What I saw

Things are settling down a bit and I wanted to share some experiences I had on my last deployment.  I have been an East Coast sailor so this was my first trip across the Pacific.  Of course, the first stop out of San Diego is Hawaii and in our case it was Pearl Harbor.


You're looking at the U.S.S Arizona Memorial as our ship departed for Asia.  We only had a day in Hawaii and in Navy time that means we got to spend about 6 hours out in town.  It was a quick trip, but I did get to Dukes on Waikiki.

Our next stop -after a long steam to the West- was Guam.  Guam is a US Territory on the other side of the world.  Here's a pic of me at the beach.  We had a wardroom social gathering in one of the hotels.  Yes -- I spend 24 hours of day with those folks while underway and when we get a few hours off the ship we submit ourselves to more social torture.  Good times!

This pic is the patio at Jeff's Pirate Cove restaurant on Guam.  A great hamburger joint with beautiful view.  In 1972 a Japanese Army Sergeant walked out of the jungle near Jeff's Pirate Cove. He had been hiding in the jungle believing that the Japanese and United States were still fighting WWII because of all the US Navy activity on the island.  Sgt. Yokoi held out in the jungles of Guam (not a big island) for 28 years.  He was repatriated to Japan where he married and died in 1997.  Pretty wild!

  I actually got to see a lot of Guam-in fact all of it I think- during my day there.  I think the best way to describe Guam is to take Alabama and put it on a tropical island. 

Much more to come from Japan and South Korea!