Sixty five years ago I left my ship, the Pickens, for a rare liberty. We had arrived in San Francisco August 3 and were to be there only long enough to load on supplies and the 86th Division preparatory to invading Japan. Rumors of a possible Japanese surrender had been circulating and then, while I was off the ship, President Truman announced that Japan had agreed to surrender terms. I was by myself as some of my buddies were on leave or standing watch. I entered a restaurant and was taken to a table occupied by people I didn't know and who didn't know me. The manager said they were not accepting any more customers and would soon closes.
Streets and sidewalks were being thronged with shouting people. A girl grabbed my cap and ran off with it. I chased her and got it back; the shore patrol liked to throw sailors in the brig for being out of uniform. I could not join in the celebrations going on around me. For some reason I felt they were inappropriate and instead of being exhilirated I felt empty, not really sad but somehow let down. I felt that this was no way to observe such a momentous event. I left and went back to the ship.
A week or so later, August 23, we left for Japan, stopping in the Philippines to let the 86th (Blackhawk)
Division off and take the troops who had liberated the Philippines to occupy Japan. With all that was going on I forgot that I had a birthday August 2l when I became 19. It was at least two more weeks before I realized that I had missed a birthday. For many years I maintained I could be 19 any time I wanted, but my family surprised me by recognizing my birthday before a church congregation, thus marking my l9th birthday a few years late.
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