lessonslearned Living the Dream
A military spouse makes a 7,000-mile journey — with seven young children in tow — to join her Army husband after he is reassigned to serve in Okinawa, Japan.
T
he February issue’s Lessons Learned submission, “Wedded Bliss,” by Col. Michael Kilroy,
USAF (Ret), reminded me of a similar experience I had in the summer of 1962. My husband, Army Col. William V. “Bill” McGuinness Jr., now deceased, had been reassigned from Sandia Base, N.M., to Okinawa, Japan.
As a dependent, I had to wait — with
our seven children, then ages 2 months to 11 years — until he secured housing before we could join him. The children and I traveled to Illinois and stayed with my mother for two months. Finally, our travel orders arrived. My
brother, Dan, flew with us to Chicago and saw us onto the next leg of our jour- ney: San Francisco. My mother-in-law flew up from Los Angeles to help us drive to Travis AFB, Calif., where we stayed one night. The following after- noon, we took off for Okinawa via Hawaii and Wake Island on a turboprop plane. (This was before jets.) At least while on the plane, I did not have to worry about the children getting lost! From then on, I lost track of time. We landed in Hawaii after dark for
a three-hour layover. Bill, being very considerate, had arranged for a friend to meet us there and see us onto the next leg. He was very helpful and kept the older children busy and entertained while I kept the three younger ones in the nursery.
En route, I paired off each of the older
children with a younger one, giving them a sense of responsibility that has lasted all their lives. On the long legs of the jour- ney, the children slept where they could, across the seats and even on the floor. Next stop: Wake Island, where, for-
tunately, there was one small air-condi- tioned waiting room. We were soon on our way to our last stop, Okinawa — or so we thought. An hour or so out, the plane started leak- ing oil over the wing. Since we had not yet
reached the halfway point, we turned around and flew back to Wake Island for another three-hour layover. The mechanics had to climb into the engines to repair the leak. On a wing and a prayer,
Tell Your Story Military Officer seeks service-related anec- dotes that left an im- pression. See Directory on page 4 for submis- sion information. All submissions will be con- sidered for publication.
we finally landed at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa. You can imagine our happy re- union, thanks to prayer, fam- ily, and friends along the way. Three years later, with an- other addition, a much quicker 10- hour return flight, and a week’s vacation in Hawaii, we were all grateful for our happy times on Okinawa.
MO
— Marjorie C. McGuinness is a surviving spouse living in Connecticut. For submission in- formation, see page 4.
save the dates: May 12 is Military Spouse Appreciation Day and May 14 is Mother’s Day. 84 MILITARY OFFICER MAY 2017
The children slept where they could, across the seats and even on the floor.
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