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My initiation to the "tropical paradise" of Hawaii was to go into Honolulu. The Honolulu of 1960 was so different from that of today it's as if I'm talking of a place on another planet and not just a different time. The Royal Hawaiian was still one of the biggest hotels on Waikiki Beach and you could actually see the beach in front of the street! One of the guys knew someone at the Royal Hawaiian so we got in to see Martin Denny rehearsing. On the Navy pay of the day we sure couldn't afford the price of a ticket to the performance. Four of us rented a car (a convertible, of course) and drove all over Oahu. We didn't get back until late in the afternoon and had a really good day. I still enjoy the pictures I took both for the memory of the place as well as the good company of shipmates.
The last stop before heading for WESTPAC was Midway. I chased the "Gooney Birds" to get pictures of their takeoffs and landings when a Seabee yelled at me to say the birds were protected from that kind of harassment. I looked at the Seabee, he looked at me and we both broke out laughing. Damn odd place for two boys from Fort Peck, Montana to meet!
As I've already said, one of the reasons I joined "Uncle Sam's Canoe Club" was to get to the Orient. I can't really explain my fascination with the idea but it became part of a bet I had with a Nesei friend. He joined the Air Force the same time I went into the Navy. We both wanted to get to Japan and figured our respective choice of service was the best route. The bet was based on who reached or came closest to Japan. I'm sure Harry had calculated his chances at serving in Okinawa were excellent. Anyway, when we arrived in Yokosuka, Japan - our WESTPAC home port - I wrote to him at Tule AFB, Greenland. The nearest Harry ever got to the Land of the Rising Sun was Lackland AFB, Texas.
Yokosuka was a great place as far as I was concerned. We got there early enough in the year to see the snow on Fuji as we came up Tokyo Bay and after the winter rains had eased. I damn near got killed right at the main gate when I stepped off the curb to cross the street after looking to the left at traffic. WRONG! The fact the Japanese adopted the British custom of driving in the left hand lane was nearly pounded into my body by a Kamikaze taxi driver.
There was an EM club on the base that served good meals and I was tired of mess decks food by the time we arrived. A couple of us decided to order a filet mignon dinner with all the fixin's. Neither of us had a working knowledge of Japanese but evidently mine was better than Burt's. As the waitress was taking our orders she kept acknowledging Burt's selections with the Japanese word "Hie" which simply means "yes." Burt would ask something like,"Can I have tomato soup?" and she would answer, "Hie." Burt would cast a puzzled look at her, frown, and answer, "Hello," then go to his next selection with the same result. At first I was embarrassed but then realized she was really getting a lot of amusement out of the situation.
Later in the cruise I pulled my first Shore Patrol duty in a section of Yokosuka known as Shiori One. The old-timers looked at the sky and warned me not to wear my best whites. I didn't know what they meant until the rains came and overflowed the benjo - open sewer - ditches. I just threw those trousers and shoes away.
Operations with the rest of the 7th Fleet began in earnest immediately. It became obvious our ability to keep up with the carriers was going to mean a lot of steaming. For a while it seemed the only name the carrier commanders knew was Preble. I have to admit, although I loved the way they looked, the 2100 and 2200-ton destroyers still in the fleet were getting pretty tired. There were a few of the 14 Sumner class cans available but the older ships were still prevalent. Our new ship with it's big steam plant was a carrier skipper's ideal for an escort. They finally had a ship in company that could sustain the daily grind plus have enough speed left over to cover air ops.
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This page was last updated on 01/03/05.