The ship started down the Harbor channel of Pearl in the evening. Standing on deck, we could investigate the back yards of homes alongside the channel. We docked across from USS Arizona. I waited for shore liberty at 0600 the next morning; it was Easter weekend, and I was in Hawaii. When I woke up, the cargo deck was open with cars being unloaded, going right by my rack. Liberty! I got dressed in my Class-A summer uniform and at 0600, Jack and I headed to Honolulu. Stopping at every gas station and concealed area, we would have a drink and look for young ladies. Surprisingly, there were not a lot of people at the beach. We decided to go out on a jetty and take pictures of ourselves with the Diamond Head volcano in the background. When we returned to the beach, a target-rich environment came into view: two young ladies in bikinis.
One girl was on a blanket, and the other girl was coming out of the water. I approached the girl on the blanket and asked if I could take her picture. I turned and asked the other girl if I could take her picture as well. After breaking the ice, Jack and I started to talk with the girls and offered them a drink. They asked if we were American soldiers; I said “No, we are American Marines!” I asked them, “Where are you from?” and they responded, “We are telephone operators from Vancouver, Canada, on vacation.” Jack and I talked to the girls for about an hour. The more we talked to the girls, the more interesting it got.
“What are you guys doing tonight?”
“We have a company suite, a car - how would you like to have dinner and stay the night with us?”
The chance of a lifetime and we had to be back abord ship at 2 pm. We told the girls our predicament and said our goodbyes. Jack said not to tell anyone about the girls on the beach, no one would believe us anyway. Nothing left to do now but head for the ship. I asked Jack what they could do to us if we missed troop movement. He told me we would be shot. We got in a cab and headed to another liquor store. Jack bought a pint of whiskey, which was pretty much gone by the time we got to Pearl Harbor gate. Jack attempted to help me navigate to the ship when suddenly I tripped and fell down the gangplank. I could hear cheering and laughing coming from somewhere. I turned around and once again fell down the gangplank - cheering and laughing again. By the time I made it back to the OD, he looked at Jack and said, “Get him below deck before I throw him in the brig.”
