A/1C Jerry Whitehead
3134th Stock Control Sqdn
@ Chas:  1955-58

I have a lot of memories from my three years in Châteauroux. Probably, what stands out the most is the first 24 hours I spent there.

    I arrived quite late at night on a cold and rainy night in February of 1955. There were about 10 of us on the train and since it was so late, we were put up in the Faison Hotel across from the train station. The bar was closed but somehow we convinced the owner to open it up for us and we had our first taste of pernod and cognac. I think everybody finally got to sleep around 3 AM, so when the bus came to pick us up the next morning we were a sorry sight.  I spent about two weeks in a tent and then we were put in permanent barracks on the base.

     During the following three years, I was exposed to a whole new world of French culture, language and customs which was totally foreign to a young lad from Florida. I eventually learned to speak French and things began to improve from  that moment on.

 A few of the memories from that place and time was frequenting Joe From  Maine and sometimes being thrown out  for being a bad boy and  a place near the base called the Chicken Coop.

I enjoyed a place called Belle Isle and mostly because that was where all the young girls went to cool off during the summer.

My trips to Paris were uneventful except for my 21st birthday which I won't go into a lot of detail except to say every young man should be allowed to celebrate his 21st birthday in that manner. I met a lot of wonderful people while I was there, both American and French and for the most part remember what they looked like then.

I returned to Châteauroux in 1988 with a friend and while there visited a bar on the outskirts of town. When I knocked on the door (this place was like a speakeasy), I spoke to a woman on the other side in my best American slang and she responded by screaming that, "The Americans are back!"