MY MILITARY ADVENTURES:
Army life in the late 1950s was different from what it is today. Despite there being no immediate threat of a war there was still a draft, so the armed forces were much larger than they needed to be. That left a lot of time to play. I did plenty of that during my 2½ years in the Army Security Agency, stationed in Tokyo, but we also did our little part in fighting the Cold War. CLICK ON THE TITLES BELOW to check out those good times.
ABOUT THE ASA. An introduction to a one-time secretive branch of the U.S. Army.
AN ASA STORY. Check out T.H.E. Hill's humorous novel about truly secretive ASA activities in Berlin at the height of the Cold War.
Part I: My Draft Notice. In the fall of 1956 my "greetings" arrived. This was a time of peace. Ike was president, the Korean War was over, and Khrushchev was visiting Disneyland. But a lot was going on below the surface.
Part II: Off to Japan. I got sent to Tokyo, and found a great position there with the Pacific Headquarters of the Army Security Agency.
Part III: Seeing Japan for the First Time. Those first little adventures in an exotic land.
Part IV: The Little Studebaker That Couldn't. An adventure where nearly everything went horribly wrong.
Part V: Life at Camp Oji, Tokyo. Our headquarters moves to Hawaii, but I get a better job offer right here in Tokyo.
Part VI: The Big Move. We begin a new life at North Camp Drake, on the outskirts of Tokyo. After a rough start, conditions become much more comfortable.
Part VII: Tokyo's Ginza and the Two Germanias. My roommate and I make new friends at downtown hangouts.
Part VIII: Odd Jobs in the Army. The offbeat tasks I did to earn my meager pay.
Part IX: The Conquest of Mount Fuji. Three of us climb Japan's sacred mountain and live to tell about it.
Part X. Visiting Nikko. We climb to the sacred shrines and then take in the natural splendor of Lake Chuzenji.
Part XI: Visiting Japan's Southern Islands. We travel by train and boat to Kyushu and Shikoku, staying at Nagasaki, Beppu, and Takamatsu.
Part XII: Trips to Hakone. We travel several times by train, bus, boat, and cable car through Hakone National Park.
Part XIII: Basic Training. The very beginnings of my army experience.
Part XIV: What We Wore. Fashions in army uniforms.
Part XV: Funny Money. The strange currency we used.
Blogging Has its Rewards. One of the above posts leads to long-lost friends and colleagues from 50 years ago.
"Oji Campu". A camp layout diagram, photos, memories of HQ. ASAPAC, Tokyo, Japan in 1957-58.
"Oji Campu". Copies of the ASA Star post newspaper from the 1950s.
"Oji Campu" New photos sent in.
"Oji Campu" Page 7. A fantastic panoramic view of today's Oji.
The Beers of Oji. What we drank at Oji Campu.
North Camp Drake. Memories of JCRC-J, later known as USASACU-J, on the outskirts of Tokyo, Japan, in 1958-59.
Getting in Touch...With Old Buddies. How this blog, and others, can help reunite old friends from all those years ago.
Acronyms & Abbreviations. Those mysterious shortcuts that only a bureaucrat could love. How to read your orders.
Bletchley Park, England. The place where the Nazi ENIGMA codes were cracked is now a museum of communications interception, decryption, translation, and analysis in World War II — much the same work that was later done by the ASA.
RGHT NOW, I am putting together stories from other ASA vets who served during the 50s in the Tokyo area. If you were there and have something to add, please contact me.
Interested in photography? Check out my "Assisting Avedon" blog.
SO, just what Little Adventure am I up to now in 2013? Why, just the most challenging one of them all! CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT.
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