James Bedner's Fort Devens Page

From: "James L. Bedner" <bedstuy@earthlink.net>
Subject: My visit to Ft. Devens !!!
Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2001 18:58:36 -0400

Had an opportunity to visit Ft. Devens yesterday after being discharged from there 23 years ago. The barracks, as well as the rest of the buildings on base appear in pretty good condition. Took pictures of the parade grounds (which is now a soccer field for youths) and some on the barracks. It appears that the officers housings have been remodeled and are being offered for sale as single family homes. For those who don't know, Devens is now a residential and business community.

I was stationed at Ft. Devens from Aug 73 to Jul 74 after my tour in Sinop, Turkey. Since I was a crypto repairman, I worked in the comm center until discharged. They were putting a lot of pressure on me to re-enlist for 6 more years. At that time, I could have gotten an additional $15,000 for just re-enlisting in my old MOS. When I turned that down, they offered to send me to Officers Training School. I refused that also. Now don't get me wrong, I probably would have sign up again but the Army had a program called "Project Transition", which assisted service personnel who are getting ready to leave the Army. They offered various training on base, as well as sending you out on job interviews. I lucked out and secured a job with IBM, six months before I was to be discharged.

The pictures that I'm sending of Devens will show some of the weekend activities scheduled for the enlisted men (BBQ dinners, rope pulling, marching bands). They will be followed by my more recent pictures taken yesterday. Hope everyone enjoys. God Bless !!!

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