{"id":1318,"date":"2026-04-08T10:33:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T01:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wesinjerd.com\/fukuokabases\/?page_id=1318"},"modified":"2026-04-18T07:46:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T22:46:52","slug":"brady-memories","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wesinjerd.com\/fukuokabases\/brady-memories\/","title":{"rendered":"Reminiscences of Life at Brady Air Base"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Reminiscences of Life at Camp Hakata & Brady Air Base<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u30ad\u30e3\u30f3\u30d7\u30fb\u30cf\u30ab\u30bf\u3068\u30d6\u30ec\u30c7\u30a3\u57fa\u5730\u306e\u601d\u3044\u51fa<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Camp_Hakata_History_of_24th_DivArty_Schwartz_cropped\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Aerial of Gannosu Airfield, July 1945 (GrokAI rendition)<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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How It All Started<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Photo Intell. Rep. 10, Nov. 7, 1944<\/p>

Fukuoka\/Gannosu A\/F- 33-41 N., 130-24 E.
Map. Ref. AMS L772, Sheet 10, Kyushu, 1:50,000. On leg-shaped peninsula 6 miles N of Fukuoka and 3 miles NE of Fukuoka\/Saitozaki A\/F. Roughly square in shape, 3000×3000. Even surface over an area 2000×2000, rough surface 1000 wide along N and W edges, extension limited on N, S, and E sides by shore line. Runways: N\/S paved 2900×210, E\/W paved 3000×210, NNW\/SSE paved strip 1600×85 (turning circle at each end), paved taxiway from runways to servicing tarmac. Hangars located off E edge of field (1 medium and 4 small), app 10 buildings off W edge, one slipway 40′ wide. Dispersal: at least 21 open revetments off W edge. Hakata Bay Railway serves airfield.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Snapshots<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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What things were like at old Brady, with many a story to tell.<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Ghost base Brady, 1974 (GrokAI rendition)<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Memories Shared - From the Emails<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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1950's<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Lewis Y. Williams, 1950 – COLLECTION<\/a>
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Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 21:33:27
SFC E-7, MOS 059.78: It means Sergeant First Class, Enlisted grade 7, Military Occupational Specialty (job title). The MOS 059 was a teletype intercept operator, the 7 indicated the grade or experience level, and the 8 indicated qualifications as an instructor. When the opening came unexpectedly, I applied for, and as senior E7 with experience, got the job of First Sergeant of Headquarters Company. The First Sergeant is the senior enlisted man in the company. My title then was 1SG E8. (First Sergeant grade 8). There was a Sergeant Major, grade E9 (SGM E9) who was the senior enlisted man at the station. At some previous time the place had been called Brady Air Force Base<\/b>. When I was there it was called Hakata Annex<\/b>\u00a0(an annex from Itazuke AFB). The Army unit there was the 14th United States Army Security Agency Field Station <\/b>(14th USASA FS). The Air Force was actually the “Host,” and the Army unit and the Navy Security Group <\/b>were tenants. We all worked in the same operations building doing basically the same job.<\/p>

About the Saitozaki fire: I vaguely remember hearing about it, but it happened well before my time at Hakata. I did have an interesting experience with the Saitozaki Fire Dept.\u00a0 Some ofyou may remember when MSG Ken Force’<\/b>s on base quarters burned….. probably 65 or early 66.\u00a0 The base fire dept was on the scene when I arrived, and the two-story house was pretty well involved. They had a hose line laid and were squirting water on the roof, and at the windows….. from a distance. Shortly the Saitozaki FD arrived, laid some half mile of hose, and were the first to enter the house where the fire was, with a hose line.\u00a0 They managed to stop the fire and some personal belonging were salvaged. Having previously been a paid fireman for some time, I was disturbed by the inefficiency of our FD and wrote a letter to the commander of the base. My CO, however, advised me not to send it!!<\/p>

… If I remember correctly, I sent you a copy of the video I made from the old 8mm movies taken in Japan during my tour there. I could never remember the name of the store or just how tall it was, but now I presume it was the Tamaya. We went there many times from Hakata. Most times we went by the ferry, but occasionally I’d ride over in my boat. (Usually, if I came in my boat, it was to shop along the waterfront for boating supplies.) While my wife shopped for the children’s clothes, etc, I always enjoyed the top floor which had a large aquarium store. And of course the girls who were about 10 and 12 then, enjoyed the amusement rides on the roof. Having spent 3 years at Hakata, and 3-1\/2 years in Okinawa, I always wanted to revisit both places, but time, money and circumstances never did fall into place. — Lewis Y. Williams<\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Burt Slesinger, 1950<\/b><\/p>

Date: 8\/5\/1999, 2:56 AM
I was one of the originals at Camp Hakata<\/b>, which was adjacent to Brady Field. This was probably August\/September of 1950<\/b>. We were a detachment out of the 126th Sig Svc Co<\/b> in Kyoto, and had relocated our RDF site from Ashiya AFB (not far from Kokura) when the AF put down perforated steel planking (PSP)<\/b> at Ashiya to handle the mounting number of aircraft brought on by the Korean conflict. We established ourselves on the golf course (7th hole, I think) and tore up more of it with our 2-1\/2s. We were not among the “loved” as a result. However, with orders reading “By Order of General MacArthur,” we were tolerated. — Burt Slesinger<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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John L. Henson, 1954-1955
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Date: Sun, 14 Sep 1997 07:16:44
Since we last corresponded, a lot of memories have flowed into this old mind. It is now Saturday at about 5:00 P.M.,so I will have a little time to reminisce.I enlisted in the Air Force on July 29, 1953 (my Mother’s birthday), and was sent to Sampson Air Force Base at Geneva, NY for basic training. After that I was sent to supply school at Frances E. Warren Air Force Base at Cheyenne, Wyoming. In May of 1954 I spent 15 days on board the USS General W. A. Mann troop ship bound for you guessed it; Yokohoma, Japan. We disembarked at Yokohoma and were shipped to a place called Fuchu Air Station, just outside Tokyo. We were casuals because we were waiting for an assignment to come up. I eventually received mine to Brady. On arriving at the Fukuoka RTO<\/b>, we were greeted by someone and loaded into a 6×6 truck for the glamorous ride to Brady. When we got our quarters assignment, we discovered we were to live in a floored tent until better quarters were available. After about 2 – 3 weeks I was moved into “better quarters” which consisted of the top bunk in a half-moon quonset building with a concrete floor. Imagine the delightful comfort during the Summer in southern Japan. The only consolation was that we had houseboys to keep the place clean and take care of our uniforms. In the fall of 54 I met and fell madly in love with a very beautiful J\/N named Yoko Oide who was employed at the base gym as a reservations clerk for the Japan Travel Bureau. She was gorgeous. I got into a lot of trouble over her. It seems that my boss also liked her. Anyway Yoko and I have been married 42 years on October 24th. I’m not sure, but I think I won.<\/p>

You mentioned the beach house<\/b>. I’m sure it is much nicer now than it was. In the summer of 1954, the Japanese employees went on strike due to communistic influence. We were all placed on alert. We were also on hurricane alert at the same time. I was assigned to guard the beach house, which at that time was only a place to buy hot dogs and cokes. I was just 17 years old and absolutely scared to death. On top of this, they gave a loaded carbine to use. Now I was reallty scared!! About 5:00 A.M. an old man with his dog came walking down the beach just minding his own business. I almost shot him I was so scared.<\/p>

Another thing that might interest you: We flew C-46<\/b>‘s then. Our runways were made of perforated steel. Those were the greatest pilots I have ever seen. In January of 1955, I was transferred to Ashiya AB, and Yoko went with me. Because of the horrific treatment from the authorities, we weren’t allowed to get married until October of 1955, and of course, Yoko had our first child shortly thereafter. Oh well, it didn’t start off very great, but we are still surviving.<\/p>

You are doing some extensive research. I’m proud of you. Most people your age don’t really care. People my age appreciate it. RTO stands for “railway transfer office” or something like that. I can’t remember exactly. I’m aware of the honeycomb markings left by the PSP runways, so a picture isn’t necessary. If you will note the date of the award of the Korean service medal, it was April, 1954. I arrived in May of ’54. However, I am entitled to, and always wore both the Korean and UN service medals. The 315th Air Division<\/b> was headquartered at Tachikawa AB, up near Tokyo. Brady, Itazuke, and Ashiya were subordinate commands. At Brady, we were the 315th Troop Carrier Group<\/b>; at Ashiya we were the 483rd Troop Carrier Group. At Ashiya, we also had a fighter squadron. There were no Army people at Brady, but there were (paratroopers) at Ashiya. Hakata station is, in all likelihood, the same as Brady. We were called occupation forces until shortly after I arrived. There was a status of forces agreement signed between Japan and the US. We then became security forces. The best humanitarian act the Americans did in the ’50s was to help the Japanese economy grow. Both sides had their differences, but we all tried very hard to get along. You can see the results today. I am very proud of the Japanese. They have done very well.<\/p>

