FS-218
MOORED AT OKINAWA
NOTE: The author of this account wished to remain anonymous. He was not a member of PsyOps, but I thought his story would be of interest to readers since his experience occurred prior to the first contingent of the 14th Bn being posted to the Rock in 1958 or 59.
The account was copied and pasted from a Microsoft Word Document but unfortunately translated with text in both capital and small case.
AFTER REDEPLOYING OUR OUTFIT IN KOREA, TO JAPAN & SOME OF OUR PERSONNEL TO THE STATES, WE BOARDED AN MSTS TROOP SHIP AT INCHON HARBOR, IN SOUTH KOREA AND MADE PASSAGE TO JAPAN VIA THE YELLOW AND EAST CHINA SEA AND ONWARD TO OUR FINAL DESTINATION, JAPAN. FOR THE MOST PART THE VOYAGE WAS UNEVENTFUL.
THE FIRST LAND SIGHTING APPROACHING THE JAPANESE MAINLAND WAS THE FAMOUS SNOW CAPED MT. FUJI (aka FUJIAMA). THIS WAS AN AWESOME SIGHT,... CLIMBING OUT OF THE OVERCAST & MIST OF JAPAN, THE UPPER MOST PEAK FOREVER SNOW COVERED, YOU COULD SEE IT MANY MILES OUT BEFORE YOU REALIZED THE JAPANESE MAINLAND WAS SOMEWHERE BELOW..
OUR SHIP STOPPED AT THE ENTRANCE OF TOKYO BAY AND HAD TO WAIT, AS THE U.S. NAVY WAS STILL UTILIZING THE JAPANESE SUBMARINE NETS DEPLOYED BY THE JAPANESE IMPERIAL NAVY DURING WW-2, ..TO PROTECT THE HARBOR INSTALLATIONS.. WE COULD NOT FIGURE OUT WHY DUE TO THE FACT NO FURTHER HOSTILITIES WERE GOING ON IN THE FAR EAST AT THAT TIME... ...
SEVERAL SHIPS, INCLUDING SMALL JAPANESE FISHING VESSELS, SOME U.S. NAVY VESSELS, FREIGHTERS AND the like ALL CLUSTERED IN AND AROUND OUR VESSEL,... INCLUDING WHAT APPEARED TO BE A GREEK PASSENGER SHIP DIRECTLY ASTERN OF US ALL WAITING FOR THE NETS TO OPEN TO ALLOW PASSAGE..
WE LITERALLY CRAWLED THRU TOKYO BAY DUE TO ALL THE CONGESTION, AND STILL LIMITED DOCK AND UNLOADING TERMINALS THAT CONTINUED BEING REBUILT/REPAIRED AS A RESULT OF OUR DEVASTATING BOMBER ATTACKS ON TOKYO AND YOKAHAMA.. NINE YEARS EARLIER...
A COUPLE OF NAVY TUGS CAME OUT AND GUIDED US TO OUR DOCK..
WE NOTICED SALVAGE OPERATIONS STILL CUTTING UP OLD SHIPS THAT Were SUNK AT THEIR MOORINGS. OR along side destroyed docks... I ASSUMED THE HARBOR WAS THE LAST TO ‘’COMPLETE’’ CLEAN UP operations AS THE PRIORITIES SEEMED TO BE THE DEVASTATED CITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE..
WE DOCKED AND OFF LOADED TO AN ARMY STAGING AREA.. I HAD NO ORDERS OTHER Than TO REPORT TO THE MSTS SHIP IN KOREA FOR ‘’REASSIGNMENT’’ in JAPAN..
ABOUT 12 OR MORE OTHER GI’s AND I FROM OUR OLD OUTFIT SAT IN AN ASSIGNED AREA FOR ABOUT FIVE HOURS.. IT WAS APPROACHING EARLY AFTERNOON, AND WE STARTED TO GET HUNGRY, A SGT. CAME UP TO US AND CALLED OUT FOUR OR FIVE NAMES, TO FOLLOW HIM...UNFORTUNATELY I WAS NOT ONE.. WE NEVER SAW THEM AGAIN AND I OFTEN WONDERED WHAT OUTFITS THEY HAD BEEN ASSIGNED TO..or returned to the states...
SHORTLY AFTER, An LT. CAME AND CALLED OUR NAMES. HANDED EACH ONE OF US OUR ORDERS AND TOLD US TO NOT OPEN THEM TILL WE ARRIVED AT OUR NEW CAMP..
WE DROVE IN THE BACK OF A OPEN 3/4 TON TRUCK, DUFFLE BAGS AND ALL THRU THE CROWDED STREETS.
THE FIRST THING I NOTICED WAS THE EXTREMELY ‘’SWEET’’ SMELL of Tokyo LIKE GREEN TEA THAT PERMEATED THE AIR..I HAVE NO IDEA WHY.. IT WAS AUGUST SO IT CERTAINLY WASN’T THE famous JAPANESE CHERRY BLOSSOMS THAT USUALLY BLOOMED IN THE SPRING..
DOWNTOWN & THE SUBURBS OF TOKYO HAD BEEN COMPLETELY RE-BUILT TO AT LEAST PRE-WW-2 CONDITIONS,, BASICALLY FLIMSY WOODEN STRUCTURES AND RICE PAPER WALLS ...and old single & three story concrete buildings lined the commercial areas THAT STILL HAD SIGNS OF WAR DAMAGE.
NOTE: TOKYO TODAY IS PROBABLY THE MOST MODERN CITY IN THE WORLD,... THEIR RAPID INNER CITY TRANSPORTATION & RAIL SYSTEM, AIRPORT, HOSPITALS, HOTELS, HOUSING AND SHOPPING CENTERS are all ultra modern looking
IF YOU THINK OUR LAS VEGAS IS OVER ILLUMINATED; you have never been to Tokyo....
THE OTHER OBSERVATIONS WERE THE VAST NUMBERS OF THREE WHEEL HUMAN POWERED BICYCLES CALLED ‘’KABUKI-CYCLES’’ CHOKING THE MAIN ROADS AND SIDE STREETS..
CYCLISTS WOULD STACK BOXES & BOTTLES AND ANYTHING THEY COULD CARRY ON THE BACK AND ABOUT TEN FT. HIGHER THAT THE BICYCLIST PEDDLING IT, AND COMPLETELY OFF BALANCE...
IN ADDITION THEY HAD ‘’MOTORIZED VERSIONS’’ THEY ALSO USED FOR TRANSPORT WORK AND AS TAXI CABS ETC.
I HAD SEEN A BRAND OF TRUCK CALLED A ‘’TOYO’’ ( POSSIBLY THE FORERUNNER OF TOYOTA, ) BUT ALL OF THESE WHERE PRE- WW- 2 AND many originally Japanese military trucks confiscated by civilians after the surrender..
After driving thru dense traffic for about an hour WE FINALLY ARRIVED AT OUR ‘’DESTINATION.....
THE TOWN WE WHERE STATIONED IN WAS OJI , A SMALL VILLAGE ABOUT 30 MILES OUTSIDE OF TOKYO..
IT HAD A LARGE BRIGHTLY COLORED ARMY STYLED SIGN AND LOGO
WELCOME TO THE 29 TH. TOPOGRAPHIC ENGINEERING BATTALION
USAFea COMMAND X CORP
The army engineers are not what I had in mind or planned for my ‘’military career’’. I was young, fresh out of KOREA naive , STILL wet behind the ears , gUng-ho,.. And HAD a ‘’could live forever ATTITUDE’’, AND wanted a war to fight someplace.. after all you don’t enlist to bake cookies..
THINKING THAT KOREA WAS ONLY AN ARMY ‘’TEASE’’ TO GET ME TO ENLIST!!... AND THEN END IT ALL less than a year later. here I was SAFE & ISOLATED in ‘’downtown Japan’ ’.. TOTALLY SCREWED!!!
the first thing we did was to BE ESCORTED TO THE mess hall.., a huge cavernous room of a once factory type building.
