Raised by the Fox

by J Walker Bell

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  Introduction. "Of Cactus, Castles, and Queens" is a mostly true story. In 1986 I was the Supply Officer on the USS Arthur W. Radford, a destroyer based in Norfolk, Virginia. We were engaged in tense combat training exercises at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a place most people outside the military didn't know existed until the 911 terrorist attack. Now, of course, everyone knows about this tiny base and it's infamous prison occupants. In 1986, however, coming to "Gitmo" was a return home for me. I lived on the base for three years as a twelve to fourteen year old. It was paradise for a boy child and I have nothing but incredible and lasting memories of those three years. What could possibly top those memories of deep sea fishing, weekly ocean dives to bring back fish for our aquariums, seahorse hunting, a night invasion of land crabs, hiking military tank trails, foraging for machine gun shell casings, and even getting a ride on a tank when we were caught where we shouldn't? Read on.