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okinawa scrap book

Mail Bag
Page Ten


I'm going to reorganize this particular page. Three great conversations and the chronology is goofy. Please muddle through these fascinating comments and be patient while I devise a scheme to make this read more fluidly. Thanks, Mick
ONGOING CONVERSATIONS

  • Shizuo "Alex" Kishaba - Ryukyu America Research Society [Go there]

  • Harry Hollis - Okinawa SeaBees. [Go there]

  • Jack "Shorty" Knight - recollections of the Signal Corps in the 1950s. [Go there]

  • Joe Pizzimenti - mysterious Black Box that his father brought back from Okinawa or perhaps Korea.[Go there]


    From: Drpjcarr@aol.com
    Sent: Sep 23, 2007 10:57 PM
    To: mickmc@mcn.net
    Subject: okinawa pics
    I love your site - I was in Okinawa in 82-84 and I just loved it. I took so many pics but I wish I could have taken more. Your pics make me want to put up a site too. AND I USED TO GO TO AZUMA RESTAURANT!!
    I lived on Torri station in USACC that changed to USAISC while I was there.
    I am going to get out all my pics and reminisce.
    Just wanted to give you kudos!
    Penny

    From: S. A. Mick McClary [mailto:mickmc@mcn.net]
    Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 6:31 AM
    To: mickmc@bresnan.net
    Subject: Fw: okinawa pics
    Hi, Penny!
    Thanks a load for visiting ClickOkinawa.com and for sending this message along.
    Yeah, the Azuma was one of our favorite places near our home in Aza-oki. You probably know that area since you lived on Torii. I especially enjoyed their "Napleotan" spaghetti. I think they were trying to spell Neopolitan - who knows?
    The soba restaurant (I don't think we ever found out the real name of the place) in Nago was excellent but the Azuma sure put out a good bowl of Yasai Soba! I've tried at least a dozen times to make soup that tastes like theirs but have failed miserably every time. I'm just convinced by now that we simply can't get the stuff in the States - or, at least with certainty, in Montana - that they use.
    You lament that you didn't take enough photos... I, too, regret that I spent so much time videotaping stuff and not getting plain ol' photos.
    If you have a bunch of photos that you would like to have posted on the Internet, and if you'd like them to appear at ClickOkinawa.com I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't take much nudging at all to get me to create a Gallery for you too. So far, I've got a Gallery going for a bunch of former GIs who were on island in the 1950s and another for a friend who is presently on island. If you haven't seen them yet, please visit the Hyatt-Amari Gallery and the Estep Gallery. Nice stuff they send. I particularly enjoy seeing some of the guys - 5 or 6 of them now - reuniting and banding together to exchange comments and captions for the photos.
    So, Penny, what did you do at Torii? What a quiet little station that was. I really enjoyed going to the beach there because it was so peaceful most of the time. Our organization, OASIS - an adoption support group that we started on Okinawa back in the 80s - used to set up a booth at Torii Fest and would we have a great time? Between playing music (I was in a band called Heartland USA) and selling hot dogs on a stick we just loved Torii!
    I hope you'll visit again and hope to hear from you again too!
    Kindest regards,
    Mick

    Oh, by the way, please make note of my email address change. mickmc@mcn.net will be dead October 1st.
    Please use mickmc@bresnan.net
    Some day I'll get ALL of my webpages corrected.


    From: bill cogdill
    Sent: Sep 23, 2007 11:45 AM
    To: mickmc@mcn.net
    I was in Naha from 1968-1969. It was the greatest time in the service that i had. I had a lot of good friends. VC-5 was undoubtedly the best squadron that I could have been assigned to. It seems like a good percentage of the guys I was stationed with were one way or another connected to Oregon. Thats where I am from. Anyway it was a lot of fun and don't regret it bit. If anyone was there when I was ,I would appreciate corresponding with them. My email address is bill2349@clearwire.net.
    So long for now.
    Thanks Again,
    Bill Cogdill VC-5
    1968-1969
    Tuesday, Sep 18, 2007 10:36a.m.
    From: Joe Thoden
    joethoden@yahoo.com
    Love the site, it brings back many memories!
    We were stationed at Naha from June 69 to May 71. My dad was a navigator with the C-130's; I think it was with the 41st TAS. Spent the first year living in Machinato Heights I can remember watching Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon. We had a small B & W TV with about 15-20 people over to watch. I remember the A & W on Highway 1.
    The second year we finally made it into base housing where we were able to get a telephone, it was a party line. While we were Air Force we lived in the Navy housing portion of the base. As you came in the main gate there was a park on the right and our house (shared with 3 other families) was straight down the road. I remember taking pictures of the main gate from the front yard. I went to school at Port Wheel in quonset huts during 7th grade and the brand new Naha Middle School for 8th grade. This was just at the time Naha was closing and the island was being given back to the Japanese.
    There was a riot outside of the back gate at Kadena, sometime during the middle of the night it started, cars were overturned and set on fire. Most of this was blamed on individuals brought in from Japan to stir up trouble. We had a wonderful time with most of the local people. We had a maid at Naha who helped my mother with the house work, she & her husband would come over for an "American" dinner every once in a while and my parents would go to their house for a traditional "Japanese" dinner.
    Someone mentioned Google Earth earlier, I was able to find the area where we lived on base but the housing is gone. I have not been able to locate the house in Machinato Heights but I remember it being at the end of a road where an eel farm was built in 1970. Just behind the house was a large ravine with a creek that ran into Machinato Inlet or Bay. There was a cliff on the other side of the ravine & I think a Coke-a-Cola plant on top of it. Being 11 - 13 years old I enjoyed exploring a lot of the remains of buildings & caves from WW2. Even then, 25 years after the war, explosives from it were still being found on what seemed like a daily basis.
    I hope to return to Okinawa some time in the future as I loved growing up there & have many fond memories. Thanks for posting all that you have.
    Joe

    Good morning, Joe!
    Thank you for visiting ClickOkinawa.com and for sending your message along. I can imagine that it must have been indeed quite an adventure for you being so young and exploring the caves. Good thing you didn't blow yourself up!!
    I lived at the Machinato housing area but it was Army housing by the time I got in there - 1974. I lived in Awase while waiting to get into base housing. As that time in our lives we'd have taken base housing anywhere we could get in. As it turned out we got Machinato. 141 Buchanon was our address. I don't think the house is still standing any longer. Most of the housing area was torn down after the land was returned to its rightful owners.
    I did work at the Naha Clinic for the last several months that I was on island, 1974-75. By then though there were very, very few Air Force personnel still at Naha. The Navy still had a sizable presence there by the time I left in '75.
    I have often hoped to hear from someone who was stationed there in that time so that I could have a greater appreciation for the base. Most of that tour was spent working at Kadena as was my second tour in 1986-90.
    You were lucky to have a little B&W TV set! I remember 2 and 1/2 long years with no TV at all. No telephone until we got into Machinato was no fun either. It reminded me of three years we lived in France when I was a kid. Three years of nothing but radio and the old Telefunken stereo set that my folks had bought. My Gosh, how proud they were of that old Telefunken!
    So what do you do now, Joe? Where do you live? I'm in Montana. If you'd like to get listed in my "Friends of Okinawa" feature, just let me know.
    It's great to hear from you Joe. If you have any photos or other stories from your days on Okinawa that you'd like to share, just pass them along and I'll get 'em posted for you!
    Kindest regards,
    Mick