You heard right about Ashiya. It was a beautiful base. The town was a little shabby, but G.I. towns always are. The base was very modern for its’ time. Our daughter Anita was born there Nov 2, 1955. And yes, we saw the movie. I have no knowledge of the bunker or underground tunnels. Things like that weren’t talked about in the early ’50’s. About Camp Hakata vis a viz Brady. All I know is that when I left Brady in January of 1955, it was still Brady AB, and Camp Hakata was intact. Hakata Air Station could possibly what I remember as the 610th Security Service station<\/b> which was out the back gate of Camp Hakata. It was an AF communications site. Very hush, hush. The Japanese just called it “610” That’s about all I know for now. — John L. Henson<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Mickey Sallee, 1955-1958
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Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 19:42:28
Greetings from TEXAS! I was in Fuk and Brady in 1955-1958<\/b>. I read your E-Mail from Tom. I will look around here and can probably come up with some pictures back then. I was back over there on vacation in 1988. It had really changed since I was stationed there. I went to Gonosue (sp) and also went out to the barricks that I stayed in. Only pigeons there now. If you have any questions you cannot get answered try me. Hope you get this,for it would be nice to talk to someone over there. — Mickey Sallee<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Bob McKnight, 1956-1958 – COLLECTION<\/a>
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Date: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 20:24:41
From 1956-58 <\/b>I was in the U.S.Army stationed at a small military installation located on the peninsula across Hakata Bay from Fukuoka. We called it Camp Hakata<\/b>, but I don’t think that was it’s official name…it was an old WWII Japanese submarine base, I was told. Being a native Floridian and raised on the beach, I found the area’s weather and beach very similar to my home state. I loved Fukuoka, and had many memorable experiences there! Our ’56 Melbourne Olympic figure skaters were at the old Ice Arena, I also saw the Dodgers<\/b> play the local baseball team (I believe they were called the Lions), and that was Jackie Robinson’s last played baseball game ever. Itazuke AFB was the largest military base in the Fukuoka area (although Ashiya AFB was somewhere nearby). I visited Itazuke many times, in fact I attended the Bob Hope Christmas Show <\/b>there. Itazuke was a jet fighter base, and was important because of it’s close proximity to the Korean mainland. My stay in Japan was a long time ago, but my memories were so fond, that I love to tell stories to my children (now grown), and even my young grandchildren! Some of my ‘old’ comrades have contacted me recently from different parts of the U.S., and I would love to compile some information as to the state of the Fukuoka area today….especially the status of the old military installations, and Japanese landmarks! Please! I don’t want to be a bother about all this, and if you are too busy, I understand. However, any small anecdotes or bits of info would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to hearing from you and send you my best regards!<\/p>

You mentioned the name “Brady” and lights started going off in my mind as I had forgotten that was the other name we used to call Camp Hakata! Since our small base was populated by mostly Air Force dependents (wives and children) of Itazuke personnel, it was generally considered an Air Force installation. However, I was attached to a clandestine Army Security Agency operation there (1956-58) called Field Station 7202<\/b>. We were overseen by the National Security Agency (NSA) and our mission was Top Secret! We also had Naval Security personnel working with us, but I can say that we weren’t subversives and certainly weren’t concerned with anything sinister toward our Japanese Allies. Our Commanding Officer (I don’t believe he would have been the Base Commander, but he may have) was a Colonel Sconyers<\/b>. Brady Air Base was a very nice and comfortable place. Lots of wives and children, a school, many athletic fields\/tennis courts, a 9-hole golf course, officer\/enlisted men’s clubs, a Base Exchange (sort of department store), large warehouses for storing the family’s belongings\/furniture etc, and of course the beach. We used to catch rides on the Air Force Rescue Boat<\/b> to cross the bay to Fukuoka. I will try and take time to reflect and pass on more of my recollections later. I will also check for some old photos that I may have too. Any other means that might be at my disposal, I will try and help. No! I have never returned to Japan, and am sure that it won’t be possible for me to; but I certainly rely on my memories of that wonderful period of my life. You are helping to re-connect some of those memories, and I am very, very appreciative! My eldest son Barry lives in Auburn, Alabama (site of Auburn University) and has asked me to copy him on these communiques, which you may notice that I am doing! Thanks so much for what you are doing! Best regards ’til later…<\/p>

I was hurrying to scan and send the photos (I was about to be late for an appointment), and didn’t check them before e-mailing….oops….! Some didn’t scan too well…especially the ones with lots of sky and landscaping. The original prints are fine, but my North Korean Army surplus scanner has been a little ‘contrary’ lately….so they look a little ‘smudgy’. I’m going to delete and re-scan some of the Hakata Bay scenes, the road to Fukuoka (near Gannosu), and a couple of others…..if you would like any of those re-sent, let me know. I have a few others that I sent to John O’Brien, and he posted on his Itazuke High School Alumni site<\/a>, if you want them.<\/p>

Date: Tue, 06 Apr 1999 10:19:36
Review: Wes is an American teacher who has lived in Fukuoka since 1974…we have communicated for about a year. He is collecting memorabilia on U.S. bases in the area from 1945! I am adding by cc, Bob Perry, a young officer at Brady during our stay! Any\/all of you should feel free to contribute in any way!<\/p>

I’ll try to respond to some of your questions:<\/p>

1) Regarding color copying some of my photos. All are black and white…the ‘monchrome mode’ of coloring you mentioned; is that something my North Korean Army Surplus scanner might be capable of doing?…or a photo shop! I’ll be happy to comply!
2) Location of the Asahi Beer Hall<\/b>: I never knew the address…just downtown…a very attractive, modern, large, restaurant…we just told out cab driver to take us there. I believe it was multi-level (not sure), bright and well lit, with lots of ceiling glass (?). Maybe some of the guys can help!
3) My friend Leonard Lindas’ wedding: It may have been Southern Baptist (not sure, again)….it was protestant! I just remember that the chapel was in Fukuoka…. and it wasn’t large! It had nice, American style furniture (pews and pulpit), in a ‘nice’ part of town.
4) Future 14th ASAFS reunions: It seems that of all the old ASA groups, the 14th is one of the ‘newest’ to begin communicating with each other. I have only been checking things out since February, and Denis’ web site only came online a short while ago. I get a monthly newsletter from Burt Slesinger which gives us reunion updates, obituaries, other ‘scuttlebutt’ about ASAers everywhere, but he’s always asking for input from the Hakata guys…maybe if you sent him a note from Fukuoka, he’d include it! I have heard that Sam Leghorn (cc’d above) and some vets have gotten together in the past. I WILL let you know of any reunion news…count on it!<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>

I did find an old program from Field Station (7202)’s First Anniversary celebration <\/b>on October 15, 1956. That was our name before changing to 14th ASA Field Station. It included Opening Ceremonies with Maj (later Col) Sconyers, Maj Baldwin (Chaplain?) and Capt Taylor (Bob Perry, I think Capt Taylor’s the one who didn’t like my singing in the latrine!) I’ll keep my ‘ear to the ground’ and see if I can scare up more memorabilia…..let me know about the ‘monochrome mode’!<\/p>

Here are a few short remembrances of the area in 1956-57<\/b>:<\/p>

(a) Having lunch and beer at the ‘Asahi Beer Hall<\/b>‘ in Fukuoka….no, not what you may think….it was a very nice, bright, roomy restaurant downtown…sort of a ‘meeting place’. Delicious yakamish (sp?) [yakimeshi], heaping fried rice, very good food.
(b) Catching a ride on the U.S. Air Force Rescue Boat<\/b> from Brady to Fukuoka (and back)….picking a cab at the dock to go downtown….A much shorter trip than taking the bus through Gannosu, and enjoying the fragrant fertilized crop fields along the way. This speedboat practiced with helicopters from Itazuke to rescue fliers who might go down in Hakata Bay.
(c) Fukuoka was still developing and recovering from WWII, and I was so fascinated at the industriousness, and zeal with which the local people worked. Many buildings had the bamboo scaffolding around them….tied together with straw rope. I read somewhere that the population of Fukuoka was 400,000. It was a very sports oriented city….the Lions were the Japan Baseball Champs in 1956 or 57. During lunch hour, it seemed everyone set aside time to have a brief baseball game in whatever space available….laborers, professionals, everyone! My friend Ken Farmer reminded me recently that he attended the Dodgers baseball exhibition game<\/b> with me at Fukuoka’s baseball park. The Dodgers played the Lions, and a fun time was had by all…..Duke Snyder in right field would throw a part of his uniform into the bleachers each inning…..shoes, socks, shirt, cap, glove, until he was wearing only his trousers and tee shirt at the end of the game. Gil Hodges on first base would keep a spare ball in his pocket…act like he missed catching the throw to first, when the runner headed for second, he would throw his spare ball for the tag at second. PeeWee Reese at shortstop, Jackie Robinson 3rd (I was told this was his final baseball game…they went back to the states, and he retired), Roy Campanella was catcher…and on and on…..!
(d) The U.S. Olympic Figure Skaters<\/b> appeared at the Sports Arena with the Japanese Olympians. Silver Medalist, Carol Heiss performed (Wow!), the male skater was named Tim Brown I think. Being from Florida, I had never seen anyone ice skate before, except in the movies, and I was captivated. The Japanese spectators were so appreciative of the show, and ‘oooooed and ahhhhhed’ constantly.
(e) There was still some lingering resentment to our (military) presence by a few Japanese. WWII had only been over a little more than 10 years, and we had to be on guard against those who still wanted to fight the war. We were always restricted to our base each May 1st…..when the communists had their annual celebration. Some of our personnel could have used some better behavior too…..what citizen would appreciate an obnoxious, drunken foreign soldier in his streets?
(f) I remember the seaweed being harvested along the Hakata Bay shore near the Brady warehouses. I’m still not sure what it was, but the seaweed would be spread along the poles (that were connected somehow) in the shallow water.
(g) When I came to Brady in 1956, our Army Security Agency<\/b> detachment was called Field Station 7202<\/b>. It was being expanded and our facilities modernized, and the name was changed to 14th ASA Field Station<\/b>. Our wood framed operations building was replaced with a mansonry, air-conditioned, state-of-the-art facility. Our barracks (the twin building to the Headquarters Bldg) was formerly a military hospital. Not sure if it was a Japanese WWII hospital, but it was used during the Korean conflict…still had the covered outdoor corridors so patients being moved would be protected from the weather. New, modern barracks were built behind the HQ Bldg in 1957…near the tennis courts….only a short walk down the sandy path to Hakata Beach. There were the WWII bomb shelters….still there, near the bay. I was told that Brady had been a Japanese Naval Submarine Base during WWII….but I never confirmed that. We had a 9-hole golf course<\/b>…..the ‘greens’ were sand….not grass. Female Japanese caddies would use long wooden ‘smoothers’ (my description) to drag a smooth path between the golf ball and the cup…..imagine chipping from the grass covered fairway onto a sand ‘green’….then having your caddy drag a two-foot wide smooth path to the cup for you. We had lots of fun, and the caddies were quite good….they knew the game well!
(h) I had always been an athlete, so Brady was great for me. I played on our football, basketball, softball, and volleyball teams. Played tennis almost daily, and enjoyed golf now and then. There were several school teachers residing in the Officers Quarters who played tennis with us. We had a very nice gynmasium, where we played basketball….the judo\/karate guys worked out there also. Of course the softball, volleyball, field was right in front of the HQ Bldg\/old barracks.
(i) I remember going to a Fukuoka theater to see the Academy Award winning movie, “The Bridge Over The River Kwai”. The dialog was in Japanese with English subtitles. I’ve got to confess that I got a little apprehensive at times during the movie. If you are familiar with it, there are some scenes that aren’t very complimentary to the Japanese soldiers…..of course, the words were spoken usually before the subtitles appeared, so there would be noticable stirrings among the Japanese moviegoers at times, before my friends and I knew what the actors were saying. When we all exited the theater, the stony silence was deafening! I was ready to go back to Brady!
(j) One of my friends had a bachelors degree from an Oregon college….his girl friend was graduating from Oregon State Univ and they planned to be married at Brady. She arrived, the military paperwork got messed up, so they arranged for a wedding at a protestant missionary chapel in Fukuoka. They asked my friend Blair Stock from Salt Lake City and me to be in the wedding. It was a very nice little chapel, several Japanese helped with the ceremony….Blair (we called him ‘Poop’) and I flipped a coin to see who would be ‘best man’…..he won, so I was ‘maid of honor’! About two weeks ago (March1999) I located Lorene Lindas in Portland, Oregon….called her (first time we had talked in 42 years)….she said Leonard had died in 1995…..he was a psychologist (PhD from Univ of Oregon)…..she remembered me as her ‘maid of honor’…..needless to say, I was very moved.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>

