Back to Reunions PageRamey AFB 2006 Reunion Overview
Hosted by Dick and Connie Cantrell
April 22 to 28, 2006 Ramey Ramp Rat Reunion: A group of hardy souls departed various airports in the U.S. heading for the tropical paradise where they had been stationed some 55 years before. The distance King and Queen were Chief and Mary-Lou, having come from the state of Washington. Other attendees were, Bill and Marilyn Hobbs, Dick and Ida Perez, Don and JoAnn McDaniel, Dick and Yonsu Heaton, all from California, Art and Connie Ross from Minnesota, Paul and Nancy Hardy from Nevada, Juergen and Del Lucka from Wisconsin, Bill and Helen Boice from Ohio, Dan Bowen and two daughters, Debra and Marian from Mississippi, Smiley Burnette from South Carolina, Buck and Betty Burnham, Bill and Dell D'Lizzaraga, Wayne and LaVena Prichard all from Texas, John and Lee Cempe, and Henry White and grandson from Massachusetts, JoJo Boggess and Connie McCollum from Georgia, Charlie and Lourdes Berry, Ray and Alma Winston, Reginald and Mickey Livingston and Jim and Mozelle McKenzie all from Florida and Joe Morris and Dick and Connie Cantrell closer to home in Puerto Rico. All the attendees appeared to fully enjoy the return to the site from whence it all began in 1950. Visits were made to the old domicile (Barraca On'ce) and attempts to find where we lived as marrieds both on and off base met with varying degrees of success. Life has a way of going on.
I personally was amazed when Del and Juergen Lucka and Mozelle and I made a visit to the ruins of the old light house. I never realized that it existed way back in the early fifties. I guess it wouldn't have been that high on the list of things to do for a group in their late teens and early twenties. But I digress.
The light house was constructed in 1889 and was destroyed by an earthquake and resulting tsunami in 1918. Of course in 1950 the wreckage was only 32 years old as compared with 88 years old when we visited it. Definitely more of an ancient relic today than back then. Little scary isn't it. The replacement was completed in 1920 along Cliff Road and is now highly visible to golfers playing what is now the 10th hole on the revised golf course layout.
I visited Barracks 11 with Buck. He got a glimpse of his old office and our old home in general. We were both pleased that the building is now being used constructively as a Vocational School. The "mess hall" is being used as a classroom for air conditioner and compressor repair classes. I was amazed to see that the floor in the dining area is the same floor we trod 50+ years ago. You could make out where the serving line had been, where Bill D'Lizarraga worked behind. Mr. Wilson Alvarez, the principal of the vocational school, and his wife Edna joined us at our going away dinner on our last night.