Now most army chow I had been use to was ‘’eatable’’ but not very digestible or palatable....especially if your outside in a driving snow storm, standing in eight inches of mud, FREEZING TO DEATH, trying to keep your canned left over ww-2 c-ration chicken leg from floating off your mess kit....
My god.. all you can eat & seconds... chicken, steak, BAKED HAM, hamburgers, and all the fixings and side dishes.. just about EVERY DESERT known to man.. and cooked/FIXED LIKE you would expect in a decent FAMILY STYLE RESTAURANT.
I thought to myself...i’m going to like it here !!!..... After my 4 th cup of coffee and second round of apple pie, we were escorted to our bunks and sleeping arrangements, as THE barracks was part of this huge converted factory complex.
Each doorway had a plaque over head with the words ‘’CAUTION–-LOW BRIDGE’’
FORTUNATELY AND CONVENIENTLY LOCATED ON THE OTHER SIDE OF EACH DOORWAY WAS A TABLE MARKED "BAND-AID -STATION""
IT APPEARS THAT OUR NEW HOME WAS A FORMER WW-2 MITSUBISHI JAPANESE ZERO AIRCRAFT ASSEMBLY FACTORY...REBUILT FROM BOMBING DAMAGE, & CONVERTED TO HOUSE ‘’OCCUPYING’’ AMERICAN/UN FORCES.
THE AVERAGE JAPANESE MALE IS ABOUT 5’ UP TO 5’ 4’’…. THE MAJORITY OF THE DOORWAYS Were ABOUT 5’8’’ HIGH THUS RESULTING IN ALL THE SELF INFLICTED BRAIN CONCUSSIONS...
Exhaustion took OVER AT THAT POINT, & I LAID ON TOP OF THE BUNK SPRINGS, NOT EVEN UNRAVELING MY BED ROLL, & BLANKET.
THE NEXT MORNING, A SCRATCHY SOUNDING RECORDED BUGLE NOISE CAME OVER A LOUD SPEAKER & WOKE ME AT ABOUT 5 AM. WE FOLLOWED THE OTHERS,.. TOOK HOT SHOWERS, SHAVED CHANGED INTO FRESH FATIGUES AND HIT THE MESS HALL AGAIN.
NONE OF THE NEW ARRIVALS HAD OPENED INDIVIDUAL ORDERS YET, STILL IN SEALED ENVELOPES INSIDE OUR DUFFLE BAGS.... ONE OF OUR GUYS BROUGHT HIS TO THE MESS HALL & our table AND INDICATED HE WOULD BE ASSIGNED TO THE 29TH AND WOULD GO TO THAILAND WITH THEM ON ASSIGNMENT..TO SURVEY AND RE-MAP THE BORDERS OF THAILAND, LAOS, CAMBODIA AND VIETNAM.. WHO WOULD HAVE KNOWN WHAT lay ahead eight years HENCE BACK in 1950/S!!
I SAID “BUMMER”,... because I can’t stand hot humid jungle weather, BUGS , snakes, TYPHOONS AND MONSOONS. AS I THOUGHT WE MIGHT HAVE ALL FALLEN INTO THAT FAte .. SO I SCAMPERED BACK TO MY BUNK AND DUFFLE BAG, UNLOCKED IT AND PULLED OUT MY ENVELOPE..
I WAS ASSIGNED TO PROCEED TO THE YOKAHAMA DOCKS, TO FS- 218 A U.S. ARMY SHIP AND PROCEED TO OKINAWA TO THE 30TH ENGINEERING TOPOGRAPHIC UNIT, LOCATED IN THE VILLAGE OF OJANA Ryukyus islands COMMAND , Okinawa, JAPAN. HOWEVER.. THIS WAS NOT TO HAPPENED FOR TWO MORE WEEKS
THE OFFICER IN CHARGE DISCUSSED ALL OF OUR ASSIGNMENTS AND TOLD US WHAT EACH INDIVIDUAL SHOULD DO UP TO THE POINT OF THE DEPARTURE TO THEIR ASSIGNMENTS.. THE ONE GUY ACTUALLY STAYED AT THE 29TH .. WAS MOVED OUT TO ANOTHER BARRACKS TILL HIS DEPARTURE TO THAILAND...
THE REST STAYED WHERE WE WHERE..AND ALL RECEIVED THE OKINAWA ASSIGNMENT.
THE OIC. ALSO TOLD US WE were ON TDY STATUS / TEMPORARY DUTY ASSIGNMENTS TILL OUR DEPARTURE/SAILING DATE, TO OKINAWA WAS RE-CONFIRMED.
HE ALSO INDICATED THAT IN AN HOUR OR SO WE WOULD RECEIVE BOTH TRAVEL PAY, TDY PAY, AND PAY ADVANCES, AND WE WOULD BE PROVIDED WITH TEMPORARY US/AAFFeC /JAPANESE ID CARDS AND COULD DO ANYTHING WE WANTED TILL THEN..I SAID ‘’ANYTHING’’ ...HE REPLIED WITH A SMILE... YOU ARE OFFICIALLY U.S. army ARMED FORCES TOURISTS IN THE FAR EAST TILL YOUR DEPARTURE DATE, BUT YOU ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT BACK HERE EVERY NIGHT PRIOR T0 TWENTY three HUNDRED HOURS. & 59 minutes (MIDNIGHT)
WELL WE STARTED TALKING and DECIDED TO TOUR TOKYO.. WE GOT ON A TRAIN AT OJI STATION... MOST SIGNS Were IN ENGLISH AND JAPANESE SO WE DID NOT HAVE TOURIST JITTERS WHEN touring A FOREIGN COUNTRY WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGE, A TOUR GUIDE OR DESTINATION.
DOWNTOWN TOKYO WAS AS BUSTLING & AS BUSY CITY AS I THINK I HAD EVER ENCOUNTERED ANYWHERE.
IT WAS THE POST WAR ELECTRONICS BOOM FOR RADIOS, TAPE RECORDERS, RECORD PLAYERS CAMERAS AND THE LIKE, AND EVERY OTHER SHOP SEEMED TO BE ENGAGED IN THAT TRADE..
THE SOUVENIR STORES ALSO FLOURISHED OF TYPICAL JAPANESE & ORIENTAL LACQUERED POTTERY, AND WOOD & IVORY CARVINGS gigots’ and gadgets & TOYS OF all descriptions and types..
THE STREETS Were FULL OF JAPANESE MUSIC AS THEY HAD STREET AMPLIFIERS/LOUD SPEAKERS ALL ALONG THE GINZA (THE MAIN STREET), BELTING OUT TRADITIONAL JAPANESE MUSIC AND SONG.
THE MILITARY HAD ‘’RESTRICTIONS’’ ON WHERE GI’s COULD EAT AND/OR WHAT BARS /TAVERNS they COULD GO INTO.THIS WAS DUE TO THE FACT OF HOW AND WHERE THE FOOD WAS GROWN, & FERTILIZED, THE REFRESHMENTS BOTTLED, SERVED, AND SANITARY CONDITIONS. AND OTHER ISSUES I WONT GO INTO..
THEY HAD IMPLEMENTed A LARGE OVAL SIGN WITH THE LETTER ‘A’ THAT MEANT AMERICAN FORCES PERSONNEL COULD EAT OR DRINK THERE WITHOUT THE SIDE EFFECTS OF INTESTINAL ISSUES and ulcerated colons ETC. ..
I ESPECIALLY LIKED JAPANESE BEER, ...KIRAN, ASSAHI AND NIPPON THE FAVORITES AND BETTER THAN MOST AMERICAN BEER..
