Camp Victory

One of the big news stories today was the closing of Camp Victory, by the U.S. Army in Iraq. That event provoked some old memories for me. When Japan surrendered in World War II, millions of U.S. men and women were in uniform, scattered around the world. They wanted to come home. America wanted to bring them home. But America had vast war resources in every corner of the world. These resources had to be disposed of in some proper fashion.

Among those resources was a large Army presence on the Island of Leyte, in the Philippines. Headquarters and command was at Base "K" at Tacloban, where I was stationed. Elsewhere on the island was a large Ordinance unit; an Engineers unit; the Port Authority; There was a vehicle park, where tanks, trucks, Jeeps, even motorcycles originally intended for the invasion of Japan, had been unloaded when Japan surrendered. At Base "K", there was a Fire Department; A Military Police Department. There were warehouses; PX facilities; even the Prisoner Of War Camp where 10,000 Japanese prisoners had been held.

Throughout 1946, individual units were closed and their facilities turned over to the Philippine Army. All U.S. combat veterans were home; all Japanese POWs were repatriated. By the spring of 1947, it was time for Base "K" to be closed. All the work was done. It was time - it was proper - for the Philippine Army to take possession of the Port Authority, the barracks, the motor pool... everything we had so meticulously maintained. We sent the last message: "From C.O. Base K to CG AFWESPAC" from my message center.

We also were going home, but... it was bittersweet. We were losing our "home" of so many months... even though it never really belonged to we individual soldiers. We watched the usual cloud of smoke from evening cooking fires rise over Tacloban  as we boarded a motor launch for the ride to Manila There we would catch a troopship (the Gen. A.W. Greeley) bound for Okinawa, Yokohama and San Francisco.

Au revoir, Base "K", you served us well. As had Camp Victory.