Charlie Davis

Growing Up In Pensacola I & II are collections of mostly humorous essays written over the past several years describing the author’s experiences growing up in a large family in a small coastal community in Florida during the thirties, forties and fifties. It’s a potpourri of stories that can be read in any order, that share the youthful joys of summers spent at the old swimming hole on Bayou Texar, the challenges of grammar school, the concerns of family and friends during World War II and the family’s connection to local politics. The love of community and respect for neighbors, are evident in the stories about East Pensacola Heights and the love of Boats and fishing by the author’s family and friends is demonstrated throughout. Adventures in commercial fishing, near disasters in the bays, collisions in the Gulf, and near involvement with U-Boats in the Gulf of Mexico are recounted from interviews with family and friends, and the author’s research. The author’s conversational style makes reading the stories enjoyable and entertaining.

Johnson knew he could get his ass blown off in Korea, but that was a risk his government was willing to take. The story begins in 1952 when the three U. S. Navy Dental Technicians were assigned to the U. S. Marine Corps at Parris Island, S. C. The three were unlikely friends: Johnson, a self-professed “Redneck,” and Dubeau, a proud Cajun, were white and from the South. Carter was black and from the North. They learned they would not be going to Korea but would remain at Parris Island . . . “till this damn war’s over,” said the Chief. They were bored, but life got better when Johnson won a classic 1939 Packard in a raffle, and they spend their off-duty hours in the nearby towns and the Lowcountry Sea Islands for beach parties and fishing. Segregation creates problems for Carter, who falls in love with Maria, a beautiful young lady from the Gullah Community on St. Helena Island.