WELL WE SPENT OUR ENTIRE two WEEKS SIGHT SEEING, LEARNING JAPANESE, GETTING OUR FILL OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AND BUYING SOUVENIRS, and mingling with the natives.. The honeymoon was then over
WE DEPARTED FOR YOKOHAMA ON THE SAME TRUCK AND DRIVER that met us AT OJI. WE Were DROPPED OFF IN A HARBOR AREA AT DUSK A SCENE THAT YOU ONLY SEE IN ‘’CHARLIE CHAN’ MOVIES.. dark foggy, DAMP, VERY SINISTER LOOKING…. LIKE SOMEONE IS GOING JUMP OUT OF THE SHADOWS TO KNOCK YOU OVER THE HEAD WITH AN IRON PIPE, BLIND-fold you, AND FORCE YOU ABOARD A SLAVE SHIP BOUND FOR SINGAPORE..
EVEN WORSE is WHAT WE SAW IN FRONT OF US AND HAD THE SPINE TINGLING FEELING THAT THIS WAS A BAD JOKE SOMEONE WAS PLAYING ON US.
THERE SHE WAS... THE ‘’GHOST SHIP’’ FS-218 ABOUT 170 FT IN LENGTH.. A DERELICT LEFT OVER FROM THE SPANISH INQUISITION, RUSTY, DIRTY with THE BARLEY LEGIBLE FADED MARKINGS INDICATING IT WAS IN FACT A ‘’U.S. ARMY SHIP’’.. OBVIOUSLY BEING HIDDEN FROM THE BRASS FOR RUNNING GUNS,...ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, opium and slaves TO CHINA..
ONE OF THE ‘’GUYS ‘’EVEN MADE A BAD JOKE THAT THE ONLY THING KEEPING IT ‘’AFLOAT’’ Were ALL THE LINES TIED TO THE CONCRETE DOCK…..AND WE WHERE GOING TO OKINAWA ON THIS TUB IN THE MIDDLE OF TYPHOON SEASON !! OMG.. !!!
WELL ONE OF THE GUYS WAS VOLUNTEERED TO WALK UP THE FLIMSY GANG-PLANK BECAUSE IT WAS DETERMINED HE WAS THE BEST SWIMMER...and still hung over from Tokyo..
when HE ‘’WALKED THE PLANK’’ SUCCESSFULLY,... IT APPEARED TO BE SAFE FOR THE REST OF US..
WE STOOD THERE on DECK FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES WITH NO ONE IN SIght….
FROM OUT OF NOWHERE A PHILIPPINE SEAMAN IN Dingy WORK CLOTHES APPEARED AND ASK WHAT WE WHERE DOING ON THE SHIP. WE REPLIED WE Were ASSIGNED TO THE ‘’VESSEL’’ (loosely speaking) AND WERE HEADED TO OKINAWA..
IN PIGEON ENGlish HE RESPONDED ‘’NO... NO!.. HAVA NO ENGINES! GEt BUILT BY NAVY OTHER SIDE O’ HARBOR.. NO MOVE THIS PLACE FOR THREE MORE WEEKS !!’’. DID WE HIT THE MOTHER LODE AGAIN !!! THREE MORE WEEKS ON TDY!!!
OUR MOST SENIOR GUY a sgt. RESPONDED asking WHERE THE CAPTAIN was. The CREWMAN INDICATED he WAS THE CHIEF ENGINEER ,,and THE CAPTAIN AND CREW Were ALL ‘’CONTRACT FILIPINO’S’’ WORKING FOR THE US. ARMY & THE 29TH..
HE said HIS CAPTAIN ‘’(BLIGH) ‘’ … we made that up !! …WAS CPT CALVARIAS and WAS BUSY ASHORE AND SO WERE THE rest of the CREW..
We decided at that point to contact the 29th and our contact ‘’oic’’ / lt. and advise him of the situation..
OUR SERGEANT contacted the OIC with the ships radio telephone after going thru all kinds of , military, navy and Japanese operators ..and finally got thru to him..
He explained our situation.. ..the OFFICER TOLD us that orders were orders and it would require tons and reams of paperwork to change them BASED ON A ‘’temporary SITUATION’’..He also indicated The good ships captain was reporting his daily schedule and progress to both the 29th and to our 30th co. commanding officer so we and the ship were not considered awol or missing in action... besides he had some much needed supplies on board that the 30th was in desperate need of..
So we decided to stay and also got the address in yokahama of an army payroll OFFICE, PX, AND MESS HALL AND COULD extend our tdy allowance. he would authorize it for three additional weeks .
We told {sanchez} the Filipino seaman we were staying and asked where we would ‘’bunk’’... We were broken up into groups & assigned to small FUNDAMENTAL SHIP cabins used by other army personnel being FERRIED around the far east.
Unfortunately, they didn’t serve any food ON BOARD as the refrigeration units were somehow tied in with the engines /GENERATORS etc... the food had all spoiled and they were in the process of being re-provisioned as the engines were REINSTALLED AND up and running .
Snachez was good enough to get US FRESH BEDDING, AND A RIDE FOR us to the seaman’s club in the YOKAHAMA port AREA FOR MOST evening MEALS.
There are SEAMAN’S CLUBS IN EVERY MAJOR PORT IN THE WORLD... we also found the one on Okinawa to be as good as the one in YOKOHAMA.MOST HAVE BEER FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD AND/OR AT LEAST 50 VARIETY’S.. THIS IS WHERE I FOUND THE BEST BEER IN THE WORLD FROM SINGAPORE CALLED ‘’LUCKY TIGER’’..
ALL THE MEATS & VEGETABLES SHIPPED TO CLUBS IN THE FAR EAST ARE BASICALLY PROVIDED FROM NEW ZEALAND AND Australia. THE FIRST NIGHT I HAD A THREE INCH THICK STEAK THAT YOU COULD CUT WITH a FORK.. for ABOUT FOUR dollars.
BREAKFAST AND LUNCH Were A LITTLE MORE DIFFICULT BUT WE EITHER WENT TO THE ARMY PX/MESS HALL close to port, OR FOUND A SMALL JAPANESE (‘’A’’) RESTAURANT NEARBY USED BY U.S. NAVY PERSONNEL. THey HAD GOOD COFFEE EGGS AND SWEET POTATO GRILLED BREAD AND SPAM ETC. SO WE MANAGED OK..
We found a friend in downtown YOKAHAMA, a Greek gentleman. He and his WIFE LIVED and survived the war in Japan and had a Greek restaurant that we accidently stumbled on. .. well they adopted the five of us.
They had many Japanese friends and got the royal treatment, So we lived the high life for three more weeks.
ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END.. THE ENGINES ARRIVED AND THE U.S. NAVY INSTALLED THEM.
WE WOKE EARLY one morning with THE SMELL OF DIESEL SMOKE AND FUMES PERMEATING thru our QUARTERS, & THROATY ENGINES RUMBLING the ship and shaking as if to pop all it’s rivets…. In protest LIKE ONLY old ships AND MARINE DIESELS DO..
AND A LOT OF CHATTER IN FILIPINO...as BY NOW the FULL COMPLEMENT OF CREW (6 IN ALL) AND THE CAPTAIN Suddenly APPEARING OUT OF NOWHERE .
FS-218
MOORED AT OKINAWA
I THINK THAT’S ME IN THE WHITE TEE SHIRT STANDING ABOUT MID SHIPS TO THE LEFT OF THE MAIN MAST..NOTICE OUR ‘’LINENS’’ HANGING FROM THE STARBOARD RAIL AND CARGO BOOM
DEPARTURE
THE CREW UNTIED THE lines.. THE CAPTAIN BLEW SEVERAL SHORT BLASTS OF THE SHIPS HORN, LIKE IN DEFIANCE OF MAN AND BEAST...AND MANAGED TO PULL AWAY FROM THE DOCK SCRAPING METAL AGAINST CONCRETE, HIS WAY REMOVING RUST FROM THE HULL…. AND LEFT WITHOUT ASSISTANCE FROM TUGS OR OTHER HARBOR VESSELS.