P.S. Have not heard from Chuck Wolfe or seen Mickey Sallee since our brief encounter!<\/p>

P.S. Remind me to tell you the story about how that coal stack got so big in Saitozaki. I have a good story…long before us at the 14th.<\/p>

Time: 1999-02-21 19:06:05
Comments: Thanks for the site! I was at 14th ASAFS (previously Fld Sta 7202 amongst other previous designations) from mid ’56 thru early ’58. Our base became Brady AFB while I was there (I think). Played sports and met some of the greatest of the ‘Top Ten Percent’! I have a few scanned photos and would love to hear from some of my comrades… Robert Blair ‘Poop’ Stock from SLC, Utah; ‘Hap’ Livengood-Pekin, IL; Gus Andico-Netcong, NJ; Harley Thomas-Springhill,LA; and a host of great guys.<\/p>

Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1999 09:03:01
I just finished talking to Ben<\/b> by phone! He’s excited that you received his letter, and looks forward to helping with your project. I told you about his collection of photos, slides, and other memorabilia….but did I tell you that he has an uncanny memory of details about the area? He was talking about his last visit to Brady (last year I think), and described recollections of places\/landmarks in more detail than I can remember. Ben is an interesting character, and has apparently lived an eventful life after the Army. He can be more descriptive than I, but here’s an example…. last Saturday, he was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall Of Fame….the only athlete on record to be All-State for 4 consecutive years in high school! He has an abiding love for the Hakata Bay area, and I’ll let him tell you about his contribution of books and other stuff to some school kids he visited in Saitozaki (or Gannosu?)!! I’ll gladly help in your communications with Ben! If you want to e-mail him, just address it to me, and I’ll snail mail it promptly….just as I’m going to copy this and mail! — Bob McKnight<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Ben Phillips, 1957-1959 COLLECTION<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

From “Station Hypo” website:
24 June 2020 at 15:54
I was one of the first personnel at the 14th US ASA Field Station. It was the 7202th Field Station<\/strong> to start with. It changed to the 14th just as I arrived there in March of 1957, March 5th. I loved my time at the 14th Brady Air Base. I got to meet and keep a lot of great friends from my time there. I was at the 14th from Feb 1957 until May 1959. — SP5 Benjamin F. Phillips<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Jack Crouch, 1957<\/b><\/p>

Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 14:20:37 From: Robert Mc Knight
I just received a snail-mail letter from Jack Crouch….some of you may not have known Jack….but I’ll transcribe the letter below and let ya’ll sort it out….I enjoy hearing from you guys and sharing it, more that you can probably imagine……..<\/p>

Dear Bob,
Got your hard copy e-mail. I was happy to hear from you. I’ll tell you how I got into the agency…. I quit high school with only 7 H.S. credits (10th grade). Somehow scored big on the entrance test. They wanted to send me to language school in Monterey, CA. I didn’t know there were 26 letters in the alphabet until they sent me to Ft Devens to become a radio traffic analyst. Had a crash course in the alphabet….Spent 8 months in Ft Devens. I became a chief fireman of the coal burning furnaces. Then I went to Tokyo on a slow boat from Seattle (17) days. Later found out the Bering Sea is the most dangerous place on the planet in November! Everyone got sick on the boat except Jenkins and myself. We spent some time in Tokyo; then they sent us to Okinawa until Jan then; then we wnt to Tokyo; then to 7202\/14th ASA. I was on days-tricks-played football. NO, I’m from Dublin, TX (Lions) NOT Odessa. (My Note: I had asked if Jack was from Odessa, and if he was the guy we called “the fastest white boy in west Texas..BobMcK..continue) I was a back on defense and a wing or end or wide receiver. I “was” fast, NOT now…unless I’m on my “Harley”. Played on the Ft Devens team – Tokyo team – and the 14th ASA team<\/b>… had lots of fun. Played golf… not as good.<\/p>

Bob, the seaweed harvest was done by placing poles out in the water with a long net attached between. When the tide came in, the seaweed floated on top of the water, and when it went out it would settle on the nets. Then they would gather it into baskets and spread it out on the mats placed on the beach. “Spitler” and I did a research project on this over a few bottles of VO straight out of the jug. We even ate some of the small silver fish that were trapped in the nets. They were cooked, eyeballs, guts and all. Very tasty crunchie little devils. As to the seaweed, they cut it into little bundles and sold it like chips. We tried it also…when it got wet in your mouth it has the same consistency as footlong boiled okra. If you were not careful, your toe nails would come up thru your stomach…yuck! We never got the hang of it. Very high in protein…looks like green celophane paper…But don’t get it wet, it returns to the sea! Something I was impressed with was the airborne outfit that was briefly stationed near us. They would run down the street screaming AIRBORNE AIRBORNE…then stand in front of out sleeping quarters running in rank doing the airborne exercise. Somehow they thought we slept all the time. Well, the “old” Colonel came out and very nicely asked them to move away from our barracks. I’m sure some choice words were passed. Anyway, orders were cut for them to move out to Korea within the day. They flew their asses off th Korea and they made a night jump over there. Never did hear a word out of them. I’ll bet that captain was wondering who the hell that old colonel knew!! That was funny…Don’t mess with my men or you will pay…boy did they.<\/p>

When I got out of the agency, Chuck Wolfe<\/b> and I went to Ranger Jr College…Ranger, Tx for 1 semester (Jan ’58-May’58). This launched my college….I graduated from TCU in Jan ’62. I worked for H.J. Heinz Food; Gulf Oil; International Minerals and Chemicals; Farmland Omchem Products; Union Carbide; then got into the farm supply business in Athens, TX (Athens Feed And Supply)..retired…. then went to work for Pecan Valley MHMR (private not state). Saw Mickey Sallee<\/b> in ’74….met his brother Bill. Mickey and I were in a hotel across the bay one time and he said, “Crouch, someday I’ll build me a bath house just like this.” Well, in ’74, he asked me out to his house and sure enough, he had built that bath house just like the one we were sitting in. Very impressive. Mick never forgot what he had said. I think Spitler<\/b> was with us. Bob, a few years back U.S. News and World Report published our total mission in their magazine. I just wonder if anyone of you read the article…I think I kept the copy but have to look for it. The report told about the Army, Navy, Air Force in the time from when we were there. They use lots of computers\/satellites now. I talked to a career man in the ASA, retired. He could not believe how we did our job in the stone age! Hope to hear from you soon. — Jack Crouch<\/p><\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Harley Thomas, 1957-1959 – COLLECTION<\/a><\/b><\/p>

Date: Sun, 18 Apr 1999 10:21:36 From: Robert Mc Knight
I received a snail-mail letter with photos from Harley Thomas yesterday! I will send scanned copies out on separate e-mails, and snail mail to those without computers. Harley is retired in his hometown of Springhill, LA…..he was at the 14th from the summer of ’57 til ’59….with a short temporary duty stay in Formosa in ’58 before returning to the 14th. He had played high school football with Heisman winner John David Crow, and later played for Louisiana Tech…..he was on our team at Brady<\/b>. I will e-mail 9 photos in sets of three….(1) ‘Oakie’ Lanier<\/b> (2) Larry Calicoat<\/b> (3) softball players (4) group outside of barracks (5) street along side of Hq bldg (6) main street in front of Hq bldg (7) Brady Chapel (8) 3 guys on TDY in Formosa (9) Harley and friends at Devens! ….. Here is my transcription of his letter:<\/p>

4-14-99
Dear Bob;
Well I’m finally getting around to writing this letter. This retirement business keeps a fellow a lot busier than I thought it would. Also, I’ve been going through my old stuff to see what I have. Penmanship is not one of my better gifts, but maybe you can decipher my meaning, you being an old code man. I really enjoyed hearing from you and talking to you. You’re right, that was a special time in our lives, and that was a special bunch of guys. Everyone got along fine. When you fellows came down from Kyoto, everything fell into place as if you’d been there forever. I can’t remember a single serious disagreement among any of the guys. I am enclosing some pictures. Maybe you can put some names with them. I don’t have many pictures. Mostly 35mm slides. I have quite a few of those…mostly of the country. If you’d like to look at them, I’d be glad to ship them to you. Again, I enjoyed hearing from you and talking. I’ll continue to look through my things and try to locate some more pictures. I have a book somewhere with some names and addresses. If you are ever up this way, look me up. I’m not hard to find. There aren’t that many people living in Springhill. The best to you and yours. — Harley Thomas<\/p><\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Sam Leghorn, 1957-1958<\/b><\/p>

Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1999 11:39:02 From: Robert Mc Knight
I am attaching this from Sam Leghorn in New Windsor, NY…. note his remembrance of the Asahi Beer Hall. I’m sure other’s recall it and can give you more information.<\/p>

Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 19:16:51 EDT
Bob,
I really got to tell you that you have a great memory. I have been enjoying your letters concerning the 14th ASA Field Station<\/b>. I arrived at Brady in September of 1957 and stayed untill September of 1958. I worked in the closed room with Gus Andico<\/b> being outside the door. Your writings about the Asahi Beer Hall<\/b> brought back memories. I remember a few of the guys by name like Mickey Sallee<\/b> and maybe Ken Farmer<\/b>. I know I would know some of these guys if I saw them. Gus has some pictures and I am going to ask him to bring them up next time he comes, maybe we can put the names to the faces. He remembers quite a bit about our time at the 14th I also enjoyed the Web sites you put me on to. They were really great. I even got to log in on Two Rock Ranch in California were I was prior to coming to Brady. Again it was great going down memory lane. I am saving all correspondence for Gus Andico to read. Take care of Yourself and Family. — Sam Leghorn<\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Bob Perry, 1958<\/strong><\/p>

Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1999 09:17:09 From: Robert Mc Knight
Here is a reply I received from ASA Lt Bob Perry a few days ago. He was at Brady in 1958.<\/p>

Date: Wed, 7 Apr 1999 13:40:38 -0400
Bob,
I wonder if the tennis player was that Polish blonde from Chicago? Wasn’t the golf course in the antenna farm<\/b>? I played some golf and bowled but mostly had one of the sailboats down at the dock area, sailing whenever possible. I believe there were several 8-9 sailboats belonging to the 14th<\/b>. I distinctly remember all the Japanese workers playing baseball during their noon hour. I was amazed when they turned out in full uniform! Another remembrance is the bomb shelters<\/b> on the beach and how some of them were full of contraband goods such as sheets of plywood. And the trucks full of other contraband parked in the residential area during AG inspections. Aside from Col. Sconyers<\/b>, the only other officer I remember and kept in touch with was Lt. then Capt. Warren Ellis<\/b>. He was a ocs mustang that ended up a bird Col. and commander of Homestead FS in Florida. After retirement he got his law degree and is practicing law in OK. I was extremely interested in the pictures having lost mine in the 70’s. — Bob Perry<\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Mickey Sallee, 1955-1958<\/strong> (see also above entry)
<\/b><\/p>

Subject: Re: Old Times
Date: Mon, 03 May 1999 10:21:14 -0400
From: Robert Mc Knight
To: Mickey Sallee
Now your e-mails are coming in fine….both to my mediaone and usa addresses! I talked with Ben Phillips just after your message arrived, and read it to him over the phone. He was glad that we’ve finally made contact also! BTW, Ben just sent me some excellent photos (taken around ’58) of Brady, and of some of the guys and Japanese too…I may have told you that already. He wrote some descriptions on back of the pics, but his imported Red Chinese ink smeared, and I can’t make out a thing! I’ve connected him with Wes Injerd (the American educator living in Fuke since ’74). and they are in the process of exchanging photos….Wes just e-mailed to let me know that he is sending Ben photos of Brady just as it was being torn down. When I get copies, I’ll be sure and send them out! Mickey, please let me know the dates when you arrived and left Brady. Include any other locations to which you were assigned also. I’m trying to compile this on my ‘roster’ sheet to help us recollect who\/and who else we knew at particular times. For instance, some guys I knew, may have arrived or left after or before other guys I knew (does that make sense? I’m not sure it does to me!) Harley Thomas, Ken Farmer, and Ben<\/b> were telling me about going to Formosa on TDY, after I had already gone home….were you with them? Since you told me that you are not able to pull up the scanned photos I’m e-mailing, I’ll try a new method on my next batch….let me know if it works! What did you do when you came back from Japan? Did you go back to school (?) rustle cattle (?) strike oil (?) marry Ross Perot’s daughter (?)…… My wife Marilyn and I met when I came back to the Univ of Fla….she was the best looking thing there….runner-up in the Orange Bowl queen contest….a native girl from the orange groves and lakes of central Florida (near Orlando)….and has presented me with four of the neatest kids I could ever ask for. When I told her that I was an ex-spy for the NSA and that I knew James Bond personally, she was impressed. As I’ve said before, my motive in all this ‘networking’ madness, is just to inter-connect with as many of us as possible, tell a few lies, laugh a little, wipe a tear or two, and have a good time! I’m looking forward to hearing back from you! — Bob McKnight<\/p>

Hjsallee wrote:<\/p>

I can not believe that I finally got in touch with you. I have been receiving all your mail except the pictures. You put them where I could not find them. I can’t believe that you have gotten in touch with so many of the 14th. I have been to a few reunions, but I did not go to the last one. With the contacts that you have it could be a really big one. I don’t remember all the guys, but I do remember you and the ones that were in that football stance in Gonnosu. Spitler, Teague, Tank, Stout, Woffe, Couch Harrison<\/b>, and a few others. If I saw pictures I’m sure that I would remember them. You asked about Poop. Many years ago I was coming back from Vegas and he was on the same plane with him, but I never got to talk to him. I did go back to Japan on vacation and I saw our old barrack. Pigeons were living in it. It was still intact, but there was a freeway about 40 feet from where the chow hall was. I also went to Gonnosu and the bar is a house now. The little bar on the corner was still there. Everything has changed so from when we were there. My wife and I stayed four days in Fukuoka, four in Kyoto and four in Tokyo. It cost $125.00 to catch a cab from the airport to downtown Tokyo. A hamburger $8.00. I was going to have a camoda (sp) [kimono] made for my wife, but the cheapest was $2000.00. An apple cost $5.00. I was glad to get out of Japan and to Hong Kong. Much cheaper. Your friend, Mickey Sallee<\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Tony Livengood, 1957-<\/strong><\/p>

Date: 6\/12\/1999, 10:46 AM
We had a great time at Hakata, both my wife and I were much younger then and had only been married sixteen days when I left for Japan. I arrived on Jan.2 1957<\/strong>[?] and got things together to bring her over. She came in April of that same year. It was a little like a long honeymoon. Times were hard at first. I was only an E-3 and the Army had not issued me a wife, so they did not authorize me to have one. They would not give us seperate rations (what married soldiers who do not live in the barracks or eat in the mess hall get). So at first I would go to the mess hall to eat and slip food out for my wife in my field jacket pocket. We pretty quickly learned how to live on the local economy and got by fine. After a year and a half of living off base, with no hot water, I made E-5 and all at once the Army issued me a wife. Paulette became legal. We were then allowed to move on base into a quadplex. I can remember Paulette and our friend Margie running through the house turning on the hot water and just letting it run they were so excited to have hot water again. We have a lot of pictures and would be pleased to share them, but I do not have a scanner. Tell me about yourself, how did you first come to Japan. From what you said I got the idea you may have been a missionary. We are Southern Baptist and met a couple of Southern Baptist Missionaries while we were in Japan. I do not remember their name. — Tony Livengood<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Dick Bourbeau, 1957-1959<\/b><\/p>

Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 00:41:36
Sorry for the delay in responding. I was in the Hawaiian the past 3 weeks. Got to see Tendo while in Honolulu. I was at Itazuke and Fukuoka. All the photos and slide I took while there were stolen out of my car in the early 70’s. Sorry I can not help you! Happy Spring!
I guess I don’t have any specific memories of note worthy of sharing with someone who did not share the experiences with me. I did enjoy the camaraderie on base and the weekend trips to Fukuoka for Kobe Beef dinners on the Ginza. I suppose that now they are priced beyond a reasonable man’s means. Having grown up with the shoreline under feet during the summertime, I truly enjoyed the convenience of Brady Beach, except in the heat of the summer, when the eels and stinging jelly fish invaded the waters. The waters I am accustomed to never attracted these creatures of pain. Also, I enjoyed the trips to Mt. Daisen for skiing and touring Nagasaki and Sasebo. I guess you are truly in love with Japan.\u00a0 Some day in my retirement, it might be nice to return for a visit. — Dick Bourbeau<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Charlie Ferrell, 1958-1959 –<\/strong> COLLECTION<\/a><\/b><\/p>

Date: 9\/9\/2001, 12:21 AM
My wife Kayoko and I were at Hakata Station in 1958 and 1959, by way of Miho and Kyoto. — Charlie and Kayoko Ferrell<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Don West, 1959 – COLLECTION<\/a><\/b><\/strong><\/p>

2\/21\/2002, 2:58 PM
During my short stay at Itazuke and Brady I met several Christian Americans and Japanese. My best friend was a young piano student by the name of Yukio Arihisa (I’ve got several pictures of him — and me). He aspired to become a concert pianist and was almost good enough then. But I’ve never heard any more about him. In the past, I’ve not been one to stay in touch with people. There were a few others but I don’t remember their names.
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After nav-aid systems training at Brady I was sent to Moriyama Beigun Kichi — a small camp at the base of a small mountain range near Sakaiminato Shi (a fishing city). With lots of extra time on my hands, I made the acquaintance of some Alliance missionaries by the name of Van Schooten in Yonago City. They had a couple of small boys at that time, lived as the Japanese did– very frugally — and put their kids in Japanese schools where they became fluent in Japanese as well as English. You probably saw the photos on my website of these fine people, who often fed me and my friends, invited me to services conducted in Japanese. I remember singing “What A Friend We Have in Jesus” in Japanese, and to this day I remember most if not all of the words. “Itsukushimi fukaki, tomo naru Iesu wa…\u00a0 Tsumi toga ureii wo, tori sari tamawan.” etc. I also learned several of the pop songs, namely “Nangoku Tosa-wo,” and “Akai hi, aoi hi, tomori machi kado ni..” from a movie I believe. I sang these for years in talent shows after returning to the states. Unfortunately I never returned even for a visit, and I may never, but do dream about it sometimes. If there were even one good reason for brushing up on and continuing to learn the language — written as well as spoken — I’d probably do it. But marriage and a family, the workaday world, squelched most of my ambition for years.
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Guess you don’t need to hear all this. But I’ll mention another good man I came to know and respect, a Rev. Spencer in Matsue, who taught the Eigo Kai (English clubs) at Shimane University. I even brought my reel tape recorder and made a stereo tape of the class — with a picture of the class on the front cover. I should still have it somewhere and will be going through all my old stuff to dig up whatever might be of interest to me now. The Spencers had 6 or 8 children and lived in a rather elegant home provided by their Baptist convention — Southern, I think. I was a Southern Baptist and a member at the First Church in Houston, Owen K. White, Pastor, for over a year, sang in the choir for our Sunday evening radio broadcasts.<\/p>

