I was a flight attendant for the Flying Tiger Line in the Sixties. Wake was a layover stop en route to Japan. Okinawa, Vietnam, etc.
Hard to explain the good times we had there - no nightclubs, no theaters, no TV, no nothing other than lots of adventurous people on contract to the US Govt., a Coast Guard squad of six (LORAN station), airline employees and crews coming in and out for layovers of three days or more. I was once based there for six weeks. Sand, beaches, water sports, rusty tanks and motor vehicles from WWII, sharks, barracks, sand crabs, beach BBQs, great food prepared by Filipino contractors, groceries flown in by Pan Am freighters, literally tons of books. I’d say the population back then was about 2,000; now it seems to be (have been) 200.
There were children on the island during the summer who went to boarding school in Hawaii. The island dogs had inbred to the point where they all looked alike - yellow dogs of medium height/weight and very friendly.
It’s hard to imagine a place that I loved so much just disappearing. My aunt lost her home in the Oakland Hills fire about 15 years ago - her home was gone but the property was still there. There was a ‘there’ there (referring to the Gertrude Stein quote about Oakland). If Wake is submerged, there’s no ‘there.’
I haven’t been able to find any reports of the typhoon aftermath. Given your location, have you heard anything?
Truthfully, the last we heard here was before it hit Wake. We heard in a staff meeting the day before that they didn’t expect anything except for some concrete structures to remain.
Next day, no reports except from stale news on the internet. I did hear a rumor (and you KNOW about remors, especially on small islands!) that the plane that they were supposed to have fly over to evaluate the situation was actually gonna land here on Kwaj afterwards to refuel.
But nothing after that. You’re probably better informed than I am. I’m just glad they got the people off and Ihope they had property insurance for their personal effects. (DoD doesn’t usually cover that).
I’m curious as heck myself as to what the damage was.
It’s not very newsworthy here, so please let me know what you hear.
Back in the day, island intrigue was broadcast and shared by ham radio. I realize how far Kwaj is from Wake and know that people tend to lump all island locations together, but there is a closeness that defies mileage.
Am considering yet another once-in-a-lifetime trip that includes Yap, Truk, Guam, both Samoas, Kwaj, Eniwetok (yes, I know I spell it differently) and hoped to include Wake. It’s the trip that will break my funds financially, but what the hell.
Keep me posted!
P.S. I have no idea why I posted in this forum - suppose it should have been in GQ.
He’s referring to a stage in the pc game Battlefield 1942. In that game, people tend to want to fly airplanes more than anything else (particularly on that map, since its nearly impossible to prevent the Japanese from landing otherwise).
FWIW I’m on Guam and the local paper has not had anything about Wake in it.
Yeah, I know Wake isn’t exactly next door, but it is a lot closer than say Chicago.
I’ll certainly keep you current as to what I hear no prob.
As this is IMHO, I do feel freel free to just say, that must be a heart-rending experience, to think that the places you went, the things that you did there, might be …well, just gone.
Wake is for the record, a much more exotic place than Kwaj.
In this morning’s local Guam paper there was a short article off the AP wire datelined Honolulu that said the CG had done a fly over and there was no sign of Oil / fuel leakage from the tanks on Wake.
I suppose we did! It was a crew change spot for flights to Tan Son Nhut, Clark AFB, Tachikawa AFB, Kadena, etc. This was on older aircraft; the newer could go straight from Travis AFB to whatever the final destination (except Tan Son Nhut - there was always a stop somewhere en route).
Higher seniority always bid on the longer trips. We could be gone for two or more weeks going back and forth over the Pacific rather than 5 or so days.
Didja’ buy me a drink? IIRC, they cost about a quarter.
Hey, I wasn’t so old then, I’m only old now! If you were the handsomest guy, at least one of us was drinking.
I was in my early twenties; you probably in your late teens. Closed the gap now, haven’t we?
The trips back from Vietnam were excruciating. Normally, GI’s returning to the US from other overseas bases were boisterous, eager to get back home, talking nonstop during the entire trip, bursting into cheers upon landing at Travis. With the Vietnam vets, the excitement was on the way over - the adrenaline hit before combat. On the return, it was quiet, morbidly quiet. I think you all saw too much, endured too much, lost buddies in combat and girlfriends/wives/partners at home.
Wake was the latter-day spa. Get it?
Og, I bet you were cute. Did you ever get invited to the airconditioned barracks? The Filipino guards might still recognize you…