IT WAS GETTING LATE IN THE AFTERNOON, BUT JUST IN TIME TO CATCH THE LAST OPENING OF THE SUB NETS FOR THE EVENING..
SO WE Were BACK IN THE WATERS OF THE PACIFIC, MOVING ALONG AT ABOUT 12 KNOTS OR ABOUT 15 MPH. HEADING TOWARDS THE ‘’ROCK’’.
OKINAWA LAY ABOUT 900 NAUTICAL MILES AHEAD AND WE FIGURED ABOUT 3 TO 4 DAYS DEPENDING ON WEATHER, WIND AND SEA CONDITIONS. AFTER A DECENT MEAL A FEW OF US SAT ON THE FAN TAIL RELAXING at dusk, WITH A FEW BEERS WE SMUGGLED ABOARD..
THEN OUT OF NOWHERE WE SAW THE LARGE SILHOUETTES of several large ships AND heard the hum of engines AGAINST THE darkening HORIZON….OBVIOUSLY U.S. NAVY WAR SHIPS of the seventh fleet STEAMING BY AT ‘’FLANK SPEED’’..an absolutely incredible sight, and one I will never forget... it actually shook a few of us up.. because of our SMALL SIZE and slow speed…. if they had hit us,.. it would have made a sound like a paper cup being tossed into a trash can.. and no one would have known.
The next morning after chow, THE old sergeant showed us a trick he had learned about washing clothes ‘’navy style’’. He asked one of THE FILIPINO seaman for a long rope and told us to place the end of the rope thru the sleeves and pant legs of our fatigues..and other garments we wanted washed. some of the guys elected not TO FOR fear of loosing all their clothing... the sergeant and I did..
HE THEN let the rope out over the stern, about 100 ft aft And let it percolate and boil in our wake.. we then pulled it in about an hour later and hosed it off with fresh water from the ship.. talk about clean and aging !!
The morning of the third day the seas got pretty rough. The captain passed WORD THAT he wanted us to either stay in our cabins or in the mess GALLEY UNTIL things calmed down.Prior to that we had total unrestricted access to the ship and its cargo and engine room and every quarter of the ship except the pilot house which he declared ‘’off limits’’
Just before dusk on day four we anchored off what we thought to be Okinawa, and wondered if we had docked at the main port.I thought it strange that we saw hardly any lights considering what we where told about the LARGE MILITARY and civilian population of the island, but THEN WE decided WE MUST BE MOORED IN SOME sheltered cove used by the 30th for their other VESSELS LIKE the converted lcm’s and j boats in THEIR INVENTORY used for near shore survey operations & SUPPLIES.
Early the next morning most of us were ready to depart and had packed the night before, ready for immediate debarkation, to our NEW permanent duty station .THE CAPTAIN HAD ALREADY MOVED the ship TO A LARGE CONCRETE PIER AND THE BOATS THAT Were TIED THEre THE previous EVENING HAD BEEN MOVED TO OTHER LOCATIONS.
A COUPLE OF ARMY TRUCKS BACKED DOWN THE DOCK IN ANTICIPATION OF THE UNLOADING OPERATIONS..
OUR SERGEANT TOLD SANCHEZ WE were READY TOO OFF LOAD ASHORE AND to JUST GIVE US THE WORD....
SANCHEZ STARTED LAUGHING AND WAVED HIS ARMS IN THE AIR AND YELLED LOUDLY ….SHIMA! ..SHIMA!.. SHIMA!.. NOT OKINAWA!!
HAD WE BEEN SHANGHAIED OR EVEN WORSE.. HELD FOR RANSOM....
IT seems WE HAD DOCKED AT IE SHIMA...OF WW-2 FAME, LOCATED ABOUT 5 MILES FROM the Okinawa coast..
WE OFF LOADED A COUPLE OF GENERATORS, A WATER PURIFICATION SYSTEM, SOME AIR FORCE WEATHER BALLOONS, AND A COUPLE OF PALLET LOADS OF OTHER GEAR..
WE TALKED TO THE ARMY TRUCK DRIVER AND ASKED HIM WHAT DUTY WAS LIKE THERE ..HE GAVE US THE FINGER...WITH A SMILE ON HIS FACE... HE INDICATED THEY GET A LOT OF AMERICAN AND JAPANESE TOURISTS, AS THIS IS WHERE ERNIE PYLE A WAR CORRESPONDENT LOST HIS LIFE DURING THE BATTLE FOR OKINAWA, AND THERE IS A NICE MEMORIAL TO HIM ON THE ISLAND .
ALSO THIS IS WHERE Macarthur DRAFTED THE WORDING ON THE JAPANESE SURRENDER,
DURING THE WAR. THIS WAS ALSO A MAJOR JAPANESE AIR BASE AND MANY OF THE KAMIKAZE PLANES FLEW OFF FROM ONE OF THE THREE ACTIVE RUNWAYS DURING THE INITIAL STAGES AND INVASION OF OKINAWA.
The Japanese had since erected a sacred shrine to their fallen and their relatives visited for that purpose
THE ISLAND WAS PEANUT SHAPED AND FAIRLY SMALL.. HE INDICATED THAT A LOT OF SMALL FARMS GREW VEGETABLES, TOBACCO, RICE, tea AND PEANUTS !!!
IT HAD THREE JAPANESE AIRFIELDS AND ONE WAS BEING UTILIZED BY THE AIR FORCE & NAVY. THE OTHER TWO Were ABANDONED SINCE THE END OF THE WAR, AND NO LONGER ACTIVE IN 1955.
HE INDICATED ABOUT THIRTY OR FORTY U.S. PERSONNEL OCCUPIED THE ISLAND to run AN ARMY RADIO STATION, AN AIR FORCE RADAR INSTALLATION AND A NAVY WEATHER STATION..
HE said THEY ALL GOT TO ROTATE TO NAHA OKINAWA ON WEEKENDS AND A SKELTON CREW would come & fill in..
THANK GOD I THOUGHT.. CANT WAIT TILL GET UNDERWAY BEFORE SOMETHING ELSE HAPPENS OR WE GET ‘’RE-ASSIGNED’’ !!
THE PORT OF NAHA, was 20 MILES AWAY.. AN OLD DERELICT FROM WW-2 LAID IN A RUSTing HULK AT THE PORT ENTRANCE. I WOULD GUESS IT WAS A JAPANESE HEAVY CRUISER FROM THE SIZE OF IT’S RUSTING SUPERSTRUCTURE, IT APPEARED TO HAVE TRIED to ESCAPE BEFORE THE INVASION, BUT GOT BOMBED INTO SUBMISSION IN THE SHALLOW HARBOR DEPTHS.
I FOUND OUT LATER THE REASON IT HAD NOT BEEN DISMANTLED AND REMOVED WAS THE JAPANESE PEOPLE WANTED IT AS AN MEMORIAL SHRINE TO THE SAILORS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES ABOARD HER, AND THE WHOLE SITUATION GOT BURIED IN ‘’TRADITIONS’’ & MILITARY RED TAPE /POLITICAL UPHEAVAL. ETC.
NOTE : IN LOOKING AT SOME RECENT ON LINE VIDEOS OF NAHA OKINAWA I SEE THAT NOT ONLY WAS THE CRUISER DISMANTLED/ REMOVED BUT NAHA HARBOR WAS EXPANDED & WIDENED TO ABOUT FIVE TIMES LARGER THAN IT WAS WHEN I LEFT..
WITH THE SAME MILITARY PRECISION, AS WITH EVERY OTHER PORT WE LANDED IN , WE Were MET BY A TRUCK… THIS TIME FROM THE 30TH ENGINEERING COMPANY AND WEre WHISKED AWAY TO OUR NEW TROPICAL PARADISE AT OJANA CAMP, LOCATED ABOUT 20 MILES NORTH OF NAHA AND 10 MILES SOUTH OF KADENA AFB.
