STRUTS
An American serviceman just back from Japan tells a story of an appalling condition and how a group of GIs banded together and did something about it Pho to S tory b y Jack H o lt. USX
/ just recently returned from Japan. Like a lot of other young service men I found out about conditions there that I never dreamed existed. When we arrived, some of my Christian buddies and I looked around for a Christian service center. There was none. And yet there were thousands of us with plenty of leave time and nothing to do but roam the streets. We were in Yokosuka, a large shipbuilding center near the mouth of Tokyo Harbor. I guess Yokosuka would make Las Vegas look like a sleepy eastern vil lage. We were told there are 8,000 prostitutes. We saw them roaming the streets like hungry vultures searching for prey. And what we saw made us go to our knees and pray for a Christian service center. After we prayed we went to work. People in the States sent us money and we pooled our service pay. We bought property and found the low est bid for converting it for American- style living was $5,500. We paid the contractor $1,000 and he went ahead. When it was finished in April 1953 everything was paid for. Since serv icemen can’t own property as a group we placed the title in the trust of seven missionaries. THE KING'S BUSINESS
Before and after views of building servicemen bought.
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