Some photos from my far east deployment in 1966

Hi Don nice pics there - just a thought the yanks have been in the far east - Japan ; South Korea ; Philippines a long time - must be a great posting!! - sights ; food and ladies?
 
I, too was in Tokyo, three times. Twice on R&R in 1954 and once in the hospital in 1953. I have no pictures that survived the years. Enjoyed yours. I was Army.
I never made it o Australia but was adjacent to an Aussie unit upon the MLR. Got to know one sergeant well. We had occasion twice to go back to the rear together.
He introduced me to the Aussie Roadhouse.
 
An Australian roadhouse back then was like our truck stops or an all-night cafe where their troops could get a tea, coffee or something to eat day or night. You could pick up hand warmers, a warm hat or jacket, etc. In early 1953 they seemed much out of place.
 
Fascinating website Don. I lived in Hayama, just outside of Yokosuka and after a year we moved onto the base in Yokohama. I was age 10-13 (1960-1963). My father was a Naval Officer. It was an amazing experience. I found the Japanese women and children (I wasn't around the men) to be polite, mannerly, hard-working, clean, respectful, family oriented, and steeped in tradition.

Thank you for posting your experiences and photos.
 
Thank you, Lara. In my experience, what you wrote about the Japanese is true of the men too. I made that website mainly in hopes that some of my old shipmates might see it and bring back good memories.

Don
 
Don I really enjoyed all of the pictures.....from looking at the pictures of the inside of the sub there is absolutely no way that I could have served on a submarine because of being somewhat claustrophobic.

I sent some pictures and several rolls of undeveloped film home to my mom to keep till my return while I was in Vietnam with the Army and I found out after returning that she had burned / destroyed all of them saying that they were too graphic......to her credit I suppose some (but not all) were to a person who'd never been in a combat zone.

Thank you for your service.
 
Thank you, Ike. The close quarters didn't bother me then, but it might now. Elevators give me the creeps. Really, it's no worse than sharing an airplane with a hundred or so people. I had it easy. You're the one who deserves the thanks for your service.

Don
 
Thanks for the fascinating narrative and pictures, Don. Your adventure and mine were, in many ways, polar opposites but at the same time very similar. You brought back a lot of memories. I started out wanting to go to sub school but ended up on a carrier and, although I began my active duty at TI, I ended up going east instead of west. The scenery was different, the craft was certainly different, but in so many ways it seems we shared experiences.

My son is now career Navy (AT1) and all of his deployments thus far have been to the west. In today's Navy, "west" extends from Korea to Australia, and west into the Persian Gulf. He's visited many of the places you did (including two years based in Yokosuka). Comparing his photos to yours, things have changed considerably over there. It's interesting to see what these places looked like back then. Again, many thanks.
 
Thanks, Tommy and Hearlady.

Tommy -- I'm glad it brought back some memories. Fifty years is a long time. I'm sure little of what I saw is the same. Hopefully, it's better. I went aboard a carrier once in Subic Bay to pick up some parts. What a maze of passageways. It's hard to get lost in a sub.

Don
 
I would last 8 seconds in a sub. As a kid I went in a German U-boat in a Chicago museum and freaked out at how small it was. Add to the cramped quarters subs stunk of diesel fuel and neverending engine noise.
 
I think the U-boats were smaller and more cramped than the boat I was on. You're right about the smell of diesel fuel and hydraulic oil. But, after a short time you don't even notice it. I actually liked the rumble of the engines.

Don
 
Nice pictures and website Don. I was at Hahn Air Base in 1966 on a nuclear missile launch crew. The birds were Mace A & B surface to surface missiles. We had a similar unit in Okinawa also. Thanks for the memories!

Tony

USAF 1964 - 1968
 
Grampa Don said:
I think the U-boats were smaller and more cramped than the boat I was on. You're right about the smell of diesel fuel and hydraulic oil. But, after a short time you don't even notice it. I actually liked the rumble of the engines.

Don
Click to expand...

I toured a U-boat at a sea fest several years ago. It was incredibly cramped and absolutely horrifying to think of "living" in one for long periods of time.

Great pictures, Grandpa Don.
 
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