401 N. Broad St. - 54 Years Ago

54 years ago today, February 6, 1970, I was sworn into Navy active duty in this building in downtown Philadelphia. I was with a group of nearly 20 other soon to be sailors and we were all scheduled to take a train to the Great Lakes Naval Base near Chicago for basic training. We all filed down the stairs and out the front door to stand as a group on the sidewalk in front of the building. Then they had us line up and the recruiting officer prepared us to walk down to the train station. For some unknown at the time reason the officer seemed to randomly select six of the recruits, including me, and let us over to a van where we all took a seat. The six of us were then driven to the Philadelphia International Airport in South Philly where they then scheduled us to fly to California and eventually going to the San Diego Naval Base.

This was going to be my first ride in an airplane. I thought it was going to be my first long distance trip on a train. We flew non-stop to Los Angeles and then took another plane from there to San Diego. We arrived at the naval base there in the early evening where we got some dinner and then given a bunk for the night. We also were able to watch an outdoor movie with base sailors. We were the only ones there with civilian clothes and long hair.

Processing would begin very early the following morning and would include haircuts, uniform issues, medical exams (again), marching and lots of push-ups. 

In 1970 there were three basic training centers for the Navy. Great Lakes Naval Station located between Chicago and Milwaukee, Orlando Naval Station in Florida and San Diego Naval Station in California. 

The building at 401 North Broad Street had many federal offices including all the military services. Many guys were sworn into the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines in that building. The draft board was also located there and the induction procedures usually began there too. A lot of people have a lot of memories concerning that building.