[MANUSCRIPT TRAVEL DIARY AND LEDGER OF A HIGH- RANKING UNITED STATES MILITARY OFFICER'S COMPLETE INSPECTION TOUR OF MILITARY BASES IN JAPAN IN THE SUMMER OF 1957]

[United States Military]: [Japan]

Published by [Various places, including Tokyo and several army and navy bases in Japan], 1957

[74]pp., manuscript on lined paper, approximately 4750 total words. Original patterned brown paper boards, front board gilt. Light wear along spine and edges. Very clean internally. Near fine. An intriguing and highly detailed account of an anonymous, but apparently high-ranking, officer's two-month inspection tour of the entire United States military presence in Japan, from late May to early August of 1957. This manuscript journal provides much information on American Army, Navy, and Air Force bases in Japan during the Cold War, and the extensive inspections conducted to maintain high levels of readiness as tensions increased between the United States and various nations in Asia. Our unnamed officer travels in style from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco and then on to Hawaii and Tokyo, providing highly detailed specifics of his itinerary along the way including flight numbers, times, terminals, models of planes, and costs of everything purchased from cab fare to airport snacks. After his arrival in Tokyo, he and his team travel to most if not all of the American military bases in the country (Navy, Army, and Air Force) and carry out an intensive analysis "to check out procedures, organization, and techniques." At each installation, the team bunks in commissioned officer's and VIP quarters and are wined and dined by the top officials - even when they would rather just go to sleep after a long day of travel. In addition to the details of his inspections, the diary writer records more mundane details about his sightseeing trips, shopping excursions, meals, and general observations on- and off-base. Though unidentified, the diarist was likely assigned to duty at the Pentagon. Our diary writer, though generally circumspect, provides some tantalizing glimpses into his mission and its proceedings. Occasionally he will take a short aside to discuss the history or modern goings-on of a particular base, for example the Gifu Air Force Base where "a Jap plane factory is turning out T33s for the Jap AF (and overhauling some of ours)", or the Naval Communications Facility in "Kamasaya" [i.e. Kamiseya], "a complex outfit which transmits fleet broadcasts and all kinds of messages. Also it supports a huge cloak and dagger operation run by CIA." Much of the content is quite detailed, such as an entry where he records: "At 1100 George Nagy, Rutt, and I took off by car for NAF Atsugi.We met Capt. Johnson, the C.O. and then we were invited to lunch by Rear Admiral Ward, ComFair WestPac, at his flag quarters. In the afternoon we split up. Rutt covered Public Works. Nagy, with the Admiral's Chief of Staff, a Capt. Boyle, covered aircraft maintenance activities. I had Capt. Johnson go over his station organization and then give a cook's tour of the base." The military installations he visits include Fuchu (Far East Air Force headquarters); Johnson Air Force Base near Tokyo; Komaki Air Force Base near Nagoya; Iwakuni Naval Air Station; Itazuke Air Force Base; the U.S. Army Quartermaster Depot at Kokura; Camp Otsu; U.S. Army Quartermaster Depot at Kobe; Chitose Air Base; Misawa Air Force Base; Tachikawa Air Base, and others. Other notes are interesting but vague: "In the evening we had a lengthy conference among ourselves. Recent T.S. messages from JCS [Joint Chiefs of Staff] seem to greatly affect our work here and we wanted to reorient our thinking toward the feasibility and practicality of various proposals." This possibly relates to the restructuring of FECOM (Far East Command) into USFJ (United States Forces Japan) which took place in July, 1957. Aside from these snippets, the officer discusses the personal conflicts that break out within the team, such as when their boss (one George Nagy) delays the team's return trip by three days after their reservations had already been made, "the team was almost in open rebellion and tempers were short." After a quick reconciliation, the next day "All hell broke loose again" as the new plans fell apart, and. Seller Inventory # WRCAM57392

Bibliographic Details

Title: [MANUSCRIPT TRAVEL DIARY AND LEDGER OF A ...
Publisher: [Various places, including Tokyo and several army and navy bases in Japan]
Publication Date: 1957