John W. Gillis (aka CT3 Gillis, Li Syansheng)
John W. Gillis - Post Okinawa Biography 7/8/1997
I departed Okinawa in January of 1965 with somewhat of a heavy heart yet with a ton of naive youthful enthusiasm (cockiness). The trip back was long and eventful as we could not land at Travis Air Force base because of fog and had to be diverted to Oakland. Once landing and reaching the tarmac, we were informed that we could not deplane until the customs inspectors were transported from Travis to the Oakland airport. Now mind you, it’s about 1:30 am. The plane is full of military "brats" crying their fool heads off and they shut the air off and it’s 80 some degrees outside. It took them a little over 2 hours to get the custom inspectors to the airport and after getting through that ordeal we were informed that there was no military transportation to Treasure Island. They told us to take a cab. Welcome home sailor. Was enough to make one "ship over" (almost). Kept remembering that Marine Second Lieutenant telling me I’d be standing in "bread lines" and that kept me going. Oh, one other thing kept me going.........Nancy Searson (Sergeant Adam’s sister-in-law). I think I remember which one had the stronger influence on me. At any rate, I finally got out and immediately checked into a motel in Burlingame (right outside Frisco) and called Nancy. She came over after work and we spent the next month together (terrific woman and even better looking than Sgt. Adam’s wife......I was biased). Left Frisco and Nancy and headed for Rochester, NY.
I had never been to Rochester before. My parents moved there while I was in Okinawa. It turned out to be a shock to my system. Rochester has the propensity for being cold and snowy in the winter (winter lasts ten months here). I got off the plane and FROZE in my tracks. Where do I go to "ship over" crossed my mind again only to be blotted out by that 2nd Louie. I had to prove that "Middie" wrong. I’m here I thought. Broke, freezing and snow up to my _ _ _. Welcome home sailor (I must have been nuts).
Spent the next couple of weeks trying to get up the courage to go outside, generally relaxing and getting reacquainted with my folks. That got old pretty fast and I had to decide what I wanted to do. I really had no intention of staying in Rochester but, didn’t have any other plans either. Besides that.............I was broke again (that’s the one constant in my life). Decided that I had better look for a job (CEO, President of some company maybe, or Vice President if I really had to lower myself (remember that "ton of naive enthusiasm???????????). Honestly though, I did set some pretty high standards for myself.
No factory line work or manual labor. I had to have an office job. I did have a ton of qualifications..........I knew a little Chinese and could play baseball. What more could an employer want? Needless to say, I didn’t have a ton of folks breaking down my parents door. I was getting frustrated and discouraged. Was that 2nd Louie right? The thought once again crossed my mind. I began thinking of calling Joe Starr who promised me another tour at ALS and any duty station in the world I wanted to go to if I "shipped over".
Those bad thoughts were crossing my mind at a more frequent rate now. Damn that 2nd Louie! Just as things seemed their darkest and I was dragging my tail between my legs almost ready to admit defeat, the phone rang. It was Eastman Kodak Company asking me to interview for a position in their Electronic Data Processing Organization. Now, mind you, I didn’t know a computer from a 2nd Louie’s bars never mind how to program one. However, I lucked out. It seems the Director of this department had done some reading in the trade journals about a company in Minnesota that had used non Romance language linguists as programmers and were quite successful. This guy wanted to run his own experiment and I was offered the job starting at $96/week (a ton of money and broke no more). I knew that 2nd Louie was wrong and I proved it. Stick it "Middie". I’ve been there ever since (going on 33 years now).
In the fall of 1965, I enrolled at the University of Rochester and renewed pursuing my bachelors degree. Between Kodak paying 100% tuition reimbursement and the GI Bill, I made money going to school. I graduated in 1971 with a BS in Economics. I never had the desire or the inclination to go on for a masters though and that ended my formal academic pursuits.
Also in the fall of 1965, I had the good fortune to meet a coed named Pam who was going to another college in the Rochester area. We married two years later (as a matter of fact we are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary today, 7/8/1997). We have four children, three boys (Ron-29, Craig-25 and Brian-23) and a girl (Kimberly-21 and a senior at Niagara University). Finally no more tuition payments. I’m as broke as I was in March of 1965. The two older boys are married but, no grand children as yet. My youngest boy is trying to get as luck as his dad was. All of the kids except for Craig are in the Rochester area. Craig lives in Frederick, Maryland with his wife Sue. This is nice because it gives my wife and I ample opportunity to visit with John and Carol Farrall whom we have kept in touch with for all these years.
I have had the good fortune to have held several supervisory and management positions within Kodak and am currently coordinating their world wide Year 2000 compliance effort. I am planning to retire in the fall of 2000 upon which Pam and I will probably winter in North Carolina and spend the summers back here in Rochester. That’s all predicated upon the good Lord being willing and the creek not running dry.
I think that pretty much summarizes my life since JSPC. Certainly not glamorous and to some maybe boring. However, I did not stand in any bread lines. Consider myself successful, and owe a great deal to the Navy and the folks I was fortunate enough to have spent a good deal of time with at ALS and Okinawa. I will continue to keep this up to date as new events occur. Take care and would certainly like to see all of you again. Stay in touch.
John and Pam Gillis
33 Eileen Drive N.
Rochester,NY 14616
Get your own Free Home Page