Just some memories

I was in the army infantry from 1953-56. I was stationed on Okinawa for 28 months. I was in charge of a radio section, voice and Morse code. We operated a radio labeled AN/GRC 9 (Angry 9) which had a hand cranked generator for power, or it could be operated on battery power. Other radios were installed in jeeps and trucks. We were a regimental combat team, always doing field exercises to stay combat ready. We did 2, or 3, amphibious landing exercises, going aboard ship then going around the island to some beach, climbing down the nets, boarding flat bottom landing barges that carried about 40 men, and going ashore. We had jungle exercises on the northern part of the island. We did some airlifts in Air Force C-119s and H-19 helicopters.

During these exercises we always had air support. F4U Corsairs coming in low with vapor coming from their wingtips. There were British Spitfires in some combined operations. An F9F Navy Panther Jet made a low strafing run down a Ravine. I was above him on a ridge line. He disappeared rounding a bend in the ravine and hit the ground and blew up. All we saw was a big ball of fire.

One morning I was awakened at dawn by a low level pass of an Air Force F-86 Saber Jet. I thought he could take our antenna off he was so low. After sleeping on the ground that night, and many more, I knew I wanted to fly. Always did. Never went camping after my tour in the infantry.

We were always combat ready, so in 1954 we got a high alert to prepare to ship out. The rumor was we were going to Vietnam because the French were being slaughtered at a place called Dien Bien Phu. Thank goodness President Eisenhower did not commit troops to support the French or my scared a-- might have been one of the first American troops in Vietnam.

Okinawa is a beautiful island. Our barracks were all concrete with full glass windows. We had a magnificent view of the tropical sunsets on the East China Sea. I got to explore the whole island and all its beauty. 67 miles long. Many beautiful beaches and small villages. I visited a cliff where many Okinawans jumped to their deaths during WW II to avoid being captured by the Americans. The Japanese government had lied, like most governments lie, by telling the Okinawans that the Americans would treat their victims with torture, so they committed suicide instead of surrendering.

Spent days confined to quarters during three typhoons that passed directly over the island.

We were close to Kadena Air Base. I used to see the WW II B-29 bombers coming home from some flights. It seemed like half of them had one engine shut down, with the prop feathered. Then one day the B-47 jet bombers starting arriving. What a beautiful bird.

I took R&R (Rest and Recreation) to Hong Kong on a navy sea plane tender. En route to Hong Kong we stopped and picked up, by crane, a disabled, in the water, Martin PBM sea plane, a propeller twin engine submarine hunter. We went close enough to the Quemoy Island in the Formosa Straights, were the Chinese Communist and the Chinese from Taiwan were fighting. I could hear the explosions. Close enough to combat for me!

Took R&R to Tokyo on an Air Force C-124 Cargomaster, a double decker cargo plane. I went to the cockpit and saw a nurse sitting in the right seat! I was overwhelmed with the size of Tokyo.

While on Okinawa I had the same laundry lady for 28 months. She would pick up my dirty laundry on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and replace it with clean, ironed laundry. I paid her five dollars per month plus a box of Tide detergent. A dollar would buy 360 yen. A beer on base cost five cents.

After my tour was up we boarded a troop ship for home. We stopped in Korea to pick up some more troops. Ran into a big typhoon. All hands restricted below. I had to take a look so I went to the main deck, opened a door, put one foot outside and held on with both hands. It looked like the sea king Poseidon and his queen Amphitrite were having a major domestic quarrel. As I looked forward I could see waves that had to be 75 feet from top to bottom. The bow of that old liberty ship would plunge down to the sea and then to the sky. I looked back and I could see the bridge. I'm sure someone on the bridge said something about that crazy guy looking at the crazy sea. It was a Gomer Pyle moment.

As we approached the Golden Gate we could hear Rock and Roll music on our radios. It was the beginning of a culture change as the children of the "Greatest Generation" sought pleasure.

I boarded a Slick Airways DC-4 military charter at Oakland Airport. Years later I would go with a girl who was born in Oakland in 1950. I told her I went through Oakland in 1956 when she was five years old. She said with a smile, "Why didn't you look me up then, big boy." While en route on the Slick Airways flight one of our guys had an appendicitis attack. We made an emergency landing at Edwards Air Force Base and deplaned him. On to Fort Smith, Arkansas for a fuel stop and crew change. Visited the cockpit at night and enjoyed the glow from all the gauges and dials. Then to Columbia, SC where I was discharged at Fort Jackson in January 1956.

I read the other day that we now have over 30 military bases in the Okinawa islands.

This insignificant story is one of billions told by humanity. Like most of the others, this one to will be erased by the sands of time.

Charles Tolleson