    Friday, August 3, 2007 11:22a.m.
    okinawa_al@verizon.net
    Browsing for Info on Okinawa
    Hi
    Great collection [re: my Okinawa Library] for sure. I guess you spent quite sometime there. In my brief visits, that numbered 3 or 4 of them, they were but for a month at a time and with the military for 3 of them, the last to visit my Sensei...
    I've tried to get a copy of the book you have listed (The Okinawan Mind in Proverbs) from my State library and they don't have it. I went to Barns & Noble Book Site to see if it was available for purchase and no luck there either..... Do you have a copy? Or is that also a book that you are looking for?
    Looking forward to hearing from you.
    Thanks
    Al

    Saturday, August 4, 2007
    Hello, Al!
    Thank you for visiting ClickOkinawa.com and for your inquiry. I do have a copy of the book you referenced but it is the only copy that I have. You might try looking at the eBay and Amazon auctions.
    Thanks again, Al, for your visit!
    Kind regards,
    Mick


    Sunday, July 29, 2007 1:57 AM
    bravescatfish@yahoo.com
    Phillip Herron
    I am a computer idiot. I just want to make contact with any old buddies I came to know when I was stationed at Kadena from '86 to '88. I was a Security Specialist . I would love to see posted pics from that era or just swap a few stories from those days. My mid life crisis isn't going too well and I need to reflect. A1C Phillip Herron ( back in the 80'S) Thanks

    Hi, Phillip!
    Thanks for checking out ClickOkinawa.com.
    I've posted your inquiry and hope that someone reads and recognizes your name. Then, of course, I hope that you get in touch with each other.
    We over-lapped a couple of years at Kadena; 1986-88. My second tour was 1986-1990. Many of my Tour Okinawa DVDs are from the 1987-1990 era too! You might be interested in taking a look at them. [Check 'em out here] (.pdf - 411K)
    Mata!
    Mick


    Monday, July 16, 2007 11:07 PM
    Ronald Hyatt
    Mick
    Just a short note to let you know a few of us old-timers are still around. This information was sent to me by my friend Joe Menno who served with me in Kadena at the 9th AVRS in 1951-1953. Took a look at some of the photos. The only part I recognize is Nakagusuku Castle. Still have some of the older photos I took back then. Also I have a Engineers map of the Island dated 1950.
    Just thought you might be interested.
    Ron Hyatt

    Saturday, August 4,2007
    Hello, Ron!
    Please forgive me for taking so danged long to get back to you. This weekend I am finally taking time to get caught up on my mail.
    I really envy your experience of being on OKinawa in the early 50s. So soon after the war it must have been sad to see the Okinawans still recovering from the devastation. To have been part of the American "team" must have been a very rewarding time for you as every little bit of help they received must have been so dearly appreciated!
    I salute your service, Ron, to the Ryukyus and to our country!
    My first tour on Okinawa was 1972-75 and I arrived a few months AFTER Reversion. What a treat it would have been to live among those fine people prior to Japanese take-over.
    You mention having photos from those earlier days. Man! I'dlove to see some of those. If you are ever inclined to see some of your favorites posted at ClickOkinawa.com just e-mail them to me and I'll put them up - with full credit to you, of course. And maybe add a little story about your experience. I'll be delighted to feature you!!
    Once again, Ron, please forgive me this unwarranted delay in replying to you!
    Kindest regards,
    Mick


    Sunday, July 15, 2007 8:29 AM
    Ron Harkins
    Hey Mick,
    What was the address of your house in Awase? My wife and I bought a house, NK-4 Awase and lived there from 1968 to 1971. It was very comfortable living as the house was built from plans of a house in Florida except made to be Typhoon Proof.
    I want to go back to Oki and revisit the old haunts we had but am having trouble getting the wife to go because the plane trip is sooooooo long.
    Regards,
    Ron

    Sunday, July 15, 2007 8:59 AM
    The house in Awase, dating back to 1973, is still a sharp memory - except, that is, for the number. I don't even know that I have a way of finding that out; we have no documents from that period.
    If you're familiar with the area of Awase in which we lived, you might remember a little road that you'd turn to the right off HW 13 (now HW 329) and at the top of which was a tiny park. The last building on the right at the top of the hill was a little church.
    Our house, turning off HW 13 was the second one on the left. As for a house number... Ron, I just couldn't tell ya if my life depended on it.
    As for the long plane ride, what can a guy do? The promise of Nervana at the end of the flight just won't do the trick, eh? I want to go back too and don't see that happening though until I am retired from my second career. With the Lord's grace, I am looking for that to happen in 4 more years. *sigh*
    Thanks, Ron, for staying in touch. Bring me up to date, will you, if/when you finally do get back to your old haunts?
    Mata ato de!
    Mick


    Sunday, June 03, 2007 9:05 PM
    Phillip Herron
    I was stationed at Kadena from 1986 'til 1988. I am ashamed at how most U.S servicemen and women treated the fine people of Okinawa. Myself included, I might add. We were never taught how to respect the land and the people that played host to our mighty military. I never did that much damage while I was there. My buddies would often try to get me to raise more hell off base , but I kept most of my antics on base . We never did more than drink too much, but I saw the actions of some other branch
    Thursday, May 31, 2007 11:02 PM
    LilBlondeRunner@aol.com
    I love your Mick's Big Sky Okinawa site. Wonderful, wonderful site. It is my favorite of all the Okinawa sites. I can tell your heart really belongs there. I'm am Army Brat, and we were stationed there from 1968 until the end of 1970. We moved there towards the end of my 6th grade year, and I did all of 7th and 8th grade, and the first half of 9th grade on Okinawa. I attended Sukiran elementary for the last part of 6th grade, and Pacific Middle School and K-9 for 7, 8, 9th grade. We lived at 2303 Kishaba Terrace. My dad was a Colonel and worked for Gen. Lampert. That was my absolute FAVORITE place of anywhere we were stationed. I've always felt I left a piece of my heart there. In a way, I sort of did (but got it back) because I first met my one-day-to-be-my-husband there when he and his family were stationed there and he and I went to Pacific Middle together and our parents were friends. We found each other again years (and a couple of divorces) way later on okinawabrats.com. Now we're married! I've missed Okinawa since the day we left it. My husband is retired from the Navy and during his career he had the opportunity to go back to Okinawa on several occasions. Keep up the good work on Mick's Big Sky!!
    Greta Riordan
    Wednesday, May 09, 2007 11:15 AM
    wgreene21
    Hi Mick,
    Although I didn't grow up as a BRAT, I am interested in seeing the film. Thank you very much for the information.
    By the way, I'm the ex-Navy guy who lived in Koza (Goya) at Nakasone Apartment from late '71 'til June of '73. As I seem to recall from your bio, you lived there briefly while I was there. Anyhow, I don't know if I sent you this photo previously, but here's the only picture (scanned from a 35mm slide) I have of the apartment building. (My apartment -- C-3 -- is at top left.)
    Thanks again,
    Bill

