August 20th 1962 Yucca Flats 153rd Tac Recon Squadron Meridian Mississippi Key Field Mississippi Air National Guard

Click on the picture above to enlarge it. This is not Tommy Harvey's version of Yucca Flats. The picture above is of the drink recipe as made in the link at the bottom of this post.

More on my time in the Mississippi Air National Guard in Meridian, Mississippi.
The day we were released from active duty after the Berlin Crisis(see post below)was the happiest day of my life. That was 48 years ago on August 20th,1962.
Now to prepare for this momentous occasion my friend Tommy Harvey who also was being released from active duty that day made a gallon jug of what he called "Yucca Flats". Yucca Flats according to Tommy Harvey is made this way: One quart of good vodka, 7 lemons, 7 Seven Ups,combined in a glass gallon jug with a top on it. Leave alone for 7 days and then take the top off. Boom! Yucca Flats. That is what we had to drink that night after we were released from active duty. I remember after it was all gone sucking the last of the juice out of the lemons left inside the bottle. Maybe I even ate the lemons.

I know I slept real well that night and the next morning woke up a free man. I got my stuff together and got out of Meridian as fast as I could.

Here is another good way of making Yucca Flats. And if you search the name Yucca Flats on Google or Yahoo you will find many more ways of making this drink.
http://www.food.com/recipe/Yucca-Flats-313684

August 20th 1962 The Happiest Day Of My Life

The day we were released from active duty after the Berlin Crisis was the happiest day of my life. That was 54 years ago on August 20th,1962.
Now to prepare for this momentous occasion my friend Tommy Harvey who also was being released from active duty that day made a gallon jug of what he called "Yucca Flats". Yucca Flats according to Tommy Harvey is made this way: One quart of good vodka, 7 lemons, 7 Seven Ups,combined in a glass gallon jug with a top on it. Leave alone for 7 days and then take the top off. Boom! Yucca Flats. That is what we had to drink that night after we were released from active duty. I remember after it was all gone sucking the last of the juice out of the lemons left inside the bottle. Maybe I even ate the lemons.

I know I slept real well that night and the next morning woke up a free man. I got my stuff together and got out of Meridian as fast as I could.

Here is another good way of making Yucca Flats. And if you search the name Yucca Flats on Google or Yahoo you will find many more ways of making this drink.
http://www.food.com/recipe/Yucca-Flats-313684

Click on the label August 20th 1962 in the Labels box below to read more on this subject.

Today is the 50th Anniversary Of The Happiest Day Of My Life

Today is the 50th anniversary of the happiest day of my life. August 20, 1962 was the day I got released from active duty in the USAF. My Air National Guard unit had been activated on Oct. 1st 1961 due to the Berlin Crisis. I had to spend what would have been my senior year in college stuck in Meridian, Ms. at a tiny Air Guard Base. I have written two other posts about this. I will include links to them.
http://joeb-tallyho.blogspot.com/2010/08/happiest-day-of-my-life-august-20th.html
   I just remember how happy I was that morning of August 20th 1962 when I woke up knowing I would be getting out of the military and returning to civilian life. I took my trumpet up on top of a small mountain outside Meridian and played my horn as the sun came up.
Later that day we drank Yucca Flats made by Tommy Harvey. Here is the link to how he made that wonderful mixture.
http://joeb-tallyho.blogspot.com/search?q=yucca+flats

And the link below is to a post I wrote about Steve Forbert and his father Sam Forbert who was the commanding officer of my Air Force unit. 
http://joeb-tallyho.blogspot.com/search?q=steve+forbert

Here is the only bright spot I remember from the whole year of active duty.

http://joeb-tallyho.blogspot.com/search/label/153rd%20Tac%20Recon%20Squadron