September 1963 to June 1967.
Checked aboard the USS Springfield CLG7 in New York. Never thought this thing would float, she was in drydock getting final work on hull. New York was a total different world to an eighteen year old out of Kansas. Ship got underway in 1963 for Villefranche, France as six fleet flagship. When not touring the Mediterranean as six fleet flagship, she was at anchor in Villefranche, France halfway betweem Nice and Montie Carlo,. Great life for a 18 year-old. I learned a lot about life from the French that did not exist in Ellsworth, Kansas. What away to become a man. Next stop is Patuxent River OASU West Pack Detachment. Assigned to Oceanographic Air Survey Unit (OASU) Project Jenny.
