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U.S.Navy, Marines and other Service members who visited the Pike.     "....I was one of thousands of US Sailors who visited The Pike. We were lonely and  had no money . The Pike was a place to go to spend some time and be entertained without spending much money. I remember the dances and meeting nice girls there. I also remember the seedy side of The Pike, the bikers and the Hell's Angels too. Tattoo parlors and people selling drugs . There are men from all over our country who visited The Pike while they were in the military service.  Many of us rushed to get a cot and a locker at the YMCA ,so we didn't have to got back to the ship or the base. We would spend the weekend on The Pike. Like most places in California during the Viet Nam war, we never felt very welcome and many of us fell prey to hustlers and fast talking encyclopedia salesman or send photos home. So many of us were not old enough to drink so we were saved from that fate by the omnipresent police. It was our first time away from home and your weather was beautiful so we made the best of it all. We were a very large part life on The Pike. I remember it all fondly. It was a very hard time for most of us but we got thru it ok. So may I ask that you include at least one line on your site , including us? Thanks and God Bless you."  Respectfully submitted AL (formerly) US Navy (retired FDNY ) *    *    *   U.S.S. Bennington Hello! or perhaps I should say Ahoy! When I was a young sailor lad I was stationed aboard U.S.S. Bennington homeported in Long Beach. This was in 1968/69. I spent many an hour on the Pike. I hung out at the Hollywood on the Pike after I turned 21 and remember Tex Puryear very well. I bought a 45 rpm record from him, wish I could find it now!   Bobby Lack ran it and I think it was Bob Knight who also sang in the afternoons. I would badger Bob into singing "The Auctioneer". Sandy Friend also sang with Haskell at night. It was always a treat when Haskell rosined up his bow and played the "Orange Blossom Special"!   Ben Coogle Oglethorpe GA *    *    *  USS ENGLAND I was in the Navy in the 60's and went to the Pike many times, I remember riding the Cyclone and the ferris wheel amd diving bell and fun house an fat laughing lady, and lido Ballroom and eating burgers and fries at the resturants there and penny arcades and playing pool, and the rainbow pier and the plunge and walking seaside way along the beach lined with little shops along the sand and beach and walking down Pine ave with Woolworth and Pennys and Newberys stores there at the time and the Movie theaters on Ocean blvd those were times I will never forget as a young man back thean, I retired from the Navy and live in Long Beach now but it has changed so much over the years since the 60's, but am left with fond memories of the past, I was on the ship the USS ENGLAND home ported in Long Beach  at the time. ROBERT Long Beach, CA   Greetings: I served onboard the USS Garrard, moored at Long Beach in 1945. The Pike was a favorite meeting spot for all servicemen and women. What great memories your wonderful Website brought back. Many thanks. Check our Website below. It also contains another Pike photo. The photo attached is of me and one of the local girls, named Susie. Web Site: http://community-2.webtv.net/USSGarrard/USSGARRARDAPA84/ Very best wishes, Dick Appleton (Cape Cod) USS Garrard APA 84 USS Garrard, a 4,247-ton Gilliam-class attack transport, was built at Wilmington, California, and was commissioned in March 1945.                                                                                                                                                                                                Looked at your website about the Nu Pike.  I was stationed in Long Beach in 1969 while on the U.S.S. Long Beach CGN-9 in the Navy; I spent many a weekend starting in May of '69 and ending in August of '69 before going to Vietnam. I remember that Roller Coaster although I don't remember going on it or not, and some ride that turned upside down when you went on it.  I got sick on it from eating before getting on it more than once as well as a lot of sailors I knew. And there was this show that had Hollywood Monsters in the show - Dracula, The Wolf Man, plus the Frankenstein Monster - I got scared by all three being only 19 at the time.  That arcade was where I spent most of my time while visiting the Nu Pike. Take care. Dennis Lorch Jesse Brown VA Volunteer Chicago, Il.                                                               Larry Garrett and 2 shipmates from the USS DALE DLG19 while we were in dry dock in 1967 after a WEST PAC cruise and before another. My ship was the USS Plumas County LST 1083 and attached is a picture of it. The picture was taken in 1956 in the Long Beach Harbor in sight of the pike and I was aboard when it was taken. The Navy had a pier built at the end of Magnolia St which was called Magnolia St landing. This is where the sailors would land to take liberty. When I first went aboard ship at the end of 1955 we went to the base and had to take a bus back to Long Beach. A sailor was killed by a MP one night at the base and that is why they built the landing. The Commander of the base said in response to the killing that the sea going sailors needed their own landing because they were different than base sailors. I think he meant that we got drunker and raised more hell but that is only my opinion.........Ted Click to read "A Rainy Night in Long Beach" by Teddy O. Curry                                                                                                                                                                                                ,                                                                                                                                                                                                             Return to The Pike Home Page Return to Millikan Home Page Have a Pike story? E-mail Design & Updates by Paul Prosise Screenmagic.com E-mail Entire contents of this Web site © copyright 2000 - 2009 by Paul Prosise. All rights reserved.