European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 28, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday september 28,1986 the stars and stripes Page 3 go brides and some of their husbands gather around military vehicles for a trip Down memory Lane during their reunion in Southampton England. 250 War brides reunite on English soil . Kin Cruger  Southampton England the first month of 1942 marked the Start of the first invasion Britain had experienced since 1066. By the end of world War ii nearly 2 million american ills had passed through. Many of the americans made an enormous hit with British women whose prior impressions of America had come Only from their local movie screens. The gis who made four times what their British counterparts made promised nylons free drinks and Good times to a generation of women mostly still in their teens who had had food and clothing ration ing bombs and blackouts but Little frivolity during the depressing austerity of wartime Day arrived. The yanks vanished. Their 60,000 of brides Many with babies were left behind to wait and worry about when if Ever they would be sent for. At the end of 1945. Congress passed a Law to expedite their admission to the United states and in 1946, the brides and their children began moving across the Allan tic in troop ships and converted luxury liners. The cd brides were to constitute the largest influx of immigrants to the United slates since the turn of the Century. This weekend some 250 of those go brides who sailed from Britain in 1946 for a new life in America have returned to Southampton the port they departed from for a Scenti mental reunion. In the City s Guildhall an air raid shelter canteen has been re created As a rendezvous Point for the brides some with their husbands in Tow thursday s welcoming party was helped along with gifts of nylons and a meal of spam and chips French Fries to the yanks. Helen Bolt. 66. One of the go brides attending the reunion said in a Telephone interview Friday afternoon that she still misses the Lovely Green Hills of my native  hut thai she has no desire to return to live in  like living where i live now in Warren. Mich., and i have a Good life there. I have my own car and that s something i probably would never have if i had t left she  is typical of the go brides in Southampton in that she is attending the reunion without her  about a third Are accompanied by their husbands. "1 left Gerald at Home where he works As a maintenance Man for the Chrysler corp., but i m Here with my sister who is also a go Bride although she married a  Helen met Gerald at an ice rink in her native Paisley in 1944. He was serving nearby in the . Army. It was awful leaving Britain for the first Lime. It was t until i got on the ship to sail for the states in 1946 that i was struck by the thought that i was leaving everything my family and friends behind. I did t come Back to Britain for 19 years after that and when i came Back then i did t want to leave to go Back to the Stales. Since then i be been Back and fort Many times and it gets easier and easier but 1 still miss my scottish friends. They know How to have a Good time Over Here. At Home. I rarely go  a sad note struck the reunion thursday night she said. It s so sad hut thursday night while we were sign ing in at the reception one of the go brides who was Here on her own  Bolt said. We heard this morning that she passed away shortly thereafter in the Hospital. They Are trying to Contact her family Back inthe states with the news. So sad. To have come All this Way after All these  she loves responsibility of being o True Sailor by Dan Ollam Slaff writer Gaeta. Italy Tammy Vagnini swung her boat neatly away from the pier and headed to  Board she had a half dozen sailors some headed to her ship the Vulcan others to the eth Fleet Flag ship the Belknap both at Anchor in the Gaeta , a Boatswain s mate and Seaman is one of three women aboard the Vulcan who work As coxswain people qualified to drive the ship s Small Boals. Vagnini in t a qualified coxswain yet but she Hopes to be after she takes an examination. She said she wants to be qualified because. I love driving  s mates from whose numbers coxswain come Are the Navy s traditional sailors. If this were 200 years ago. Boatswain s mates would be the men climbing aloft Manning the Helm and swabbing the decks. Things Haven t changed much Lor the males at sea. Their chores Are often physical demanding and  that has t deterred Vagnini. Who entered the Boatswain s world last year at the age of 19. Some of them Are rough and Tough Guys she said of her male counterparts. But they give you a Chance. If you mess up they really dog you Oul about it. But they re fair As Long As you do your  she started working on the Vulcan she was surprised when men offered to help her with difficult jobs. "1 expected them to let me do my own  she said. She loves the responsibility of driving boats be cause you re Overall in charge of the boat and every body in it she said. It s neat driving Boals every Day. It s a big  she said her toughest watch Al coxswain is at night bringing the drunks Back to the  it s pretty Tough when you be got 15 or 20 sail ors fighting. You know my ship is better than yours and stuff like  she said Bui a Boal officer is usually on Board in the eve Ning to help with those  can Lake care of most problems herself. As sailors bound for Liberty boarded her Boal from the Vulcan she kept her skipper s Eye out for Viola tors of the boat s rules. She spoiled a Sailor who had his feet on her freshly painted Haze Gray seals. She thumped her hands three limes above the Helm and said sternly excuse  the Sailor obeyed nothing More needed to be said. Is photo by Robed  Seaman Tammy Vagnini. Manning the Helm