Thursday 8 Dec. 1977

"SecNav (Secretary of the Navy) came aboard today, he went on TV with the Captain, but I missed it. I was sleeping. We anchor at Pusan tomorrow. I've got duty on Sat. & Sun., so I don't think I'll see much of Korea either."

Wednesday 7 Dec. 1977

"Flew most all day. I got to see that Russian destroyer today. Real sinister looking! (haha!) It does make you think about why we're here, . . . in a place that we probably have no business being."

Tuesday 6 Dec. 1977

"We had 2 Russian 'Badgers' fly over us today and nobody knew about it until the Air Boss and people in Pri-Fly saw them fly by.

They flew in under RADAR and none of our escorts identified them. One flew by on the Starboard side, then the other flew right over the Flight Deck, probably taking photos of the planes, all the missiles and things exposed there. Also we've been shadowed by a Russian destroyer since this morning, at least. He came pretty close a few times. Oh, by the way, the reason for all this company is probably because we're in the Sea of Japan now and that's pretty close to 'Ivan's' Home Field."

Monday 5 Dec. 1977

"I got my Christmas box from home last night and also a card from Linda Godfrey (now Sullivan). Everything else is sameo - sameo."

Sunday 4 Dec. 1977

"Nothing unusual. I saw some islands during the day. I don't know where we are, but we're probably rounding the south of Japan."

Saturday 3 Dec. 1977

"Normal work day. UnRep'd for ammo, then with the 'Sac' (USS Sacramento) for fuel. Got a lot of photos this morning of our escorts, they were very close. No Flight Ops, just Alert status til 10:00 tomorrow."

Friday 2 Dec. 1977

"Normal work day. Flew heavy most of the day. Went back on 12 hour watches. Also got a letter from Denise and from Mom."

Thursday 1 Dec. 1977

"We left Japan today. Pulled out of Yokosuka around 08:00. We started flying around 13:00 and had a GQ in the afternoon. Found out that the Chief may be getting out of the Navy in January."

Wednesday 30 Nov. 1977

"Last day in Japan. We leave early tomorrow morning. Got the systems back up and operating. Cinderella liberty tonight, but I've got the duty anyway."

--------------------------------------------------------

Cinderella Liberty: 

Liberty that expires at midnight. Used mostly in foreign ports where the captain is concerned for the safety of his crew or as a subliminal form of punishment.
         - from the Unofficial, Unabridged Dictionary for Marines
 

Tuesday 29 Nov. 1977

"Normal work day, making progress on work to be done. Stayed on the boat again and played guitar. They had another concert on the hanger bay. I didn't go, again."

Monday 28 Nov. 1977

"Normal work day, still doing inventory. Stayed on the boat and went to bed fairly early. Oh yeah, they had some sort of concert on the hanger bay. I didn't go."

Sunday 27 Nov. 1977

"Got to bed this morning at about 4, fortunately I got to sleep until 11:30. Then I went to work. We got off about 4:30 PM and the Chief told everyone who wanted to go with him that he'd buy the 1st round. So me, Don (a guy in the shop), and the Chief went out to a dept. store looking for a 'futon' (I think). It's a big silk quilt. We found one for 98,000 Yen (about $400). Too Much!

After that we went to a sushi bar for a beer. The Chief had sushi, Don & I had tempora. I was having a little trouble with my chopsticks. Don said he knew why,  . . . he said I should have left them together. I looked and saw his, they were still connected at the top. We all started laughing.

We then went and played pachinko. I started with 300 Yen of balls and did pretty well. I lost them all, but did win enough to keep playing a goodly amount of time. Then we went down some off the track streets with a bunch of Japanese bars and stopped in one. I had some Akadama wine (very good) and Sake (not bad). The Mama-san didn't speak English and we didn't speak Japanese. It was a lot of fun. We met two young guys at the bar, they spoke a little English, and asked me where I came from and my occupation. They said that they liked The Beatles very much, and asked about some movie stars.

