Continuing the story about my life in the Army, on July 8, 1957, I left New York on a cheap flight to San Francisco. Uneventful, except for all the stops along the way. From SFO I took a cab to the Army Terminal in nearby Oakland, where we were supposed to wait for a few weeks until the troop ship for Yokohama showed up.
Now, this installation was right at the foot of the Bay Bridge, and in those days there was a funny little train that crossed into downtown San Francisco, so we planned on spending every evening on the town. But after only one such frolic, a few of us were called aside and told to pack— immediately! That same day we were taken to San Francisco International and put on a flight to Tokyo. This was before jets, and the aircraft was a slow old Constellation. At least there was a fairly long layover in Honolulu, and a shorter one on Wake Island. At noon on July 18th we arrived at Tokyo's Haneda Airport.
An hour's ride brought us to Camp Oji and Headquarters, U.S. Army Security Agency Pacific, where we were put in the Processing Detachment for further assignment, which could be anywhere in the Far East. On the second day there, a few of us ventured down to the Ginza and its abundance of delights. I knew that I'd really like this town. But how to stay there and not wind up in the rice paddies of Korea?
On the third day the detachment commander, a captain, came into the barracks asking for me. Confirming that I knew how to type, he asked if I would volunteer to help the detachment clerk with some paperwork. Sensing opportunity, I said "Yes Sir!" Later, the clerk told me about a little problem they were having — it seems that through some ten years of accumulated bookeeping errors, they had lost track of over a hundred soldiers. I suggested a way to solve this, but was told that they didn't have the clerical help necessary. So I volunteered. Right then, my assignment came through, and it was for the dreaded Korea, but the commander offered to have it changed so I could stay in Tokyo — if I promised to apply myself diligently to fixing the problem. This took until the middle of January, with time out for some interesting experiences. That's me above, soon after arriving in Japan.
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Hopefully this brings back many memories for everyone else as it does for me of my 3 years at Camp Drake . Hope to hear from someone who remembers me .. Mike ........
Posted by: mike thorpe | November 10, 2010 at 07:54 AM
looking for those stationed at ASACUJ , Camp Drake Japan , January 64 to February 1967
Posted by: mike thorpe | January 02, 2011 at 08:45 AM