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Ron Waggoner | all galleries >> Cold Bay Air Force Station, Alaska >> Inside the Radar Station (Click on Image for More Photos) > Dining Hall and Halibut Story
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1970-71 Ron Waggoner

Dining Hall and Halibut Story

Cold Bay Air Force Station, AK


We ate our meals in a large area next to the recreation room. Civilian KP's did the cleanup. This is one civilian who was working in Alaska to save enough money to open a kennel in his home state of Washington. He told me that wages were so much higher in Alaska that he was saving enough to return before long.
The dining area was the scene of some mighty fine feasts involving local fare such as King Crab, Salmon, Halibut, Caribou and the like. Thanks to our USAF cooks and kitchen staff our everyday meals were also quite good. I didn't know anyone that went hungry!

HALIBUT STORY

I was in the Rec Hall and decided to go upstairs to my room for a while. Just before I walked out into the main corridor, the door burst open. In came two of the guys pulling a four-wheel platform truck. Those carts are used in warehouses for toting large, heavy loads. You may have seen them at Home Depot or Lowes. This load was heavy! On this particular truck was a huge blob of flabby gray that was the ugliest fish I had ever seen! These two men were really excited, and looking for TSgt Roberts, the NCOIC of the kitchen. They wanted to put it in the cooler.
Now, I knew that one of our Tech Sergeants was trying to catch a halibut at the dock. I had never gone with him, but others had told me that he was attaching a gigantic hook to the end of a rope and applying some sort of stink bait to the hook. Then he would drop the “line” into the water and tie the rope to the dock. The stink bait made sense to me, as I had grown up on the Mississippi knowing all about using stink bait to catch large bottom-feeding catfish. I had been jug-fishing on the Quincy Bay of the Mississippi more than once.
At first, I thought the airman had caught the huge fish. It was only after years passed that I learned that the fish had been intended for others, but “diverted” by these two men. Anyway, the place was abuzz with talk about the 600-pound halibut in the kitchen. Not long after the fish was brought in, we had a huge halibut feast in the dining hall with all of the squadron invited. I don’t think I ever had eaten better tasting fish!
P.S. The entrance to the kitchen and garbage room where the bear was eating in another story was to the far left in the rear of this photo.


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