The movie "No Time for Sergeants" starring Andy Griffith had just come out in the early fall of 1959, and it seemed to the two of us the perfect way to spend an evening. My spouse Fred was an airman stationed at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina. We were newly-weds.

So we dressed for the occasion and piled into our old cadillac, heading for the nearby base gate. Fred pulled to a stop for a pass to go on base. 

Standing guard at the main gate was a young airman about our age, whose name was passed down in family lore, but who shall remain nameless in this account. I don't recall his exact reason for not giving us a pass. I know the car had a cracked front windshield and for that reason had not been given a permanent sticker. Each time we wanted to go on base, we had to state our reason, and so far, had never been refused. Perhaps he decided going to see a movie at the base theater was less than necessary, although we had the right to do so. Just not in our car!

We turned around from the gate to make the trip back home, where we could watch a snowy-screened small television, or call on friends. To say our funds were limited would be an understatement!

Then Fred came up with a solution to our problem, and I agreed. The base had another gate, one we could walk through, parking our car on the street outside the gate. We could easily walk to the base theater, and would only be a few minutes late for the start of the show! So that is what we did, and were permitted entrance to the base as pedestrians.

No sooner had we begun our short trek to the theater when we were stopped by guards in a jeep who had been sent by the airman on duty at the main gate to apprehend us. The guard had imagined we would drive through in our car- it did not occur to him that we might walk! The airmen in the car began laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation, as did we! Further, they offered us a ride to the theater so we were just on time for the main feature!

"No Time for Sergeants" was hilarious to us, and has remained a favorite movie ever since!