Cool places to go in NJ: Fort Wadsworth
September 18, 2009 by NJ News
Filed under Feature, Jackson News
They say everyone has a skeleton in their closet and I’m no exception. I don’t normally go around admitting this story or telling people because for many years it was something I was not very proud of, but going through old photos today, I realized it was just one of those phases kids go through and there’s nothing to be ashamed of.
I was 17 when I graduated high school and as many who know me already know, I eventually wound up becoming a U.S. Marine shortly after. What you may not know is that before I joined the Marines, I joined the Army. Yes. There. I said it. They say that overcoming denial is the first step of recovery. While I was a senior in high school, an Army recruiter (Sgt. Davis) convinced me that I would be better off joining the Army with a Military Intelligence MOS instead of the Marines with a basic communications MOS. It was a better career move he said. Being gullible, I conned my parents into signing the paperwork and I spent my summer prior to basic training, as a 17 year old working for the 24thMilitary Intelligence Battalion at Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island. So I was indoctrinated into the U.S. armed forces into a pre-training program that allowed you to live and work as a real soldier before you actually became one. I trained for 3 months at Fort Wadsworth and Fort Dix doing an awful lot of cool stuff with the Army, but somewhere along the line I felt like I was doing something wrong.
My parents weren’t fond of my life’s choice and did not want to see me in the military, considering at the end of my 3 months, we were a nation at war with Iraq (August 2000). So shortly before my 18th birthday I pulled another con job. I told my parents I did not want to be in the Army and they revoked my papers (since I was 17 still) and the contract was deemed null and void.
A week or two later, after my 18th birthday, I went back down the recruiter’s office and enlisted in the Marine Corps. Looking back, I know I made the right decision, but I also learned about one of the coolest places in Staten Island, Fort Wadsworth.
In 1994, the base was abandoned by the Clinton Administration, like so many other fine military installations and was turned over to the National Park Service. Millions of people drive across the Verrazano Bridge each day and many don’t even know what’s below them.
Under the Verrazano lies a piece of American history that is an incredible spectacle to behold. Fort Wadsworth has a history that dates to before the Revolutionary War and many of the structures were built back in the time of the war of 1812 and continued active service through the Civil War and beyond.
The entire base is a walk through U.S. military history and it is now open to the public as a National Park. You can read more on thehistory of Fort Wadsworth on Wikipedia, but if you happen to travel into Staten Island or Brooklyn, you might want to take a quick detour and explore the old fort underneaththe Verrazano.
During my summer at the base, I fell in love with Fort Wadsworth. On cool summer nights, we used to camp out on the roof under the bridge with the skyline of New York City in the distance and strange and constant hum of traffic overhead. It was a great way to spend the summer after graduation and a great place to visit.
Ok, so it’s not in New Jersey. It’s in Staten Island, but what’s the difference anymore?
One funny Army story I can share was the day I offered to drive a few guys from Wadsworth to Ft. Dix in my car. It was an 84 chevy cavalier hatchback. They packed all their gear into my car and headed out for the night. THe next night we all couldn’t wait to go home, so we all rushed out of the shop in Staten Island and when I got home to get my stuff out, I realized I had a trunk full of M16’s and a few boxes of rounds in the back. I didn’t know what to do. I was 17. Called the office and it was the weekend so everyone was gone and it was before the days of cellphones, internet, email and contact lists.
I walk in the door with 4 M16’s and my mom flipped and said to get them out of her house, so I left them in the car all weekend not knowing what to do. I didn’t want to lose them or have them get stolen, then I’d be blamed for something.
First thing monday morning at like 4am I sped like 95mph back to wadsworth to turn them in. They had the DOD investigators searching for the lost weapons and trying to find out if they were stolen, etc. Imagine this as a 17 year old clueless kid. Of course nothing happened and I think the 4 guys were given a slap on the wrist for losing their rifles.
Thanks for the great story about Ft. Wadsworth. I grew up just a few blocks south and also on the Narrows. My dad was in the Public Health Service and it used to be the U. S. Quarantine Station but is now a Coast Guard Base. I know the Fort well. We used to have Fort privileges and we’d be on the base at least weekly. The old commisary was in the old fortress in your picture back in the 50’s. It is still a cool place and I was there just last fall. Every Memorial Day there would be a parade down Bay Street that ended on the parade grounds in the Fort. There was an outdoor Mass to finish off the rememberance. You brought back many wonderful memories……….thanks. BTW, right along that section of the narrows is some of the best scenery in the world. I grew up looking at the Manhattan skyline out our living room windows and watching some of the most beautiful ships sail out of NY harbor. I left the Quarantine while the Verrazano was under construction but not yet complete.