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8612TH A. A. U. Camp Chitose II-1956 |
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 Lake Shikotsuku Swimming Party-1956 PFC Don Demming, 1LT Richard Smith, Sp3 Val Reidman with the lake in the background. This was a Trick 4 outing via duece and a half truck loaded with revelers. Spent a full day at the lake and a great time was had by all. |
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 Picnic-1956 PFC Don Urwin and SP3 Jim Hager. The Picnic grounds on the riverbank in Chitose Town were used to have great picnics. Trick 4 had some of the best picnics ever. |
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 Picnic-1956 Barracks 104 House Boy. Can't remember his name. Is there anyone who can? |
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 Sp3 Jim Hager-1956 Jim ETS'd back home in 1958 and later re-enlisted. He was assigned to Ft Devens, MA for refresher courses while I, Jim Brock, was there and we spent some evenings together. He shipped out to Germany in 1959 or 60. I later learned he married a German girl and left the Agency. In 1978 while at Ft Meade, MD browsing through the Army Times I saw a cartoon character of CSM James C. Hager, CSM, USArmy Chemical School, Aberdeen, MD. It looked like this Jim Hager. I called the CSM's office the next day and it was Jim Hager. He attended my retirement ceremony at Ft Meade, MD in April, 1979. I haven't heard from him since. |
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 Outing with the Orphans-1956 |
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 Article from Chitose Confidential regarding the Orphanage. |
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 IG Inspection-1956 The black sausage hound dog is Magoo, Trick 4, Barracks 104 Mascot. In the distance is 1SG Wilcoxson. Front guy at end of squad is SP3 Farmer, great Manual Morse Op. We were standing and IG inspection in ranks. That is why everyone is dressed up in OD uniform. I guess we passed, as did Magoo.
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 MSG Grady Hendrix Grady was NCOIC of Radio Printer during '56-'57. In late '57 he replaced MSG Billy J Wood as Operations Sergeant. Grady and I have been in touch since '56. We served together later at Vint Hill Farms, VA, Ft Devens, MA and at 8613th Field Station in Harrogate, England. He presently lives in Enterprise, Alabama. | |
 Cooks-1956 Bob Weir, Harold Norrod and Butch Hubbard. These guys and their fellow cooks kept us happy in the mess hall. We had decent food all the time. Bob was a supervisor, Harold was meat cutter, ration man and baker and Butch was a line cook. | |
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Our own Jack Lemon look alike. I met Jim again in 1966 in England. I worked with him at Ft Meade in 1977-79. He retired from Federal Service in late '70s to Annapolis, Maryland. |
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Jim Brock and Ron Dakin, 1956 |
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 Chitose Reunion, St. Louis, MO-1998 |
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This is the front gate of 8612 A.A.U. Jacque Crevier there to greet you. |
 Jacque and Joe Rasco |
 George David Beddingfield, Jr. He was from Mississippi and moved to San Francisco in 68, was a stage hand and then Chief Projectionist for a string of theaters there. Now retired and enjoying life last I heard. |
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Castle, Camp King of the Hill |
 >Chitose Town - 1956. |
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The New York Yankees came to Sapporo, Japan in 1955 as the losers of the world series. The reason I didn't go to see them is obvious. The Dodgers won the series and the second place team came to Japan. Bloop Cummings won a bet from the Navel Officer (off-the-deck) Lt. Louis P Zeleznock on the previous page 1955. Well congratulations to Bloop and me for our team won in 1955. Now the Dodgers come to Sapporo in 1956 and guess what they are the second place team this year, and the D... Yankees won. An guess what, none other than Don Larson pitched a perfect game against the Dodgers this time also. Never the less we love our Dodgers and would go to see them over and over again if they come back to Sapporo again while I'm here. So we went to see the Dodgers play against the Japanese all star team in October. Bob Straka, David Stein, Val Riedman and I saw a great game in which Carl Erskine pitched a beautiful shut out with the Dodgers on the winning side 1-0. Duke Snider provided the winning run with a home run. It don't get any better than this. So four of us decided to go down to the Grand Hotel to see what we could see of the Dodgers. It was a great visit. We got to talk to Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, Peewee Reese, Roy Campanella,Don Newcombe and Walt Alston, the manager of the Dodgers. As a matter of fact Walt Alston did not believe my pictures would turn out without a flash, but they did. Following are the pictures that I took that day and they are all great. |
 Carl Erskine talking with a Japanese reporter after the game. I was honored to have gotten my name in Carl Eskine's book "Chatter From The Dug Out" in an update published in 2016. It all happened when Carolyn, my wife, had a cousin that married Luke Short. He turned out to be Carl Erskine's grand son. Carolyn met Carl at the wedding and mentioned me having some pictures I shot in Sapporo, Japan in 1956. I got a great note from Carl with his autograph and his phone number. I sure enjoyed the phone conversations we had. The book is on Amazon and is great for the Brooklyn Dodger fans. |
