Glasgow Air Force Base, Montana is now the small community of Saint Marie. The run-down Air Force Base ceased to be a vital military operation sometime in the mid-1970s and, in the 1990s, it was opened up for public residential purposes. Apparently, it is much cheaper and more strategic to have a multitude of missile silos sprinkled throughout the land rather than archaic military bases. So when I returned to Glasgow Air Force Base in September, it was nothing but a worn out shell of what it once was even though there are now a smattering of units that have since been reoccupied. I suppose that the lesson I garnered from visiting the ruins is that single purpose communes whether they be military, racial, religious, or sexist are likely to cease to exist over time if they are not able to expand into the outside world and to adapt their missions to the social fabric of an evolving world.
What I also learned from the trip is that it is not so much the place but the ideas, the ideals and the dreams that stay with us forever. In my own particular case, Glasgow is where I first spent a great deal of time dreaming. In the winter, when the snow was high and the temperature frigid, and before the Youth Center was built, I spent a great deal of time reading and dreaming about the life ahead. I spent many an hour sitting on the steps inside our unit just dreaming about the military campaigns I would one day wage, or the space flights I would take or the the athletic accomplishments that I would achieve. For the most part, not much became of those dreams came true. Somewhere along the way, I became conflicted about waging war. Going to space became a not so desirable goal when one develops a fear of heights and a deep aversion to water. And as for athletic accomplishments, well, maybe I just have not found the right sport ... yet.
However, there was one dream that began in Glasgow that never died. For some reason, during the winter of 1962-63, my Mom took me to the Base Theater. I think it was an outing for both our family and another airman's family. The other airman was a black G.I. with a Japanese wife and the star of the movie showing that evening had made a movie a few years previously that may have resonated with them. In any event, in that movie, a ground breaking production for its time, I got my first panoramic glimpse of a world far, far away and entirely different from my own. Having previously lived (at least in my memory) in the not so scenic towns of Victorville, California; El Paso, Texas; and now Glasgow Air Force Base, Montana, up to that time the landscape of life had been bleak. But there, up on the screen, was a place of paradise.
The movie we saw was Mutiny on the Bounty starring Marlon Brando. And after seeing it, my daydreams became more vivid and visiting such a locale became one of those dreams to pursue.
It has taken some 52 years, but tonight I board a plane, to fulfill that dream.
Thus, ultimately, the lesson from Glasgow and the lesson for the road ahead is never stop pursuing your dreams. Many may not come true. But some will, and if not, your life will be enriched by the pursuit itself.
For, as the proverb goes, "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you will land among the stars."
Peace.
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