Yes, Japan is still in my heart though somewhat faded over the years. It’s more like a distant dream than a reality now. Ironically, I just bought a sub-woofer for my home theater system and, to give it a good try, purchased the movie “Pearl Harbor,” nearly 4 hours long! Watched it last night. What a contrast between the old Samurai mentality war lords and the peace-loving people I met when I was over there! — Don West<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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1960's<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Jack Braverman, 1960-1962
<\/b><\/p>

Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 09:49:21
From 1960-1962 I was A<\/b>rmy S<\/b>tingy A<\/b>gency, TTY Intercept<\/b>. LIved in Gannosu the whole time, and had one wonderful vacation after five hard years in college. You may not recall, but there was also a small detachment of swabbies from Sasebo in Ops then, too. I’m pressed for time, but I will tell you two things. Via internet I came across a doctor who was there until the base actually closed. He, also, claimed it was one of the very best periods of his life–and wishes he could retire to the base housing and walk on the beach till he departs this world. Also, thanks to the national electronic tel. directory, I was able to trace another Bradian whom I admired greatly. So, after 35 yrs, I called him up and knocked his socks off. He married the girl he had been living with; she was from Shikano-shima, that island at the end of the peninsula. They are still married, happy, and have several sons. Happy ending, no? He goes back every few years, including last summer, when he sent lots of pix. Nothing is left, except, maybe, the hangars. That whole area where the main post\/main road is now the amusement park. There is actually an express way, with high toll, going right down the center of the peninsula. Gannosu can hardly be recognized for the development.<\/p>

You contacted at least one of the “right” people. I’ve been on a years-long campaign to track the history of Brady, sardonically called “the Riviera of the Far East<\/b>” by the Army personnel who served there about 1960. The place intrigued me–and even now “haunts” me. (Special usage on that word: scrub the spiritual element from the connotation.) I became fascinated by the base, too. And over the last three decades I have constantly read and researched when I was able. To understand the base, you must realize that it had been a WWII complex of three bases. The hangers at Gannosu, along with the ramp, made up a seaplane installation. The massive hangars in there area where the park now stands were also a seaplane installation. Then, just as the road to Saitozaka leaves the base area–perhaps there is still the remains of a guard shack–there was a long series of wooden barracks perpendicular to it (the road) under a stand of pine trees. In front of these was a dirt field. This was a J. army air field.<\/p>

Just what the mission of these bases were, I haven’t any idea. I suspect that they were just part of the general military buildup at the end of the 1930s. That seaplanes were stationed there at the narrowest part of the _Genkai Nada_ probably means that their mission was to help rescue, or perhaps to carry out patrol. (The Straits were too shallow for subs to operate in, so they never entered the area.) It’s doubtful that they were ever bombed or even straffed, for the records of such activities were not noted in U.S. official records. I think Fuk. got hit once. Ergo, what your curiosity is faced with is the classic archeological strata situation. I lived in Gannosu; in the late ’50s and early ’60s the work done on the base was pretty much 9-to-5 in nature. As long as one didn’t cause any trouble, one could do as one wanted. Just before reaching the Shika. side of Gannosu, the bus girls would call out “Crubbu-jo-mae!” On the bay side there was a low, wide building under some pines. I can recall a partly paved road leading back to it. I guess this was a service club when the airfield was used for Korean War. (Nobody ever got off there. I always mused on just how much custom persists in J.)<\/p>

Well, I’ll send along more vignettes as I recall. Just recently I realized that I _never_ took any pix on the base! It wasn’t that I hated the army; it was more a total disinterest in it. All mine are of Japan, a concentration which I’m sure you will understand.<\/p>

Frankly, for reasons I will describe in good time, I believe that the J. aren’t interested in the subject of the Occupation. Hwvr, as long as you have that friend in Kashii, let be suggest that you ask him about the Amer-Asian orphanage which, I believe, was in Wajiro, or there abouts. Every pay day we were asked to donate to its upkeep. I always did, for I was greatly ashamed that so many of my fellow citizens had left behind major responsibilities–which they should have recognized and accepted.<\/p>

You might try to find about just how much of the Uminonakamichi was filled in. One of the problems I had in speaking to the “live-in girls” (as opposed to bar girls), who were the main source of info, was that conversations usually came to an abrupt halt after one factoid. _Mucashi mucashi_ one of them told me that there had been a great deal of land filling. All follow-ups were met with blank stares. (mucashi should have been _mukashi_, of course.)<\/p>

You asked about bar girls. Alas, I can be of little help. I visited bars in Saitozaki twice, and one of those times was compulsory due to an office Xmas party. It wasn’t superiority so much. I found them boring. Once the dozen or so pat questions had been asked and answered, it was all smiles and that mock astonishment (“Waaaaaaaah???”) which seems to be a stock comedy reaction in low-level servants in the films. (The intrusive maid, for example.) Anyway being called “Honey-chan” didn’t cause much of a reaction in me.<\/p>

Also I had just come out of five years of intensive liberal majors and minors, and I guess I wanted to spend my _okane_ on travel and cultural experiences (I date myself. Liberal here means liberal ed., not political attitudes.) Not infrequently I would think up some zany Suggestion of the Month, get my three-day reward pass, and leave from the Hakata station on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. or so. Destination Kyoto. Had to sit up all night. Arrived at six in the morning. Spend the next two days visiting all the shrines. Had a few good meals, to bed late, up at dawn, and wandered around with map. On Sunday there was a noon train which could get me back to Gannosu on Sunday p.m. via last bus.<\/p>

To the point: you would do well to read these pieces to look into the war-time mind, and the defeated spirit. One of them, written as the Korean War was in progress, is called “The One Only.” This seems to have been a period term to denote the kind of prostitute who stayed with one man–probably an American soldier– continuously, and, unfortunately, serially. (Sadly, there was no J. equivalent; just the English.) I bring this phrase up because it suggests that there was a face-saving hierarchy among the “girls,” a kind of social stratification. At the bottom, there were street walkers; then bar girls; then what we called “live ins” or one-onlys. Beyond that there _may_ have been a chance at having some sort of relationship with a middle class girl, but I suspect that the male would have had to be a college graduate, and the girl sincerely interested in learning English. I was able to date a charming and educated clerk from Maruzen, where I spent hours pawing the books. Whatever her motives, I never met her family. Hwvr, you should understand that the above social orderings were _probably_ subordinate to an identical group which did _not_ associate with _gaijin_, especially soldiers–and enlisted men at that. It was really _outre_ conduct from the village point of view. (Here I extend the concept of village to the neighborhood.) Furthermore, many of the girls who associated with GIs had substandard, little, or even no educations. They dropped out for reasons I have no insights into. It’s doubtful that many could read the 1300 ideograms SCAP mandated. In fact, I know a few instances of not being very comfortable with _kanji_. I often wondered just how they were treated in the village _koseki_. Perhaps they maintained the illusion of remaining at home even though it was actually an infrequent visit. Certainly they almost _never_ told the GIs their real names. All this I observed in passing from afar. I believe it is essentially correct. Others may berate such ideas, but then we see what life has prepared us to see. As Henry James was given to say, Point of view is everything. I remain in awe at your ability to unearth The Past. And my conscience is itching me to get back to one of yr. earlier msg. and answer it. Life is short; art is long; e-mail is demanding.<\/p>

I just reread yr. msg. ref. in Subj. block. Disabuse yourself, sir, of such ideas as gorgeous bar girls. Camp Brady had little relation to Somerset Maugham’s “Rain.” Rita Heyworth may have done much to upgrade the looks of the island-hopping whore, but reality yielded only plain faces covered with to much cosmetics and half-hidden in soft light. OH, and vision was beclouded by Suntory in most cases. They were for the most part farm girls. Beauties would have had the self awareness to have done better. P.S. I worked in the Hq Bldg. for some months. What was the interpreter’s name. May have known him.<\/p>

Can’t give you a definitive answer re the “rings” in the asphalt, because I lack a good visual image of what you have in mind. Thus as a guess, I’m goint to assume that you see horizontal lines of rings about 3\/4 in. apart. Then parallel lines perhaps 12 in. separation. Yes? During WWII, it was _so_ necessary to have fighter airstrips as close to the front lines as possible that instant anding (landing) fields were created by laying interlocking “mats” of steel together, thereby creating a stable surface. The mats were light enough to be placed by two men. They were “corrugated” in the sense that there were alternating raised and lowered levels. In each of the levels, holes had been placed (punched?) to lighten the mat–much as bridge construction today has spaces in the steel. I make the assumption that you are seeing the outline of those holes. In fact, Brady Air Field, along with a related one at Ashiya, were used during the Korean War. The heavy cargo planes probably pressed the mats into the original surface.<\/p>

On another matter, I have no idea who the base commander was. It was of no interest to me–except that I had to memorize a chain of command beginning with my squad NCO and going up to the White House. (Something like going from the assistant pastor back to Pius XII\/John XXIII. There was _that_ much orthodoxy expressed in a ready answer.) The field grade officers existed in a pantheon not frequented by the likes of me, a lowly EM. I worked in an office right next to the army’s commander, passed him every day at least once, and never got a nod. Being trained in Xtian _and_ democratic egalitarianism, I judged it all veddy, veddy amusing. (Do you\/ did you ever read the British colonial novels? Greene. _Jewel in the Crown_? That’s how I framed the situation: a class- conscious society artificially created by so much khaki material and gold braid. The village life of Gannosu, along with a 6-mat _heya_ cum _tokonoma_ were excellent antidotes.)<\/p>

When speaking of the Lucky sign just where the road curves and near the _matsu_, I recalled that it was a spot near and dear to all who were out after the midnight curfew. And those, me, who had to return to base before the 6 a.m. end of the curfew. That area just outside the main gate and across the road was the base beach. There were tall cyclone fences which protected it, but over time there were parts one could squeeze through. I would walk in from Gannosu at about 5:30 a.m., slip through the fence, walk up to a spot opposite the pines, cross the road, and squeeze through another fence to get on base without being seen. (As I mentioned, as long as one didn’t cause any trouble, most infractions were overlooked. For example, there was no bed check which would have flagged me as “shacking” off base.) Most knew of the pines, and welcomed the cover they offered. They were very lovely, too.<\/p>

