Port of Whittier Alaska, Sept 1952 Gene.jpg

The story goes something like this: On Friday evenings during bootcamp the recruits got their hair cut. Sometimes not all would get it done because the barbershop closed down before all the men made it through. Laurel (Gene) Thompson had seen a hair clipper in the Post Exchange so decided to buy it. The base barber charged fifty cents per cut but Gene only charged the recruits twenty-five. The base barber must have noticed the decline in recruits sitting in their chairs come Fridays and towards the end of their weeks of training Private Thompson got called into the base commander's office. The commander asked him if he had been cutting hair in the barracks to which he replied he had. Thompson was told that was against the rules and he had to stop or be punished for it. Then at the end of the conversation the commander asked Private Thompson if he liked cutting hair to which he replied he did and with that Thompson was told his military assignment would be in Whittier, Alaska at the base barber shop.

Laurel Thompson (1927)