Trips-1958-59

As I’ve told you in other chapters, my travels until I went to Korea were very minimal. Of course, Korea/Japan was very significant since I was away from home for about 16 months……far far away.

The flight over included stops in San Francisco, Hawaii, Wake Island, Japan then finally Korea. While serving there I was able to take two R & R’s leaves (Rest and Recreation) in Japan. There was still a large US military presence then, so lots of facilities were available.

While in Japan, I was able to make use of their “Bullet Trains”, which enabled me to visit many cities and see amazing scenery on several of the many Japanese islands. The people were happy to “show off” their country to American soldiers, as they appreciated the way Americans treated them after they were defeated in WW II, which had ended only 13 years before.

Interestingly, when I went to Japan again in 1985, some 25 years later, with Nana, I attempted to show her some of the places I had visited and stayed in. Things had changed so much, only Mt. Fuji was the same.

So having only been to Wheeling WV, Washington DC, Pittsburgh PA, NY City, and August GA (Officer Summer Camp in 1956), I began a lifetime of travel to many places including 47 states (still plan to get to AL, MS, and ND), over 50 countries and all seven Continents.

AND there are photos too!!