On August 18, 1969 I boarded a Braniff Airlines (now defunct) jet and flew to San Antonio, Texas where I began my Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base for my four year enlistment in the U.S. Air Force. I knew when I completed my basic training I would be transferring to Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, DC for an assignment I had already interviewed for with the Secretary of the Air Force Office of Information. What I didn’t know is that no matter what you think the facts are when you deal with the U.S. Government and any branch of the Department of Defense, something will come along and mess it up. And that’s how I went from expecting to spend six weeks in San Antonio, Texas to actually spending eight months there.
I took this photo of the River Walk in 2003. When I arrived in 1969 the River Walk had begun developing, probably as a result of the 1968 San Antonio Hemisfair. The building, on the river level, in the picture was the site of a restaurant/pub called The River Roost. While I was “stuck” in San Antonio, I had aligned myself with a small recording studio owned by one George J. Washington. I spent several evenings recording folk artists performing at The River Roost and met a lovely young, local schoo teacher I dated until I left San Antonio. The end of April 1970 I finally transferred to my assignment in Washington, DC. I have fond memories of those days on the River Walk. Coincidently, I was fortunate enough to locate George J. Washington, a retired music teacher, during this visit. We enjoyed sipping some libation under the yellow umbrella closet to the right side of this photo as we recalled old “war stories” of our association and recording days 33 years earlier.
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