 Walter Alston, Number 33, congratulates Carl Erskine as the winning pitcher after the game. He pitched a great game and went all the way. |
 Duke Snider, with unknown player, in the restaurant dining area. |
 Duke Snider again, someone blinked. No? Great shot of the Duke anyway. He was great in getting a home run in his last at bat to win the game. |
 Jackie Robinson with Buzz Fasio in background. Jackie has Japanese tie hanging around his neck. I told him that I thought it would be to short. He was great today right in front of us on third base side, trying to fake out the pitcher in a steal of home plate. He also played third base. |
 Peewee Reese. Dapper here as the "Little Kentucky Colonel." Never mind he is the outstanding shortstop of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Can you imagine the super duo of Peewee and Jackie at the double play corner for the Dodgers??? I saw it on T. V. |
 Roy Campanella, super catcher and hitter for the Dodgers. Sad to think that in a year and a half he would have the career ending accident in Brooklyn on an icy street in February of 1958. This not only ended his career but left him a quadriplegic for the rest of his life. I saw Don Newcombe pushing his wheel chair at the Los Angeles Dodgers' stadium a few times on T. V. |
 Val Reidman and Don Newcombe. Don is a snazzie dresser for Hokkiado. |
 Walt Alston, Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. He wondered if this picture would come out with no flash, but I had the best Canon camera on the market with the PX in 1955 so no flash was needed with the 1.5 mm lens. |
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On December 31, 2011 Carolyn's cousin, Susie Ealum, married Luke Short. It was planned for some time and she had been going with Luke even longer. It was curious to me that she was marrying Luke Short, for all I knew he was a dime novel western writer from long ago. She went to the wedding in Albany, Georgia and I stayed home with the dogs. On Jan 1, 2012 she called me to say the wedding was beautiful and that she had just had breakfast and would be home before long. The next thing she asked me was did I know of a Carl Erskine, a baseball player. I jumped out of my skin and said YES I know of Carl Erskine. He was a pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers when I chose them to be my favorite National League team. She said he was at breakfast and she had heard that he played baseball somewhere. She said that he was Luke Short's grand father. I said to her, "Get back down there and get me an autograph from Carl Erskine to pay for the one I got for you when I got Bobby Bowden's for you." She did go back down to the restaurant and ask Linda Ealum, mother of Susie if she could introduce her to Carl Erskine. Linda took Carolyn to meet Mr. Erskine. After meeting him she told him that her husband Jim Brock had watched them play in Sapporo, Japan in 1956. He had taken some pictures and would like to have an autograph. Carl did better than that, he gave me and autograph and note which included an invitation to call him at his home in Anderson, Indiana. I did that later and had a very enjoyable conversation with my hero pitcher for the Dodgers. Below is a picture of Carl Erskine and Carolyn my wife taken as a souvenir for me. Thank you Carl for that memento and your kindness toward a long ago fan and admirer of you and the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1948 onward. |
 Carl Erskine and Carolyn Brock at the wedding of his grand son Luke Short to Carolyn's cousin Susie Ealum. We are happy to add you to our extended family Carl after all these years. |
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JULY 1954 - JUNE 1956 Jacque Crevier I remember the OPS fire of December 1954 (Sorry Duane, I was state side December of 1956 and I was there for the fire) and how we moved some operations to the “Ham Shack”(KA9MF) and to the generator building or where ever we could. I remember the long hours spent salvaging what could be salvaged and then setting up jamesways and then the “liberated” quonsets where set up, G.I. and Japanese working side by side, the many hours spent building plywood consoles , if my memory serves me right a guy by the name of Dick Holp was company carpenter or something like that and was sort of the carpenter supervisor, how we strung antenna cables, and power cables ect. and finally we had a “new” OPS building. I remember a couple of “green weenie” incidents that always successfully got the Company personnel’s philosophy aligned with OPS. I remember CWO Ness and his red Chevrolet convertible and his many jo—sans. I remember CWO Mosure and thinking that he was the most military man I ever met. And getting back to the fire, I remember that in the next day or so a MIG showed up to take a few pictures, made two passes and was gone, by the time the Air Force got the 86’s in the air he was long gone. I remember the local Japanese paper reporting that a radar station had burned. I remember Bob Grove working to get a couple of Ampex bays going and was recommended for some sort of commendation for his effort, always wondered if he got it. I remember how some of us got together bought Heath kit stereo, put it together and put it in the library, later some guys made a low power transmitter out of a salvage signal generator and installed