History - The War Years - Part Three
by Bob Gunter
Many people came to Sandpoint during the war years. Two of them were Beth Knight and Price May. Her story, in her own words, continues and she shares some of her memories of Farragut Naval Station, the Sandpoint USO and the welcome of the people of Sandpoint.
I loved the base. To go out to the base was just a very thrilling experience to me. To watch the boys working on what they called the grinder, learning how to stay in step. I can recall there was one particular sailor in my husband's company, he was in Company 384-43, and his name was Angelo. That poor little fellow could not keep in step and somebody was always walking on his heels.
I worked at Central Ship Service before I got a job at the bank in Sandpoint. My husband went through Camp Ward and the Central Ship Service was right there at the entrance to Camp Ward and I was able to go down to the base, I had a pass to get on the base. Most of the time we spent our weekends in Sandpoint because it's such a beautiful place there on the lake. We would go down and sit by the lake and watch the water. They had the big wooden bridge too, and it was our understanding that it was the longest wooden bridge in the world.
The boys stationed at the base took turns driving. We did not have a car. Some of the men who were married and had families had brought their cars with them. My husband felt that he should have a car too, so he could keep his end of the bargain and drive part of the time with gas being rationed and all. So we bought a black, four-door model A Ford for $125. We drove it until just before Price was released from the service.
I have very fond recollections of the USO in Sandpoint. It was down a block south of the courthouse and it was like a big log cabin. They had games set up. They had several rooms, one room was a kitchen and there were always sandwiches, coffee, hot chocolate, and fruit there. The women of the town brought all this and different organizations would prepare and bring down things on certain days of the week. There was always something there. In the main room where they had the games, there were chairs around the edge and there was a jukebox. We, who lived in the era of the big bands, loved to dance. There was always a dance going on and it didn't matter what time of day or night, there was always somebody up dancing.
We didn't do a lot of things other than go to the USO. Of course, the town was filled with sailors and everybody congregated at the USO. The townspeople were just marvelous, they opened their arms to us and you'd think we were all their kids. I think they truly felt that they would do anything they could to help these young men and their families. They made every minute that a person was in Sandpoint very special.
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All photographs have been used with permission of the Bonner County Museum.
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