RYCOM 30th ENGINEERING CO.
OKINAWA TOPOGRAPHIC
COMMAND AFFE COMMAND/JAPAN
WE DEPARTED THE MAIN & ONLY PAVED ROAD ON OKINAWA BACK THEN, WHICH WENT FROM NAHA TO THE KANADA AFB.. AND THE VILLAGE OF KOZA.. I BELIEVE IT WAS EITHER DESIGNATED HIGHWAY #58 OR HIGHWAY #1. IT FOLLOWED THE SHORE LINE WITH THE EAST CHINA SEA TO OUR DESTINATION at ‘’camp paradise’’!!!!
YES.. LEFT OVER QUONSET HUTS FROM WW-2 AND THE INITIAL OCCUPATION IN 1945...
IT CONSISTED OF ABOUT TEN HUTS, IN TWO ROWS OF FIVE.. & INTENDED FOR THE ENLISTED MEN OF WHICH ONLY ABOUT TWO Were BEING UTILIZED , DUE TO THE FACT THAT MOST OF THE GUYS WHERE IN THE JUNGLE LIVING IN TENTS AND ABANDONED JAPANESE ARMY SHACKS, PERFORMING THE LAND SURVEY OF THE MAIN ISLAND, THEY ONLY SHOWED UP ON WEEKENDS..TO SHOWER & DRINK
ALL THE HUTS REQUIRED PAINT, AS THEIR MULTI -FADED AND PEELING COLORS OF CAMEO, GREEN & WHITE TO OLIVE DRAB.. STOOD OUT.... THIS WAS THE U.S. ARMY HOUSING AT IT’S FINEST..
ONE QUONSET HUT WAS DESIGNATED AS THE SHOWER & HEAD.. AND WAS LOCATED AT THE END OF THE DOUBLE ROW OF HUTS..
THE INSIDES OF THE HUTS Were VERY CLEAN and IN GOOD CONDITION AND EACH BUNK was SET UP WITH MOSQUITO NETTING AND A QUININE PILL DISPENSER FOR MALARIA.. ‘’JUST IN CASE’’..
BEYOND THE LAST HUT, WAS A LAGOON, WHERE AN OKINAWA SHIP WOULD DOCK EACH NIGHT, FOR SHIPPING SUPPLIES AND CONCRETE TO THE OTHER ISLANDS IN THE RYUKYUS CHAIN. THE LAGOON ALSO PROVIDED US A NICE SANDY BEACH IF WE WANTED TO TAKE A SWIM.
THE MESS HALL WAS A LITTLE MORE UP-DATED WITH A FLAT METAL ROOF AND SCREENED IN ON ALL THREE SIDES. LIKE AN ORIENTAL GARDEN RESTAURANT.. HOWEVER DURING FREQUENT MONSOONS OR TYPHOONS IT WAS IMPRACTICAL TO INDULGE IN YOUR DINNING EXPERIENCE UNLESS YOU Were SEATED AT THE INNER MOST TABLES WITH RAIN GEAR OR PONCHO’S.
DISCIPLINE AND REGULATION DRESS WAS NOT ENFORCED UNLESS SOME BRASS WAS VISITING THE FACILITY FROM OUR HQ. IN JAPAN AND THAT WAS NOT TO OFTEN AS WE WHERE WELL OFF THE HIDDEN PATH, AND NEVER ADVERTISED OUR PRESENCE..
SO THE UNIFORM OF THE DAY USUALLY CONSISTED OF A WHITE TEE- SHIRT, A PAIR OF HAWAIIAN SHORTS WITH PALM TREES OR COCONUTS IMPRINTED, AND ‘’GATA’S’’ JAPANESE TOE SANDALS’ ADORNing OUR FEET. Our HEAD GEAR WAS OF COURSE ‘’OPTIONAL’’ BUT ON OCCASIONS WAS A JAPANESE HEAD BAND WITH THE RISING SUN EMBLEM IN THE MIDDLE...( KAMIKAZE STYLE) .. .
UNLIKE MOST OTHER OUTFITS ON THE ISLAND.. THE 30TH. HAD A ‘’REAL’’ MISSION AND THAT WAS REMAPPING THE ISLAND. WE WERE NOT PRACTICING FIRING ARTILLERY ROUNDS INTO THE EAST CHINA SEA AT NON VISIBLE INVASION SHIPS FROM CHINA, OR OUR INFANTRY HIDING IN THE JUNGLE PRACTICING A CHINESE ATTACK, OR SIMULATING AIR RAID ATTACKS SO THE AA BATTALIONS COULD USE UP OLD AMmO, AND THE AIR FORCE PRETENDING TO BOMB THE ISLAND BACK INTO THE OCEAN WITH THE NAVY’S HELP,.. THESE EXERCISES WENT ON DAILY...
WE Were RE-MAPPING THE ISLANDS.. AND RE- POSITIONING VILLAGES AND ‘’WATER BUFFALO’’ PATHS, MAIN & SIDE ROADS AND OLD JAPANESE RUNWAYS, AND INSTALLATIONS ETC.
THIS INCLUDED ELEVATION MAPPING, SHORE LINES, MOUNTAINS AND EVEN CAVE LOCATIONS. OF WHICH THERE WHERE MANY.. AN INTERESTING POINT REGARDING THE CAVES... DURING THE WAR, THE JAPANESE WOULD HIDE VAST AMOUNTS OF MUNITIONS, ,WEAPONS AND SUPPLIES, INCLUDING THEIR NEWEST ‘’SECRET WEAPON’’ BAKA’S ( aka CHERRY BLOSSOM), A SOLID FUEL ROCKET PROPELLED PILOTED SUICIDE MISSILE WITH A TON AND A HALF OF HIGH EXPLOSIVE IN THEIR NOSE.. THEY WOULD BE ROLLED OUT OF THE CAVES AND LAUNCHED ON SHORT STRETCHES OF TRACK AS THEY HAD NO LANDING GEAR.
BAKA BOMBER
WHEN EVER WE CAME UPON ANY CAVE WE WOULD CALL IN SPECIALLY TRAINED DEMOLITION UNITS TO ACCOMPANY US. FORTUNATELY MOST OF THE TIME WE WOULD WANDER IN AND NOT DISTURB ANY ‘’RELICS WE CAME UPON BUT IN RETROSPECT WE WERE ACTUALLY PLaYING WITH ‘’SHORT FUSES’’
A LOT OF OKANAWANS, EVEN IN THE 1950’S WOULD LOOSE THEIR LIVES BY TRYING TO ‘’SALVAGE’’ CONTENTS OF THESE CAVES FOR ANY MATERIALISTIC VALUE TO BE SOLD AT THE BLACK-MARKET.
EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE A DISTANT EXPLOSION WOULD BE HEARD.. AND MOST OF US KNEW WHAT IT WAS AND WONDERED HOW MANY ‘’LOCAL’S’’ HAD LOST THEIR LIVES THAT DAY OR EVENING.. ..,
WE ALSO FOUND THE JAPANESE HAD VIOLATED OKINAWAN GRAVE SITES... THESE WERE LAVISH TOMBS BUILT INTO HILLSIDES, with ONLY THE MALE MEMBER OF THE FAMILY ALLOWED TO BE ENTOMBED
TYPICAL OKINAWAN BURIAL SITE
SO WHEN WE CAME ACROSS ONE WE WOULD OPEN IT TO MAKE SURE NO MUNITIONS HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY STORED, AND OR NOT DESECRATED BY THE JAPANESE AND THE REMAINS DISCARDED.. THEN WE WOULD SEAL IT WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF NATIVE WORKERS.
