I dated the base commandant's daughter, a lovely girl who I met in Ms Janie Long's art class at newly opened HHS. It was a thrill for a young teenager to have clearance to pass through the Marine checkpoints. My earliest memories include seeing a ship, torpedoed by a German U-boat, burning off Miami Beach. Navy blimps operating from Opalocka and Richmond Field, now the Metro zoo, played a major tole in turning back the submarine menace.
