Catamount (LSD 17) - Naval Cruise Book

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S A Y O N A RA It was H ' .ijonara to Japan . . . you had served your time in the Far East for a while . . . vou were ready to return State-side . . . you ' d had enough of the Oriental world for the time being . . . sajioiuira ... so long . . . maybe, )ou hoped, so long for good . . . maybe you hoped to return . . . nia)bc you didn ' t even think ol that angle with the excitement of getting home burning up your nervous energy... . . . you had yoin- last spree of sho])|)ing on Yokosuka ' s blark market alley . . . you drank your last bottle of Asahi or Ni|)])on beer in the king-sized bottle... you used uj) all the extra ten yen pieces that had ace unnilatcd at the bottom of your locker, all exejit a smuggled few with which to awe the IandIu})I)ers at home... you finished -oin- dealings with liic little man IVom Nan-Yo-Sha laundry and dry cleaning... you told ' I ' omiko and Su .i-san you ' d be back some day and not to forget you... ... you wondered how it would feel seeing the coast of California on the horizon... ()U had lived the moment of sle|)])ing off the gangway onto American earth over and over again already ... you 38 —

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sliirkcd at tlic ilinim;lii n( ilic lomiilcss limes you would h.i c to icll the rcLiiivcs .ihoiii your experiences, about Mouul I ' uji ami Korea .md wasu ' i it just iluilliuj; . . . you were se( retK ' looking forward to telliiit; iliem too . . . ... X til .iicr.i . . . lile on the ship, as well as olT, had l)een thnereiit in Japanese waters... an oscruiL lit wasn ' t the loninion lliin,L(... (hity had l)een h M y at times and slcej) had often been a pri ilejfe iustiMc! ol ' an ordinariK m iicdulcd e ent... you liad f row n more closely akin to the three huntlreil men on sour .shi|) tlian woulil lia c l)cen the case elsewhere . . . ou liad been spared tlie tenseness of combat, yet there had been the tlirill of participating in se eral landing exercises... and the pure and sim])le satisl.ution from feeling tlic wind ofl ' the oi can blowing at you as your ship rolled and pitched . . . . . . you lay in your rack that first night underway for the States and you were happy . . . you thought, perhaps that you had hated being gone so long, but that you woiddn ' t trade the last eight months for the world... you remembered the good things about the cruise and for some reason the bad seemed to slip from your mind... you were glad to leave... you were glad you ' d been there... you were speaking .sa ' y ni . . . you felt prctt} good. Going home - 39 -