ONe time IN THE JUNGLE WE FOUND A SKULL IN THE HEAVY BRUSH AND ASSUMED IT WAS ONCE A JAPANESE SOLDER… AND IN TYPICAL GI -GRAB-ASS FASHION WE PLACED IT OF A TALL STICK, TIED A CROSS BRANCH ON IT TO REPLICATE A HUMAN SHOULDER, AND PLACED A FIELD JACKET OVER IT AND A HELMET LINER ON TOP.. WITH ONLY THE SKULL SHOWING.. ONE OF THE GUYS PLACED A LIT CIGARETTE IN THE JAW AREA AND WE ALL STOOD AROUND WITH OUR ARMS AROUND THIS ‘’THING’’ LIKE HE WAS A GOOD OLD DRINKING BUDDY... AND TOOK A PICTURE.. SOME PLACE IN THE WORLD THAT PICTURE PROBABLY STILL EXISTS..
When we arrived, THE ONLY ACCURATE TOPOGRAPHIC AND LAND SURVEY MAPPING AVAILABLE Were THOSE WRITTEN IN JAPANESE AND DATED 1932/1934 WITH ‘’ENGLISH SUB-TITLES’’ SCRIBBLED IN BY US AS WE WENT ALONG..
DURING THE WAR, MANY VILLAGES ‘’RELOCATED’’ BUT KEPT THE SAME VILLAGE NAME WHEN THEY MOVED, BASICALLY TO GET OUT OF THE WAY OF THE WAR...USUALLY A HALF MILE OR MORE FROM IT’S ORIGINALLY STATED JAPANESE MAPPING POSITION.
In addition, back in the early 30’s most roads were oxen paths, unimproved, mostly dirt and’/or crushed coral and not very well marked, OF WHICH THE JAPANESE ARMY HAD maintained, BUILT NEW or identified.
Japan looked on Okinawa as an ‘’unworthy praefectus, usually ignored except as a major military base during ww-2 with a populous of uneducated, lower class poor farmers, craftsman and fishermen.
The total population of the entire chain of 150 ryukyus islands was under 200,000 in 1954, today it’s well over 1,200,000 on the main island of Okinawa itself..
I was assigned to the motor pool, an oxymoron in itself as 95% of our vehicles where scattered about in the northern jungle areas as far as the roads & oxen paths would allow them to navigate. WE WOULD TOW THEM BACK FOR REPAIR.
As far as feeling LIKE WE were in the military went LIKE THIS... I would say it was as close to being on vacation as one could wish for,.... yes we followed orders and assignments, and due to our relaxed ‘’environment’’ we did it well, with efficiency and enthusiasm, without complaining, as most gi’s relish in, with the more ‘’CHICKEN SHIT’’.. STRICT MILITARY disciplined outfits have a tendency too.
We worked hard when called on to do so and played hard when the circumstances permitted.
We respected our officers and our non-coms, and in return they respected us.
Back then I was a cpl. and OUR nco’s made arrangements with the nco club a couple of miles up the road at ‘’mercy military hospital’’ to allow us in their nco club.
The hospital was still ‘’active’’ but was a ‘’carry over’’ from 1945 AS THE majority of the buildings where also Quonset huts. But at least theirs were ‘’presentable’’..
IN ADDITION TO THE SEAMAN’S CLUB, THE VILLAGE APPROVED ‘’BARS’’ AND THE NCO CLUB, WE DID VENTURE OUT TO THE ‘’LAND MARK’’ TOURIST ATTRACTIONs OF THE ISLAND..
‘’YES VIRGINIA..THERE IS A ‘’TEA HOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON’’
BEFORE THE SCREEN PLAY, BEFORE THE MOVIE, AND AROUND THE 14th CENTURY THIS BUILDING WAS KNOWN AS THE SHURI CASTLE..
SEVERAL STORIES OVERSHADOW THE ‘’TEA HOUSE’’ ITSELF. AS FAR AS BOTH IT’S ORIGIN AND HOW IT BECAME A ‘’TEA HOUSE/RESTAURANT IN THE EARLY 1950’S.
RECORDS PROVE IT WAS PART OF THE ORIGINAL RYUKYU KINGDOM AND PALACE OF THE ROYAL & RULING FAMILY OF THE RYUKYU ISLANDS, EXTENDING ALL THE WAY TO FORMOSA AND OF CHINESE HERITAGE. .
THE ORIGINAL STRUCTURE WAS SUPPOSEDLY BUILT IN THE 1400’s
THERE were A FEW STORIES CIRCULATED REGARDING THE STRUCTURES HISTORY, AND IT’S RELATIONSHIP AS THE ‘’AUGUST MOON TEA HOUSE.
MOST AGREE IT WAS BUILT IN THE 1400’S AND MOST AGREE THAT IN THE 17th CENTURY JAPAN VIA MILITARY INTERVENTION, TOOK OVER OKINAWA AND THE RULING FAMILY AND IT’S CHINESE INFLUENCE.
THE FIRST BELIEF IS THE JAPANESE LET NATURE TAKE IT’S TOLL ON THE MAIN PALACE BUILDINGS, HOWEVER DEDICATED LOCALS DID WHAT THEY COULd THRU THE YEARS TO KEEP IT STRUCTURALLY SOUND, DESPITE IT’S ‘’VACANT’’ STATUS.
IN 1933 THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT UNDER SIGNIFICANT PRESSURE DECLARED THE BUILDINGS A NATIONAL SHRINE., BUT DID LITTLE TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE OF CENTURIES OF NATURE AND NEGLECT.
DURING THE WAR THE ENTIRE PALACE AND SHRINE WERE DESTROYED BY OUR NAVEL BOMBARDMENT DURING THE INVASION IN 1945.
BASED ON LEGEND, LOCALS CLAIM THE ‘’TEA HOUSE’’ IS NOT PART OF THE OF THE CASTLE., BUT A ‘’RECONSTRUCTED BUILDING’’ FUNDAMENTALLY APPEARING LIKE THE MAIN CASTLE AND IN AN AREA NEAR WHERE THE ORIGINAL CASTLE LAY IN RUINS.
THE OTHER THEORY IS A GROUP OF WELL INTENTIONED BUSINESSMEN FROM JAPAN ASKED THE U.S. MILITARY GOVERNOR GENERAL OF THE ISLAND FOR PERMISSION TO REBUILD THE SHRINE AND CASTLE AND WERE GIVEN PERMISSION.
RESTAURANT OR SHRINE
THIS CHINESE ARCHITECTURAL STYLED BUILDING WAS LOCATED JUST NORTH OF NAHA IN THE VILLAGE OF ASATO ON THE BLUFFS OVERLOOKING THE EAST CHINA SEA.
IN BOTH CASES, THE STRUCTURES WERE BUILT/RE-BUILT UTILIZING ORIGINAL PRESERVED HISTORICAL DRAWINGS, DOCUMENTS, AND PLANS OF THE ORIGINAL CASTLE.
THE RESTAURANT AS I RECALL HAD A UNIQUE RESEMBLANCE TO THE CASTLE, [SEE PICTURE ] AND FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND WAS TORN DOWN IN THE EARLY 1960’S DUE TO OVERWHELMING PROTESTS BY THE LOCALS REGARDING THE DEFORMATION OF A HISTORICAL & RELIGIOUS SHRINE. Ie. THE REAL CASTLE...
WHAT WAS UNIQUE ABOUT THIS RESTAURANT WAS IT HAD TWO ENTRANCES, (FROM MY OWN EXPERIENCE,) THE ONE ON THE LEFT WAS FOR WESTERN STYLED FOOD, BEVERAGE AND DINNING AMENITIES, THE SAME BASIC FOOD AND ENTRIES AS YOU WOULD ORDER BACK IN THE STATES IN THE FINER RESTAURANTS.
