Our Journey As B & B

 

After a long courtship (6 weeks), Barrie and Bill were married (most folks would use the pejorative “eloped”) in Schenectady, NY, on April 6, 1963. George and Kitty Williams were our witnesses.  Jeff Slovak was our photographer. George and I were commissioned as Ensigns, at the Union College graduation. ^[1]George and I were fraternity brothers at Union College and were enrolled in the same Navy commissioning program. George and Kitty met Barrie at the same as I did at Kakewalk weekend at the University … Continue reading

After our marriage, we moved to the Calm Cove Cottages, Mallets Bay, Colchester, VT (located on Lake Champlain)^[2]The cottages – which were small and generally rented only by summer vacationers, fit the bill for poor and young newlyweds. The cottages were long ago razed. while Bill was still awaiting Navy active-duty orders. 

In July 1963, we moved to an apartment on Church Street, Burlington, VT. Very shortly after the move, Bill was called to active duty with the Navy, so his home of record for a period was the USS Prevail AGS 20, a survey ship stationed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Barrie moved in with her parents.  We remained in our respective “Quarters” until Bill received orders in September 1963 to USS Keppler DD765, a destroyer stationed in Newport, RI.  Duty on Prevail was short lived because the ship was scheduled for decommissioning which occurred in July of that year.. ^[3]The highlight of the Prevail tour of duty had nothing to do with the ship’s operations. Did I ever tell you about losing a dental bridge in a swimming accident off the Nassau coast, and then … Continue reading

In December 1963, we rented a third-floor walk-up in Newport ^[4]Go here to get snapshot of our various homes, owned or otherwise. on Red Cross Avenue, near the Tennis Hall of Fame. On January 28, 1964, Greg was born at the Newport Naval Hospital. Bill missed the event as Keppler was at sea.  Later that year, we moved into Navy provided housing at Fort Adams overlooking the Newport harbor. ^[5]Fort Adams was removed from any hustle and bustle of the downtown area of Newport and gave us a delightful view of the boats in the harbor and the grand homes of the area. Pity the poor folks looking … Continue reading Bill served as the Communications officer on Keppler, with lots of sea time engaged primarily in anti-submarine (ASW) exercises.

In 1966, Bill received orders to report to what was then called “Destroyer School” for six months, preparing officers for department head positions on destroyers. Our aforementioned friends, George and Kitty Williams, were also in Newport at that time, so we had a terrific six-months long reunion.

On September 13, 1966, Barrie’s dad, Major General Frances Billado, The Adjutant General of Vermont, passed away unexpectedly. Bill was on a training cruise in the Caribbean at the time but was able immediately to fly to Burlington for services.

Upon completion of Destroyer School studies in September 1966, Bill received orders to report to USS Rogers DD876 in San Diego for duties as Operations Officer. 

In late September 1966, we rented a home in the Cabrillo section of San Diego on Fermi Avenue.  We were but a mile away from the newly constructed Charger Stadium and were fortunate enough be there for the first football game to be held in the Stadium, an exhibition game between the Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams. The Rogers participated mainly in local operations on the West Coast until September of 1968 when the ship deployed to the Western Pacific (WESTPAC) and the Vietnam conflict.  ^[6]Exciting, and sometimes scary, operations in the Gulf of Tonkin including gunfire support and interdiction, and in the Sea of Japan after North Korea captured the USS Pueblo. Rogers returned to its homeport in San Diego on April 6, 1969, coincidentally our 5th anniversary.^[7]Of the three ships that Bill served upon, Rogers duty provided us with lifetime friends and memories, and in 2003 we hosted a Rogers reunion in Williamsburg, some 50 years after that WESTPAC cruise. Meanwhile, while Bill was fooling around across the big pond at Thanksgiving and Christmas, Barrie and Greg spent time in Vermont with her mom Ruth.  Before he returned from WESTPAC, Bill received word that his next set of Navy orders would take him to Rochester, NY, as a Professor of Naval Science at the NROTC Unit, University of Rochester.

