The Desk in Pat Garrett's Garage

San Diego Region SCCA  HAIR Dad was an avid Sports Car fan. He seemed to live and breathe cars and racing. Over the years he organized Sports Car clubs, from Hawaii, East Coast - West Coast. Raced on the tracks, and worked at the tracks. From Flagman to Steward, to patching up the track to make it race ready.  One of the tracks that Mom, Dad and I went to and supported was in Holtville, Ca. Mom and Dad were members of the San Diego Region SCCA. The track was originally an Military Air Field, Holtville Aerodrome International Raceway (HAIR). Steve McQueen was even there racing.. I was there..! It was a great group of people who raced and worked at the track, and a lot of good times were had out there. This is a part of the HAIR history, as told by my Dad. If any of you remember, please leave a comment below. Share some stories.. so all is not lost..Enjoy.. Steve McQueen at Holtville The stone forecourt surrounded by the ornate wrought iron fence of the Famo...

My Father was all of 17 years old when, this took place. A memory that stuck with him through out the years.. Late Fall 1946, Long Beach After returning from Bikini Island Atom Bomb Test I was shaken awake about midnight and told to report to the Officer of the Deck. On arriving , the OOD says we have had the mooring line separate and two of our boats are loose. I want you to take your crew and go find them and bring them back. The sea was running fast, the rain was coming down in sheets and our boat was way out at the end of the mooring line. The Jacobs ladder we used to get to the boats was flapping in the wind and nowhere near the boat. The fireman volunteered to skinny down the mooring line and fire up the engine and drive the boat under the ladder so we could board. When we cast off from the mooring line we were fast away from the ship. Carefully turning to run with the wind, we set off to find the loose boats. The bow hook was holding a battle lantern over the bow, trying ...

      I graduated from Boot Camp at San Diego Naval Training Center at the end of December 1945 and was told to report to the Naval Receiving Station Terminal Island, Long Beach. From there I was told to report aboard the USS Cumberland Sound, AV-17. She was a seaplane tender that was being converted to be a part of Operation Crossroads, the Atomic Bomb test at Bikini Islands in the Marshall Island chain.      Upon reporting aboard, I was assigned to the second division, which was responsible for every thing aft of mid-ship, deck wise. After a few days on board, the leading petty officer told two other petty officers to take me down Atomic Bomb Test at Bikini Islands 1946 and teach me how to “run” a boat. We went down the gangway and over to a rearming boat. This is a boat that was designed to carry two torpedoes for loading onto aircraft. We, the three of us, took off up the harbor and I figured soon they would s...

USS Cumberland Sound AV-17 (Official Navy photograph) I finished boot camp in San Diego and was assigned to the USS Cumberland Sound E.A." Pat" Garrett AV-17, docked at a pier at Terminal Island, being outfitted for Operation Crossroad.  I was in the second division. There was much activity aboard the ship as we were getting wartime stores off the ship and making rooms below the seaplane deck to house the scientists. One day, we were off-loading torpedo warheads up out of a hold through a well that went through the mess deck. I was down in the hold  screwing hoisting rings into the noses of the warheads. There was a hoist on a small track that was used to lift the warheads up off the deck in order to move them over to the well. We were only able to lift the warheads an inch or two off the deck.  because there was very little room between the track ,the warhead and the deck.  If you pushed the warhead too hard, one side then the other would bang ...

A younger E.A."Pat" Garrett Bootcamp and Beyond I graduated from Boot Camp at San Diego Naval Training Center at the end of December 1945 and was told to report to the Naval Receiving Station Terminal Island, Long Beach. From there I was told to report aboard the USS Cumberland Sound, AV-17. She was a seaplane tender that was being converted to be a part of Operation Crossroads, the Atomic Bomb test at Bikini Islands in the Marshall Island chain. Upon reporting aboard, I was assigned to the second division, which was responsible for every thing aft of mid ship, deck wise. After a few days on board, the leading petty officer told two other petty officers to take me down and teach me how to “run” a boat. We went down the gangway and over to a re-arming boat. This is a boat that was designed to carry two torpedoes for loading onto aircraft. We, the three of us, took off up the harbor and I figured soon they would show me how to run the boat. In...