Ending Where I Started

As this will probably be one of my last entries into this underway journal, there are some reflections I've been thinking about. In February of 2007 I made my first port visit aboard the USS Shiloh, only a month after I first reported to Yokosuka, Japan. My wife hadn't even made the trip yet as my daughter Shelby was just born three months prior. FC3 Slagle was brand new to the ship, and as such was stuck out on the fantail of the ship as a line-handler. Mostly heaving around line as we moor the ship up and settle it out.

As the ship was making its approach to the pier of White Beach Naval Facilities in Okinawa, Japan, the clouds started to roll over the mountains and spill out onto the flat land before the ocean kissed the shore. Islands as small as a house dotted the seas on the final stretch of water before the pier started, and a few cliffs could be seen in the misty distance. Even though it was the middle of the day, the rainy weather would make it seem that we were making port in the evening after a long day. I could imagine myself in Feudal Japan, sailing into this ancient port with the mists rolling in like a spirit of the island.

That night I enjoyed some of my first Kirin Japanese beer as I was introduced to the island. Unfortunately the night would end on a bad note. As my liberty buddies and I were not largely familiar with the island's layout, our cabbie took us on a very long route to build up his meter bill. This nice little detour in the middle of the night made us exactly 10 minutes late to our ship's quarterdeck and attracting the attention of my Chief Petty Officer. We all thought we were done by the way he was talking to us, we thought we would be standing in front of the Chief's mess in our Whites. Luckily nothing permanent happened to us that night, but that Chief who is today a Master Chief made sure he reminded me of that until the day he left the command 2 and a half years later.

Today, the USS Howard pulled into Okinawa in much the same way as I arrived over four years ago. It was rainy, cloudy, and in an almost ethereal way the island appeared from the mist. Ironic that I should end my brief 6-year naval career almost exactly where I started it, as far as foreign ports go.

Okinawa, I'll miss her.