My Swiss Army Knife & Something You Found

[farouk]

On 4/2/2024 at 10:06 PM, Marathoner said:

Speaking of things I found, I recall life on the island of Okinawa during the early 1970s. There were plenty of "off limits" areas not that far away from our government quarters; one in particular was located inside of an area known as "Habu Hill."

For those who are interested, you can search for "habu hill" online and you'll find various entries pop up; one in particular was written by an individual who was there around the time my father was stationed at Kadena AFB. 

If I wanted to find something unexpected and out of the ordinary,  all I had to do was use an old spoon to root around the outskirts of Habu Hill. I never dared to scale the perimeter fence of the off limits area --- I knew that would bring the military police with a swiftness --- but that wasn't necessary. I unearthed several .45 caliber bullets that never hit the mark. They were easy to find.

Habu Hill was rumored to host a cave where Japanese soldiers held out against American troops during the invasion of Okinawa in April of 1945. Unexploded ordnance was said to be a widespread hazard which was why portions of Habu Hill were off limits. Unexploded ordnance from the WW2 era is also a big issue in Europe. 

Edit: on second thought, here's something else unexpected and out of the ordinary I "found" the day after we arrived in Okinawa. I was standing in the back yard of our government quarters when I saw this roar into the sky. I had never seen anything like it before. 

I saw an SR71 flying some decades ago, before they were phased out generally after the Cold War...........

[Marathoner]

On 4/5/2024 at 1:11 AM, farouk said:

I saw an SR71 flying some decades ago, before they were phased out generally after the Cold War...........

After the Vietnam War, SR-71s were primarily used to run reconnaissance missions over the USSR. At that time, the photographs taken by the sophisticated array on board of that aircraft couldn't be matched by 1960s and 1970s satellite technology. It wasn't until the 1980s that satellite imaging outperformed what the SR-71 was put into service to do. The SR-71, unlike the U-2 it replaced, had the ability to outrun Soviet defenses. Moving at speeds in excess of Mach 3 made the SR-71 untouchable during its day. 

The SR-71 continues to hold the world speed record to this day. It turns out that the Mach 3 admitted by the DoD after the SR-71 was declassified downplays how fast it could actually go. Faster than Mach 4? Yes indeed.

One story circulated to the public describes how two pilots flying an SR-71 over Libya in 1986 outran Soviet missiles fired at the aircraft. Mach 3.5 at 80,000 feet above the earth made the SR-71 untouchable. 

My father worked in strategic communications. After his time in Vietnam, he transitioned into fixed station spook work; in Okinawa, he was part of the system of communications support for SR-71 missions flying out of Kadena. 

These days, a sci-fi aircraft like the SR-71 isn't needed. Satellite technology is more than astonishing. It's mind-blowing. 

Edited April 7 by Marathoner

[farouk]

2 hours ago, Marathoner said:

After the Vietnam War, SR-71s were primarily used to run reconnaissance missions over the USSR. At that time, the photographs taken by the sophisticated array on board of that aircraft couldn't be matched by 1960s and 1970s satellite technology. It wasn't until the 1980s that satellite imaging outperformed what the SR-71 was put into service to do. The SR-71, unlike the U-2 it replaced, had the ability to outrun Soviet defenses. Moving at speeds in excess of Mach 3 made the SR-71 untouchable during its day. 

The SR-71 continues to hold the world speed record to this day. It turns out that the Mach 3 admitted by the DoD after the SR-71 was declassified downplays how fast it could actually go. Faster than Mach 4? Yes indeed.

One story circulated to the public describes how two pilots flying an SR-71 over Libya in 1986 outran Soviet missiles fired at the aircraft. Mach 3.5 at 80,000 feet above the earth made the SR-71 untouchable. 

My father worked in strategic communications. After his time in Vietnam, he transitioned into fixed station spook work; in Okinawa, he was part of the system of communications support for SR-71 missions flying out of Kadena. 

These days, a sci-fi aircraft like the SR-71 isn't needed. Satellite technology is more than astonishing. It's mind-blowing. 

@Marathoner Eastern Bloc sources claimed that one of their aircraft (Sukhoi? MiG29?) could - in a dive - catch up with an SR-71 in level flight. It is said that when SR-71s would go into (neutral) Swedish airspace and fly supersonically between Oland and the Swedish coast and then cross over Rügen on the coast of East Germany, one of the Warsaw Pact powers would be waiting at a huge height and in a dive follow the SR-71. They claimed also that there was no point in shooting it down; it was to show that the Eastern Bloc's capacities to some extent approached those of an SR-71: they wanted the Pentagon to know that they knew how close their performance was; to avoid 'surprises' that could get out of hand.

This also was the reasoning behind the in many ways successful achievements of Markus Wolf's Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung (HVA): to gain the knowledge of the other side in order to avoid surprises.

Whether one completely believers sources such as the HVA, is another matter. But it was certainly a formidable force to be reckoned with.

(Incidentally, since Western SR-71s and submarines would regularly violate neutral Swedish airspace and waters, it's interesting that when Sweden hastily joined NATO quite recently, the official Swedish line that NATO is a purely defensive alliance is historically hard to justify.)

Between the propaganda from both sides, the Cold War could at times have rather fuzzy edges.

