Memories of Ricky Andresen
I have great memories of Camp King, however, because I
didn't actually live on base, I missed out on all of the day-to-day things that go on in
your life. Camp King is where we caught the bus to go to school, I remember waiting in the
parking lot for the bus and when it rained under the roof of the little pavilion. Camp
King is where I played my first video game. The bowling alley got a sit-down game where
you manipulated two joysticks to fly a plane and shoot down one run by a friend or by the
computer. I remember thinking it was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen.
Camp King is where we'd go to celebrate Halloween. I
have vivid recollections of dressing up as an army man and smearing burned cork on my face
to blacken it, and walking from building to building getting candy. There was usually some
kind of "haunted house" in one of the buildings, where they would create
something in the long hallway in the basement where the storage rooms where. We'd get home
with two shopping bags filled with candy and would snack on them everyday, as our parents
allowed.
At the ends of those hallways where bigger rooms for meetings and building get togethers.
This is where we would have our Cub Scout meetings. We would work on our arts and crafts
projects on the large tables when we would meet. It was always an exciting time for me,
because I would see all of my friends that I went to school with.
The movie theater at Camp King was also a special place for me. I remember that movies
only played a couple of days before they were taken to the next base, so you only had
around 6 showings of every movie. Well it was a big deal to go see a movie and my best
friend, Sam Flynn, and I always got there first and grabbed the best seats in the house,
the 5th and 6th seats in the front row. When a blockbuster like Jaws came around, they
extended the number of showings to 9 or even 12. Sam and I got in line 3 hours before the
ticket booth opened on opening night, just to make sure we would get our coveted seats. We
passed the time by playing games and doing the things kids do when they're 10 years old,
but 45 minutes before the movie started, people started showing up to get in line. We held
our place at the front and made sure everyone saw who was first in line. We had planned
out who would get the seats and who would get the candy, popcorn and soda and when the
doors finally opened we rushed in and executed our plan. Times like that hold special
places in my heart.
After the school, the bus would drop us off in the parking lot and I would have to kill a
couple of hours waiting for my mom to finish work. She had a tailor shop under the bowling
alley, where she would add or remove patches on uniforms or just basic sewing for the GI's
who didn't know how. I would spend hours there, rummaging through the piles of patches and
insignia. I really like the ones that had the flaming sword and the Calvary insignia. If I
wasn't at her shop, I was out playing marbles at the playground or just horsing around
with friends. That hour and a half before my mom got off work was great, because it was
just for fun.
My little league baseball team, the Leopards, played out home games at Camp King. I always
remember the sidelines full of parents, cheering us on. We played on the same field that
the helicopters landed on. I always thought that was cool.