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Interesting Story from James McClelland,
USMC, KARAMURSEL, 1965

James McClelland

©2013 by Author



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James sent the following story about his time at KARAMURSEL.

ALMOST AWOL

I was stationed at KARAMURSEL Air station in 1965 as part of the small Marine detachment.  We actually transfer@comcast.netman in January 1966.  While surfing the web recently, I came across the @comcast.net website and noticed that you were interested in stories from those times.  Here is one that may interest you, but even if it does not, it was nice to view all of the information that you put into the site.  Thanks for many memories.

I spent a weekend at Buyuk Ada Island (Big Island) in the Sea of Marmara, but lost track of the time on Sunday and missed the last ferry back to Yalova.  After talking to the dispatcher, he suggested that I take a fishing boat over to Heybelyi, where I could catch the last ferry from there to get back to the base without being AWOL.  His assistant went over to the area where several boats were being loaded with fruits and vegetables and found a fisherman that would take a passenger.  It was quite an interesting ride, as the boat was full of produce to the point where the water was within an inch of capsizing it.  If that had happened, it would have challenged my swimming skills, as I estimate that it was about a distance of 2 miles between the islands.  We made it over there without a problem, though at a cost of about a quarter, and later I caught the ferry back to Yalova.  The owner of the boat was very nice, although he could not speak any English, and I only knew a few Turkish words.  I always wondered if I was the only military person to ever make a trip between the islands in a fishing boat.

Sincerely.

James McClelland

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