it so we could hear the music in the company area, well I guess it wasn’t so low powered because a few weeks later a group of locals showed up at the main gate with a DF truck wanting some ones what ever, needless to say that was the end Radio KUMA I remember spending my first Christmas with the kids at Angel Guardian Orphanage at Kita Hiroshima and how the guys all gave on pay day so these kids and others there would have a nice Christmas. This went on year around but Christmas was special. If I remember correctly Mary Ott, Dicks wife, was the only dependent that was there, no dependent housing was available and I think they lived in town. She was a great help with this project. There was a guy named Warren Stowell from the antenna crew that was involved. I remember Harold Norrod, who would make sweet rolls that were a welcome sight when you came off mids. I also remember green eggs, reconstituted milk, slippery cold cuts and the occasional good meal that came out of the mess hall, we all probably remember SOS and Salisbury steak. We even had “C” rations one time when the snow got so bad we were isolated for a few days, I remember that some time in my tour and after the fire I was made sort of a clerk/typist to help out with the paper work as it pertained to the OPS maintenance and worked with Lt. Dixon and M/SGT Mize. This was kind of neat as I only worked days and took occasional call in the shop. The best part of this was that on pay day we always seemed to spend the afternoon at the NCO club even though we were supposed to be elsewhere. I also remember the “Snowflake Theater” and George Beddingfield who kept it running. I remember that when films (16MM) started showing up in cinemascope and the picture would be all misshapened and George took some wide angle lens (35MM) from special services cameras and got the picture so it was viewable. If I remember correctly we even had popcorn, popped in the mess hall. And then there was the tale of the “sloping V” antenna, it was put up in the fall for a special job with the Aleutians, the job didn’t materialize until early spring sometime, the antenna crew and whoever checked it out and informed M/SGT. Snodgrass that the reading didn’t look right on one leg, he said “FIRE IT UP”, so they did and the poor old BC-610 about left the shack, the 250TH glowed like a bonfire and down it went. I hear tell that they took a ride out into the area that was being used by the SDF, and here was a mess hall with smoke coming out the windows and people running around. It appears one of the cooks had a old super het receiver (grounded chassis, of course) and had placed it on one of the stainless steel sink areas with the antenna hooked up to the “old” wire that so conveniently ran just over the roof top, when they keyed the transmitter all hell broke loose. I remember Dick Ott working to get his amateur radio license, as a lot of guys did and when he got it he picked his call signKA9DO and some of the guys called it King Arthor’s nine drooping oscillators, as the base station was KA9MF or King Arthor’s nine merry fiddlers. I also remember when we got a new company commander, can’t remember if it was Major Horton or who, but they decided we all should stand reveille in the snow, well one of the fore mentioned “green weenies” took care of that. And who could forget First Sergeant Cornier, or his side kick Jim Swing. He was a little up set when someone let go a 45 round in the Guard House, Could have been Vern Brigman, one of the Ryan’s, George Kitrinos or Cletus Royal. There was another SFC or M/SGT named Billy J Woods, can’t remember if he was at the company or at OPS, (Bill Wood came as an SFC in August ’54 and made M/SGT in Feb. 55. He was OPS SGT) also Nick Kaps another SFC., NM section. I remember Howard Anderson, and if I remember correctly he was involved in “Mill Repair” incident that got the Cay all shook up. I remember Herbie Bickel, the west coast basketball “star” who pulled the backboard stand down and fractured his back and ended up at the hospital in Tokyo for awhile. I remember William “Bill” Buerkle, power operator, and his ever present pipe, I think he smoked Capt. Black or something like that. Even smelled tolerable in the barracks. I remember Maurice Carlson, the Native American guy from St. Cloud, Minn. who wanted to be a teacher. Often wonder if he got his wish. Since I started this I ran across Jim Brock’s page and it and E-Mail with him has brought back more names and memories. He brought be up to date on news about Harold Norrod and Don Robertson. The names of SFC. Bierbaur (Beer Barrel) of the motor pool, Mess SGT R.A.F. Kutnarowski, SGT “Shorty” Richardson. I was also at a loss for the name of the CO before MAJ Horton and he refreshed my memory with MAJ McKibben. I am also at a loss for the name of the OPS officer, CAPT Cook comes to mind, that was so insistent on keeping inventory on the stuff in the “jamesways” after the fire and I got in trouble for putting down SHuT Paper for you know what. There are so many names, faces and incidences that have gone to the further neurons in my mine but am determined to set them down as the reoccur. While goofing around on the net I located George Beddingfield (Snowflake Theater). I got a hold of him via snail mail and filled him in on the home page, reunion group etc. and hope to here back from him soon.
Jacque A. Crevier |
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Jacque Crevier
Jacque A. Crevier |
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