Kwajalein July 1961

In 1961 during my first stay on Kwajalein there were no refrigerators in the BOQ rooms. At the time the Luneburg lens receiving antenna had been assembled. It was made up of 3x3x3 foot cubes of poly foam impregnated with varying densities aluminum filings that varied their dielectric constant. There were a few left over poly foam cubes that were hollowed out and became ice boxes for beer storage. Our BOQ was accross the road from the officers Club which had a ice maker that supplied the cooling for our makeshift refrigerators.
Most evenings after work and dinner there would be a $0.25 limit poker game going on in one of the rooms. The game or is usually seven card stud. Several of us got together and made a seven sided poker table to facilitate the maximum number of players. With the makeshift refrigerators stocked with beer, the games lasted several hours. I think the biggest winner at the poker table what is a maintenance man on the BOQ clean up crew.
During that time the end of the island towards Carlson Island was used as a garbage dump. It became a place where sharks would gather waiting for a free meal. It’s also became a place for guys with guns to come down and shoot at the sharks. On the reef between Carlson and Kwajalein there was the rusting remains of a WWII landing craft. Much of the Japanese equipment was bulldozed to the ocean side opposite the runway. Very few ecological mindsets where in residence on Kwajalein at that time.
Whenever I heard individuals claiming that client change was going to cause a drastic rise in sea levels I thought of Kwajalein. It may come as a blow to the Greta Thunberg disciples but Kwajalein is still above water. As a side note my visit to Kwajalein in 1990 was 29 years after my first visit in 1961. It was noticeable the water level on the wreck off Carlson Island was about the same as it was 29 years earlier.
For exercise, beside swimming and snorkeling Emon beach, we played basketball, lifted weights and played a version of softball they called mountain ball where are the strike zone what is a piece of plywood laying on the ground in front of the batter. Pitching the ball a very high arc became a necessary talent to be a pitcher. The higher the arc, the more vertical the ball would fall and become harder to hit. Because the surface of the field was mostly Coral sand, sliding was prohibited.