Life with the Army can be interesting and exciting, sometimes difficult and unusual; but, it is never boring!

Ann Crossley knows better than most, having been both an Army brat and an Army wife.

In last month’s blog, she shared a few recollections of her Army brat experiences while living in Japan from 1948-1952.

Her story continues when the family left Japan.    

Ann and her parents left Japan the same way they arrived–by transport ship. As they boarded, families and female children were assigned to cabins.

Since the Korean War was still ongoing, military transport ships were configured primarily for bringing troops to Korea, which meant single men and older male children were assigned to the troop area down below.

As the Army does, it assigned all passengers by last name, first name, middle initial. Making a very interesting start to their travels, the young George A. Crossley was assigned to the troop area.

It didn’t take long to explain that her first name is George, but her middle name is Ann!

Once back in Seattle, they began the long drive back to their hometown of Tampa, Florida.

With so much wide-open space in 1952, Ann and her family delighted in seeing the sights along the way.

She relished the memory of driving across the blazing hot Death Valley while her mother, an ingenious Army spouse, soaked a towel in a bucket of melting ice, fastened the towel over her open window until it dried, then soaked it again, repeating this process all day since air conditioning in cars was not yet invented.

In Tampa, Ann went to middle school with civilian kids for one year.

Then she and her mom drove to New York City to follow her father to his assignment in France. Fourteen-year-old Ann, complete with a driver’s permit, helped her mother with the long drive up the coast while sitting on a couple of telephone books!

Once there, they lucked into being randomly assigned to a very special ship—the SS United States liner, the fastest ship ever built.

It took only five days to cross the Atlantic, and they ate like royalty at every meal — Ann’s first experience with fine dining!

New York City, NYS, USA, 1951. The SS United States in the Hudson River in front of the New York skyline.

There were no American schools near where they lived in France so Ann’s choices were a French school, an American school in southern France with a five-day dormitory, or an American school in Germany with a seven-day dorm.

Ann didn’t speak French and first opted for the American school in France but transferred to Germany after her first year.

Ann’s dad was reassigned to the states in February of her senior year. Wanting to stay with her classmates for the remainder of the year, the Army granted Ann’s request for sponsorship by another family for those last few months.

Ann fondly remembers a wonderful spring break trip to Paris with her dorm mother with whom she was close.

With prom coming up, her parents gave her $100 in traveler’s checks to purchase a dress (today, $100 is worth almost $1,000).

Strolling along the Champs-Elysees, Ann went through many fancy shops and did find the perfect gown that she wore for years.

But not before, in a true Pretty Woman moment, one saleslady snobbishly informed her,“$100 wouldn’t get you anything in our shop because we don’t carry anything that cheap!”

After high school, Ann rode on an airplane for the first time.

Ann tried to get on the same fast ship home she had taken to Europe but was adamantly denied passage on the SS United States.

Instead, she booked a flight on Delta Airlines and began her journey to join her parents in Atlanta, Georgia.

A very different world in 1957, Ann’s stopover in New York allowed the staff of Delta to call Ann’s parents and give them her flight information into Atlanta airport which was then just a series of Quonset huts connected by plywood boardwalks.

With so many unique and amazing experiences around the world and with the Army during those teen years, George Ann Crossley gained great memories and learned courtesies like writing thank-you notes, fine-dining etiquette, and making quick friends.

Little did she know how much more was yet to come!

*You can order The Army Spouse Handbook HERE.

*For more posts like this visit The Protocol and Etiquette Team Author Page.