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14th Field Station (FS) Hakata Japan, August, 1964—August 1966. The barracks were very nice, especially after Fort Jackson, South Carolina, Fort Devens, Massachusetts, Fort Wolters, Texas, and a Tent in Operation Desert Strike, in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Shortly afterward I received my PCS Orders, and was flown to Hakata by way of Oakland Army Terminal, Honolulu, Midway, and Tokyo, a similar route to that my Grandfather had traveled sixty years before by ship on his way to PI, my previous unit was ordered as a unit to Viet Nam.
View of the beach on the “other” side of Shiganoshima just a short distance from 14th Field Station (FS) Hakata Japan.
Some views of 14th Field Station (FS) Hakata Japan across the bay from Fukuoka, Kyushu, Southern Japan, August, 1964—August 1966. This view depicts the Headquarters Building, where the Base Commander, Administrative Support, Company Commander, First Sergeant, and Company Clerk hung their hats. This is where you processed in to the Base, processed out, and received orders, pay checks, promotions, and any disciplinary actions.
Company Formation, August, 1964—August 1966. These are my friends and colleagues, good men every one of them, formed up on the Company Street, ready to receive their pay checks, and full of spit and polish. There were also Navy and Air Force personnel based here. We did not get along too well with the Air Force. We got along famously with the Navy. The fire at Kamiseya was a huge blow to all of us. God Bless every one of the men who were at Kamiseya. If you recognize yourself or anyone else in this view please make contact and let me know.
The Beach, directly adjacent to the barracks at 14th Field Station (FS) Hakata Japan, August, 1964—August 1966. This was also a big improvement over Operation Desert Strike, although there was some resemblance, lots of sand. We would come off Mids and head for the Beach, if we were not heading for Fukuoka or Saitozaki or Shiganoshima. Note the Slag Pile built by American POW’s during World War II, and Shiganoshima, better known to the GI’s as “Shigo”, in the background. The water view is of the Sea of Japan.
The Beach, as viewed from the top of the Slag Pile, August, 1964—August 1966. This view is looking back toward the photographer in the above view, from the top of the Slag Pile. About half-way up the beach toward the right in this view, are the Operations Building and the Antenna Field extending into the trees. Above that are the Barracks, the Headquarters Building, and the rest of the Base at 14th Field Station (FS) Hakata Japan. My understanding is that the entire view is now a resort area.
View down the Beach, from the top of the Slag Pile, August, 1964—August 1966. This view is looking toward Shigo and the causeway that connects the island to the tip of the peninsula that includes Saitozaki and the Base at 14th Field Station (FS) Hakata Japan. Saito is on the left along with Hakata Bay. The Sea of Japan is on the right. The Mongols attempted to invade Japan twice at Hakata Bay. Both invasions were thwarted by timely typhoons, which formed the origins of the term, “Kami-Kaze”, “Devine Wind.”
The view from the plane, departing from Itazuke Air Base, across the bay from Hakata Station. You can see traces of the old World War II Japanese Air Field in this view. The breakers and the Sea of Japan are toward the top. Hakata Bay is toward the bottom. The causeway and Shiganoshima are in the upper left hand corner through the clouds. The Kami-Kaze planes that pounded our ships at Okinawa took off on their one-way trips from air fields around Kyushu, including certainly this one.
Friends and colleagues from 14th Field Station (FS) Hakata Japan, the best set of young men that you could ever find, at the Saitozaki-Fukuoka Ferry Station on the Fuke side of Hakata Bay, ready to disperse into the friendly depths of the city. If you recognize yourself or any of these guys in this view, please make contact and let me know.
Life was tough at 14th Field Station (FS) Hakata Japan. We worked hard and we played hard. Three good friends, taking a break from snorkeling in the waters off Shiganoshima. Due north, across the Sea of Japan some distance, is Korea, west and north-west is China, and north and north-east is the Former Soviet Union. Chitose, Japan is also located some distance north from Hakata. If anyone in this view recognizes himself, please make contact. I would love to hear from you.
A contented beach-comber on the “other” side of Shiganoshima. He is contemplating the “meaning of life” and various other significant matters. The photographer cut off his rear end and his feet, but, thankfully, she left him in permanent possession of those vital appendages. If you recognize the beach-comber, please make contact.
Hakata Beach with the breakers and Shiganoshima in the background. This view was just out the back door and a short walk from the barracks to the beach at 14th Field Station (FS) Hakata Japan
Fishing Village this side of Shiganoshima. This village must have been in its present location a long time before the residents of Hakata Station arrived there. The causeway from Hakata Peninsula is a short distance to the left and out of this view. The residents of this village must have been in a major panic when the Khan’s Mongol Fleet appeared on the horizon off Hakata Bay around seven hundred years before, and they must have thought their prayers were answered when the Kami-Kaze destroyed the invading ships.
It should be immediately apparent from this view, from Hakata Beach toward Shiganoshima, even though the sun is setting instead of rising, why Japan calls itself the “Land of the Rising Sun.” Thank God I had more trips than I could count to other parts of Japan in a Later Work Life. I have never been back to Hakata and never expect to go back. Hakata Station is now a Glitch on the Historical Record. My tour at 14th Field Station (FS) Hakata Japan was like two years in paradise.
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