It was early September 1962. VF_11 had checked out of Barracks 93 and had headed to Mayport Carrier Basin, Jacksonville, Florida, via chartered buses. I had the duty along with everyone else in Duty Section 3. Some had the chore of cleaning up the barracks. Larry Purser, Hal Hearn and I had the task of transporting about 100 cans of paint and other flammable liquids to the "dump" at Nas Cecil Field. We loaded all the stuff on a "Duece and a Quarter and headed to the dump. This truck had two way radios in it. To get to the dump, we had to cross over two runways. I stopped the truck at the "Hold Sahort" line, and waited for the green light from the tower. We could also hear the tower respond to traffic both in the asir, and us on the ground. The tower flashed us green, but requested we stop short of the 13,000 foot runway, and wait for a A4 to land. It touched down ,and the tower gave us permission to cross over and head to the dump. I drove the truck into the dump. We started tossing the paint cans and the other flammable liquids over the sides of the truck. The first sevety five cans of paint made it into the piles of trash without a hitch. Number seventu six must have hit metal to metal causing a spark."Whoomp"!An oily black smokey fire now engulfed the truck on both sides. Startled, I hopped back into the truck and pulled it forward out of the flames. We finished tossing the rest of the cans into the dumo, taking care to avoid the fire. I started to retace our steps back to the barracks. We heard over the radio from the tower the black smoke was coming from the dump,and that the smoke was headed towards the duty runways. The fire trucks had the OK from th etower to proceed directly to the dump. It passed us as we crossed over the runways and headed back to report to the duty section chief, what had happened. He said to us" Take the truck back to motor pool, get your seabags and get on the charter bus". Not to worry guys we're going to be gone for nine months. We were the last guys in VF-11 to get aboard the carrier. The trip to Mayport from NAS Cecil Field took about thirty minutes. We took in the countryside on the way as it would be the last time we would see it until May the following year.
being the last ones aboard we were billeted on the O1 level just ahad of the number four wire and outside the void where the "Crash Barricade' was housed. We were also adjacent to the "Five inch 45 " anti aircraft guns.
The Roosevelt had been in Mayport Carrier Basin all summer. And it was a hot summer in Jacksonville, Florida. The ship's hull just absorbed the sun and kept its heat well into the night. Many guys chose to sleep on deck, because we had no airconditioning in the crew's quarters. Officers and chiefs had air in their compartments. The rest of us had to grin and bear it. The "racks" that the crew slept on, were canvas stretched over aluminum framing. The racks could be raide or "Triced U", when not inn use. The matress and sheets, called a fart sack were two sided. You slept on one side for a few days and the turned it over to attain a clean side to the sheet. It was so hot in our compartment that you were drenched in sweat by morning. The outline of your body was clearly seen on the sheets, kinda like th e"Holy Shroud of Turin".We'd overcome the opressive heat in few days when we left port and sailed north to the MED. It would take eleven days. Each day the crew would gather in Hangar Bay 3 for classes on local customsand laws of various countries that we would take Liberty in. For instance in Istanbul,Turkey if a cabbie with a fare riding in it were in an traffic accident, the cab driver was not liable, rather the fare was. Consequently the cab driver drove like Parnelli Jones through the steets of Istanbul. pedestrians would fling themself up next to walls as the cab sped through. It was rather exciting. The presenter were entertainers hired by the Department of Defense to present the info in such a manner that sailors would remember. They did a decnt job as I can still recall some of their finer nuances. For example in Italy you don't put your hand out in a "stop" motion with your fingers spread. As that is an insult in Italy. We had the usual VD lectures from the Medical Department. The pictures were so graphic that you really didn't want to interact with the opposite sex..... well until at least three or four beers.