat or Jacket when you go out. Bobbie and My daughter went shopping in a nearby town of Blue Ridge Georgia. Of course I just tagged along. This town is full of small quaint shops, you know the ones that draw the tourists in. At one shop the lady at the counter started in a very loud voice: “Sir, Sir, Were you on The USS Macon???” I replied in the affirmative. “A lady that worked here goes to your reunions with her brother, Do you know Bill Drake???” I replied that I did and that I was the current President of the Association. She tried right there to call him but didn’t get an answer. She said I will have him call you later. Sure enough that evening my daughters phone rang and it was Bill. I told him that the man my daughter is going to marry here in Georgia was still in the active navy reserve and was a corpsmen. He said I was a corpsmen on the Macon. Again, it’s a small world with many similarities. So guys wear your hat or jackets. I have already met so many shipmates that didn’t know about our association that way. If you meet an old shipmate tell them about the group and by all means get their information to Sandy or Harold. We had a great trip and returned safely home, and yes it was a privilege to meet; Sgt.George ”Papa” Griffin, Formerly of The USMC. “Semper Fi”.
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