My next reflection will be, alas, on my disagreement with your assumption that the U.S. military did much to help the J. rebuild after the war–esp. in Fuk. Also thrown in will be a suggestion that the J. would like very much to conveniently forget that their country had been occupied for the first time in a thousand years.<\/p>

You asked about the cyclone fences on the beach. Out of respect for your interests: in the period of _at least_ 1961-1962 (of which I know) there were privacy fences which marked off the army’s authorized swimming area. Theoretically other stretches were pretty much off limits. I swam off the Gannosu beach, but not in August when the Portuguese man-of-war came floating by _en masse_. Imagine standing with yr. back to the main gate. Look directly across the street. There was something of a well-packed, wide path onto the beach area. At the left and right extremities, there were the basic cyclone fences running from near the road down into low tide areas of the sand. My impression was that it marked off the authorized swimming area more than excluded those who wandered the coast, although it did the latter, too–unless one was walking in from Gannosu\/Nata during the curfew. By 1962 the Gannosu side fence was askew from tidal action and wind. There was a section which could be squeezed through so that one could not be seen from the guard shack at the main gate, as one would have been by walking close to the main road. They were perhaps 10 ft., or more, tall.<\/p>

This is all so much guess work, but it should be kept in mind that Camp hakata was some sort of evac. base during Korea. The way that the covered walkways were laid out behind the stand-alone barracks suggested that wheel chairs and\/or gurneys were used. It may be that the place was a “short time” rest area, too. I once looked through an official history of the Medical Corps and found some ref. to the place during Korea. I’ll go back and dig up the facts. (It’s a well-known set of histories.) One of the fundamental insights about Brady, and all before it, was that it is the closest crossing point to the mainland from J. (That’s why Dazaifu exists.) Whether sail power or DC-3s\/ C-47s, travelers feel safer crossing water at narrow points.<\/p>

There was a persistent rumor when I was at Brady that the coal tipple which could then be seen from the Saito.-Shika. road was the site of a coal mine which had used POW labor mercilessly in the War. Never found any more facts, although I did look up a ref in a survey of coal mines in J. It indicated a mine right at that spot. I am _sure_ that I read in a history some years ago that, once the Imperial Rescript had been read, some young Turk–to use the cliche–officers rounded up a truck load of B-29 crewmembers and took them out to the Umino. penin. They were forced to kneel and then beheaded. For some reason I have it in mind that this took place between Wajiro and Gannosu, although I can’t recall if this is an accurate memory of the account or a historical recreation on my part. So much for the absolute necessity of following the emperor’s orders. When it was convenient and advantageous, Do it! When it involved the destiny of the empire, well, let’s follow a higher principle.<\/p>

Did you know St. Francis Xavier spent one night in Hakata? Went away in disgust when he realized the Buddhist monks were buggering the acolytes.<\/p>

The former State Dept. sec. called me back. Seems that she had written a letter to a friend once she reached Tokyo, and on impulse she copied it out and saved it. (The prev. ref. to diary was incorrect.) Kind woman that she is, she called me back and read it to me. She claimed that the American staff had three days to burn papers. I tried to confirm this in my history books, but facts in the surveys were slim on early details. Seoul is so close to the border that I wonder if her memory is correct: there were 70,000 troops in the invasion force, but few Korean and American troops in the area. The dependents left the first day and went to Japan by boat. She was unsure whether they left from Seoul’s port of Inchon or if they took the train to Pusan. All but a few Americans left on the third day–with one suitcase. They trained to Pusan, flew out of Kimpo air base at 6:40 a.m., and landed at Itazuke. She went on to describe the 18 mi. bus trip to Camp Hakata where they spent the rest of the day anxiously waiting for the last of the staff to arrive. They ate at 5:00 p.m. Soon after the last group arrived without suitcases since the plane was so crowded. It was necessary for them all to leave Camp Hakata on that first evening because the shipload of dependents were about to arrive, and room had to be made. She claimed that they got on the train at the main gate, not at downtown Fukuoka. They went north to Honshu to a camp at Bofu, where they stayed until they were reassigned. It took 5 hr. to get to Bofu. Later, when they went to Tokyo, it took 24 hr. (I seem to recall that, before the Moji _toneru_ was built about 1962, the trains were barged across the straight.)<\/p>

……Enter Josep Stalin, accompanied by his peasant’s paranoia and his countrymen’s wish to continue existing. Down descends the Iron Curtain from Stetin in the north to Yalta in the south. To use the current colloquialism: What haps, bro? Well, what happened is that Mr. X, aka Geo. Kennan, published his famous “containment” article in “Foreign Affairs.” But, of course, we were pretty curious about what was happening behind a wall longer by 1000 than the Great Wall. To find out, Brady, and it’s ilk, were created. The term _intercept station_ was whispered here and there. In Japan, it was in 1946\/7 that Misawa became the first site due to its proximity to Vladivostok. Brady, just across from China, followed soon after. (Recall that somebody “lost” China, although we were never sure who; that the Chinese had their own motivations and destiny has yet to really impress itself on our politicians. Somehow the current administration will talk one of the oldest cultures in the world into being just like us: market economy, rights of the individual, and maybe an absence of nuclear weapons because of your impulsive nature. What? What about your ancient culture? Oh, we _have_ respect for it, I assure you.)<\/p>

Brady was the perfect place for radio reception since it was surrounded on more than three sides by water. (Radio waves travel best over H2O waves.) It was also in “line” with many of the major cities in Siberia, which of necessity communicated with each other via radio because of the vast distances. But to be able to see behind the curtain of containment, it was necessary to have folks of particular skills, of Military Occupational Specialties (MOS). In general MOS 05X and 98X represented the highest density of such skills. The military establishment, as a culture, a conscious being of sorts, _loves_ to tinker and make changes every now and then. In the ’50s and ’60s the MOS 058 represented Morse Intercept Operator. The 982 represented Traffic Analysis Specialist. The 059 was Radio Teletype Intercept. The 056 was Direction Finding. (The designations were not classified, although the functions were.) At some point after the army and I had our happy divorce, there must have been a freshening up of the MOS designations. I note on the ASA homepage that the final digit was changed to an alphabetical letter about which I am ignorant. Ergo, the ASA, the Air Force Security Service, and the Navy Security Unit were all contained in the Operations Building (“Ops”) which was right where the antenna (ae?) farm was located, where the golf course now exists. Each unto his own, if you get my drift. The term _vacuum_ is now popular at the Pentagon. It connotes that the electronic signals are “swept” from the skies and caught in hardcopy. What did Brady catch? Nobody there really ever knew. There were small inklings. Some wise inferences. The operators with college educations and a sense of history had very good insights. Still, what it all yielded was compartmentalized away from the base. No need to know, you know. (At one point, to motivate us to do a very difficult task, the CIA sent us a clear text break out of one message and an atta-boy compliment. Otherwise, we just never knew whether our work produced so much dust, or some useful intelligence.) Obviously, advancements in technology obsoleted the need to have hundreds of people on foreign soil. Also, foreign governments responsible for that soil really didn’t want _gaijin_ around to remind them of a national humiliation. Viet Nam was an excellent excuse to vacate the place.<\/p>

My nostalgia got the better of me at the end of the last msg. I intended to round it all off by saying that there was _nothing_ military from the Brady Main Gate to the Hakata Train Station from 1960-62, the period of which I know. Thus any NCO club near the AA battery was long gone by then. I never heard a whisper. As I wrote previously, there was the abandoned building at the Klubjomai bus stop outside Gannosu. And there was the Brady Strip (aka airfield) but I do not believe there was an AF presence on. Well, maybe there was a small one, because one could take flying lessons. There was also a mobile trailer which the Army used for direction finding. This was replaced by a permanent building after 1962. I specified the Hakata Train Stn. because the Army CIC maintained an office there. CIC is counter intelligence corps. Sounds impressive, yet not so. I had a desk-to-desk relationship with the CIC guy for about 6 mos. His main job was to maintain current pix of all bar girls and make sure they had their VD exams every month. I’m sure there may have been some “penetrations” other than the #000Y type, but I never heard anything about them. [#000Y = 3000Y] I think that they were worried about the North Koreans more than anything. (Should I have written Kulubujomai?) In retrospect, the U.S. was withdrawing with a degree of seriousness by 1963.

Seburiyama<\/b>! It was always the first thing to catch the rising sun at dawn as I biked into base in time to reach the main gate exactly at 6:00 a.m. when curfew was over. I’d look up at it and admire the lovely, rustic, naturalistic geodesic shapes of the radar pods and promise myself a trip up there. I did such, eventually. There was a bus which ran about one-third of the way up to a charming country ryokan<\/i>. From there the road became steeper and rougher. By two-thirds of the way it was fist-size slag and steep. A dump truck came along with more stones. One of the girls with us asked the driver for a ride. This saved us from heart failure. He let us off near the top. In those times, an American face was a passport. The AF Sgt. let us into the domes and showed us the J. operators at work on the screens. (It may have been defense, or just civil air traffic. Know not.) He bitched about how careless the J. were, how untidy. I was amused. The scene of the Bay is wonderful. Well worth the trip. — Jack Braverman<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Roger Rowen, 1962-1963 – COLLECTION<\/a>
<\/b><\/p>

Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 14:06:50
Heikei. Hai, sukoshi hanasemasu demo, watakushi-wa 35 nen mae Michigan shu no daigaku de 2 nen kan benkyo shimashita. Ima-wa heta desu, so let’s use English instead. We recently bought Win-J and the Japanese version of M-Word (still prefer ‘Perfect’, myself) but I have yet to install it. I can read and write kana, some at least, at elementary school level. That’s right, it was August 18, and I was heading home. Ayako was there to see me off but had arrived late. I saw her out my starboard window (a MATS Lockheed ‘Constellation’ to Tachikawa), but she couldn’t see me. We had to wait two years (to the day), before being reunited in Tokyo. We married legally 2 days later at the prefecture office, 3 at the US Embassy and finally 4 at the Episcopal Church in Yokohama, Rev. Mark Kakiuchi officiating. Here’s a picture of Brady Beach, famed in story and song. Well, I’m not so sure about the latter. As to the former, I can tell you some, but even so, not yet. I’m sending it as .jpeg, if that’s what you prefer. Last month it looked far different.<\/p>