They said Don looked like Ringo. We had a good time."

----------------------------------------------------

In 1977, I had never heard of futons or pachinko, and knew little about sushi and sake. I don't remember if the popular culture at the time did either.

Saturday 22 Nov. 1977

"Got duty today and shore patrol tonight.. Everyone worked today doing the same old stuff.

For shore patrol, I walked a beat down 'Pirate's Alley', about a block off the base. I mustered at 17:00, was on the street by 19:00, and got secured at 03:00. It was interesting at first, but it gets old after a while. The beat was 2 blocks (about 200 yds), and doesn't take long to walk. It would have been alright, except for the rain. It rained, and rained all night and I didn't have a coat. Just a sweatshirt under my black shirt. I wasn't cold until about 24:00, by then I was soaked through."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

When the Kitty Hawk made a foreign port call, one of the considerations for the duty roster was the assignment of Petty Officers to 'Shore Patrol'. This was done in liberty ports where it was judged prudent to have a presence among the sailors roaming the waterfront 'recreational facilities'.
So, while the rest of your shipmates were carousing, you would have to trail along and be the butt of their humor while keeping an eye out for trouble. Not always an easy thing to do amongst the brothels & watering holes. The good news was, the next night you may very well be wandering the same port without the SP on your arm.

Friday 25 Nov. 1977

"I went out to the (Enlisted Men's) club last night and saw some guys from the division, so I sat with them & listened to the Country-Western music until it closed.

I felt awful when I got up this morning. We worked a full day today and will work this weekend too. I went to the base exchange and bought a tea set. I'll get to bed early tonight."

---------------------------------------------------------------

Although I didn't feel the need to mention it at the time, I ate Thanksgiving dinner at the EM club that night. I don't remember listening to country music that night, but I still remember eating turkey dinner on Thanksgiving in Japan.

Thursday 24 Nov. 1977 - Thanksgiving

"I went to Kamakura today and saw some shrines and temples. I walked around Yokosuka checking out the small shops & stuff. I finally got to the train station and took the train to Kamakura. When I got there I walked about 1 & 1/2 miles to Zeni-arai Benton (the money washing shrine). I walked back to the town, went down a few streets in the market place, and ate lunch. Then I took a narrow gauge train to Hase, where I went to the Hase Kannon Temple. There is a carved wooden image, 30 ft tall, of Kannon (the goddess of mercy).

Just a little ways from there is the temple of the Great Buddha, the Diabutsu.

From there I did some shopping and returned to Kamakura, where I took the train to Yokosuka. On my way back to the base I saw a Japanese political demonstration. I don't know what they were protesting, but there were thousands of people, chanting, waving signs & banners, and marching very orderly down the street. Which reminds me, they drive on the wrong side of the street here."

Wednesday 23 Nov. 1977

"Pulled into Yokosuka today and got liberty at about 2 o'clock.

Roger & I  went out in town last night. We went to a Shakey's and had a pizza & pitcher of Japanese beer. It's kinda neat here except that you definitely feel like a foreigner, everybody's speaking Japanese & you can't read any of the signs.

The money here is neat. $1.00 is 240 Yen. After you get the hang of it, it's really easy to figure out prices. The Japanese beer is pretty good, but costs 300 - 350 Yen a bottle in town."

Tuesday 22 Nov. 1977

"I figured out that the camera outfit I want; a Bronica with 3 lens, an automatic viewfinder & Polaroid back, will cost about $1200. I hope I can afford it. We're still doing inventory in the shop.

Today was one Hell of a day! The night crew didn't get to secure at noon, we had to work thru the rest of the day. Then sometime after 18:00 there was no one at the console during a recovery, that's when the shit really hit the fan! The duty section will be working from 07:00 to 22:00, and everyone else will probably work til 16:00 every day. Right now I'm on a shop watch from 02:30 to 06:00 because of all the shit that went on today.

Right now I can go look out on the catwalk & see Japan, we're going thru the channel up to Yokosuka."