Kenneth Whiting (AV 14) - Naval Cruise Book

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AND HAD A BALL f ' T And lo prove he ' ll chance Connor ' s cake (far right) he accepts the iirsi hunk. Captain Stevens starts the ball rolling while the Executive Officer and members of the crew look on. The Battle of Okinawa was the last and fierciest of the Pacific Campaign. Nearly 13,000 American men were killed in the bloody 90-day battle. And on le Shima, one of the 108 islands in the chain, we remembered that Ernie Pyle — the fam- ous World War II correspondent — was killed only three months before the end of hostilities. But evaluating Okinawa ' s worth to the free world today, most folks will agree that none of these men died in vain. On peering back to watch the Key- stone ' s hilly, green coastline sink into the sea, we all agreed: It was good that we came. We learned much. But oh! how wonderful to leave. The Pescadores await Our Combo (left to right) . . . Lcdr. Stan Krolczyk, Bob Scruggs, Jerry Smith and Chief Freeman. A good bunch to have aboard, they have brought home considerably closer many an evening with our favorite tunes. Okey, I ' ll chance it, says Commander West. TJHn|H ife Pf M K ' I a|L A m The KW ' s en the spot glee club with their rendition of Roll Out the Barrel. Caught in the act, Lcdr. Neal refreshments, to three of the men. The men limber up rusty dance steps with local hostesses furnished by the service clubs.

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WE RELAXED... ISHAKAWA BEACH . . One of the lovely beaches on Okinawa, this one is reserved exclusively for U. S. Armed Forces personnel and their families. The patio ci the Enlisted Club at White Beach proved to be a popular spot for cooling off and an occasional sea story. Here Honeycut, Howell, Zimmerman and Hendon swap a few. i Like most American sailors away from home. Chief Wilson and Smitly have time on their hands, and are pondering what to do now. Attempting to beat the afternoon heat, some of our men eased over to the Enlisted Men ' s Club at While Beach and had a cool one. WENT SHOPPING... and, in many cases, little more than ser- vants. They have two jobs: (1) to serve the master in the home, and (2) to bear chil- dren — preferably sons. Today when an Okinawan Papasan, the size of a 12-Year- old American boy, sees a 6-foot, 200- pound Western man yes-dearing his wife, the Okinawan bends double with convulsive laughter. Woman suffrage? Why, he couldn ' t even spell the words! When we were ready to leave Okinawa many of us took an accounting of what it had cost. We have paid dearly. Fiolcik and Parton get helpful information on the best buy of the hundreds of patterns available in Chinese and Japanese chinaware. Perhaps a present foi Mem. Almond and Blevins browse through the Army Post Exchange looking for gifts.

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THE PESCADORES A PLACE IN THE SUN . . .Sand and rock dwellings along the barren and rugged shoreline oi Anyplace. Pescadores. This young woman has trod this road many times . . . oiid in all proba- bility, will never walk down it so far in one direction she can ' t make it back before sundown. A hot, humid and windy land of contrast and quietness, the Pescadores. And ahhough we were all aware that this trip was necessary, and our job there was important, before our five-week oper- ation ended at Boko Ko, 583 American officers and bluejackets ached all the way down to their proverbials. . . The first travel agency to produce a brochure on the Pescadores will write about numerous sandy beaches ringing a torquoise bay, but they are un- healthy for swimming; about airplanes arriving and leaving daily, but the island ' s only means of travel is ox-cart; about a population of 80,000 apathetic souls in incessant motion, but the stillness is stifling; and about a human characteristic that would ap- pear to most Wcotornorn difficult to understand: the many people ti liope . . . but seemingly none who dreo:. .phlet will have to tell that the Pescadores i... l; n.r.id where many wish they could go elsewhere, but few ever do. And it will go on to mention that within an environment of unend- ing contrast, there looms one formidable and com- mon malady: most of the 80,000 stomachs lack suf- cient food. And therein lies the inhabitants ' chief concern. By stretching the most apt imagination, one could not visualize them a vacation site, although many of the qualifications are present. But unlike some island paradises doting the Pacific, in these lonely outposts nothing goes together. Throw together the sugar and spice and the results are likened to wear- ing a tuxedo to a nudist camp. ' Tain ' t right. The majority of the islanders are stay-putters. In the house of their births they will live a life span, and there they will die. Family ties are strong and few break away. They have lived long in the islands, especially the present generation, and their main- land makeup has all but disappeared; they have become a distinct breed — Taiwanese. 42