Rick Fortney
'69-'70 STRATCOM
Tract "B" Receivers

July 2nd 2006

• I drove to Moline, IL last weekend to have a mini-reunion with my old friend Steve Shupe of STRATCOM, who I hadn't seen since Labor Day 1970. He found me through the web site! Here are the two of us, and of course at his usual spot, on the softball field.

• Resting my eyes in the Tract B receiver section. Note the laundry bag.
• Tract B antenna patch panel.
• Bennie "Frenchy" LeBlanc from Cutoff, LA. Anyone remember him?
• Charles "Cliff" Chapman after a too long visit to the club!
• A typical locker with stereo and assorted necessities. See the Brasso?
• Bikin' at "The Cross" on my BSA 441 "single lunger".
• STRATCOM Officer's Bumper Sticker.
• Crisp new Ethiopian dollar.
• Melotti Beer Coaster.
• Miniature golf course next to the Oasis club.
• Me then and now (coming).
• The road to the back gate on Kagnew Station.
• Looking toward the ballfield with housing in the background.
• Did you ride this camel down at Massawa?
• My view of the Catholic Cathedral.
• A side view of the post chapel.
• Great view from high above Cheren.
• One of the local churches and probably a war victim walking in front.
• The Coptic Church.
• A herd of goats grazing on the rocks.
• Another view down Haile Selassie Boulevard, circa 1969.
• The palace of H.IM. in Massawa.
• My first motorcycle in Asmara, a 305 Honda Scrambler.
• Out horseback riding in the beautiful countryside.
• Some of the local houses in Asmara were very nice!
• The STRATCOM orderly room looking from the barracks 2nd floor.
• My room, shared with Cliff Chapman, with my $4.00 streetboy rug, Christmas '69.
• "Flipping out" at the indoor pool.
• An outside view of the pool building looking toward the Roosevelt.
• The night Cliff Chapman and I made E-5 and drank too much!!
• At the circle, the statue of Princess Menen.
• Bringing in the local harvest on the back of a mule.
• Massawa R&R center. Remember watching movies on the deck?
• Zoom in on the restaurant.
• The Massawa road from above.
• Banana trees on the way down the hill.
• A small village of grass huts just before Massawa.
• Down on the flats looking back up the hill.

• Card 1: Front | Back.
• Card 2: Front | Back.

• Visiting Bob Coleman in Florida with his Fiat Balilla from Asmara.