Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — 11 March 1998
I spent my Christmas vacation touring Malaysia with sixteen other tourists–Americans from Japan, Australians, Italians, South Africans and British. We traveled 1400 miles on a bus in ten days, through ten of Malaysia’s thirteen states, and stayed in seven cities. (more…)
Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — August 13, 1997
Naval Air Facility Atsugi competed with a typhoon while presenting its 42nd annual air show the last weekend in June. Wings ‘97 was NAF Atsugi’s “Friendship Day,” one of the events held by American military bases in Japan during the summer to socialize with our Japanese hosts. Eighty aircraft were on display and 125 booths sold food and souvenirs.
Because of Typhoon Peter threatening us Saturday night, the crowd this year was only half of last year’s 300,000. Saturday’s military air show performance was canceled due to overcast skies; the civilian stunt planes performed low-level acrobatics. All airplanes were placed in hangars and all booths dismantled just before the rain began falling. A few spurts of rain and gusts of wind throughout the night were all we got of a typhoon. Sunday’s clear blue sky and hot sunshine provided perfect air show weather. (more…)
Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — July 16, 1997
From USS Boxer (LHD 4), a new ship on its first deployment, I went to USS Independence (CV 62), the oldest ship in the Navy. Too large to tie up at the pier the Boxer had used a week earlier, it anchored several miles off the coast of downtown Singapore.
Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — June 4, 1997
I never in my life thought I’d get to Singapore and Thailand, but the opportunity presented itself when we scheduled a trip to meet USS Boxer. Three of us flew seven hours from Yokota Air Force Base to Singapore on a DC-8 contracted by the Air Force to carry cargo and passengers.
From the air the Singapore coastline appeared as a carpet of green trees and shrubs, with occasional bare spots of red earth showing through. Meandering streams contained brown/green water. We flew over a downtown with clusters of multi-story buildings, an industrial section with more red dirt, and large patches of scraped red earth being turned into housing developments.
Singapore Island, 80 miles north of the Equator, is located off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. Its average daily high temperature is ninety degrees and average low seventy degrees. (more…)
Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — 10 December 1997
With the arrival of October, it was time for an annual conference in Spain. Unlike last year when I flew over the United States twice, this time I went entirely around the world. On the way, I stopped in Washington D.C. for four days.
Timing was perfect to attend the dedication of the Women in Military Service for America (WIMSA) Memorial. The $24.5 million memorial was carved out of the hillside behind the 65-year-old retaining wall at the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery. (more…)
Originally published in the Clear Lake Courier — January 31, 1996
Fifty-two years ago, two young South Dakota women joined the Navy WAVES (Women Accepted For Volunteer Emergency Service). They became acquainted when they moved into the same cubicle in the WAVES barracks at Naval Air Station, Hutchinson, Kansas. Lorraine Lee was from Lake Norden and Mildred Hanson was from Altamont. Without knowing each other, they had gone through basic training at Hunter College in Brooklyn, New York. They probably traveled to Hutchinson on the same train. (more…)
Originally published in the Clear Lake Courier — August 30, 1995
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Women in Military Service for America Memorial was held June 22 at the main entrance to Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington D.C. I was one of 5500 there to listen to President Clinton and 15 other speakers. This was the largest single gathering of military women in our nation’s history.
The short, interesting and well-presented speeches kept the 90-minute ceremony moving rapidly. The speaker who seemed to be enjoyed the most was 94-year-old Anne Pedersen Freeman, a World War I veteran. She joined the Navy when she graduated from high school in 1918, and was assigned to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. She stated, “I don’t remember exactly what we did but we typed, typed, and typed and made six copies of everything.” She is pleased to see the opportunities grow for women to serve their country: “When I served, women didn’t have the right to vote.” (more…)
Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — 15 October 1997
During a recent trip to Okinawa, I toured several sites from the World War II battle for Okinawa. Known by the Japanese as “Typhoon of Steel,” the battle lasted almost ninety days, killing more than 12,500 Americans and 244,000 Japanese. The only land battle fought on Japanese soil during WWII and the costliest one in the Pacific, it destroyed all the cultural assets the Okinawans had labored for centuries to create. (more…)
This trail up Mount Fuji is steeper than it looks!
Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — 7 October 1998
One year ago was my first attempt to climb Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest mountain. A dormant volcano that reaches almost 13,000 feet above sea level, Fuji is the most frequently climbed mountain in the world. Climbers begin at the Fifth station (8000 feet) and follow a steep rocky trail with numerous switchbacks to the Tenth station at the summit.
Last year I reached the Ninth station (11,000 feet). Zero visibility and cold rain and wind took away my motivation to continue climbing. This summer I was undecided about trying again, until I heard the chapel youth group needed chaperones for an overnight trip. Spending the night on the mountain would be more interesting than last year’s up-and-down journey. (more…)
Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — 3 September 1997
Mount Fuji, at 12,388 feet above sea level, is the highest and most famous mountain in Japan. Climbing it is a popular sport for residents and visitors alike. Many Japanese climb annually as a religious pilgrimage, spending the night on the mountain to watch the sun rise. The climbing season consists of July and August–and even in early July, it’s possible to run into sleet near the top.
The climb begins at the Fifth station, a typical tourist collection of shops and restaurants, located 7700 feet above sea level and shortly below the tree line. When the temperature is 80 degrees at the base of the mountain, it can be expected to be 60 degrees at the Fifth station and 40 degrees at the summit. (more…)
