Posts Tagged "U.S. Army ASA"

Mayo Jar, Christmas & Moving

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Mayo Jar, Christmas & Moving

October of 1969, was passing by quickly for Frank and me in Okinawa.  We had met lots of couples who lived around us in off-base housing and had become friends with an Okinawan family that lived across the street from our home. Sometimes while Frank was at work, I would see the Mamasan cleaning her home after her children and the Papasan had left for work.   She would drag all of their furniture out into the yard, then sweep and washout the whole house.  All of the mats that they slept on were shaken and then hung out on the fence to air. The Mamasan did not speak very much English, and all...

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Stork, Water & A Note

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Stork, Water & A Note

Moving across the road from Torii Station, then living next to our best friend’s home was a whole new beautiful experience. Our home and the neighbor’s house were actually at a hill bottom. Houses behind us were separated from us by a fence then had yards that gradually sloped uphill until they were about twenty feet higher. Our next-door friends had a little boy about six months old who we fell in love with him. We had lots of married friends, and they all had children or the wives of the couples who did not have children were pregnant.  It seemed that the Stork was dropping...

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A Roller Coaster of Emotions

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A Roller Coaster of Emotions

Beginning of the Summer of 1970, we had settled into our daily lives in Okinawa. We were enjoying every moment together, but soon things would disrupt that peace, sending us on a roller coaster of emotions. Since Frank was on the day shift, I was surprised when he came home at lunchtime one day.  Visibly upset as he entered the house, he asked me to sit down, which I immediately did. With tears in his eyes, Frank said, “Nancy, I need you to pack a bag because I need you to go home.” Being so in tune with Frank’s heart and soul, I knew that there was something wrong which he...

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Our Hearts Are Broken

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Our Hearts Are Broken

After nearly two years of living together in Okinawa, late November 1970, Frank and I returned to Van Vleck, Texas. We tried not to think about the short time we had left together, but it was always in the back of our minds. In less than Forty-five days, Frank would fly back to Okinawa for two weeks then transfer to Vietnam. Before leaving Okinawa, Frank and I had sat down and made plans for what we wanted to do when we got home. We wanted to have a place of our own where we could spend time alone together before he left for Vietnam.  It was also crucial for us to have memories of living in...

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Last Letters From Okinawa

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Last Letters From Okinawa

Frank was trying to deal with his loneliness in Okinawa while I was dealing with that same loneliness in Van Vleck.  Handwritten letters were our way of communicating our feelings to each other. After Frank returned to the island for a short time before being sent to Vietnam, I could see in my mind where he was living and working, which gave me so much comfort.  We had lived across the road from Torii Station and had been on the base many times, so I knew it very well. Since we had rented the little white house in Van Vleck once arriving home from Okinawa, Frank could envision me in our...

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