25. Grenada 1983 - The Banana Tree Forest

Howard Wearing his Gas Mask in the Banana Patch

In a lighthearted moment Howard stands next to a bunch of Bananas in the banana plantation.  When we first arrived we were told that we were not to leave the immediate area. This is about as far away from the building as I got.  Tommy took this picture of me from "The Porch".  Since we couldn't go anywhere Tommy and I spent most of our time together, even though we took turns at the 6-hour shift on radio watch.  Someone had a checkerboard, and Tommy and I played a lot of games of checkers.  Tommy usually won.

We had been told that a high-ranking officer, General Smith, would be visiting our location.  To make things more presentable we had to clean up the place and make sure we were in proper uniform.  I put on every piece of equipment I had been issued to be sure I was "In Uniform".  I've got on my Rucksack, my Helmet, my Gas Mask (i.e. Protective Mask), my ammo pouches, canteen, and I've got my M-16 in one hand and my other is on a bunch of bananas hanging in the tree.