Brad’s Gambling Life – Part 11 – Korean Conflict Paradise

And so begins Brad’s amazing two-year plum assignment at Itami Air Force Base near Osaka, Japan.  Yes, he was in what they called the Korean Theater, only 90 miles from the 38^th Parallel, but truly a world away from Korea.  All the airmen paid $2 from their monthly pay and that covered a Japanese houseboy who took care of their laundry, made their beds, and kept their barracks inspection-ready at all times.  Another $2 and that paid the Japanese girls who waited on them in the dining room and took over their KP duties.  The Air Force dining room had white tablecloths (just like the recruiter had told him when he first signed up).  And remember that free beer that had motivated him to get out of Oklahoma in the first place?  Well, the Airman’s Club drinks were always cheap but they often offered free- or one-cent-drink nights.

To Brad’s surprise, he was again assigned to a warehouse, but this time there was no officer trying to torture him, just a friendly corporal supervisor who didn’t demand too much from him.  And another surprise came after six months, when the corporal was sent back stateside.  Brad, a lowly PFC, was made supervisor.

Brad really had no idea how to run a large engineer warehouse operation that also included a lumber warehouse full of building supplies. But fortunately he had inherited a staff of six extremely experienced and hard-working Japanese.  So Brad became the benevolent ruler of this supply fiefdom.  He treated his Japanese workers with his usual kindness and respect.   And they adored their Tomason (Brad’s first name is Thomas), refusing to let him do any work.   “You go – we take care of everything.” 

And they did, with such extreme efficiency that Tomason was soon promoted to corporal and then nine months later made buck sergeant (name later changed to Airman First Class). 

For these two years Brad’s life was what he called  “Sgt Bilko” meets “MASH.”   He could sleep late and wander in just in time to take his morning break – his loyal subjects had opened up the warehouse early and were taking care of business without him. And as at the other base, the Marines here at Itami were majorly underfunded compared to the Air Force but they soon found that Brad had a soft spot for the Corps.  A Marine mess hall was right across from Brad’s warehouse and the corporal in charge invited Brad’s Japanese staff to come over every morning after breakfast and take all the leftover pastries and coffee.  Brad appreciated this favor for his workers, so when the corporal asked for ten gallons of white and 10 gallons of green paint to fix up the mess hall, he figured the Marines deserved it,  “After all we were all fighting on the same side, weren’t we?”  The Marine enlisted men’s mess hall looked so nice, the corporal got a promotion to buck sergeant.  But then the Marine officers’ mess hall looked shabby.  Brad provided more paint.  And Brad’s friend was promoted to staff sergeant.  Marine and Air Force co-operation at its finest!

Brad never was one to worry about government mistakes.  One time a shipment of six huge boxes of green yarn was delivered to the warehouse.  It had originally been ordered to wrap jet engines, but the Air Force had changed their mind, so Brad just stored it up in the rafters instead of destroying it. 

Well, in order to finish this yarn story, I guess I need to digress and at least talk a little bit about Japanese girls.  Most of the details are X-rated, but remember Brad and hundreds of other servicemen were just teenagers 18 or 19 years old during this time, and Japan was recovering from a disastrous war.  All the villagers in the little town outside the base, including the young girls, were very poor and had to scramble to provide even the necessities for their families.  So it isn’t hard to figure out what business was booming.  However, after about a year of “playing the field,” Brad met a smart and frugal Japanese girl whom he liked.  As many of the servicemen did, he gave her the rent for a tiny little house down a lane beside a rice paddy, and they became “a couple” until Brad went back to the States.  (You might have seen this kind of life in the old movie “Sayonara,” which was filmed at and around Itami during this time.)

So back to the yarn story.  When Brad’s girlfriend, Katiko, heard about this yarn, she told Brad that she and some of her girlfriends could really use it.    So with the help of a friendly Air Policeman who had access to a jeep, all the boxes of yarn made it to Brad’s little house.  In a couple of months, as the cold winter began, the little town was swarming with girls in nice and warm beautiful green sweaters.

Yes, it was a wonderful life for Brad.  But perhaps you have noticed I haven’t mentioned one word about gambling.  Had girls replaced this pastime?  Most definitely not, but it was such an important part of his life in Japan that it deserves a chapter all to itself – and that will come in Part 12.