Welcome to the Hofn Open Mess
We start our tour from the outside.
The building pictured above housed both the Hofn Open Mess and the Mess Hall. It made it very convienent to have your supper and then go through the swinging doors right in to the Club. There you could have a nice cold beer (except when the ice pak cut off our supply ship!) or glass of wine. Distilled spirits were also available. This was the center of fun at H-3.
Meet The One-Armed Bandits of H-3
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Many, many, nickels, dimes and quarters were eaten by these bandits. Of course they also gave some back and when they did, it was time to ring the bell!
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Barney: In this picture, are the 2 Master at Arms. On the left is SMSGT Suppes and on the right is SSGT Ambrose. Ambrose took a lot of ribbing for not joining the coffee pool and he always paid his nickel but said that buffalo nickel has a mighty long way to go.
The Open Mess provided a nice place to spend your free time (and money too!) enjoying the company of the other Airmen, Seamen and Civilians at H-3. Many times we signed in guests who appreciated a cool drink after their workday ended. These were some of the local Icelandics who worked in the Building Maintenance and Facilities section. At the "Club" we were all pretty much equal.
Shown here, courtesy of MSgt. Barnette, is one such group of friends.
The Open Mess provided a nice place to spend your free time (and money too!) enjoying the company of the other Airmen, Seamen and Civilians at H-3. Many times we signed in guests who appreciated a cool drink after their workday ended. These were some of the local Icelandics who worked in the Building Maintenance and Facilities section. At the "Club" we were all pretty much equal.
Shown here, courtesy of MSgt. Barnette, is one such group of friends.
Shown here, seated in the middle is MSgt. Spears T. "Barney' Barnette.
Behind Barney is Marty Martin while TSgt. Pauley is to Barney's right. SSgt. Smith is next to TSgt. Pauley. Unfortunately time has erased the names of the others in the picture. You may notice the 667th Patch (USAF) on the jacket of the Seaman leaning on the slot machine.
courtesy of MSgt. Barnette
Here is a shot of the NCO Club Kitchen. Since we are talking about a kitchen I won't call it an "Open Mess". I don't recall the name of the person pictured in the kitchen.
I am not sure what the 1st Sgt did to get this special "treatment" but I suspect that more than one drink may have been consumed before the picture was taken :-)
If you can help identify the "1st Shirt" who is "jailed" please let me know who he is so we can give proper credit. |
Now remember we were pretty well isolated from the rest of the world and so we had to have some "educational" materials to help keep our minds sharp and to remind us of some of the basic things that we might have forgotten after a year away from civilization.
Fortunately, thanks to MSgt. "Barney" Barnette, we have a picture of Barney during one of these "Memory Check" sessions which were held at the Club. Sometimes posters were available to help remember. "Thanks for the memories!" |
The Social Highlight each month was the DEROS Party! At this party, all the Airmen who had completed their assignment "200 miles from nowhere which is 2,000 miles from anywhere." got to celebrate their impending return to civilization. The DEROS party also was the opportunity to "Welcome" the newly arrived Airmen of the month. It was customary to offer the newly arrived troops a "complimentary" welcoming drink. It was called a "Green Mother (Censored!)". It had a taste that was like H-3, something you never forgot!
Welcome to one of our DEROS Parties!
This pic in the club, the guy in the foreground is Dan McMahon, he was from So Jersey...a little town called Audubon I think. The other guy hoisting the glass was Willie Pastrano. He was our NCIC. This information was received from another Seaman who served at H-3, Nick Tazza.
Photo by Chevian
This pix I took in the club. After that was what could have had me in an Icelandic jail for life. More in a few days as I will have some more time. I often wonder what it would be like to have all technology we now have but back then.
Photo and text by John Simander
