CHRISTMAS EVE 1970

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 I never sang in public until Christmas Eve 1970 when I was stationed at Erhac Detachment 93 in Turkey. We were in a remote assignment and our unit had 200 Americans if that many. One of our Security Policemen was a guy named Garland Atkins who was from North Carolina and to the left of me. He was such a good guitarist we nicknamed him Chet Atkins. We put together a Christmas show which included several acts. We were the first to perform and we sang mainly country. There was also a beauty contest. Since there were no women around we had a few brave men dressed as very ugly women. Our stage was two pool tables pushed together. Most everyone was drinking and it is not hard to entertain a bunch of drunks. A fight broke out while we were performing and it reminded me of the old western movies where everyone is fighting and the piano player just keeps on playing. We never stopped singing. Beer cans and chairs were flying everywhere. I was never able to work up the courage to sing again until I was almost 30 years old. We had a talent contest at our church and I have been singing ever since.





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