While visiting Shikanoshima, I got the e-mail address of a man who was at Brady in the 50s (don’t know what it was called then). There is something about which I must write him, so I can ask about it then. Maybe I’ll be able to put you in touch. Also, I met a fellow locally who was there in ’51. He was a patient for several weeks at the 141st Army Hospital<\/b> before being sent back to Korea. He’s not into computers, so I’ll try to get details myself. Let you know when (or if) I do. I do remember it was supposed to have been a Japanese seaplane base during the war, which was supported by several ramps and hangars on its Fukuoka-side waterfront. They began behind the movie theater, the post commissary and ended near the motor pool. I have no idea how we used them. There was also a ramp by the Service Club. Remember those tiny crabs that used to scuttle into a storm drain whenever you’d approach? I used to pace the seawall late at night, smoking cigarettes (ugh!) and looking across to the city. I still have pictures…not too good nor close enough to see much. The base’s hospital origins explain the covered walkways from the Army barracks (tricks 1-4) to the mess hall, S-4 and Headquarters Company, which I believe was the hospital proper. They may formerly have extended to Administration and BOQ but no longer did when I was there. — Roger Rowen<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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John A. Stevenson II, 1963
<\/b><\/p>

Date: Sun, 4 Apr 1999 13:13:25
Brady was a sea plane base<\/b> for the Imperial Japanese forces prior to occupation. Brady was Air Force with the 14th Field Stn<\/b> run by Army and Supported by Army and inside was Tri-service with Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines (occasionally). It’s only mission Comint <\/b>(Communication Intelligence) and Comsec<\/b> (Communications Security). Prior to 1963<\/b> when I arrived there the base provided housing for dependents of the fighter squadron at Itazuke. Imagine the commute? Look up the old news stories about when the US smuggled some Chinese Nationalists into Japan for surreptitious purposes. You’ve given me added incentive to find the aerial slide taken of the whole base. I was married to a Western lady and lived in housing. I in turn was fascinated by the Japanese middle age history of the area with the invasion from the mainland and all that. I heard there were some archeological dig where they found battle remains and defensive structures etc., in that huge park with the shrines and all, Deziphu(Sp)?. Saw and actually snake oil medicine man there one time have pictures of him make magic fluids change color, Red to clear etc. Please stay in touch.<\/p>

Answers:
1. Since the 14th was a listening post,Comint(Communication Intelligence), There was growing tension between command and the operators(listeners) and one thing that they figured out they couldn’t be forced to listen so they simply turned in blanks sheets for an 8 hour shift. they called us into a formation and called two guys in for some problems they had down town, wrote up put them into an envelope and put them into to Company safe in case there was any further problems( you would call it a win win situation) because Command reassessed some of it’s policies and the air cleared up.
2. “Znn Qsk sk”, “I have nothing more, till next scheduled communication, end communication” Q & Z codes are used in Manual Morse communications. Ah-ha. More later. I remember out on the Island a place called Mongol Point or similar. I wondered if that isn’t where they could have overseen the battles? — John A. Stevenson II<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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John Clark, 1965<\/b><\/p>

Date: 4\/2\/2001, 12:58 AM
I think that one was a bit before my time. I was there in 1965<\/strong>. The place we had at Hakata<\/strong> was a barracks type bldg with the desk sergeant, pass and ID, and a holding cell for drunks. My favorite bar in Saitozaki<\/strong> was Katy’s bar (I don’t think that was the actual name). I didn’t stay in Saitozaki much. I always went to Fukuoka on the boat. I was there at a time when key clubs were becoming popular. My favorite was the Punch Club. I went there because the manager allowed me to purchase a bottle of Suntory, and replace the bottle with a qt of Canadian Club. The only problem was that the Japanese customers wanted Canadian Club as well. I of course could not supply the rest so I had to share mine with them. My bottle usually lasted one or two visits. I went to most of the clubs and stand bars in Nakatsu. My girlfriend owned a small bar called the “Ashibi”. I looked for it last trip, but everything changed. The economy in Japan during the mid 60’s was a boomer. Everything was new. I spent much time in a building called Suntory Hakata. There were bars on all levels. I also have logged many hours in the beer gardens on the roofs. The assignment to Hakata was a dream assignment only shared by a relative few. It would be hard to describe such an assignment to someone who had not enjoyed it. I compare it with the story of Briggadoon, where this fantasy place only existed for a short time and then was gone. It is perhaps the most enjoyable memory in my life, and it was down hill from there. I went to Okinawa and then Danang. — John Clark<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Larry Johnson, 1965-1967
<\/b><\/p>

Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 01:19:22
Greetings from “Nude Hampster”. Read your e-mail & decided to acknowledge same. I was stationed at the 14th USASAFS<\/b> from 65-67<\/b>, and I fondly recall it as the best time of my life. Denis Graham, Chie Abe, Takako Osaki & I were all close way back then. Denis has already received most of the photos that I could find from that era, and he’s the one most likely to provide information regarding that period in time. I will be happy to answer any direct questions that you may have regarding my 2d tour in Japan at the 14th USASAFS, however your broad scope of what I did, where I hung out, people I met, food & drink, the girls, funny things I saw & did, cultural barriers, whatever – exceeds my abilities as a typical human. Stephen King could respond to all of that perhaps, but Larry Johnson who was ousted from high-school back in ’62 cannot.<\/p>

I was stationed on Kyushu for my 3d & 4th years in Japan. I matured. I had fun. I got into photography with a Nikon F. I really got into motorcycles. I grew up. I became a husband and father. I remember a lot of things about that time of my life, but I am not a novelist or a writer by any stretch of the imagination. Perhaps, knee-to-knee with a good whiskey to share, we could cause it all to be known in the order that it happened. It could take months! Just documenting those two years of my life would take a book. I am not a writer. Did I mention I did two tours in the ‘Nam and one in Germany??? Did I mention there are four things in the world that I hate? – 1.HOT BEER, 2.WET TOILET PAPER, 3.CLAPPED-UP BROADS and 4.THE “FIELD”??? Mostly I hated the field. Field duty totally sucked! I ramble… Be well & happy. — Larry Johnson<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Bill Saffell, 1969-1970 – COLLECTION<\/a><\/b><\/strong><\/p>

Date: Sat, 03 Apr 1999 12:56:03
Thank you for your recent email regrading the now defunct US military presence in Fukuoka prefecture. It’s been very interesting, seeing the Denis Graham website, and getting your email. I hadn’t had any contact whatsoever with that area since I left back in 12\/70<\/b>. I arrived at the Hakata ASA station<\/b> in June\/69<\/b> after serving with the 9th infantry division in Vietnam. I came right from RVN in an old C-47<\/b> prop plane and came with no dress uniforms, or any other kind of uniform other than jungle fatigues. I liked the Fukuoka area right away. I had just come back from a very bad place, and I was shown the sights of Saitozaki, Fukuoka City and also Shirakibaru. I guess most of my memories of the area would be about work and about drinking. I’ve talked to some other fellows who were at Hakata, and I guess my experience was much the same as that of many other young GI’s of the time. The main thing about Japan was the people, for me. I’d be glad to share any photos, but I have not a single one from that time in my life, but I have a couple of things that you may choose to place into your exhibit. I have my certificate from Hakata<\/b>, when I left, which was kind of a humorous sendoff from Japan for young soldiers, and I also have a novel-length manuscript<\/b>, which has been professionally edited, set in Fukuoka during the 9\/68-9\/69 time frame. It’s not about the base so much, although it figures into it. It’s mostly about the relationship of an American teacher and a Japanese widow. A literary agency in Florida is looking at it right now. If you’d be interested, please let me know.<\/p>

I went back to college some years back, after I quit drinking, and got a BA in English lit. in 1989. Then I got a certificate for teaching ESL in 1995. I’m now in an MA in linguistics program at George Mason University, and I hope to wrap it up in the fall. I work most summers with a language program in PA with students from a school in Kawasaki city, and I’ve maintained correspondences with a number of students over in Japan over the years. I hope to be able to visit Japan with my wife (She’s from Indonesia) in a year or two or three. I’ll be happy to relate to you any experiences from my hakata days, with some editing of course, but I’d also appreciate it if you could share your experiences of teaching in Japan with me. I got into the ESL\/EFl field well into middle-age, and I love it. I currently teach at the English Language Institute at George Mason. I also work as a tutor in their writing center, and I teach a class in US citizenship prep in this area. I’ve been able to pack a lot of experience, including volunteer work, into my seven years in teaching.<\/p>

Your idea sounds great. It was kind of strange to see the “sea world” type park where the old base used to be, although it seems like a good spot for it. I’ll never forget my days I spent there. The times weren’t all good, and the work was demanding, but the nights spent in Fukuoka or just people I met, those are the good memories. Sorry I went on so long. Thanks again for your message. Let me know if you’d like what I can offer to your proposed exhibit, and it’d be great if you could keep in touch as time allows.<\/p>

Date: Sun, 02 May 1999 12:09:46
Thanks a lot for your recent email. Your insights into teaching were very interesting. I hope to return to Japan someday, definitetly for a visit, maybe to teach. I’m sorry I didn’t respond before now. I was working three teaching jobs, commuting 100 miles a day, and taking two grad school courses. My course work for my grad school is done for this semester, and I’m happy to say that I made it, but it was hard!!! If you send me your mailing address, I’ll get a color copy of my certificate from Hakata and mail it to you. I’ll get you a bound copy of my novel, but, if it’s okay, I’m going to wait until August to send that. I have to take care of a few things first. I also have, somewhere, a letter from a congressman in response to a letter that I sent while serving at hakata. A bunch of us lowly GIs did that trying to get something done about the working conditions, mostly working 12 to 14 days without a break. Our superiors got wind of it and told us it wouldn’t do any good, but actually, we got some new fellows out of school, as well as some TDY operators from Korea, so I guess it did. let me know it you’d like that. I’d be interested in your comments on my novel. You know, its kind of funny, when I was writing it, I wrote to folks in the Fukuoka city govt for some maps and such, but I never heard anything. I ended up writing the whole thing from memory, which means that there are probably a few lapses in it. Now I’m hearing from people from the area. It’s quite interesting, kind of like hearing from old friends. If possible, Wes, could you send me postcards from the area? My daughter and I both collect them, and it’d be great to have some from my old stomping grounds.<\/p>

