Last Exit for Reality

This past week I had a few people stay with us from up North. They picked a great week to be on this barrier Island, lots of sun and no "oil". We went out to dinner, went fishing and, of course, had lots to drink. I was sorry to see them leave, we had the best of times.

I remember back in the sixties when I had some friends stay with me. Most them also worked for the government in one way or another. Then I got a call from my boss. The party was over and I was to be at Homestead Air Force base in the morning. Two of the guests also got the call so we packed that night and were on our way to the base early morning.

It seemed that no one knew where we were going and what our mission was. We took off in a sea plane and headed south. After about 2 1/2 hours of flying low over the ocean we landed on a small island near Puerto Rico called Culebra. The island is about 7 mile long and 4 miles wide and somewhat close to St. Thomas. While we were landing we were told a small data machine was stolen from a Navy base and was heading towards Cuba.

We searched the island and found nothing. By mid day we were headed towards Roosevelt Roads Naval Base, Puerto Rico. We traveled by van to the south side of the island to a town called Ponce. In the morning we were meet by a group of men and women from the base. The three of us split up and headed south on a dirt road ( Calle Salud) that seemed to go for hours. We all arrived in a village near the ocean called Playa Ponce. We came by jeep and the Navy sent boats to the village.

This ended good for a change, we caught the three men. No one was shot or injured and the data machine was found in good condition. That night the three of us caught a plane from the naval base back to Homestead. One agent (Ranger Bob) left for Texas. That later turned out to be my next assignment location.