I've decided to work on my spare bedroom some more this weekend. I'm making my first attempt at wallpapering. So far it's going pretty good... it's not perfect but still looks acceptable.

I also managed to setup some tennis games on Tuesdays and Thursdays with some of the people from the tennis lessons... now that they're over.

Back To Iwakuni:

In early 1993 it was time to return to another WestPac. Priest and Wells had left the squadron to volunteer to go on the Carrier with VMFA-312. Anyone could have... but I didn't like the idea of spending 6 months on a carrier.

By the time the WestPac came around we were used to working as one shop. I even went to a few classes that told us about the new Radar upgrades that came with our new F/A-18 C aircraft. Before this we had some of the oldest aircraft in the fleet.

This time over we all flew directly to Japan via Alaska. The trip back would be the aircraft transfer. So we left our aircraft behind transferring them over to the returning squadron.

By this WestPac most of the shop were old salts at the whole idea. I did manage to pick up CPL before we went on the deployment but Ankrom and Garland got SGT through "Meritorious" means. This meant taking a oral exam and the best people got chosen for promotion.

About a month into the WestPac they asked for volunteers to go to Korea to fix a jet that went down there. I volunteered for this and got it. I got to see a preview of the place before the squadron would deploy there. There wasn't alot of time to go out in town and stuff but I did manage to buy me some Soju to bring back to my friends in Japan. I arrive in late afternoon back to the barracks in Iwakuni. I spot Fay and Bilinski (Ski) and ask them to join me in drinking the liter bottle of Soju. I could tell they had been drinking that day. I guess they spent the entire day at the cherry blossom festival and lots of Japs had given them free Saki. They reluctantly joined me in drinking the Soju. We grabbed a Hawaian Punch to chase and drank it straight. Fay got real hammered after helping me finish this... I helped him back to his room and noticed his video camera and gave him some moments to remember. (I tried to see this at our last get together but he was reluctant because it also had a Jap girl on there that he was seeing at the time and he didn't want to piss off his current Fiance)

About a month later the squadron headed to Korea as a whole. Osan didn't have any place for us, the enlisted, to stay. So the command asked the base not to tear down an old barracks, that was used to house the Olympic atheletes in 1984? This place was a shit hole. The rooms had two twin beds in them and we needed to fit 3 marines per room. The third was expected to use a cot in between the other two. Well this cot butted right up to the other two beds. In essence making one big bed for three marines. Well I'm not that close to my roomates so I volunteered to sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag. The showers had cockroaches scurrying about to top off the whole theme.

The first day there I went out into town and as soon as I left the gate I spotted the girl I knew the last time I was there. I yelled and caught up with her. She was happy to see me and we spent the day together. She said she was moving back to Seoul and was leaving in a couple of days. So I went back to her place that night. The photo you saw was actually from her house that next morning. I guess I gave her to many hickies because when I met up with her at the bar she worked at the next night she was teased about it there and I got smiles from the other girls.

A day after she left town I managed to find me another girl at that same bar. She had the night off from dancing at another bar across the street. I sat down at the table with her and her friend and hit it off. From that point on the rest of the deployment I hung out with her and sometimes her sister would be around. She stayed in an apartment shared with an Air Force guy and his girlfriend. All she had was a matress on the floor and some crude hangers for her clothes. She was the same age as me, 23. I hooked up one of my friends, PreJean with my girls sister. We did spend one weekend together at a traditional Korean village. The only thing I didn't like about the arrangement was the sister asked me to comp my girls "time off of work". I didn't care I gave some money to shut her up. I had fun though.... the last night we spent together before I left Korea. I was sad to go. The sister asked me as I was getting ready to leave, we spent the night at the sisters house, if I would marry her sister. I just thought to myself, aren't you the one that asked me for money a few days ago. I just made some excuse, like I was to young and left in a hurry to pack and jump on the aircraft to leave Korea. {My girl on left, sister on right in the pic above}