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Posted by Tom Kwiatkowski Sr. - 309C
on 10/31/2009, 4:55 pm
74.44.81.74
Thirty of us were packed into the back of a 6 X 6 G.I. truck and left the Base at 0700. The driver really pushed it and we estimated that he must have been cruising at 70 mph. He had probably made this trip dozens of times before and knew every twist and turn between the Base and Naples. We arrived at Naples sooner than we expected, and traveled right through the city to the docks on the western shore. The City of Naples was quite large, probably with a quarter million population, but it appeared dirty and neglected, with considerable battle damage. We were taken directly to an open boat that must have been waiting for us. The boat was about thirty feet long, with sides that were waist high. There was no cover of any kind, making it a fair weather craft. We got on board immediately as the operator was starting the inboard engine, and then proceeded to cast off all the lines. After only about ten minutes of travel, he pointed and announced "Capri." As we got closer we could see that on the circumference of the entire island it was about a hundred feet high, with nothing but almost vertical hills. We were approaching a dock, and after we docked and got off the boat, we were taken directly to a vertical railway, which was drawn up the tracks by a steel cable. This was a rather exciting ride as when we reached the top the terrain became almost level. We then boarded a local truck with bench seats and were driven to the center of the village. Everything here was spotless and obviously had not seen the ravages of war. There were numerous elegant hotels and many shops. It was obvious the only business here was tourism.
TO BE CONTINUED
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SOURCE: MEMORIES OF WAR AND PEACE BY ROBERT J. "BOB" GILLMAN. USED WITH PERMISSION.
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