Upon graduating from boot camp, I was assigned to sea duty as an apprentice seaman aboard the USS Henderson,DD785,the commanding officer was Cdr.T.W. Samuel.My duties as a deck hand consisted of sweeping and swabbing(mopping) the decks, chipping and wire brushing rust and repainting.Re-painting consisted of a coat of zinc chromate and a finish coat of haze gray.The popular saying was " if it moves salute it, if it doesn't, paint it ".This was a never ending job since steel and saltwater are natural enemies.
The first time the ship went to sea as soon as we cleared the harbor I started feeling seasick.The petty officer in charge of our work detail was a 2nd. Class boatswain mate named Johnny Aydock. He noticed that I was turning a little green and he told me that the Captain wanted me to count all the rivets on the stern 5" gun mount.Being new to the ship,just the thought of doing something on direct orders from our C.O. scared me to death.after counting rivets for about 30 minutes,Aydock came over and asked me how I felt? I had been so nervous and busy that I forgot about being seasick. I was never seasick again.
In March of 1949 my ship departed San Diego for my first overseas tour of duty. We steamed to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.This is a view of the U.S.Naval base at Pearl Harbor. Click on thumbnail for full size.
From Pearl Harbor we sailed on to Wake Island and then to Yokosuka,Japan which would be our home port for the next nine months.U.S.Navy Web site( Source of photo )
I wish there was some way I could describe my feelings as I walked ashore in Japan for the first time.I was 18 years old from a small town in N.W. Georgia and the only time that I had ever been away from home, was a week a year at Boy Scout Camp.Also, it was only 3 1/2 years after the end of world war 2 and Japan was still under control of the occupation forces, and she was still struggling, to recover from the effects of the war.
This is a typical berthing of three destroyers next to a repair ship at the Yokosuka naval shipyard in Japan. Notice the japanese fishing boat in the foreground.
In my eyes,Japan was very primitive in a lot of ways.I remember the houses were very small and looked very flimsy.However,in a very short time,I came to love Japan and her culture and the hard working people.As occupying forces we were not supposed to mix socially with the citizens,however me and a group of my buddies became friends with the owner of a souvenier store and his family.His name was Mr. Yamaguchi,he built a wall across the rear of his store giving us a room to hang out in where the shore patrol could not see us fraternizing with them.
We would hang out in our little room and play cards and drink Japanese beer and warm saki. We became so close that we were invited to his daughter Tashigo's wedding.
During this first tour I traveled to Yokohama,Tokyo & Sasebo.Because of the war the Japanese were short of many luxuries,therefore the blackmarket was a flourishing business.We could buy a carton of cigarettes at the ship store for .80 cents and if we could figure out a way to smuggle them ashore we could sell them for 1750 yen,or 5.00 american script.I went ashore with my pea coat on and packs of cigarettes taped to my arms and sometimes taped to my legs.
We were paid in american script and the official rate of exchange was 360 yen per $1.00 script,you could get 400 yen per dollar script in the black market and if you were fortunate enough to have any american dollars, you could get 500 yen per dollar. The first time that we exchanged our script for yen I got into a crap game and hit a lucky streak.When the game broke up I had a pillow case half full of yen. I thought I was rich.I assorted the various denominations and counted it up and I had 21,600 yen,WOW!!! ( $60.00 ).
Ashore you could get a meal consisting of steak and eggs and a bottle of japanese beer for about $1.50 cents script.Everywhere you looked in town there were souvenier stores.I was facinated by the artistic talents of the Japanese people. I started a collection of tiny glass figures,birds,animals, etc. I accumalated quite a collection of them and individually wrapped each one in tissue and packed them in a tin container. I carried that collection all over the pacific and part of the east coast of the states until my discharge.
Our ship also made a good will tour to Inchon,Korea. At this time,for reasons that I did not understand,the South Koreans had a great deal of animosity towards American's. We went ashore in Inchon and were escorted to a train by Korean soldiers for our protection for a trip to Seoul,where we spent our liberty. I remember touring a Temple there that was absolutely breathtaking.I also remember that due to the animosity we had to sightsee in groups for our own protection.Little did we know then, that a year later we would be back in Korean waters fighting for these same people.