As to your questions what most of us did over there for fun was drinking and trying to meet girls, as I remember it. I came to Hakata directly from Vietnam, and I had a great time from the beginning. I used to go down to Saitozaki<\/b> to drink, also into Fukuoka city whenever I could, which wasn’t often because I didn’t make much money. I also got to go to Beppu<\/b> once, which I enjoyed, as well as to Karatsu<\/b>, which was nice. I played drums in a band for a while over there, and we used to go to band jobs in Sasebo<\/b>, which usually turned out to be pretty wild times. I met lots of people, all of whom made an impression on me, in a good way, for the most part. I remember one really memorable person I met in one of the bars in Saitozaki. He was a karate instructor for the Fukuoka police dept. (as I recall), who went by the name of Tony. He was from the north of Japan, one of the aboriginal people, and he was huge. He also looked really imposing, scary in fact. But in truth he was a great fellow who liked to drink and hang out with GI’s. I went bar-hopping a few times with him, and I got to meet his wife and family. He was this huge, tough guy who was just a decent,good-hearted family man. A real character and a great person.<\/p>

The girls I met were mostly in the bars of Fukuoka, the women of Japan made a deep and favorable impression on me. I got married over here a few years after I got out of the service, to an American girl, and it was the biggest mistake of my life. I got married a few years back to an Indonesian lady of Chinese ancestry, and its much, much better. Oh well. I remember that after mid shifts we sometimes had to listen to speakers on the subject of “character development”. They were usually really tedious, but I remember once that one of speakers made the comment that it was interesting how only enlisted men had to attend these sessions. He supposed that it was becaue officers and NCOs had no character to develop. We all liked this speaker a lot. I also used to go drinking in Shirakibaru<\/b>, and I recall the first girl I ever met there. She’s in my book, just as I recall her, under a different name. I remember going there once and missing the last bus and cabs and i had to spend the night sleeping on a bench in the train station.<\/p>

Funny you mention accidents. I was in a bar one time owned by an ex-GI named Bob Arnold. It was on the highway between Fukuoka and Hakata Base. I came out of that bar one night on break and started across the road to another bar. I took about one step and was hit by a truck and was sent flying across the road. I broke my leg, but I was lucky not to be killed. I remember that the truck driver visited me in the hospital and how nervous and worried he was. He really thought he’d killed me. It was my fault, but he insisted that I take some “Gomen money”. Well, that’s about it. There are many memories of Hakata, but this is what I can distill for you right now. Hope its of some use. We were mostly just a bunch of hard-drinking kids a long way from home. Being at Hakata had its ups and downs, and it was mostly, after all, about work. However, it was one of the defining experiences of my life. In my book, I really worked to make the area a character. The people and the place itself, that’s what I remember. Take it easy, let me know if you’d like me to send the stuff, and please keep in touch if you can. — Bill Saffell Company A, 14th USASA Field Station Hakata June, 1969 – December, 1970<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Terry Bruno, 1969-1970 – COLLECTION<\/a><\/b><\/strong><\/p>

10\/6\/2000, 1:57 PM
I was stationed at Hakata in 1969-70<\/strong>. I remember the beach on the Fukuoka harbor side of the peninsula was covered with sloped cement ramps, with various rusting unidentifiable parts sticking from it. This was a large seaplane ramp, left over from WWII. I had also seen a B\/W picture in the library that had a Japanese officer standing over a blindfolded, western, uniformed and kneeling soldier with his head bowed. The officer had a sword gripped tightly in his hands, and raised over his head and shoulder (ready to take the kneeling man’s head off). I will never forget that picture… I wish I had a copy of it. That really got my interest fired up. But I never could get any details. The Japanese were very non-talkitive about speaking of the war. I guess I can understand why, but I would have like to gotten more info. Prior to Hakata, I was stationed at Kamiseya<\/strong> (near Atsugi and Yokohama), a NAVSECGRU<\/strong> base. This, too, had a POW camp near it. There was still a large cluster of woodend barracks (prison) and a very huge man-made dirt hill casting a shadow over them. This was, aledgedly, built by POW’s during there capture in WWII. When I went to get a closer look at this site, I found that the old wooden barracks were delapidated and housed poor Japanese families. The dirt hill (more like a small mountain!) had bulldozers and other heavy equipment, slowly, but methodicaly cutting away at the monument. I suppose by today, there is none of this left. I guess it was an effort to remove ‘bad’ reminders of a time past. I keep searching government records for info on these places, and although I haven’t got anything yet, but feel that I am on to something. I will share anything I find with you, as I get it. — Terry Bruno<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Wayne Graczyk, 1969-1972<\/strong><\/p>

Date: 10\/5\/2000, 3:54 PM
I was stationed with the U.S. Air Force at Hakata from 1969-1972<\/strong>. My Japanese wife is from Kitakyushu, I am a sportswriter covering Japanese baseball for The Japan Times, Baseball America and Nippon Television. — Wayne Graczyk<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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1970's<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Pat Hardin, 1970-1972
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Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1999 12:19:15
I got your remail about Hakata. I was there 1970 – 1972<\/b> and I do have lots of slides of the area. It was about to be one of my many tasks to digitize them. I have a slide\/negative scanner but making the time is a problem at the moment. Your email, however, may give me some impetus to do it. I really loved the Fukuoka area. I lived off Base in Saitozaki<\/b> and I loved to go over to Shikanoshima<\/b> for long hikes. Or I would take the ferry to the city and wander the streets. The best one was a small side street that had a few small shops on it. (Not a tourist area) As I was passing one shop I looked in and was transported to the ancient Japan of the Samurai. It was the shop of a sword maker<\/b>. Here’s this little old guy sitting at a table doing some beautiful inlay work on the handle of a samurai sword. The shop was out of the 17th century. Swords and knives everywhere. Not a standard tourist stop. The old guy was very kind to let me stay and watch him. That’s the kind of Japan I enjoyed. Another neat story is meeting an ex-Kamikaze pilot<\/b>. Yes! He had photos to prove it! He was just 16 and was about to fly his first and last mission… That night he prepared himself with prayer and the next day went out to his plane. Well, wouldn’t you know it, there was a shortage of oil and his mission was cancelled till the next day. The next day the war was over! Close call eh? Well, I will try to get some pics for you in the next month or so. (I’ve forgotten what I have!). Cheers for now! — Pat Hardin<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Chris Van Schoiack, 1970-1972<\/strong><\/p>

9\/8\/2000, 1:43 AM
I’ve been sent to you by Ben Phillips. I had asked if he knew how I could get in touch with Fuchon. His home was next to his shop in Gonnasu. I believe his full Name was Fuchuo Nagiyhama [probably Fooch Kuratome]. I’m not sure about the spelling but I can still pronounce it. I think the name of his business was Gonnasu Honda. I’ve got pictures of him and Toshi standing in front of the shop but the phone number is cut off. When I moved in 1973 I misplaced his number and have not been in touch with him since. I want to thank you for going back and taking pictures of the base in 1978. I always wanted to go back. Thanks to you I was able to put that to rest. Your help in making the Base web sight a success is greatly appreciated by all those of us who served there.

I was stationed at Hakata from Dec. 1970 till March 1972<\/strong>. I purchased 3 new motor cycles from Fuchon in that time. We also did some riding and evenings out together. He was a great host and had a wonderful sense of humor. I was one of the 80 or so Navy personnel<\/strong> stationed at the base. Besides work I was president and vice president of the Tri services motor cycle club<\/strong>. It wasn’t a very rewarding job but if somebody didn’t take the position and hold monthly safety meetings we would loose our riding privileges. As a matter of fact when I got there the Army couldn’t ride. A number of us worked together to get those boys riding. That was a real boost to Fuchon’s bank account. I may not be correct about Fuchon’s last name. May have it mixed up with some body else. As I recall when you came into Gonnasu from base his home and business where located on the base end of town and on the right side of the road. It wasn’t very far after you came into town. I have a slide which pictures him and Toshi (his nephew) standing in front of the store. — Chris Van Schoiack<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Larry Atwell, 1971-1972<\/strong><\/p>

Date: 5\/29\/1999, 8:20 AM
Yea I was at FS Hakata 1971 to 1972<\/strong> when myself and a few other men turned the lights out for the last time. I have just recently found the USASA<\/strong> site and have found 2 of the guys that were with me when the base closed. As soon as I can find my old pictures maybe I can send them to you by e-mail. Have you gone to the site where Hakata was, by what I have seen in the site, it is now a marine park is that correct? Does the ferry still run between Sito [Saitozaki] and Fukuoka, many times I enjoyed the ride across the bay. Well it was good to hear from you, it was the highlight of my day to find e-mail from Japan, thanks for bring back so many good memories of days gone by. It really was the best years of my life. Hope to be talking to you again. Take care and thanks again. — Larry Atwell<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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“I was the head interpreter for all the commanders…….” \u00a0— Frank Omori (Canadian Nisei, dear friend, like a father)<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reminiscences of Life at Camp Hakata & Brady Air Base \u30ad\u30e3\u30f3\u30d7\u30fb\u30cf\u30ab\u30bf\u3068\u30d6\u30ec\u30c7\u30a3\u57fa\u5730\u306e\u601d\u3044\u51fa Aerial of Gannosu Airfield, July 1945 (GrokAI rendition) How It All Started Photo Intell. Rep. 10, Nov. 7, 1944 Fukuoka\/Gannosu A\/F- 33-41 N., 130-24 E.Map. Ref. AMS L772, Sheet 10, Kyushu, 1:50,000. On leg-shaped peninsula 6 miles N of Fukuoka and 3 miles NE […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1318","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wesinjerd.com\/fukuokabases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wesinjerd.com\/fukuokabases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wesinjerd.com\/fukuokabases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wesinjerd.com\/fukuokabases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wesinjerd.com\/fukuokabases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1318"}],"version-history":[{"count":170,"href":"https:\/\/wesinjerd.com\/fukuokabases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2058,"href":"https:\/\/wesinjerd.com\/fukuokabases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1318\/revisions\/2058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wesinjerd.com\/fukuokabases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}