When our ship docked in San Diego, I was officially released from active duty, and Cece met me at the pier. I was coming down with the Hong Kong Flu for the second time during my deployment and spent a few days at Balboa Naval Hospital before returning to Houston, Texas.
We had been back in Houston only three days when we went to a New Year’s Eve party at the Dome Shadows Club. I was still feeling the effects of the flu, so shortly after midnight, we left for Nassau Bay, my wife’s parents’ home.
On the Gulf Freeway, a man driving the wrong way on an overpass hit us head‑on. Cece knocked the windshield out of our 1967 VW Beetle, which was totaled. The other car was a 1968 Buick LeSabre, the size of a Sherman tank. It was also totaled. Yet again, I believe God intervened and protected me for the fourth time. We both survived with only minor injuries, although she still gets tiny pieces of glass out of her forehead from time to time.