This should be an easy one day drive. However the Army decided to stay overnight in Santa Barbara on the way. An excellent spot for some R&R and opportunity for public relations.
Look at all the bars and restaurants downtown. Nice hotels for the officers. We lined up our pup tents in a pretty park on Highway 101. After our K ration supper we could roam downtown.
Whoops! I pulled MP duty. I put on a MP arm patch, I strapped on a gun belt with a 45 caliber pistol and walked up and down Main Street and watched my comrades get drunk. I will have to admit that I thought I was pretty cool. I was 18.
Marines from a local installation and our guys had several fights. Top brass was writing letters of recrimination for several months.
After the war I would drive by the park and think back about my tour of duty as the Matt Dillon of Santa Barbara.
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