I Love a Parade

By the time my wife and I were joining our friends Lloyd and Mary Lou to drive to our one-and-only Rose Bowl Parade, a whole lifetime of experiences had been had. The 60s had been a real mix of events in rapid-fire occurrence.

I graduated high school in 1965 and entered the Citadel that fall. A freak accident ended my marching career there and led me to the Baptist College of Charleston where I enrolled in their Naval ROTC program with hopes that I would enter the service as an officer. We didn't expect the college to fall short of accreditation, which left the ROTC program, also without foundation.

My lovely wife and I said our vows in March of 1968 after I had completed Navy Bootcamp. I had come home with the expectation of active duty prior to that. I was finally notified to report on duty in San Diego, California in January of 1969. Tearful goodbyes and fears for my safety were part of my departure and flight from Charleston to San Diego, to San Francisco, to Honolulu, to Vietnam where I joined my ship in the Saigon Delta.

I expected to spend my 2-year requirement on board the USS Nueces - APB40. With one or two R and R’s, I would satisfy the active-duty portion of my contract, but fate being what it was, we cut our in-country tour short and headed for our new homeport.

The sail home began in July of 1969 moving from upriver to Vung Tau Harbor to Subic Bay in the Philippines and then across the South China Sea on to Yokosuka, Japan for servicing our power plants. After almost two months we sailed to Honolulu by way of Guam. We then set sail for San Francisco, but we were diverted to Long Beach after several conversations regarding where our group would find a final rest. We reached port in California late September of 1969.

Life as a bachelor was not my cup of tea, so I put together a lease plan that included an apartment off base and a flight home to retrieve my bride and our car filled with all we could carry. We headed west with well wishes from family and friends and concerns for our safety as we throw the “Southern route” across the country, which included the desert. Unfortunately, extra gas and water had no place in our two-door Chevy Nova, But, fortunately, they will not need it.

Our apartment lease allowed for the unknown tenure because we were decommissioning our ship. We began our stay in our new home in October of 1969. Our stay in Southern California was filled with special moments like our driving trips around Long Beach, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, and all the neighborhoods in between.

We made our one and only Disneyland trip in December of 1969 where we crossed paths with Mary Lou and Lloyd while scaring all the visitors within a hundred feet by screaming and shouting with joy. We became a foursome that enjoyed several road trips to locales as diverse as Tijuana, Mexico, and the San Diego Zoo.

We couldn't let her stay in Southern California go by without trying to satisfy our desire to see everything our time and budget would allow. If you come as no surprise then that the New Year celebration at Mary Lou and Lloyd’s apartment would go into the wee hours of the morning of January 1st, 1970. What else would make the party more memorable as the other guests left around 3 AM? Why, a trip to Pasadena to see the Rose Bowl Parade, of course!

We piled into our Nova, with its large back seat and almost as large front seat, and headed north to find the perfect spot along the parade route. There was no GPS to keep us from getting lost or to help us find the shortest route there. After about one and a half hours, we found a parking space just one block off the main street for the parade and immediately went to claim our place on the sidewalk to be assured of a viewing point. We quickly found out that even though the temperature was in the 60s, it was too cold to stay there from around 4 a.m. till 8 a.m. when the parade started.

We slept in the car till just before the parade began and rushed to reclaim our places. It very quickly became clear that we were part of an event that dwarfed anything that we had ever participated in. It was all we ever dreamed it would be. Our in-person experience was an intense dose of sight, sound, and smell. It was impossible to see all parts of the floats or hear all the instruments in the bands, nor smell every flower that was part of the parade.

Standing on the sidewalk in the throng of people watching the beauty of so many different creations, experiencing the sensations and filling our hearts with incredible joy. There's no way to compare a televised, homebound experience with the reality of being there.

A once in a lifetime event with my once for a lifetime partner.

~ David Joyner