When I was 16, in 1967, my family moved to Okinawa, which at that time had not yet been returned to Japan. My Dad worked for the US Department of Defense as a civilian and we moved around a lot when I was growing up, one of six kids. By the time we hit The Rock, the two oldest kids were on their own in the US, although one came over and got a military job for a couple of years. Dad had officer ranking so we got free officer rank housing, a fairly large single-family home. We had a full-time maid and a gardener; Mom finally got a break on all the housework and cooking. The DoD schools were fully-integrated--we had moved from Alabama where integration was just very reluctantly starting. I remember there was one token black student in my Alabama homeroom class--who looked miserable to be there. We were on Okinawa from 1967 through 1972--one of Dad's longer assignments. I graduated in 1970 and went back to the US for college, returning to Okinawa on the summer breaks. There was a lot going on in the US during those Okinawa years but we were rather sheltered from all of that. The Vietnam war was raging--Okinawa was playing a big part--and my Dad was in charge of Army ammunition on the island. The US military was pretty firmly in charge and there wasn't much in the way of protesting that I remember. However, Jane Fonda did make a stop on her protest tour and my brother went to see her. Military families mostly shopped at the PX, with limited choice on a lot of things, so there wasn't much oneupmanship in what everyone was wearing to school. You'd often see another classmate wearing the same shirt you had on--both bought at the PX. We were all military brats, in much the same boat. I hated moving around growing up because I was shy and didn't make friends easily. Usually by the time I had made some friends it was time to move again. I had managed to make some good friends in Alabama and I didn't want to move to Okinawa. My siblings all felt the same way, too, with my younger brother trying to run away when we were at Travis AFB in California, waiting to fly out. In hindsight, living in different countries, and visiting others, was good for me--I think too many Americans don't travel enough and experience other cultures. My Dad had four sisters and I don't think a single one ever visited even one foreign country--although one did visit us when we were stationed in Hawaii. As a 16 year-old uprooted to Okinawa, I didn't have many real friends and I hadn't at that time identified any real talents or strong interests. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do as a profession, or what to major in when I went off to college. And, I was struggling with my sexuality, not wanting to come to terms with being gay but, instead, pretending to be straight. It wasn't all bad, of course, and there were lots of good times, as well, but, overall, not the happiest period of my life.
Create an account or sign in to comment