    Saturday, August 04, 2007 7:15 PM
    Hello, Bill!
    I'm doing a little house-keeping in my e-mailbox and have discovered that I never replied to your message back in May. I am very sorry about that. Thank you so much for sending me that photo of the Nakasone Apartments!
    I lived directly under yours, the far-left on the second floor.
    Did I ever tell you about the night that a couple of Okinawan boys stole my car? The fella that lived next door to me came pounding on my door one evening, shouting that my car was being pushed away from the parking lot. Lord only knows why they wanted it - it was nothing to brag about!
    Anyway, we ran down and caught one of them. As you recall, the police box was just across the street and they were promptly on the scene as soon as we ran across to get them. They came over and pushed the poor Okinawan kid into the stairwell and began kicking him and screaming something. Then they dragged him over to the police station and before they were done with him he had confessed to stealing other cars and some purses.
    Don't know if they ever got the other guy but my guess is that they beat the name out of the kid they had. I never before nor since have felt sorry for turning in someone who had perpetrated a crime against me, a friend or a family member. Fortunately they've been the rarest of occasions. I'm all for getting the bad guy but we couldn't believe how badly they beat this kid!!
    Anyway... I have wandered WAY off the path. Thank you again, Bill, for sharing your photo. My wife and I got a heck of a kick out of seeing the old place again. By the way, I am told that that apratment house is no longer there!
    It was nice to see your name again in my in-box, Bill - even if I did come come across you 3 months too late.
    My best to you and your family!
    Kindest regards,
    Mick

    Friday, August 03, 2007 9:31 PM
    Hi Mick,
    Thanks for your reply. It's always good to hear from you even if it's three months later.
    I figured you'd enjoy the photo of Nakasone Apaato Birudingu. I have many fond memories of that place! A satellite photo I viewed recently seemed to show that the building was still there, although I could be wrong. Besides, I have no idea how long ago the photo was taken. I do remember Yoshino Laundry just across from our parking lot, Goya Hall, and the baseball batting cages a block or two away. And nearly every afternoon I would hear piano music emanating from the building behind us, which may have been Goya Hall.
    By the way, that's a very interesting story, one which I recall having read in your "Oki Stories" several years ago. Yes, those Japanese police really were/are something else!
    Thanks again, Mick!
    Warmest regards,
    Bill

    Hmmmm.... where are you located??
    You replied to my message, dated Saturday, August 4th and your reply to that one is dated Friday, August 3rd! Your reply was so FAST that it got to me a day before I even asked! Ha!
    I don't remember who told me that those apartments were gone so will simply assume it was erroneous. As I recall they were pretty darned new in '72. I know that that was a few years ago but Lord knows there are buildings still standing that were around long before that!
    Anyway, you and I both share fond memories of the place and, thanks very much to you, we both now have a photo.
    I remember our place - a one bedroom: there was barely enough room for the bed and a small chest of drawers. And that "living room!" Maybe 7-8 feet from one wall to the other and that tiny little plastic/maybe naugahide chair and sofa! Ahah! I do remember now that I did include a little bit about that apartment in my story about having just arrived and getting the place set up and ready to pass inspection so that I could get my wife's command-sponsored travel orders. Yeah.... *sigh* some of the "good ol' days." Were they reallyall that "good?" Such fond memoriescome first to mind but then when I really think about it.... those were our poorest days too. Holy smoke, we'd be lucky to have $5 left over before the next pay-day. Talk about living paycheck to paycheck... those were indeed those days. Yet I still have warm memories of softball games, barbecues on the roof, exploring all the things that could be explored for free.... and occasionally PAYING to get in to places like Crocodile Park or the Koza Zoo.
    Yes, sir, those were some sweet, fine days.
    Thanks for prompting me to go back again!
    *hearty handshake*
    Mick

    Saturday, August 04, 2007 7:59 AM
    (really Sunday, August 5)
    Hi Mick,
    Oops! Thanks for making me realize that my clock is one day off. I'll fix that as soon as I finish this message. (Actually, I should be only two hours ahead of you.)
    You're right. I had forgotten just how small that apartment was until I read your description. Now that you mention it I can remember the tiny furniture. Somewhere I have a few photos of the interior which I haven't seen in quite some time. I'll have to dig 'em up one of these days and further relive some of these good ol' memories!
    Thanks one more time, Mick. I've truly enjoyed visiting your website. Keep up the good work!
    Sincerely,
    Bill


    Sunday, April 29, 2007 5:36 PM
    Kathy Sankey
    Wow, thanks so much for your website. I am currently writing a book which is turning out to be a historical fiction so I need much information. My grandmother's name was Mahataa, strangely enough, a sanskrit name, though she was born on Okinawa. I myself was born on Okinawa, a "sansei" , sort of, as my father was born on Maui of immigrant Okinawan parents and my mother was born in the northern part of Okinawa. I have been intrigued about my grandmother's name, how she got it, etc. I would love some help! I have read Kerr's book: Okinawa, History of an island People. I have another on the priestesses.
    I am a licensed acupuncturist in the state of California and practice zen meditation with a zen master in Okayama, Japan. I travel to japan a couple times a year and my teacher comes here a couple times a year as well. I have been training for a dozen years now. I also have 20 years of Tai Chi training where i taught for a 12 years or so.
    I think I need some help getting some funding to write my book because I have to travel and interview people. There's a noro priestess on Kudaka Island that I have to interview!
    Here's the beginning lines of my book where I have chosen to speak through the voice of my maternal grandmother. I hope that she will teach many things including esoteric meditation techniques as taught by the ancient taoist alchemists , some herbal healing with old uses of moxibustion technique (healing through burning moxa-wool on acupuncture points) and basic spiritual knowledge.
    This is the beginning of my book, not yet published! I hope to finish it in a couple of years:

    My name is Mahataa. With a huge birth cry in the early morning of July 27, 1902 in the year of the Water Tiger, near the end of the Meiji Era, I announced my arrival. It was 6:00am sharp and it was already warm and humid when I slid into the experienced, loving hands of a local sambasan (midwife) in a tiny village on the Motobu peninsula in the northern part of the island of Okinawa, the largest of an archipelago known by the ancients as the Liu Chiu Kingdom which stretched from Kyushu in Southern Japan to Taiwan (or Formosa, as it was known then). My dear Mother had been in labor only four hours and it was obvious to all that I was anxious to come quickly and take my special place in this world.

