The Norman New Guys ended up being a whole other set of REAL FRIENDS. Think about that. We all went through a complete evolutionary cycle over there. Rather short term, but still a complete cycle, from Norman to Old Guy.

Garu (Gary Field) and others from his era showed me how to survive Asmara. Mostly in a bottle of I.W. Harper, but still how to survive. After they left it was our turn to teach the Norman's. There was a Fuck of a lot of them by the time our Short Timer's Party came. Remember how fucking tired you could get when nearing the end of your tour. That fucking day was just never going to get there. Never! The longer it took the worse it got. Alcohol was the only out for a lot of us. There were a few that could refrain from drinking all the time. I could not understand that. But the Normans hadn't been there long enough to get crazy, yet. It will happen. There is no escape. If you handled it right, you could do about anything you wanted to and nobody said anything.

Bill Coleman and I worked at the transmitter site together. I'm sure I helped him and his crew of Normans get settled in at the site. We were the Black Sheep of STRATCOM so they kept us out at the transmitter site. Actually I didn't mind it. The brass kept away except during day shift. Nights were a breeze. No matter how fucked up we were, we never fucked up work, not once.

The softball team was changing players. Old ones were going home, new ones signing up. I wonder how the Normans did after I left. I left them with a Championship to defend. The Mother Fuckers still had a good team.

The Oasis Club was so different. Garu, Stevie Wonder, Fat Herb, were all gone. Now the club was filled with Normans. They don't know where to sit. They don't know they can't sit there. That's where I sit. Normans can sit in the dining area and wait to be invited to the Stag Bar. We have our standards you know. I wonder how many reading this paragraph know what I am talking about, and how many haven't a clue. It seemed that as I was getting ready to leave, the Normans weren't as close as we were. I felt sorry for them. It was our closeness that made Asmara what it was for us. I didn't see tables with the same people at each one every day.

I now realize that Normans were people too. We were the ones they saw off at the airport. I had a good send off. Bill was there, Sugar Bear, George Christoff, David Black, and some others. They were part of my Asmara experience, but just the end of that experience. That extends my memories further that yesterday. Thanks to all the Normans everywhere.

Rick Fortney was one of those Normans in my story. He got there shortly before I left. Rick, like Garu ALWAYS tells me, "You will ALWAYS be the NEW GUY". That prick was right too.