Joan’s Stay with Dad
A young Navy serviceman pieced together rides, hitchhiking, and overnight trains between Norfolk and New Jersey just to spend weekends with his daughter Joan — a grueling Friday-to-Monday routine driven by a father's quiet devotion.
Joan's stay with Dad. My duty assignments were based on normal work weeks with one weekend duty every month. It was easy to travel as a serviceman at that time. I was able to get rides from Norfolk to the Wilmington, Delaware area, and then I would hitchhike from there to Plainfield. On the return trip, I would catch a train from Newark on Sunday night. The train started in New York, then to Newark, Philadelphia, and Wilmington. From there it went down the eastern shore and dropped us at a ferry terminal for the ride across the bay. We would arrive back at the base around 6 AM. The travel was doable but time consuming, leaving for New Jersey on Fridays and returning to the ship early Monday morning.
