Station HYPO

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”
~ Joseph Campbell

For the men and women stationed at the U.S. Naval Security Group’s Kamiseya, Japan, listening post, September 23, 1965, had been an all too typical day. The weather had been a comfortable 75 degrees with bright sunshine. Back in the United States, President Lyndon Baines Johnson occupied the Oval Office and the number one song, typical of the times, was Barry McGuire’s “Eve of Destruction.” In Vietnam, U.S. forces were ramping up for operations in the Ia Drang Valley and the onset of “Operation Rolling Thunder.” Sunset that day occurred at 1743. At the time, portions of the base personnel were coming off duty and heading for the dining hall, others were gearing up to report for duty. There was no hint or suspicion that the night and following day would be anything but routine.

The statement is not intended to diminish the significant contributions of the many locations and individuals who laid the foundation for Naval Cryptology long before Corry Station opened its doors.

By Dan Force

Twenty-five years ago, this evening…September 10th, 2001…I was onboard the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67), in our homeport, Naval Station Mayport/Jacksonville, Florida, for my regular duty day. That meant that I’d be spending the night on the ship with the rest of the duty section. The ship was scheduled to get underway at slack tide early the next morning, September 11th, and head south to the Puerto Rican Operations Area (PROA) for routine pre-deployment training for the ship’s upcoming deployment in early 2002.