    Through Divine design the wisdom and confidence we arrive with are suspended from our consciousness and we spend our life seeking that light of wisdom, often, being ground up by life’s turbulences much like a diamond in the rough that needs to be worked to become a proper jewel. Like that rock to which we take hammer and anvil, life’s challenges come upon us to facet our ‘being’ so that we might shine brightly, so brightly, in fact, that our light sheds light on others and the reflective nature of it brings everything and everyone to utter brilliance. This wisdom I speak of is not the knowledge accumulated through schooling and education and the confidence I speak of is not the self-confidence of an inflated ego, rather, this wisdom arises as it were from nowhere, and our confidence which is an inner knowing, that we are already enlightened, is in place like a seed that is itself Truth, which lays dormant until its appropriate time to claim life.

    My brother, slept soundly in another room which was conveniently partitioned off by sliding shoji screens and for our whole life together he would laugh about how my birth cry was so fierce that the explosive sound of it caused him to bolt up from the futon mattress on which he slept to snag himself in the mosquito netting made of crude linen as if he were himself a wild fish caught at sea. It is funny how we embellish stories as the years pass and he would add later that the cry was so frightening the ground shook with trepidation.

    thank you for your time,
    Kathleen A. Sankey
    aka Jikun , a name given to me by my teacher meaning "Fragrance of Compassion."


    Sunday, April 22, 2007 9:04 AM
    kcness@earthlink.net
    Subj: Okinawa
    Hello, I'm Keith Ness.
    My father was stationed @ Kadena Air base from 69-72. We lived in Futema by Jiro's Bakery. My Dad was a Tech Sgt. , My mom is full Japanese, she was from Nagoya, Japan.
    It was a lot of fun. I remember Okinawa Beach's with the white sand, and the fun we had playing on the island. I went to Mercy Elementary school.
    If anyone would like to write, please do.
    Keith Ness
    Thursday, April 19, 2007 11:33 AM
    About Your Fried Rice
    Hi, my husband and I spent two tours at Kadena. I remember the fried rice my maid would make for her lunch and was interested in yours. However, I am assuming amounts for your recipe, 2 cups of cold rice? 2 to 3 slices of bacon, etc. etc. And, what about bitter melon? I remember developing a taste for it and recently was able to find some. Anyway, thanks for the recipe..............I'll try it and add it to my Sub Gum style chinese...........my daughters favorite Thai..............and my husbands favorite"Dump Fried Rice".
    Suzanne Patton
    suzanjane@earthlink.net

    ...The great thing about fried rice, and even the yaki-soba, is that you aren't obligated to any proportions. You can use as much or as little as you like.
    The bitter melon is a great idea, too! I'll have to give that a try..."


    Don Hall
    Thursday, March 29, 2007 1:59 PM
    dkhall2@cox.net
    My stepfather was stationed to Okinawa in '52. The family followed soon after, my mother, sister 6yrs, my brother,who later, graduated Kubasaki HS, and myself age 17.
    A classmate from HS, stateside, met me at the dock. He had arrived 6 months prior, with his family. Needless to say, he had plenty of places to show me. It was two day's later, and a much more educated newbie, that showed up at the dependent housing in Sukiran. We experienced our first typhoon that night, and fortunately our live-in maids handled the situation routinely. I was impressed.
    I recall our first visit as a family to a local village. The mamasan's would come out to touch my sister's hair, she was a little doll, and very blonde. My father had arranged a civil service job for me, at Camp Kue. There was a group of warehouses, just off the highway, and below the village of Koza. I issued building materials to Japanese contractors for new construction.
    Mr. Beckman was in charge over all, and Johnny Alapai, was my boss on the issue Ramp. Naka, the two papasan's, Yoshico, and Kimico in the office, made up our crew. It was a great job, we had a lot of fun. Johnny had a home in Koza and Im sure people there know of him to this day.
    And then of course there is Kioko,of that same village, that I shall remember always.
    After two short years, a sad departure aboard the Anderson. Leaving many friends,but not the memories behind.

    Hello, Don!
    Thanks for visiting ClickOkinawa.com and for sending me your message. It's always good to hear from folks who have been to Okinawa and who, after all these years, still have fond memories.
    So, what have you done with yourself since you got back? Have you had an opportunity to go back to the Island? I guess, do you want to go back? I do and one day I shall!
    Please return to visit ClickOkinawa.com whenever you want and let me know what you'd like to see on the website.
    Be sure to read through the Mailbag - so far, ten pages of stories from lots of folks like yourself.
    Mata ato de!
    Mick


    From: B. Russell
    Tuesday, March 27, 2007 5:57PM
    Subj: Re Camp Koza

    Mike, [he meant Mick, I hope]
    Do you have any points of contact or photos of the old Koza Camp?
    Below provides background to my request.
    Thanks, Bo Russell

    Ryubei wrote:
    From: "Ryubei"
    To: "B. Russell"
    Subject: Re: Camp Koza
    Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 07:51:24 +0900
    Bo, you may want to try this site where old memories are shared by those formerly stationed on Okinawa. http://mickmc.tripod.com/stories8.html
    alex

    ----- Original Message -----
    From: B. Russell
    To: kishaba@ryubei.com
    Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 7:01 AM
    Subject: Fwd: Camp Koza
    Good Morning Alex,
    I have provided an email sent earlier this morning to the Public Affairs Officer, Camp Butler prior to doing another search on Google for Camp Koza. It is rather interesting that a number of searches over the past few weeks never brought your web site up.
    Would it be possible to visit with you to gather information on Camp Koza?
    Thank you,
    Bo Russell
    Pastor Koza Baptist Church
    937-5036
    www.kozabaptistchurch.org

    "B. Russell" wrote:
    Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:22:18 -0700 (PDT)
    From: "B. Russell"
    Subject: Camp Koza
    To: OkinawaPAO@usmc.mil
    Good Morning,
    I'm Bo Russell, pastor at Koza Baptist Church in Okinawa City. Our church is being relocated as the result of mandatory widening of the adjacent road. In 1964, former Marine officer Bud Spencer was the pastor and led in the purchase of our current site which had been the location of the USMC 1st Pioneer Bn, Camp Koza. Part of our land has already been contracted to the Okinawa Prefecture leaving us 519 tsubo to sell. One contractor has already submitted a bid to build 34 condos on the site, as it is one of the highest points in Okinawa City.
    Prior to selling the land, I would like to find any historical information on the Marine use.
    Thank you for your assistance.

    Semper Fi,
    Bo Russell
    LtCol USMC (Ret)

    Hello, Bo,
    I don't have any first-hand information or photos. I wonder if the Division historian at Kadena, adjacent to Koza (Okinawa City) might have anything on that.
    I'm going to post your request on the website and hope that someone will come through for you.
    Please keep me apprised of any success.
    Thank you, Bo, for your confidence and inquiry.
    Kindest regards,
    Mick
    Stephen A. "Mick" McClary
    Great Falls, Montana


    Monday, March 19, 2007 1:53 AM
    From: KAILUULUU@aol.com
    Subject: I want to join ClickOkinawa mailing list

    Hi! I found you in my favorites of long ago... maybe 4 or 5 years... I bought an Okinawan postcard litho you were selling on Ebay if my memory serves me right.

