In the summer of 69, I was in the Navy, stationed in San Francisco for training. What a wonderful time to be in San Fran. The hippies had invaded Haight/Ashbury, and the panhandle section of Golden Gate Park. I had a motorcycle and a girl from back home to ride behind me now and then (She was attending school in Oakland). I had a phony drivers license so I could get into bars now and then, and truthfully, I didn't have a care in the world.

One of my significant memories is free concerts in Golden Gate Park. I saw some little-known home grown bands such as Jefferson Airplane and Big Brother and the Holding Company. I also learned that in the hippie culture, free love had it's drawbacks, because chicks in the hippie culture didn't shave or bathe very often. I also learned that the National Guard Soldiers guarding the streetcorners in Berkeley couldn't help but smile when a hippy chick put a daisy in the barrel of their rifle.

Yep - in the summer of 69, I don't think there was any better place to be than San Francisco - even if you were a short-haired Sailor in the land of long-haired hippies.

Little did I know that in a few short weeks, I would have orders to ride Swift Boats in the Mekong Delta area of Vietnam. But even if I had known that, I doubt my time in San Fran would have been any different.

Click HERE to go back to the main page.