Upon arriving in the Rochester area, we secured a rental in a suburb, Henrietta, which provided a quick commute to work.  All in all, Bill’s tour at the NROTC unit was uneventful, with two summer short deployments accompanying NROTC students and USNA Midshipmen for their summer at-sea training.  The shore assignment, however, provided both Bill and Barrie to spend time with Barrie’s mom and Bill’s dad, and to continue our reunion with George and Kitty who had moved to Niskayuna, NY, after George had been released from active duty.  Most importantly during the Rochester assignment, however, was the birth of Lindsey on October 26, 1969.  While in Rochester, Bill began anew the search for his future. He wanted to remain in the Navy, but found that he enjoyed being at home more, rather than being at sea more.  An opportunity arose to go to law school and become a Navy Jag.  He jumped at that opportunity and at the end of his NROTC assignment he found himself with orders to report to Albany Law School (ALS) to obtain the necessary degree that would permit him to be a Jag.^[8]When he applied to ALS, Bill had the audacity in his application to remind the folks at ALS that his dad had finished 1st in his class at ALS, and his twin brother had finished 2nd in his class, … Continue reading

Upon graduation from ALS, Bill received orders to report to the Naval Legal Service Office, Norfolk, Virginia (NLSO Norfolk). After a short-term temporary rental, we moved into our first purchased home in the “Level Green” development in Virginia Beach. Bill was working military justice matters at NLSO Norfolk until January of 1975 when he received orders to be the Executive Assistant and Aide (EA) the Judge Advocate General of the Navy (JAG), the senior uniformed attorney in the Navy.

We moved to Reston, Virginia, in January of 1976, purchasing a town home in a sub-development called “Links Pond”.  The location of the new home was a place to be as Rear Admiral William O. (Dusty) Miller, the Deputy JAG and incumbent JAG, lived around the corner and wanted to carpool (good news and bad news). ^[9]Dusty’s Great Adventure. In December of 1981, Barrie and Bill accompanied Admiral Miller and his wife, Jane, on Secretary Lehman’s train to and from the Army-Navy football game in … Continue reading In 1979, we moved to another “new” home in Reston, close to the town home in Links Pond, a little larger but with what we perceived to do be important – a garage.   We called it the Tanbark home. Suffice to say that the stint as EA to the JAG from 1976 to 1979 was not only exciting, but also introduced Bill to people and concepts that would inure to his benefit for years to come.  In 1979, Bill moved to the Administrative Law Division of the Office of Navy JAG, just a few steps from his old office when he was the EA.  He remained with ADLAW until early the following year when he received orders to be Commanding Officer, Naval Legal Service Office, Guam (NLSO Guam). Barrie was active during this period as well selling real estate in the Reston area ^[10]The broker for her office in Reston, Thelma Fleming, was a longtime friend of some of the Washington Redskins [dare I say that name?] and Barrie was able to meet many of them ”up front and … Continue reading and then worked in a dress store in Leesburg, all the time being the great full time Mom.

After receiving a two-year rental offer for the Tanbark home, we loaded ourselves, Greg and Lindsey, and 17 large suitcases info flights across the country, then a flight from San Francisco to Hawaii (where we stayed a week while Bill attended briefings), and then on to Guam arriving in early July 1980.  We were able secure government housing overlooking the Philippine Sea, a mile from the NLSO.  Bill relieved Al Transeau as Commanding Officer of NLSO Guam, and we remained on Guam until August 1982. It was an interesting tour of duty job wise, and there were many things that we learned and tried while “on island”.  Bill became a diver, Greg played football and soccer in high school, Lindsey became an excellent swimmer, and Barrie worked with the Navy Wives Club Gift Shop, eventually becoming the CoChairperson and “purchasing agent” (spell that “buyer”) buying neat things for the Gift Shop. We traveled as a family to Japan, Saipan, and Korea.  And Barrie seemingly traveled everywhere, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, the Philippines-and elsewhere – on her Gift Shop buying trips. Not to be overlooked, however, were our “ringside” seats for a hominy by Pope John Paul II, the first Pope (and last) to visit Guam. Just before we left Guam, Bill’s former ship, USS Rogers, then the Republic of Korea (ROK) ship Chin-Joo, overnighted in Guam enroute South Korea, giving Bill the opportunity to relive a part of his Navy life. In the long run, however, when the tour of duty ended, we were happy to be headed back to our old home in Reston, Bill having received orders back to the Office of Navy JAG ADLAW Division. Greg went on to the University of Alabama.

