Paul's First Visit to Hawaii - 1951
Soldier Returns from War in Korea
In December of 1951 Corporal Paul Noll was returning from his two years in Korea. The troop ship he was on arrived in Hawaii on the 20th of December. They were unloading some troops back from Korea who lived in Hawaii. The ship arrived at about 2:00 AM during a rainstorm in Honolulu. The ship was in the harbor for about two hours and then we got underway on the way to San Francisco. On the 22nd of December we arrived in San Francisco where a band playing greeted us. After a wonderful banquet we were dispersed to various military posts near our homes. Because my home was in Monterey Park and the Army confused that with Monterey I was sent to Fort Ord near Monterey.
My Uncle John Rescues Me
After a quick call home my mother arranged for my Uncle John to drive to Fort Ord to get me home. I was very thankful for his help. He arrived in his pickup and armed with a thirty-day pass I was headed for home I had not seen since early 1949. I arrived home on the evening of December 24th about 7:00 PM. My mother has so happy to see me alive and well.
Young Soldier Marries and Beautiful young Lady
In 1955 Bernice Chase and I were married in Springfield, Oregon. We moved to a home in Berkeley and in 1957 and 1960 Chet and Landon were born. As the boys grew up Bernice had always hankered to go vacationing in Hawaii. Knowing that we could not really afford that in our early years, to soften the disappointment I concocted a "true" story about Hawaii. I told her truthfully that I had already visited Hawaii and really wondered why anyone would want to go there. I told her that during my visit that the sun had not shone once and the entire time I was there it rained. Why would anyone want to visit a place like that? That kept her subdued for a number of years.
A Good Ending to the Story
Later when the kids were in college I hinted to her that she should ask me when and how I had visited Hawaii. When she did I confessed that I had been there for two hours in the middle of the night and that my story was completely true. It was the truth but not the whole truth. We then visited Hawaii twice and had a wonderful four weeks there in the following years. We spent two weeks in Maui with time on the beaches with our friends the Coutures. Then we spent two weeks with our friends in the big island where we took a helicopter flight over the erupting volcano. Bernice still laughs about the old story I told her.