[farouk]

1 hour ago, Sower said:

I was there at camp Hensen and Butler in 66-68 as a staging to and from Viet Nam. The sky blue ocean was crystal clear for snorkeling/diving. Us Marines were forbidden to go south to Naha the capitol of Okinawa, off limits, supposedly communist infiltrated back then. I had classified secrete training course at a secured unknown camp for a couple of weeks with liberty every night/weekends and enjoyed the people/food/lifestyles and places to see. A neat place at the time.

Okinawa was a stopping off zone for returning Marines to go prior to heading to the states. A few days to acclimatize to civilization, have our bags and C bags searched for weapons grenades sneaking through and one guy tried to sneak through with a 105 mm artillery round....

The officers weren't checked there and thought they made it but got a surprise when they hit stateside, and had to turn in any captured pistols-souvenirs etc. The higher ups ended with all the good stuff. As usual.

Thanks farouk...

.

Hi @Sower Actually, the quote was from @Marathoner; I was never on Okinawa.

[farouk]

@Marathoner

Actually, the Skunk Works' Kelly Johnson was Swedish-American.

[believeinHim]

I have found what looks like a purity ring or a promise ring in the sand at a park before, I think it was real, it made me sad thinking someone either lost it or rejected someone lol, I kept it and wore it myself for awhile, I think it had a heart and a little diamond, I don't have it anymore,

But, my wonderful, albeit, very imperfect parents, my mom took me shopping at a jewelry store once and bought me this white gold diamond necklace as a gift when my childhood dog died, sobs, I still wear it, it's one of the only necklaces I have and wear still! *Sobs* ;(; ;(; 

[farouk]

On 4/2/2024 at 5:42 AM, RdJ said:

Oh now I remember. I found money a few times. First as a kid, 4 years old. I told the neighbour: I found 10 guilders!! (time before euro) That was like 10 dollar would be now. So she said: oh my son just lost that. It's surely his. Wha? I found it far away from their house. Such a pity. I was so happy with it. Well okay here you have it then. LOL it was just 10 cent. It had a 10 on it. Then she didn't want it. Years later I was still just as dumb. I saw 100 guilders on the floor in the row at the supermarket. Is this yours? Sure it is! Grab! And later in Austria I found a wallet, but I can't remember if that was really theirs or if they also just stole it.

@RdJ Make sure it wasn't a listening device of some sort, during the Cold War? Austria was a hotbed of spies.........

[Sower]

On 4/2/2024 at 9:06 PM, Marathoner said:

Speaking of things I found, I recall life on the island of Okinawa during the early 1970s. There were plenty of "off limits" areas not that far away from our government quarters; one in particular was located inside of an area known as "Habu Hill."

I was there at camp Hensen and Butler in 66-68 as a staging to and from Viet Nam. The sky blue ocean was crystal clear for snorkeling/diving. Us Marines were forbidden to go south to Naha the capitol of Okinawa, off limits, supposedly communist infiltrated back then. I had classified secrete training course at a secured unknown camp for a couple of weeks with liberty every night/weekends and enjoyed the people/food/lifestyles and places to see. A neat place at the time.

Okinawa was a stopping off zone for returning Marines to go prior to heading to the states. A few days to acclimatize to civilization, have our bags and C bags searched for weapons grenades sneaking through and one guy tried to sneak through with a 105 mm artillery round....

The officers weren't checked there and thought they made it but got a surprise when they hit stateside, and had to turn in any captured pistols-souvenirs etc. The higher ups ended with all the good stuff. As usual.

Thanks Marathoner...

[Sower]

1 hour ago, farouk said:

Hi @Sower Actually, the quote was from @Marathoner; I was never on Okinawa.

Sorry about that. (I wondered but saw your name on quote).....

[Marathoner]

35 minutes ago, Sower said:

I was there at camp Hensen and Butler in 66-68 as a staging to and from Viet Nam. The sky blue ocean was crystal clear for snorkeling/diving. Us Marines were forbidden to go south to Naha the capitol of Okinawa, off limits, supposedly communist infiltrated back then. I had classified secrete training course at a secured unknown camp for a couple of weeks with liberty every night/weekends and enjoyed the people/food/lifestyles and places to see. A neat place at the time.

Okinawa was a stopping off zone for returning Marines to go prior to heading to the states. A few days to acclimatize to civilization, have our bags and C bags searched for weapons grenades sneaking through and one guy tried to sneak through with a 105 mm artillery round....

The officers weren't checked there and thought they made it but got a surprise when they hit stateside, and had to turn in any captured pistols-souvenirs etc. The higher ups ended with all the good stuff. As usual.

Thanks Marathoner...

My father worked in a communications site at Tengan. Funny how you can't find any mention of the Tengan site online. I've hunted for it in vain. Tengan was staffed by Marines, Army, and Navy personnel (my father was the only Army soldier there at the time). That's the type of location he worked in after Vietnam with a few exceptions, like Ethiopia in 1974. Brings back many memories.

Well, at least I was able to find my father's command insignia --- United States Strategic Communications Command. I saw this patch on his Class A jacket. He also painted it on some of his coffee cups. 

Edited April 7 by Marathoner