We were in Reston for the next seven years, 1982-1989. Bill spent two years in ADMINLAW, and then received orders to report to the Pentagon for duties to oversee attorneys reporting to the Navy Chief of Legislative Affairs (OLA).  Interesting and exciting work for someone never having done lobbying or reviewing congressional legislation. The last year of his tour in OLA, Bill was selected by the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Legislative Affairs to serve as Deputy Chief of Legislative Affairs. After three years in OLA, Bill received orders to be Counsel to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Shipbuilding and Logistics), Hon. Everett Pyatt, a position that he held held until he retired from active duty in July 1989.  

During the time that Bill was at OLA and with Secretary Pyatt, Barrie became very involved in the Navy Wives Club of Washington.  She met with some of the superstars of the Navy including the Chief of Naval Operations, ADM James Watkins, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, ADM William Crowe.  She hosted the-then Secretary of Defense at an event at the Washington Navy Yard, and dined with the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, ADM James Busey, who was hosting for dinner Oscar de la renta  It was time for her to shine, and that she did.

In September 1989, Bill left Reston in a huge Uhaul pulling a car trailer with Bill’s trusty Nissan 350ZX secured onboard, to the Burlington, VT, area where he had secured employment with law firm of Paul, Frank and Collins.  Barrie remained in Reston until the Tanbark House sold.  We had temporary lodging until the Vermont home that we had built for us we had in Williston, VT, was completed in January 1990.  Bill remained with Paul, Frank and Collins for three years, and then moved to be the Executive Director and Counsel to Vermont Attorney’s Title Corporation where he remained until July 1997. During our entire stay in Vermont, Barrie and Bill were very engaged with the nonprofit “Make-a -Wish Foundation of Vermont” (MAW VT); she as a volunteer wish-giver and subsequently a Member of the Board of Directors; he as the Attorney Advisor and Board Member, followed as President of the organization. It was an opportunity that we never had while Bill was on active , and it was enjoyable. ^[11]MAW VT had been established just before we arrived.

After leaving Vermont behind (homeless and without a job), we settled into a home in Virginia Beach on a (small) lake, which we refer to as the Five Forks home. Shortly after moving into the Virginia Beach home, Bill was offered a job as a civilian attorney for the Navy processing claims against the Navy under the Federal Tort Claims Act.  He remained in that position until April 2005 when he came retired for a second (and last) time.  We remained in our Virginia Beach home until August of 2007 when we set our sights on WillIamsburg . ^[12]We had lived in the Five Forks home for 10 years, the longest stay of our marriage, and the magic of wanderlust had us pointed somewhere else, where ever

When we moved to the Colonial Heritage community in Williamsburg, a Lennar development, Bill truly thought he died and gone to Heaven.  Here he was, in a home sitting adjacent to the 9^th hole of the Colonial Heritage Golf Club, and with a club membership in hand.  How could it get any better?  But it did!  We had absolutely wonderful neighbors and social calendar that was always full.  We enjoyed all eleven years in Colonial Heritage, but in 2018 old Mister “wanderlust” struck again and in November of that year we made 13993 Avon Park Circle, Fort Myers, FL, our latest and current “home of record” or simply Bill and Barrie’s B & B.

The End