JAPANESE TOUR OF DUTY IN EARLY 1960S

MY TOUR OF DUTY IN JAPAN

Within less than two years after enlisting in the United States Navy, it was my turn to spend a tour at sea or foreign shore duty. The Orient had long been one of my most fascinating subjects of study and it didn't take me any time to decide I would like to spend time on the foreign shores of the land of the Rising Sun. In fact, I had long had dreams where I saw myself in Japan. Strangely enough, most of my dreams became a reality.

My tour exceeded all expectations; there was the foreign intrique of being stationed in a Naval Air squadron of a clandestine nature, there was the reality of Mt Fuji seen each morning from the naval air station, and there was the friendships and eventually, the romance that would forever last in my memories. It was a time of temporary joy, we realized this from the beginning. Though East meets West and West meet East, there was a time for the reality of it all to end.