THESE WERE SERVED BY WAITERS IN OVER stARCHED WHITE SHIRTS, VESTS, BLACK TIES AND BLACK SLACKS,
YOU WOULD USE KNIVES FORKS AND SPOONS AND SIT AT A LINEN TABLECLOTH COVERED TABLE IN COMFORTABLE CHAIRS AND LISTEN TO A JAPANESE BAND PLAYING GLENN MILLER AND TOMMY DORSEY STYLED MUSIC.
IF YOU VENTURED IN THE RIGHT HAND ENTRANCE, YOU FIRST REMOVd YOUR SHOES, AND WERE THEN PROVIDED WITH AN OKINAWA STYLED LAVISHLY EMBROIDERED KIMONO STYLED JACKET, DECORATED WITH JAPANESE SYMBOLS’ AND FLOWERS, FOR BOTH MEN & WOMEN.. THEN ADORNed with THE TRADITIONAL FOOTWEAR LIKE THE GETA OR ZORI (SIMILAR TO OUR SHOWER TOGS.. ) YOU WOULD BE SEATED ON THE FLOOR OF WOVEN RICE STEM MATS.
ENTERTAINMENT WAS PROVIDED BY GEISHA GIRLS DRESSED IT TYPICAL ANCIENT FORMAL JAPANESE ATTIRE, WHO WOULD SING CLASSICAL LOVE AND SPIRITUAL JAPANESE SONGS. THEY WOULD PLAY THE TRADITIONAL ‘’SASHIN ‘’ A THREE STING BANJO TYPE INSTRUMENT, COVERED IN HABU SNAKE SKIN.. They were ACCOMPANIED BY OTHERS PLAYING YAKO FUE’S ( FLUTES,) AND TAIKO , (A SMALL DRUM.) AND A THREE STRING KTYO, A VIOLIN TYPE INSTRUMENT.
YOU WOULD USE CHOP STICKS, AND EACH OF THE TWELVE COURSES WOULD BE WELL ORCHESTRATED, WITH A DOUBLE SHOT OF SAKI AFTER EACH COURSE.. THAT’S WHAT THE MATS WHERE USED FOR TO DRAG YOU OUT AFTER THE LAST ROUND.......( JUST KIDDING)
SUICIDE CLIFF
THIS IS WERE ABOUT 10,000 JAPANESE ARMY PERSONNEL AND ABOUT 600 CIVILIAN MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN JUMPED OFF MABUNI CLIFF AT THE SOUTHERN MOST POINT OF THE ISLAND NEAR NAHA AND JUMPED TO THE THICK JUNGLE SEA AND ROCKS BELOW, TO THEIR DEATH RATHER THAN BE TAKEN PRISONER BY THE U.S. TROOPS..
OBVIOUSLY TODAY IT IS A SACRED SHRINE, TOURS ARE GIVen.. AND THE SKELETAL REMAINS ARE STILL IN THE SAME POSITION AS THEY WERE FOUND.
WENT ONCE, AND SAW MANY HABU SNAKES THE EXTREMELY POISONOUS SNAKES OF OKINAWA LIVING AMONGST THE BONES. ,
TYPICAL HABU SNAKE
SUICIDE CLIFF MEMORIAL
As we entered into the MOST DIFFICULT PHASE of the mapping AT THE NORTH END OF THE ISLAND, THERE was one area extremely difficult to map because of dense heavy jungle terrain, cliffs, and lack of vehicle accessibility. This was an area NORTHEAST FROM the village of nago up to the final northern most tip of the island, CALLED CAPE HEDO.
Occasionally we had air force assistance with air dropped supplies, food and equipment to our guys…..THE MAJORITY of which ended in the high tree overgrowth and heavy foliage. Or was confiscated by the locals...
OUR SURVEY GUYS IN THE JUNGLE WOULD TRADE THE NATIVES ARmy C-RATIONS FOR FRESH EGGS, CHICKENS AND HOME MADE SAKI ..or beer AND AT ONE TIME THEY WOULD ‘’PASS OFF’’ MONOPOLY MONEY AS MPC (MILITARY PAYMENT CERTIFICATES).. as a result of THE ‘’LOCALS’’ GOING TO KOZA OR NAGO TO BUY MERCHANDISE WITH monopoly $$$, we WERE ORDERED TO STOP AND MAKE RESTITUTION BY THE LOCAL OKINAWAIN CONSTABULARY WORKING IN CONJUNCTION WITH OUR MP’S....
IS THAT YOU LIVINGSTON!!
ONE DAY LT. SIMMONS OUR BASE ADM. OFFICER AND ALL AROUND GREAT GUY,. CAME TO THE MOTOR POOL (AN OXYMORON/paradox). he ASKED ME TO ROUND UP A COUPLE OF GUYS, AS HE HAD A SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT FOR US...So....in my naivety ...never knowingly volunteer.. I asked a couple of good buddies to join me....
Lt. Simmons needed a ‘’crew’’ armed with a jeep, to find a way north all the way to cape hedo.. at THE NORTHERN POINT OF OKINAWA without assistance from a bulldozer or earth moving equipment by fellow engineers.
We decided what we needed, BESIDES A ‘’JEEP’’ WAS machetes, trail saws, an-prc-6 radio telephone, tents, habu snake bite KITS , a couple of 45 pistols, an m-2 carbine, in case we ran into wild boar or Japanese army hold outs left over from ww-2.. and still hiding in the caves OR the jungle...plenty OF DDT mosquito spray , , flairs, tents, mosquito netting, rations for at least four days..AND A couple of cases of Nippon beer and ice which we picked up at koza..with mpc’s ... on our our own initiative.
Cape Hedo was actually only about 20 miles north east of nago. As I recall. But at one mile an hour in dense jungle overgrowth , hacking our way, every inch I figured it would require about three to four days going and three days coming back..
As we departed, all our ‘’friends & buddies’’ lowered their heads in a solemn prayer.. trying to hold back the laughter !!! we got the message...and gave them the GI/‘’IQ symbol’’ .......
Not too far out of nago...where the roads ended, WE started experiencing the oxen CART PATHS.. NARROW, with lots of bamboo thicket and overgrowth. IN true military spirit we moved forward..
The jeep bumper did most of our ‘’dirty work’’ but we volunteered our lowest ranking member To jump out anD machete the foliage in front of us, and clear a REASONABLE OPENING..
At times, the three of us had to get out and hack our way... after all.. “”orders where orders’’...
The first night was very disturbing and uncomfortable. But with the help of several bottles of Nippon beer, a nice camp fire, and the ability to wrap ourselves in mosquito netting , and bombing ourselves with ddt, we managed.
The next morning we cooked ourselves a hardy breakfast, and ate some treats our good buddy the mess sergeant BESTRODE ON us and we managed very well..
We started off again and within an hour decided to stop And take a well deserved break... beside the bugs and humidity seemed to heaver than usual...so we stopped AND MADE some more ‘’GI’’ coffee.. Thank god.....
NOT TWENTY feet in front of our jeep was a cliff, which if we had gone over, was so deep, we would have starved to death before reaching the OCEAN BELOW ..
From that point on we became extremely ‘’paranoid’’ , careful and ‘’forward’’ thinking... ..
WE DID RUN ACROSS AN INTERESTING ANTEFIX ALL WRAPPED UP IN VINEs, OVERGROWTH AND BAMBOO.. AT FIRST WE ASSUMED IT WAS An AMERICAN FIGHTER THAT WAS SHOT DOWN DURING THE INVASION, LAYING ON IT’S SIDE, with a wing missing...
LOOKING MORE CLOSELY IT HAD THE resemblance of a much faded ‘’MEATBALL’’ INSIGNIA ON THE FUSELAGE THAT WAS HARDLY RECOGNIZABLE BUT IT WAS THERE IN FACT.. IT WAS A Kawasaki ki-61 ‘’TONY’’ FIGHTER A JAPANESE COPY OF OUR P-51,.. INCLUDING THE TELL-TAIL UNDERCARRIAGE AIR SCOOP.