    I can possibly help Harry Hollis in attempting the translation of the diary. I will use my efforts to do so and will attempt to get it to a person who can read that particular dialect to satisfy his curiousity... If I can find the family it belongs to... I would like him to agree to return it to that family... Does it contain a name/area???? I am in Southern Cali... is he close to me?

    Next, I found a web site that I'll have to look for again that has a list of artifacts Okinawa wishes to have returned... that's when I thought of you... maybe you can help me accomplish this task. Word has it that a U.S. serviceman took these items and they are located in the States... I only heard of these things missing recently and would like to do anything to accomplish this task... Offer money to buy them back, etc. So many things were taken and destroyed... how can we find the Unit that was assigned to that area where the items were taken.... it is a crown of the King and a dozen or so paintings painted in the 1700's of the Kings of the Ryukyus from what I understand... I will search for it and send you the link.... maybe network through your contacts or VFWs... I could send a letter to all of them that can be posted on their bulletin board. Thoughts on this??? When I found your site, I saw the letter from Mr. Kishaba... You can let him there are people here in the States that are helping to resolve the return of artifacts.

    I have also undertaken a problem that I see with Okinawa... one of many I must say as I learn each day... and that is the loss of the identity of the Okinawan people because since the War when Japan forced Okinawans to speak Japanese or else... the elders have since died or will die off soon and the main Okinawan language will become extinct. It is important to gather this information and teach children on the island to become bilingual or even trilingual... If there are anyone you might know who would like to donate to this cause, please have them contact me... I will be going to the Okinawan Festival in Hawaii later this year and set up a booth and hand out flyers to make descendants from Okinawa aware of this problem...

    One more thing... I know a lot of servicemen took photos of their experiences in Okinawa during the war... I am interested in purchasing original photos of "PEOPLE", "PLACES with PEOPLE in it", nothing violent. I am in the process of working with a liaison from here who frequents Okinawa to post them where people can come and see them and claim them... maybe you can see if Miles Anderson could possibly sell them to me since his father was a photographer and on Okinawa... hook me up... LOL...

    Well, enough for now... I guess I will introduce myself... my name is Marilyn and I am half Okinawan and half German/Swiss in my 50's and living in SoCal. I'm on a mission (several)... LOL... Hope to hear from you... Take care and thanks for being there! Great job on the site...
    M

    Monday, March 19, 2007 8:30 PM
    Wow!

    Your "favorites of long ago," eh? I know I'm old, but.... geeeeze!

    Just kiddin' - I'm delighted that I'min your list and very happy that you thought to contact me with this information. I did think of Kishaba-san right away and as I read on was impressed to see that you've already been in touch with him. I hope that he can help. I KNOW that he'll be interested in your mission(s).

    Late last week I learned that one of the physical therapy technicians in our clinic isOkinawan, born and raised in Ginowan. She is now here in Montana. I'll check with her and see if she has an interest in getting involved with your projects. I think she'd be a wonderful resource.

    Regarding Harry Hollis - I have no doubt, based upon what he has told me in his correspondence, that he would be the first in line to give the manuscript back to the family of origin. No doubt. Please do let me know how that pans out. I presume that you have been in touch with Harry. In any case, I'll forward your message to him.

    I'd be interested in getting the URL for the website you say that lists artifacts identified for return to the rightful owner - the people of the Ryukyu Kingdom. On that note, let me hasten to say - and I think that you know - there are many, many Americans, some of whom have been on Okinawa, who share your commitment to seeing Ryukyuan artifacts returned to the Islands. Indeed, the "spoils of war" found their way off to other places in the World, but not all Americans support the notion of ripping off a society just becasue they got stuck in the middle of conflict. And, without any doubt, Okinawans were victimized by the Imperial quest to conquer all of Asia - if not the World. ....Geeeze! I didn't mean to get on a soap-box but since I've said it I'll leave it.

    It is my most sincere hope and desire that you are able to facilitate the return of some of those treasures of history.

    Then, to your concern about the impending extinction of the language of Ryukyu - I wish that I knew the language fluently because that is something that I have for a long time wished that I could do, propagate the traditions of Old Ryukyu. But I don't, so I can't and so I wish you tremendous sucesses in that endeavor!

    Please send me one of your brochures that you'll be handing out in Hawaii. I'd love to scan it and post it on the site. Or, better yet, if you have a website with the information, mission statement, contacts, etc. please send me the URL for that website and I'll stick a link up right away.

    I have a tremendous amount of respect for you and for your homeland.

    By the way, thank you for your kind words about ClickOkinawa.com too! I'm happy to add you to the mailing list!

    Kindest regards,
    Oyasumi nasai!
    Mick

    By the way, I think she was thinking about my Tour Okinawa video collection that I was selling on eBay. You can see those video Tours on the website too!


    [message received through "Friends of Okinawa" feature:]
    Saturday, March 17, 2007 6:33 PM
    From: Sherry Gladman (gladbear@webtv.net)
    [on island] 1967-1970
    I am 68 years old and that was indeed without a doubt the most memorable 4 years of my life. I still have dreams that I am on the island. It is mt greatest desire to go back at least one more time in my life. Was so happy to find this site so I can read anything and everything about Okinawa.
    If anyone would contact me about the good old days there, or now, I would love to Communicate. I am hoping to return in the next year or so, and I'd kinda like to know how drastically it has changed. Please, please, please me.
    Wichita, Kansas

    [Second message, same date]
    I just had the most wonderful time reading your piece on Okinawa. (I'm going to go back to the part that says "read more",) but I've just got to stop reading a few minutes and let you know how much I have enjoyed taking this trip with you down memory lane.
    It was without a doubt the most rewarding time of my life there. 1967-1971. Had an opportunity to extend for one more year, but in 1970 we adopted 2 babies from Korea, (already had 2 biological kids, ages 11-13) and one of the babies was very sick with constant pnuemonia and we had to come back the States because of the extreme humidity.
    My husband was in the Air Force at Kadena. He had to buy a house to get the family there, as the base housing list was too long. You speak of A and W. When we left, there were no drive-ins or any kind of American food Joints. I followed my husband with my two oldest kids by 6 weeks. Our plane left Yokota and landed us in typhoon CONDITION CAUTION. We didn't know it until after we landed. Never knew why they didn't turn back, but I was glad they didn't. I always got excited when a typhoon was coming.
    Our house was in Yomitan-Oki housing They were all stucko and painted a variety of colors. When I first entered the house I was greeted by this ugly kerosene heater, sitting right out in the living room. That typhoon played in and out. They would send GIs home and then go back in. As soon as it cleared out I got my first real taste of Okinawa. Yes, benjo ditches and all. He took me "shopping or sight seeing" and got to see Kadena Circle in all of its boundless, simple glory. Went to the beach and walked around while my two oldest children gathered shells on the beach. Of course they wanted to take them home. While turning around in the car to talk to the kids, I noticed these shells had legs and were crawling out of their container. I thought they were some kind of spider or something. I'm a Kansas girl and had never seen or heard tell of hermit crabs. Finally adjusted to hermit crabs, ghekos on the wall, mold growing on the ceiling, and tombs in our back yard. Some of my friends listen to me, and say, "WHY did you love it so much?" I guess there are some things you cannot explain. You just have to experience for your self.
    In reading your article, I felt as tho I were visiting with an old friend. On Okinawa, it seemed to me that everyone had a good time, including indeed the Okinawan people.
    We put typhoon tape on the rusted out places on the car and spray painted over it. NO one had a fancy car , everyone's was rusted out, and we sold our car when we left the isand.
    Well friend, I could sit here the rest of the night reminicsing, but you would just get tired of listening to me ramble.
    Please drop me a note, and I do want to order a set of your tapes
    Sherry Gladman in Wichita, KS.

