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The
Story Behind the Writing of
Just A Dream
Away
Point
by Point Listing of Events
by Paul Sutton
1.
August 14, 1945. Japan surrenders!
World War II is over.
2. Lieut. Paul Sutton is
required to remain in the Navy after the war,
until June 1946 at minimum.
3. Paul was assigned to the
Inspector of Naval Material Office (INM) at
30 Church Street, in New York City (close
to what is known as Ground Zero today).
4. Naval officers oftentimes
attended the Officer's Club at Delmonico's
Hotel at 59th and Park Avenue in NYC. Paul
met Doris at the Officer's Club. In his own
words: "She was beautiful, intelligent,
serious, a good dancer, and a poet too!"
5. Paul was a physicist,
with a Bachelor's Degree from Harvard. The
GI Bill made it possible for Paul to return
to Graduate School at Columbia University,
in the Fall of 1946.
6. So how did Paul spend
his time from June 1946 until October? At
the Atom Bomb Tests at Bikini of course! Working
with testing the bomb was good experience
for a physicist, and helped him save money
to go to Graduate School. Doris was left behind
in New York, waiting for his return.
7. So Paul applied for the
Physics Post in Navy Operations Crossroads
- Bombs 4 & 5. He went to Washington D.C.,
hand-carrying his application form from one
office to another, finding Captain Chas Piggot
of Ordinance Evaluation Group who needed an
assistant.
8. Paul was transferred to
Operation Crossroads, Navy Department, Washington
D.C. in March, 1946. Doris visited Paul in
April, 1946, in Washington. Cherry blossoms
are great for poetry!
9. In May, 1946, Paul took
the train to San Franciso, California. He
was assigned to the U.S.S.
Wharton (AP-7), which docked at Pearl
Harbor May 5-12th. It was a busy nine days
while at Pearl Harbor, for Paul, and on the
last day, Paul waited in line for four hours
to put a telephone call through to Doris.
The U.S.S. Wharton left for Bikini the next
day.
10. The U.S.S. Wharton anchored
in the center of Bikini Lagoon. Paul and the
crew checked all 76 target ships to see that
the exposure plan was followed.
11. Bomb No. 4 was tested
on July 1st, 1946. It was labelled TEST ABLE.
12. The report on the Test
results were prepared. The exposure plan for
the next bomb was then checked. A number of
the target ships were moved or changed.
13. The grand piano in the
U.S.S. Wharton wardroom looked inviting to
Paul!
14. In-between Bomb Tests
No. 4 and 5, Paul wrote a Love song and lyrics
for Doris. The composition was developed in
mid-July, 1946. She was "Just
a Dream Away"!
15. Bomb No. 5 was tested
on July 25, 1946. It was labelled TEST BAKER.
16. The report on the Test
results were prepared.
17. Paul returned to Washington
D.C. and resigned from active duty on October
25, 1946.
18. Doris and Paul went to
Jones Beach on a Sunday in September. On the
way back, they went to the Empire State Building
and Paul finally proposed at the top of the
Empire State Building, while looking at the
distant twinkle.
As
told by Paul Sutton
October 7, 2008
La Jolla, California |
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The
Story Behind the Writing of
Just A Dream
Away |
Now
A Dream Come True!
by Doris Sutton
When
Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7,
1941, war brought drama and change.
Paul felt fortunate to be allowed to complete
his honors degree in Physics at Harvard
College, graduating in June of 1943. He
was then trained and assigned by the Navy
to 3-1/2 years of ordnance duty in the Atlantic
Theater, sent to Brazil but stationed on
Ascension Island. He was in charge of a
top-secret acoustic homing device that effectively
destroyed some of the Nazi submarine activity
which brought minerals to Germany from Sumatra,
around the Cape of Good Hope and up the
coast of Africa. As the war drew to a close,
Paul was then assigned to a blimp squadron
in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, where
five days before the Germans surrendered,
a blimp destroyed a German submarine using
this device. To this day, full details about
this weapon are not readily disclosed.
After the Japanese surrendered on August
14, 1945, Paul was sent to 30 Church, Street
in New York City, to help cancel Navy contracts.
New York was a very hospitable place for
military men, offering many service and
social clubs, theaters and nightclubs. Even
the famous Stork Club and 21 Club welcomed
servicemen at low cost, providing a glamorous-background
for this transition time. The popular Stage-door
Canteen and many others are still recalled
by many.
But it is the Officer's Club at the Hotel
Delmonico, at 59th St and Park Avenue, that
takes center stage for the Suttons. It was
run by two N.Y. Socialites, Mrs. French
and Mrs. Hull, who provided a lovely setting
and both formal and informal dances, a pleasant
spot to meet and mingle.
Paul met Doris there in September 1945.
They became friends, went to theater, liked
dancing. They shared many interests, including
poetry. They celebrated New Year's Eve together.
In March, 1946, when Paul transferred to
Washington D.C. to coordinate bomb test
targets for the Bikini bomb tests, he was
encouraged when Doris came down to Washington
to say goodbye to him under the Cherry Blossoms.
It was the end of April. On May 1st, Paul
and Captain Piggott with other technical
personnel took the train to San Francisco
where the USS Wharton was anchored and they
boarded the Wharton and sailed to Pearl
Harbor. Nine busy days in Hawaii at Pearl
Harbor followed outfitting target ships.
On the tenth day, a four-hour wait to put
a phone call through to Doris went through.
It raised Paul's hopes that perhaps she
cared about him.
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The song Just A Dream Away
was written aboard the Wharton between bomb
tests, the 4th atom bomb in history tested
on July 1, 1946, and the 5th one on July
26th, 1946. (The first bomb was tested in
Nevada. The second and the third bombs were
dropped on Japan.)
In
September, 1946, back in Washington D.C.,
Paul resigned from the active duty Navy.
With GI Bill in hand, he went to New York
City, registered for graduate school at
Columbia University and took on a teaching
commitment. He also remained in the active
Naval Reserve.
On Thanksgiving Day, November 28,1946, Paul
and Doris married and have lived happily
ever after, ever since!
As told by Doris Sutton
October 7, 2008
La Jolla, California
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