Surrealistic moment ..... here's one

This is the dock that we pulled in at Yokohama. This is our sister ship,  the USS General George M. Randall (AP-115) Departing Yokohama, Japan, with the first Korean War dead to be returned to the United States. 11 March 1951.

Have I had a surrealistic moment, yea, now that you mention it, I have. I think that is the correct word, a moment that I, to this day,  vividly remember, it happened in 1954.

I enlisted in the Navy in 1952, and spent two years in San Diego, at the Receiving Station, which I don't think is there anymore, and then was transferred to Seattle, and did my last two years aboard the USS William Mitchell TAP 114, my two year taste of "sea duty."

On my first cruise we left Seattle, Washington, headed for Japan. Saw a lot of water before getting there.

One morning, we were alerted that we were pulling in the channel and heading to Yokohama Harbor.

Let me digress. I was born in 1932. I remember December 7, 1941, vividly. I remember the war well. I remember we were told of those "dirty little Japs." I remember all the movies, the newsreels, the radio announcements, and when it was over, after the "bomb" dropped in 1945.

So, here I was, only nine years after the war ended, sailing up these waters that still showed signs of the war, Sunken ships, debris, I remember some of the buildings had marks from bullets, it was almost like a dream to me, being there, seeing all of this, just a few years after the war.

I found this photograph on the web, but it is where we pulled in, and I remember the sign, and how strange I thought it was, to be welcomed, after all I had seen and heard during the war, to be Welcomed to Japan.

I can still see those sunken ships in the harbor, I was then, and still am, in awe of those scenes, a war I had lived in my mind, I was actually seeing, up close. I think that surreal sums it up, pretty well.

PS - I don't remember how many crossings I made. I was in Japan, Korea, Okinawa, San Francisco, Seattle, and every time we left or pulled in to a port, there were crowds of people, troops and bands to either greet us, or say goodbye. 

Seattle Weather in Ohio

Forty-six degrees and Cloudy in Ohio today, reminds me of when I lived in Seattle, Washington. I was in the Navy, aboard the USS William T. Mitchell TAP114. I think I went aboard her in the Fall of '54. She was only in port a week or so and then we would ship out to Yokohama and Korea, a week or so over there, and then back to Seattle for a week or so.

I think it was well after Christmas when I was finally able, because of rain, to get out on the golf course. The people out there just get used to a lot of rain. Many things are under a roof. I remember a driving range that was under a roof, two decker as I recall. It was unusual to me in those days.

But, with all the trees and "greenery" around there was a fantastic, fresh aroma in the air, a lot of cedar and pine trees. I was actually "based" in Seattle for two years but only spent a few days there. We often pulled into San Francisco a "yard" period there, and some time in San Diego.

So, I am sitting here, looking out the front window, reminiscing about my time in the Navy, a good four years. In some respects I wish I had done my "20" or so in the Navy, would have missed out on a lot though, so will just sit and reminisce.