    What a great letter! - I replied:

    Hello, Sherry Gladman!
    Komban-wa!

    It's wonderful to hear from you and I thank you sincerely for visiting ClickOkinawa.com.

    I have thoroughly enjoyed your message and will post it very soon. I hope that my other readers enjoy your memories as much as I have.

    In closing you wrote that I might get tired of listening to you ramble... Oh, my dear Sherry - not at all!! One of my greatest rewards that I appreciate from my website is the reading of messages such as yours from people who are inspired to write to me. When that happens then I know that I have achieved the purpose of the website.

    Thank you so much for enjoying, for reminiscing and for sharing your memories with me. I hope that as you read through some of my other experiences you'll remember even more things and letme know what came back to mind.

    Ahhhhh, those benjo ditches! We stepped off the plane at Kadena, looked into bright sunlight, took that first breath and almost choked on the stifling, humid air and that wonderful aroma. Funny how after only a few days we hardly ever noticed it again. Scary, huh? One day, while at the Crocodile Park - I think it was in or near Awase - our 2 year old boy tripped and fell into one of those ditches! Thank God, there was a spigot and garden hose nearby and we gave him a "shower" right there on the spot. Yikes! Who knows what kind of gunk he fell into!

    As you will learn as you read through the stories (Dancing with the Mayor, for example) you'll see that we lived out on the Yomitan peninsula too! Loved it out there. We were in Aza-oki, Yomitan-son just off Highway 6 near the Army's Torii Station. We truly enjoyed Yomitan and the terrific people there. We lived out there for two years waiting to get into Stearly Heights on Kadena.

    Well, now maybe it's you who is tiring of listening (reading) to my ramblings...

    You have a wonderful weekend there in Kansas while we are enjoying, finally, some Spring-like weather here in Montana.

    Kindest regards and sincerely,
    Mick


    Friday, March 02, 2007 6:46 PM
    From: Joe P.

    Hello Mick,
    How's it going in the big country out west?

    You helped me before with my father's sketch of Nakagusuku castle and I have another mystery on my hands. After my father left Okinawa in November of 1945, he sailed to Korea where he stayed until December 5th of that year. He then sailed home to be discharged after a 5 year run in the army. He brought some sort of a jewelry box home. He either picked it up in Okinawa or Korea.

    My mother gave it to me last month and I cannot figure out exactly what it is. It has inside of it a couple of pieces that are quite odd. The art on the cover seems to be a Japanese samurai scene but I am not sure. Were there Korean warriors that wore similar attire? I know that Japan occupied Korea for several decades before the end of the war so it wouldn't be surprising that Japanese art would've been found in Korea. Or could this be from Okinawa? I have included some photos.

    Thanks again Mick and I love the web site.
    Joe Pizzimenti

    ...and I replied: [See if you can help!- check it out]


    Sunday, February 25, 2007 10:46 AM
    Brenda Whitcomb McCleary
    brendamcc@juno.com
    On Okinawa during the mid-1960s. I loved Okinawa. The maids carrying their babies, seamstresses making matching clothes for my sisters and I , the farmers washing their horses in the ocean, Sobe Village, Sukiran schools, the sunsets, the bus ride around the island...and so much more.

    Sunday, February 25, 2007 12:36 PM
    Hi, Brenda!
    Thanks for your interest in ClickOkinawa.com and for signing up as a Friend of Okinawa. Please trust that I won't be inundating you with endless e-mail messages.
    Every now and then I send out a bulletin. Lately most of my correspondence has been in trying to reconstruct my mailing list. I've been working on that for the last 5-6 weeks and then, from out of the blue comes a list with a hundred-or-so addresses that I recovered from an old computer! Sweet!
    Well, as I said, WELCOME back and I hope to hear from you from time to time relating your memories of Okinawa and suggestions for the website.
    Kindest regards,
    Mick


    Walkersus Walker
    walkersus@gmail.com
    Sunday, February 25, 2007 10:02 AM
    - thanks for finding me in your old mailing list! Getting ready to check out the "new" site now - which, at first glance looks bigger & better than ever.
    Hey, THANKS so much for all the work you put into this - it really means a lot!
    BTW, have you thought about doing group tours back there? Vietnam has them, Cambodia etc... but, I wonder why not OKI when so many of us have stayed there and would love to go back. Again, thanks for everything,
    DOD brat,
    Susanna Walker,
    Jupiter, FL
    Dear Readers,
    You may have received a plea from me a few weeks ago, explaining my mailing list debacle. Many of you responded, saying that you want to stay on the list. Some of you said, "No" and I respect that. Many did not reply pro-or-con, so they're not on the list - I hope.
    Well, as Fortune would have it, I resurrected an old computer from the basement that I want to "clean up" and give to my daughter. In the clean-up I went through, scavenging all of the images, correspondence, text files, etc. that I want to keep. Lo-and-Behold, I came across a list of over one hundred e-mail addresses. I "mass mailed" the list and got several replies. One of my favorites, so far, goes like this:

    Saturday, February 24, 2007
    "Greetings!
    I have just come across a mailing list that was in one of my old computers. My most recent newsletter involved my attempt to reconstruct my ClickOkinawa.com mailing list - and now, lo-and-behold, I have discovered this list from Dec 1999.
    I invite you to visit http://www.ClickOkinawa.com to see what has happened over the last few years! If you wish to stay on the list, please e-mail back to me by simply clicking "REPLY" and type in "Yes!"
    If you have no interest, you may also mail back to tell me so.
    Thank you for allowing this brief intrusion into your In-box.
    Kindest regards,
    Mick"

    ... and the reply from one long-lost Friend of ClickOkinawa.com:

    Saturday, February 24, 2007 8:00 PM
    Alan Clutter
    HI Mick
    Yes I would like to be on the email link, plus my son is stationed at Malmstrom AFB in Great Falls, we visited him this last Oct, and will probably be coming out again this year maybe we can get together and talk over a beer or something
    Alan

    Sunday, February 25, 2007 2:07 PM
    Hello, Alan,
    Thanks for your visit to ClickOkinawa.com and for your message.
    I think I know your son, having seen him a couple of times in my office. Is his name Mark? Not sure, but Mark pops to mind. I believe that I have seen his wife too - April - yes?
    Without hesitation, Alan, DO contact me if you're going to be in town!
    Mick

    Sunday, February 25, 2007 1:18 PM
    Alan Clutter
    HI Mick
    OK!! now that we have established contact just how in the world do you know Mark and April??
    I never told you his name or his wife so how do you know them,plus I can give my son a bad time about knowing both of us
    alan

    Now, with that, I just couldn't help myself...
    Seeing an excellent opportunity to share my wry wit, I replied with a simple sentence:

    Sunday, February 25, 2007 2:18 PM
    To: Alan Clutter
    I'm a psychic."