EXAMPLE OF JAPANESE TONY FIGHTER
IT APPEARED THAT after the war, THE ‘’NATIVES’’ HAD FIELD STRIPPED THE AIRCRAFT OF ALL IT’S INSTRUMENTS, WIRING, RADIO, GUNS AMO, TIRES RIGHT WING, AND EVEN THE PILOT SEAT..
WE ‘’LOOKED HER OVER’’ AND DECIDED TO MOVE ON, as it represented the typical nesting place of habu snakes.......
We decided to go FURTHER WITH one of us walking in the lead, in front of the jeep, JUST to make SURE WE didn’t expose ourselves to that kind of situation again..
We had 1932 Japanese maps, and had determined that without the availability of bulldozers and jungle road building/clearing equipment we could go no further... We radioed Simmons of our situation..
He advised us to get as close to the shore as possible and one of our ‘’army’ ‘’lcm’s would try to pick us and the JEEP UP..
We responded that we would rather return via the method we just came thru..
He agreed..So we started the tract back to nago !! So much for my most adventurous mission on ‘’Okinawa.
LIFE BACK AT BASE CAMP
Life back at base camp was good.. not too eventful.. EXCEPT ...We had a guy who thought he sung like Elvis Presley..
ONE NIGHT DURING AN ‘’UNAUTHORIZED’’ COMPANY ‘’BEER-PARTY’’ CPL. SIMMONS/aka ELVIS.. (NO RELATION TO LT. SIMMONS)... PASSED OUT AND WE ‘’THE BRAVE’’ AND STILL ERECT DECIDED TO HAVE A ‘’VIKING’’ STYLE FUNERAL FOR HIS GUITAR AS CRUEL AS THAT SEEMED IN RETROSPECT....
WE STUFFED THE ACOUSTIC SOUND HOLE WITH DRIED SEA GRASS, SATURATED WITH LIGHTER FLUID, THEN WENT DOWN TO OUR LAGOON JUST BEHIND THE SHOWER BUILDING , PLACED IT IN THE WATER AND SET THE SEA GRASS ON FIRE... LUCKILY THE TIDE WAS ON IT’S WAY OUT AND CARRIED THE FLAMING GUITAR OUT inTO THE BLACKENED EAST CHINA SEA..
I CAN STILL HEAR THE SOUND OF EACH GUITAR STRING ‘’TWANGING’’’ AS IT BROKE AWAY FROM THE GUITAR fret and BODY... AND A ROUSING CHEER FROM EVERYONE UNTIL IT FINALLY SUNK AND/or disappeared OUT OF Sight.
THE NEXT DAY NO ONE COULD LOOK SIMMONS IN THE FACE WITHOUT THAT SHIMMER OF ‘’GUILT’’ ON THEIR FACE.., AND FINALLY EARLY THAT EVENING HE STARTED ASKING AROUND IF ANYONE HAD SEEN HIS GUITAR.. ‘ILL LEAVE THE REACTIONS UP YOU !! LOL..LOL...
TO MAKE RESTITUTIONS A FEW OF US WENT TO A PAWN SHOP IN THE VILLAGE, USUALLY FREQUENTED MY MANY GI’S A WEEK BEFORE PAYDAY , AND BOUGHT HIM A ‘’LOOK –A- LIKE GUITAR’’..NOTHING WAS EVER SAID ABOUT THE INCIDENT AGAIN...
THE TOPOGRAPHY AND MAPPING WAS ABOUT A month AWAY FROM COMPLETION, THE DATA COLLECTED, , ORDERS CAME DOWN FROM THE 29TH HQ. TO START PACKING AND PREPARING VEHICLES AND EQUIPMENT FOR SHIPMENT..DESTINATION UNKNOWN...
WE FELT MOST OF IT WAS GOING TO REINFORCE THE EFFORTS OF THE 29TH IN SOUTHEAST ASIA,..
A FEW OF US WITH MUCH NEEDED ‘’MOS’’ ( MILITARY OCCUPATION SPECIALISTS) ON OKINAWA WOULD REMAIN ON THE ISLAND AND BE TRANSFERRED TO OTHER UNITS..
MY ORDERS CAME DOWN TO JOIN UP WITH THE 75TH REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM..OLD ‘’Merrill’s MARAUDERS’’ OF WW-2 BURMA FAME .
EVEN THOUGH I ORIGINALLY ENLISTED TO JOIN A COMBAT OUTFIT , I HAD RESERVATIONS DUE TO THE ‘’GOOD LIFE’’ EXPERIENCED WITH THE 30TH. I was soft and totally spoiled AND TOTALLY lacking in military discipline ..
COULD I EVER MUSTER ENOUGH ATTITUDE TO BECOME A REAL GI AGAIN!!!
THAT ASSIGNMENT WAS SHORT LIVED HOWEVER AS THEY DE-COMMISSIONED THE 75TH AND SENT THE COLORS BACK TO THE STATES.. I WAS THEN TRANSFERRED TO A NEW ARMILLARY OUTFIT WHICH JUST LANDED ON OKINAWA SHROUDED IN SECRECY.. THE 663 RD FIELD ARTILLERY BATTALION WITH 280 MM ATOMIC CANNONS.. OH MY I THOUGHT.!! HERE WE GO AGAIN !!!
OKINAWA TODAY
I HAVE OFTEN TOLD MY WIFE IN RECENT YEARS THAT I HAD A STRONG URGE TO TAKE HER TO OKINAWA TO VISIT...AND EXPERIENCE WHAT TOTAL TRANQUILITY WAS ALL ABOUT AS EXPERIENCED BY THE NATIVES I HAD ENCOUNTERED OVER MY TWO PLUS YEARS ON THAT WONDERFUL ISLAND..
I STARTED BY GOGGLING OKINAWA AND LOOKING AT VIDEOS ON U-TUBE.. THIS WAS NOT THE PLACE I HAD ONCE CHERISHED..
THE GRASS HUTS AND SMALL QUANT VILLAGES AND DUSTY DIRT ROADS HAD all disappeared....
OKINAWA AND SEVERAL OF THE ISLANDS HAD BECOME A COMBINATION OF DISNEYWORLD, MIAMI beach, key west, ACAPULCO, LOS VEGAS, AND CANCUN ALL ROLLED INTO ONE.
HIGH RISE RESORTS AND HOTELS HAD CROPPED UP ON EVERY REMAINING GRAIN OF BEACH SAND ON THE blue GREEN EAST CHINA SEA.
IT IS THE ‘’PALISADES PARADISE’’ AND JEWEL OF THE ORIENT.
TOURISTS FROM JAPAN, CHINA, KOREA, taiwan,THE PHILIPPINES AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, HAWAII AND all over the far east and THE UNITED STATES CROWD IT’S BEACHES, RESORTS AND TOURIST ATTRACTIONS.
THERE ARE NOW TWO PAVED MAIN HIGHWAYS RUNNING FROM NAHA AT ONE EXTREME END OF THE ISLAND ALL THE WAY TO CAPE HEDO, at the other end....
Okinawa even has a high speed modern monorail system connecting the beaches and resorts from the main airport and sea port in naha..
I OFTEN laugh, AND WONDER If THEY HAD USED OUR ORIGINAL JUNGLE JEEP ADVENTURE TRAIL AS REFERENCE POINTS.
OKINAWA ALSO BOOSTS BEING THE CENTURION CAPITAL OF THE WORLD WHERE MORE PEOPLE PER CAPITA LIVE TO BE OVER A HUNDRED YEARS OLD THAN ANY PLACE ON EARTH.. THIS IS DUE TO THEIR SIMPLE DIET OF FRESH FISH, RICE, VEGETABLES AND FRUIT, and lifestyle.
SO IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE OF OKINAWA LOOK IT UP ON GOOGLE AND U -TUBE LOOK UNDER ryukyu RESORTS OR JUST OKINAWA...
