Bobby's World (continued)
Along came my cousin Eugene Jackson Basinger and his wife Kathryn Irene Castleberry Basinger and their adopted baby Frederick Eugene Basinger.
The next five or six years were foggy. I want to write many hateful things about Eugene (Gene), but at times he was good. Kathryn (Kathy & Katy)was a wonder, she endured his abuse, protected me from his abuse when she could and worked a full time job too. Fred was the one who suffered the most, and I believe that the abuse heaped upon him as well as drugs are what caused his early death. Before Fred left us he married a wonderful lady by the name of Esther and they had two wonderful children together; Aldo and Lisa. If I remember correctly Aldo was 17 and Lisa 15 when their dad passed away. He was my brother, though not by blood but by experience.
Gene and Katy circa 70s
We moved a lot! I will demonstrate by trying to name the schools and towns we loved in and in the order we lived in them. While living with my grandparents in Fort Worth I attended East Van Zandt, Castleberry and Alexander Hogg for a short time. I don't remember why I had to go Alexander Hogg and I don't know who I stayed with but I was very unhappy. Now post grandparents:
1. Sharp Park School, Sharp Park, CA 2. Pedro Point, CA (can't remember school) 3. Los Banos Middle School, Los Banos, CA 4. James Denman Jr HS, San Francisco 5. Campbell HS, Campbell, CA 5. Lincoln HS, San Jose, CA 6. Mission HS, San Francisco 7. HS (don't remember name) in Daly City 8. Polytechnic HS, San Francisco 9. Galileo HS, San Francisco. I think this is all and I'm not really sure of the order. While in the 10th Grade I ran away from home and went to Campbell (near San Jose) to work and stay with friends.
I was fortunate enough to be granted the opportunity to stay with an Italian family. The two sons were the best friends I had ever had as a teenager. Their parents told me I could stay as long as I got a job and left their daughter alone. I got the job and left the daughter alone. During the months that I lived with the family, I now know that I experienced the family structure that we all would enjoy, good food, a clean house, safety, interaction with each member of the family in a respectful way, support, and love. Yes, even though I was not a "real" member of the family, I felt welcome and safer than I had for a long time. I am ashamed to say that I cannot remember the name of any of the family members. God bless them.
Of course my living with the Italian Family could not go on indefinitely, so I knew I had to do something. I am now 17 years old and less naive than when I left home.
I contacted my brother who I believe was in Southern California at the time and told him I wanted to go in the Air Force. Fortunately, he was my legal guardian and he came up to San Jose and signed the enlistment papers alowing me to join. So on March 22, 1954, after a physical and many tests, I became a member of the United States Air Force.
I believe it took two days, by train, to get to Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. All of us were really excited, that is until the train arrived in San Antonio and we were met by our Drill Instuctors.
We were transported from the railroad station to Lackland AFB via bus. Upon arrival a lot of stuff happened; we were issued uniforms, bedding, and assigned to a "barracks". The barracks was a two story structure , which was open from end to end with exception of the Drill Instuctor's room and office, a Day Room, and a latrine with no privacy.
Here I am in Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. I thought my s--- didn't stink. Basic Training at the time was for twelve weeks. Believe me even in the Air Force, that was a long time. Somehow I and all but a few of us in my training flight graduated.
I believe I graduated from Basic Training in late June of 1954, at the latest July. Initially I was assigned to Intelligence School at Keesler AFB, Biloxi, Mississippi, but they discovered that I was too young to attend the school; I was 17 and you had to be 18. So I was assigned temporarily to a new Basic Training Flight as an Assistant Drill Instructor, I did so well that my Drill Instructor recommended that I be allowed to stay as an instructor. Again it was determined that I was too young. Finally, I received orders to attend Automatic Data Processing School at Lowry AFB, Denver, Colorado. I arrived in Denver in September, 1954 via Continental Airlines (my first airplane ride).