    Now, maybe I ought to e-mail him again and tell him the truth...

    Hello, again, Alan! Okay, so maybe I'm not psychic.
    I have seen them in the Family Practice Clinic. After retiring from active duty in 1990, I built a clinic up in Chouteau County, then was invited by a friend to join him in opening a new clinic in Great Falls. I took on the "additional duty" of moon-lighting at the base clinic on week-ends, covering their Extended Care Clinic, and then, one thing after another and I have had the pleasure to be working full-time at the base for the last 13+ years!
    But I digress... you asked about your son and his lady...
    Now, before you start thinking of what a terrific memory I have, all you need do is ask my nurse who will be the first to testify that my memory is horrible! Without the record, I can't remember squat - almost...
    Apparently it's not as bad as we both think though. After all, I did remember their names!
    As for WHY I saw them... sorry, Dad, can't tell ya!
    *Salute*
    Mick


    Wednesday, February 14, 2007 6:56 PM
    Dennis L. Cralley Sr
    dcralleysr@cox.net
    I was on Kadena AB (10 years)from Dec 1962 to June, 1966; plus two more tours to Kadena AB.
    The first two tours at 498th Tactical Missile Group, the last 18th Tac Fighter Wing as simulator tech.
    I returned to Chanute AFB, Ill in 1981, and retired from the USAF in June, 1983 after almost 22 years.
    When were you on Okinawa? I met a girl in the Airmans Club, (she was a waitress) 5 days after arriving on Kadena, and we were married in August. We have been married now over 43 years.
    We knew a McCleary on Okinawa, but can't remember a face.

    Hi, Dennis!
    Good to hear from you and I'm happy to see your message.
    Dennis, I was on Okinawa 1972-75 and 1986-90.
    Congratulations to both you and Yoshi on the occasion of over 43 years together! Good thing you went to that Airman's Club, desu-ne!!
    Thanks too, Dennis, for visiting ClickOkinawa.com. I invite all manner of criticisms, suggestions and ideas for new features of improvements to the site. Please feel freeto share any thoughts.
    Regards,
    Mick


    Feb 11, 2007 1:36 PM
    Neal
    Nealokipink@aol.com
    Nice to hear from someone who was there. My only regret is that I did not appreciate it more at the time I was there. Served out of Kadena and crewed a KC-135Q. How bout yourself?

    I hope that you have enjoyed your visits to ClickOkinawa.com
    You mentioned your regret for having not appreciated Okinawa while there - I did the same thing to a large part during my first tour in the early 1970s. Believe me, when I had the opportunity to go back in the mid-1980s I took advantage of every opportunity to "make it stick" in my memory and in my heart. I love that place!

    Couple of the guys I met over there we still visit till this day. Just can't egt drunk anymore, ha ha . Those days are gone.
    Stay in touch,
    Neal.


    Johnny C. Jackson Sr
    jjsr@netcommander.com
    Wednesday, January 31, 2007 6:31 PM
    Subject: Area C
    I was wondering, In Okinawa, around May-July of 1969 I was there in the Army and I worked on a ship yard just down the hill from Kadena Air Base . Do you remember the name of the Army Base and cargo ship yard? I forgot everything. But I do remember Kadena Air Base. And I do remember Namanewy, but I don't remember how to spell it. Can you help me?
    Thanks, Johnny

    Hello, Johnny, and thanks for visiting ClickOkinawa.com.
    I'm wondering if you are referring to the Makiminato area. In the "old days" it was called Machinato.
    I invite other readers who might know for sure to contact you and perhaps get reacquainted with an oldpal!
    Thanks again, Johnny, for your message and for your visit.
    Mick

    Friday, February 16, 2007 9:14 PM
    From: Ryubei
    CC:S. A. Mick McClary
    Subject: Area C
    Dear Mr. Anderson,
    Hello from Okinawa.
    I just saw your message to Mick, dated Jan. 13, 2007, regarding Area C. You referred to the housing as the "first non-Quonset type homes on Okinawa". I believe there were 3 areas on Okinawa that was being built using the local wood and roof tiles and used as military housing complexes.
    One was in Naha near Tomari port on the hills nearby called Uenoya. The same architectural housing took place in Awase overlooking the "Buckner Bay" (Nakagusuku Bay) and the last one was near Chinen in a place called Sashiki.
    Not too many of those houses exist. Very few, many none but the last time I passed by those areas, some had been rennovated. Let me know when you come and if I am on the island, (I do a lot of travelling to Minnesota and Washington, and just came back from D.C. and Virginia (Williamsburg and Jamestown). I will be happy to pick you up and take you to those places and treat you to our local soba that I have been promising Mick.
    Speaking about promises Mick, I know I owe you a picture of Nakagusuku Castle.....don`t give up on me.
    alex kishaba

    Saturday, February 17, 2007 2:47 PM
    Hello, Alex and Johnny!
    Good to hear from you, Alex! I haven't forgotten about that bowl of soba either!
    I hope that you are able to get Johnny back in touch with his "roots" on island.
    Johnny, maybe my suggestion of Machinato was way off the mark - sorry.
    This is the beauty of networking though - to find someone closer to the subject who can help someone like yourself. Oh, how I wish I were on Okinawa so that I could do these "investigation" of inquiries!
    Good luck to you both - and, Alex, when I finally DO get back, may I too look you up!?
    Mata ne,
    Mick


    Friday, January 19, 2007 1:54 PM
    ronald fortin
    RE: Okinawa_Library
    Please advise me as to where I might get a copy of the Battle of Okinawa (English Version) by Masahide Ota, published by the Kume Publishing Co, Tokyo, Japan
    Sincerely,
    Ron Fortin

    Hello, Ron!
    Thank you for visiting ClickOkinawa.com and for your inquiry.
    I just checked eBay and there is not one currently listed. The two volumes of that publication that I have were both obtained through eBay, so it does show up there from time to time.
    As it happens, while looking for that title I found another pub by former Okinawa Governor Masahide Ota entitled Genocide and just bought it to add to my library! So, thank you again for asking me about Battle of Okinawa.
    I looked at amazon.com and found that you can get a copy there, paying from 17.99 plus 3.49 shipping, up to $100.00 for a signed first edition hardbound volume. Check it at:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/4906034012/sr=8-2/qid=1169253184/ref=sr_1_olp_2/102-4334378-7100927?ie=UTF8&s=books
    Happy to help when I can,
    Mick


