David R.After my heart attack I have trouble remembering some things.One is just what happened to start the uprising by the greeks in the 70's.I know it was after I left.Also just what action did the base take?...Gary
Gary; I was there during the Greek uprising and it got real nasty, especially for those living off base. The base commander requested those that lived off base to try and stay with someone on base. I had some friends that came and stayed for a few days. The real problem was not with the local people, it was college students from Athens that came to Crete by boat, that caused all the trouble. They stormed the front gate at the base but were repelled by the guards and Air Police. They even stoned the chapel which at that time was near the front gate. I had just gotten off of a mid shift and was sleeping, but was awakened and told the base commander had ordered all dependents to prepare for evacuation. They were appropriating vehicles of those that lived near the perimeter(fence) and taking them to the ball field and placed in a circle with the lights on so that helicopters from the USS Kennedy could land and take dependents off the base and to the carrier. We were within an hour or so of having our families evacuated when the base commander came on and said that he had gotten the Greek commander of the nearby base to agree to protect us from anymore threats. The evacuation never did take place. Since I was due to rotate in a couple of months, I sent my family home, escorted by one of my NCO's that was due to rotate in a few days. During all of this, the shift on duty at the pound was burning documents but did stop once protection was guaranteed.(I wasn't too sure that was a lot of consolation, since it would place Greeks against Greeks). Things quieted down in a month but at least my family was safe stateside. I got to finish the college course I was taking and rotated out in October. I had some Greek friends that had a little farm down the road from the base and I managed to get down to see them before leaving. I even attended their daughters wedding before leaving. It was not a good time but things did return to normal in a few months from what I was told by those that were still there. ps - The reason for the uprising was because the US sold fighter planes to the Turks during the Cyprus turmoil at the time. pbaker66-68,72-74.
Thanks for the reply.I was there for the 1st cyprus problem as well as the death of king Paul.We were living on Knossos rd when King C.was kicked out.Had greek army standing on around the house.
I had just transferred from Iraklion to San Vito (just a real short tour on Crete). Spent one of my 3 day breaks putting up tents in anticipation of IAS evacuation. Also helped the 48th mobile guys get familiar with the mission. Was pretty hectic, but not near as much as IAS was.
We really didn't have much excitement while I was on Crete. There was some talk about the possibility of sending back dependents during the whole Libya operation, but everything was over too quick to cause any problems. About all we had were some fighters flying over.
Bet it was really tense for all you guys that went through the uprising.
I was there also for the uprising. We just got out of the movie theatre and we saw this long line of vehicles coming towards the base from Iraklion with horns blaring . We ran up to the main gate to see what was happening and the fire department and S.P.'s were there. They told us if anyone of us were on the E.R.F. team (emergency reaction force), to go down to the S.P. station and get issued an M-16. We did that and came back and were assigned areas to patrol along the perimeter fence. I patroled the area around the housing trailers on base. I know some of the trailers had been hit by molotov cocktails and afew G.I.'s cars were overturned I also remember one guy from the base had a sling shot and he was shooting rocks at some of the Greeks. It sure was a long tense night and by morning we had the main gate barricaded pretty well I also drove my car down to the ballfield in anticipation of a nighttime evacuation. I had heard the ship waiting off shore near Dia Island was the carrier USS Forrestal.
I was there and what fun it was, August 1974, got trapped in the village and I believe we road bikes back, long ago and far far away, Bob Schneider. Anybody out there from 73 to 75, hello to you all from a now old man of 55, Christ, where did the time go?
[ Edited Sat Dec 01 2007, 03:50PM ] Robert Schneider
Wow, reading about the Greek uprising in 1974 brings back memories. I remember I had just started break, sitting at Yanni's cafe in Malia drinking an ouzo. I was overwhelmed by the actions of some of my greek friends....burning a U.S. flag in the street. Then, I remember truck loads of Greek men heading for the Greek army base I presume. Thankfully, George Vlastos was my landlord, and great friend. He offered to protect me by telling everyone I was family. Frankly, I really never felt threatened. Afterall, I had lived in Malia since 1972, and knew everyone in the village. In retrospect, I can't say the events of 1974 ever tainted my view of the greek people and how I came to love the country.
I recently researched some businesses for sale in Malia. Anyone interested in buying a bar that seats 500??
