Don Arave, Hooper, Utah: an interview by Joel C. Calderon, May 14, 2002: Saving the Legacy tape no. 378

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DON ARAVE 1 2 2 My wife and a couple of the other women who were memb r of th LD burch down there in Florida all knew each other. A lady from Wi con in had a De Airfl w that we used to go around on weekend to different place in Florida and tay overnight in Miami Beach one weekend and some other place another week. We got to ee a lot of Florida. So they drove back to California, my wife and two other wive . Our detachment came on a train. We went right into Salt Lake City and stopped there for an hour or two and I showed them around the City. My wife and folks came down and saw u on the train for a couple of hours wait over. It was quite a deal. In the meantime, my dad had bought this twenty acre farm across from the cemetery for us, if we wanted it, from Lottie Hull. It was a house and twenty acres for fifty-five hundred dollars. I said, "Yes, you bet." I had some money. My brother sold my Ford convertible that I'd been waiting to come home to. I had $750. But anyway, then we'd sold this trailer, so I said, "Yes, we can make a down payment on the land anyway." He said, "Well, I'll pay for it and settle up with you when you get out of the Navy." Anyway, we did that. When we got down to California, I saw these friends of ours. "There're a lot of places for rent. Tell Donna to get down here." We were still training down there so Donna got a place in Hayward, I think it was. It was a ways away and we didn't like it too well. So we got one in-it was just east of Oxnard a little bit. Anyway, my wife moved down there and we stayed down there until the six weeks were over. Then we boarded ship for the Philippines. We were going to Samar. Ralph Kidd was a petty officer. He and two other friends of ours and I got on that boat. Two of u were put in officers' mess so we got to eat what the officers ate, ice cream and everything. All the rest of the guys or most of them had to eat on the regular chow line, 13