    Wednesday, January 17, 2007 8:15 AM
    Subj: Memories of Okinawa
    Dear Mick,
    Thank you for such a great web site. I love the pictures and all of the memories that they bring back. I miss Okinawa so much. I was stationed (Marine Corps) in Okinawa from 1982-1983. I have to tell you, it was the best year of my life. I met my first true love there. Unfortunately it didn't last. I still think of him to this day. I crammed so much living into one year. I loved the beaches, the scuba diving, snorkeling, running...I loved going to Naha and all of the beautiful restaurants. I loved going dancing at all of the little clubs and the Okinawa Hilton. My favorite place on the whole island was a coffee house named Piannisamo (spelling?). I would go there after going dancing and sit and talk to people for hours (until early in the morning).
    Have you gotten to go back to Okinawa? I bet that you miss it a lot too. Once again this is such a great site. I am so glad that you started such a fantastic site.
    Thank you,
    Nancy M. Booth (formerly Lance Corporal Redway)

    Hello,Nancy!
    Please forgive me for taking so long to get back to you.
    Thank you very kindly for visiting ClickOkinawa.com and for your kind words. The website is indeed a labor of love. I hope that you'll come back often and perhaps run into someone from days gone by you might recognize.
    Thanks again!
    Oya sumi nasai!
    Mick


    Jim Grogan
    jsgrogan1@comcast.net
    Saturday, January 13, 2007 11:59 AM
    ... I wish to remain in close contact with your web site. It's my favorite source of information on my favorite island. Thanks for everything,

    Jim Grogan,
    USAF, Onna Point, Okinawa 1958-1961

    P.S. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Kishaba in Manhattan a few years ago when he was in New York on Research Society business. This was after correspondence with George Feifer, author of "TENNOZAN, The Battle of Okinawa and the Atomic Bomb," who put me in touch with "Alex."

    Here's a neat little story that I dug up out of my "archive" (better known as e-mail files thick with dust). Jim Grogan had e-mailed a friend of his to tell him about his story being posted on this website; his friend read it and wrote back:

    Posted to this site 1-13-07
    From: Dick Murphy
    MURFGUYS@COX.NET
    To: Jim Grogan
    Monday, January 09, 2006 3:58 PM
    Checked out your '88 Okinawa return memories letter. You were a verbose little fella, weren't you ? very well written ......and received.

    Your mentioning gridlock at Naha intersections really shook me. You must have had a great life there when in the service. When I was there, there wasn't a building left standing.

    My time there was in the Army, just transfered from infantry to Harbor Craft...and was the only Army NCO who skippered a PT Boat. I lived aboard with my buddy and operated out of Naha Harbor, which was then strewn with sunken ships....all material and food had to be lightered off ships at anchor just outside port.

    All the time there, I saw not one Okinawan. They had all been herded to a former Leper colony during the fighting, and had just begun to filter back to their "homes". I don't think I could go back for a visit. I know you know what I mean.

    I also know that, as you stated several times on V Okie, that in spite of whatever you and I experienced on the island during very different circumstances,...there was, (and still is).. that very mysterious hold that place has on us in our center core. I'm sure that there's no other place on earth that has that power . I don't choke up like the old WW2 vets while recounting their war memories....but I often recall the day......that I became a man. It was like a spiritual birthing that defies description. It happened one day just at dusk, when I jeeped up a hill and "discovered" Nagagusuku (sp?) Castle. I stood on a parapet wall, and looked out over Buckner Bay. A boy from flatland midwest America, I was awed by the view. As I stood there, a mantle of fast moving clouds scudded toward me, hit me full force ... and I was swept with a feeling I had never before... or since experienced.

    Come to think of it, I think that I might be beginning to choke. See ya !

    Murph


    From: Agent21@aol.com To: mickmc@mcn.net
    Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2007 2:13 PM
    Subject: Okinawa Newsletter

    Received your last transmission and would appreciate information on the following.

    I lived with my father while he served as a Major in the Air Force during the 1947 - 1950 time period in Okinawa. He was responsible for building some of the very first non-Quonset type homes in Okinawa. The location was an area called AREA-C. I am planning to return to Okinawa, and would like to visit the remains of this area. I can find no indication of the approximate location on any maps. Could you be of assistance.

    Much appreciated
    Miles Anderson
    Honolulu Hawaii

    Saturday, January 13, 2007 4:19 PM
    I was around eight when living in Okinawa, and my father was an excellent Hobby type ...photographer.

    I stood in his exact footprints, and snapped photos with my / his old Lica.

    I have an old ... old photo album filled with equally old photos.

    I have attached a photo. [See photo here]. The note reads A harbor Okido-Shima

    Miles Anderson


    Thursday, January 11, 2007 2:58 PM
    Subject: Okinawa_Library
    Sir. Mr. Stephen "Mick" McClary. My name is Jay Chickering. I live in Winchester Bay, Oregon. Somewhat warmer here than in your area in Montana I feel certain.
    I apologize that this contact is not about Okinawa, although I did spend several years there and other Ryukyu Islands beginning in 1959. I did enjoy hunting wild boar on Hama Higa Shima (sp), just off Okinawa. Oh, the Memories.
    This contact with you is an attempt to gain information from you, to assist me in my long search for honest reputable entities or persons that can help better identify and sell a Japanese publication of the occupation of the Philippine Islands when the Japanese dislodged McArther and his forces from there. This book was captured by my father in late 1943 or early 1944 when my father in a small force of engineers landed on Luzon to map Japanese installations prior to McArthers return.
    My father and two other engineers on this mission came across a large warehouse printing installation where these books were being printed. They each took a book and destroyed the warehouse and the thousands of books stored therein. The other two did not survive, so I must assume that neither did their copys of this book. Of course I must also assume that The His Majesty, Prince Takamatsu, Higashi-Kune-No-Miya, Takeda, Tanaka, and Commander Homma and others of the Japanese high command all had copies of the book as they are prominently pictured in the book.
    I have researched this book on many sites and search engines over the last years, without success. Of course Sotherbys' and many of the entities and individuals that I have contacted show great interest and wish me to ship the book and flags to them for hands-on perusal. Of course I would not do this as I feel that this book is very rare and may have great value to the correct individual or entity. I have an English translation of this book that my father had done while in the military. The front cover of the book (actually the back as it is Japanese), is translated as follows: Philippine Expeditionary Force, by GASEI, Watari Group Information Dept. Publication. I attach a photo of this cover, And a couple other pictures. The book has 179 photos with captions in Japanese, all translated in my translation document.
    Many years ago my father gave me this book, two personal Japanese battle flags, two nambu pistols and a samurai sword. I have sold the nambu pistols and the samurai sword, but have retained the book and flags until now, and have decided to sell them but desire to have expert honest assistance, as I hope you will understand.
    You, as an individual with such an extensive collection of Japanese collectable's, I felt must have knowledge that would be of assistance to me. Thus this letter.
    [personal comments withheld]
    I may be contacted at jchick2005@charter.net, or snail-mail: P.O. Box 1692, Winchester Bay, Oregon, 97467-0817, (541)271-9297.
    Regards, Jay Chickering.

    More in the bag!

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