"Spider was my room mate in 1961 and we were officers in the BHQ. At night before the Sunday parade we would practice our Adjutant commands on the drill field . In 1961 , Spider , John Benjamin and David Downs went AWOL .. Destination Fort Lauderdale Florida .. I wanted to go with them but they were post grads and I had'nt graduated yet.

John picked us up around midnight , driving his two door 1949 chevy. We had $ 50 dollars borrowed from girlfriends , food and beer from John's Eagle nest restaurant and off we went to spring break in Ft. lauderdale.Stopped at the Florida border for 10 cent all you could drink orange juice. Puked ten miles later! Hit the beach but Spider didn't have a bathing suit. He went to a shop and bought a $7 Jantzen. John and I were not happy with the high dollar purchase. We were down to $32 after gas and cigarets.We roamed the beach and motels for almost a week with the hoard of spring breakers surviving somehow.Out of cash we went to an employment office looking for any jobs we could get. On our resumes the councilors saw we all had two years of ROTC. Another man with a Spanish accent then interviewed us explaining he might have jobs for us of a military training nature that paid very well. Too well. We returned the next day and were told they couldn't use us. That was our brush with "the bay of pigs" We worked odd jobs for another week and decided our "vacation" was over. I flew home to Cleveland, John and Spider drove north to WV. John and had a long friendship until his death several years ago Sadly I never saw Spider again.