BJohnson Retired USMC
by Bill JohnsonIt was early morning when I first arrived in Okinawa. I was eighteen years old and on my first tour in the Far East (February 1959). I was aboard a Navy Transport ship that off loaded hundreds of Marines for duty with the 3rd Marine Divison. I can remember standing at the rail of the ship while it docked in Naha. It was a real thrill to be in a far away exotic land that looked and smelled like nothing I had ever experienced before.
We off loaded and were assigned to waiting trucks to be transported to the various Marine camps throughout Okinawa. I learned that I was going to Headquarters Battalion located at Camp Courtney. The ride from Naha up to Camp Courtney was simply amazing. The landscape, the people, the villages - all so new and different.
I learned to like: Omi Rice; Ashai Beer; taking long runs from Courtney down pass the deep water pier up and around to pass by Camp McTureous, into Agena and then up the long fairly steep road back to Camp Courtney; taking “skosh” cab rides to Kadena and Fort Buckner (PX and Theater); drinking a beer or two at the e-club overlooking Chimawan Bay (Spelling is Questionable); watching the honor guard platoon parade each morning on the Division HQ parade ground; weekend liberty runs to Ishigawa Beach for beach parties and sun bathing; these are among so many great memories of my first tour.
When I was ready to rotate back to the U.S. I was selected to be a courier so I got to fly back on a MAC flight via Tachikawa Japan and Pearl Harbor into Travis AFB in California. This is really heady stuff for a teenager that had never been out of California.