If you’re wondering where I left my car keys yesterday, I doubt I could tell you. But if you ask me where I was in December 1984 (or maybe ’83) I wouldn’t miss a beat: Thule, Greenland – better known as “Top of the World” by those who have been stationed there. I enjoyed an all-expenses-paid, 12-month assignment on this ice sheet called Thule, Greenland courtesy of United States Air Force< /a>, and even now more than two decades later I remember it was yesterday.
1. The house is where the wind blows cold (and it was blowing a lot)…
Never in my life would you think Thulen would call Greenland “home”. As a bet, unless you’re an Eskimo, you’re forced to know the Thulen issue. As long as I was assigned there, I had never heard of the place. But existence does this: according to the location of Thule Air Base, Thule is the United States Air Force Base. (76 32′ North Latitude, 68 L’ West Longitude). and is still in operation.
According to bookrags.com, Thule military installations were first built in World War II, when in 1941 the US links with Greenland became essentially independent after the Nazi German occupation of Greenland left the colonial power of Denmark. By 1951 enough infrastructure improvements had been made to place bombers here during the Cold War with the Soviet Union.
Thule Air Base was (and still is) something special: a kind of “desert” price-of-service where families could not come. The institution – such was – had space for only two hundred military personnel and another two hundred Danish and American contractors. If there were more than 500-600 men and women in Thule, I’m sure I don’t remember seeing them. There used to be an old saying at Thulen, Greenland.
There is a woman behind every tree! I don’t think that phrase gets cut much now in these political times, but I always get a kick out of it. no trees in Thule, Greenland).
Thule Air Base has a series of military sites that were crucial back in the days of the cold war: if someone in the former Soviet Union pulled a trigger instead of nuking the US, we want to know about that first Thule. In the same year, an advanced radar site was built on the rock, called BMEWS (Ballistic Missile Early Warning < System). It must have done its job because I don't remember any guns ever doing that in the US. II. It grows in the Great White North Thule, Greenland is unique in several ways: the weather is the most important among them. In Thule we had three seasons: 5 months of continuous night, 2 months of twilight, 5 months of continuous day. Between zero temperatures, snow storms that ranged from mild to total whiteout conditions and a heck of a lot of ice, snow and wind chill that would freeze the tip of your nose in a heartbeat. I contend that if you ever want to know about yourself, life with your partner, I have arranged the place Thule, Greenland. Put yourself in an environment where you're surrounded by people, you don't have much choice in who your neighbors are or what you can do with your time, and you tend to look for the best in things. Come to think of it, there were many similarities between Thulen, Greenland and Boys Town. I also spent about 12 months there. But that time is different. However, not surprisingly, I tend to think that my time “remotely” in places like Greenland, Korea, and Turkey were some of the best times of my life.
III. Arctic Foxes, Golf and Freezing
The arctic fox is about the cutest little thing you’ve ever laid eyes on — unless you get too close and there lies the problem. Hoping that more arctic foxes would be easier to hang out in front of Thule Dining, or a fox or two or three or a few might follow behind you, licking their lips. More than one would prey on the “Oh look how cute they are” temptation to fly the Arctic Fox only to lose a last finger to these bad boys of the arctic tusks. He carried rabies the way of the arctic fox, and that was another reason why he was away from them.
A few kilometers outside the base of the perimeter was the historic Mt Dundas. Mother Nature must be having a bad hair day because if you look at the photo you’ll see that Dundas is stuck right to the top of Mt Glacier. Every “summer” in one of those brief moments when you could actually go outside without your gelato noodle, the base of Mt. Dundas Invitational Golf Tournament: a hike to the top of the mountain and then 18 holes of mini-golf from there . As I said, in Thule’s place, you create your own different Greenlands.
Speaking of the cold weather, because it was so cold you usually didn’t walk. At least not during the “winter”. The base “taxi service” had a fleet of heavy-duty four-wheel drive vehicles that would take us from work or play. At the same time, the school-wide electronic system announced sudden changes in the weather that seemed to occur every hour or so. He certainly didn’t want to be outside if the situation was called “out of the blue”.
IV. Legend of Mr. Whipple
I mentioned above that several hundred American and Danish contractors worked in Thule, Greenland. One of them – an American I referred to as “Mr. Whipple” (a character in the old Charmin toilet-paper TV commercials.) had been there since Thule Air Base first officially opened. By the time I got there, Mr. Whipple had been in Thule for over 30 years and had taken few if any days away. In case you don’t know, civil contractors – especially in remote areas – get quite a few days of paid vacation as an incentive. It is said that Mr. Whipple had earned several hundred days of vacation and received very few of them. Eventually, he was forced to fly back to the US due to laziness. As the legend says, when in United-states-postal-service”>United-states-postal-service”> The United-states-postal-service arrived, poor Mr. Whipple took one. he stepped outside the air terminal, looking around at all the chaos and confusion staring back at him, immediately turned around and flew back to Thulen, Greenland, where he worked for the rest of his life. I often wonder what ever happened to the man: he was already in his late 60’s when I was there, and I wonder if they didn’t just bury him in ice or something when they finally let him go.
Yep – the Air Force still sends people to Thulen, Greenland and we all share a special bond because of it. . I’m not entirely sure what that bond is – but I can tell you there haven’t been many and fewer still ever come back.
