Fort Bliss Monitor

Former military writer reflects on 1964 Olympics

Flip Morin
Special to The Monitor

Editor’s Note: While serving as a military journalist at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, Flip Morin covered the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, reporting on Army athletes at the Games, which included a modern pentathlon team from Fort Sam Houston. He now lives in El Paso.

On a recent national broadcast, it was reported that Athens, Greece, the host city for the 2004 Summer Olympics, was woefully behind schedule in its preparation. Despite footage depicting lagging progress on venues and fiscal fiasco(s), Olympic officials were upbeat.

As the world’s finest athletes converge on Athens – where the first games were staged centuries ago and again in 1896 during the first modern Olympics – I wonder if it’s “All show and little get up ‘n’ go!”

I was at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, and saw firsthand how all that glitters is not gold. Tokyo was all flashy with festoons of multi-colored flags everywhere, squeaky-clean sidewalks, bright lights and friendly English-speaking shop operators. However, walk a few blocks off the Ginza, and you saw the same old tired buildings, dirty streets, panhandlers and beggars.

Those of us at the Joint Armed Forces Information Center soon realized Tokyo was not quite ready, but they did pull it off. I was the lone stateside sportswriter. The staff was made up of Army, Marine and Air Force writers stationed throughout the Far East.

I was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, from 1962 to ‘65. One of my primary beats was the U.S. modern pentathlon team. The late retired Lt. Col. Ralph Mendenhall, who retired in El Paso, took the team to Tokyo. Led by Army Capt. Jim Moore, the team won the silver medal, the second Olympics the U.S. had ever placed that high in.

We were housed in the Pacific Stars and Stripes compound. We lived in a recently constructed five-story housing unit for officers, but soon found out – like some of Tokyo’s Olympic venues – it was nice to look at but lousy to live in!

Doorknobs came off, like shaking hands with a pickpocket. The windows, recently painted, had dried shut and would not open. Showers spouted mostly cold water. The elevator usually stopped between floors, resulting in long waits with no air conditioning, while the repairmen worked speedily to rescue the stranded.

Transportation stopped where it wanted to, not when one wanted to get off. Electricity failed at the oddest times, like when you were watching an event or trying to shave or shower.

These are but a few of the mishaps that I recall. Multiply those blunders by the other housing sites – like the Olympic Village itself – and one can envision a madhouse of unrecorded misery.

One of the worst boo boos, which could have ended the careers or lives of several in my group, happened one evening between Tokyo and Yokohama. While stationed with the Far East Network in 1957-58 as a radio announcer with Jamie Farr (later Cpl. Klinger on MASH), I had traveled a winding two-lane road many times, but in 1964 the Japanese had hastily erected a multi-lane freeway.

We drove to the airport outside Tachikawa Air Base to purchase a special silver Olympic coin, and upon returning to Tokyo were sipping beer with our Japanese interpreter. Amid lots of laughter and talk about the day’s athletic action, someone remarked, “Hey, what happened to all the street lights? Slow down.” We did not see any signs or barriers. “Stop, stop” our senior NCO yelled. We got out, walked about 10 yards, looked down and saw only rooftops. The brand new unfinished freeway ended right there, without any stop signs.

There was another interesting episode in which Australia’s Dawn Fraser, a multiple gold medalist in freestyle swimming, jumped into the imperial moat by the emperor’s castle. She had won her gold medal and decided to take a lap or two in the guarded waters. The guards smiled and let her swim.

It’s amazing how millions of people will go to a sporting event, yet miss so much going on behind all the bright lights, flags, music and marching. I hope Athens does their Games with gusto, honesty and pride.



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	August 19, 2004

	Former military writer reflects on 1964 Olympics Flip Morin Special to The Monitor Editor’s Note: While serving as a military journalist at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, Flip Morin covered the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, reporting on Army athletes at the Games, which included a modern pentathlon team from Fort Sam Houston. He now lives in El Paso. On a recent national broadcast, it was reported that Athens, Greece, the host city for the 2004 Summer Olympics, was woefully behind schedule in its preparation. Despite footage depicting lagging progress on venues and fiscal fiasco(s), Olympic officials were upbeat. As the world’s finest athletes converge on Athens – where the first games were staged centuries ago and again in 1896 during the first modern Olympics – I wonder if it’s “All show and little get up ‘n’ go!” I was at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, and saw firsthand how all that glitters is not gold. Tokyo was all flashy with festoons of multi-colored flags everywhere, squeaky-clean sidewalks, bright lights and friendly English-speaking shop operators. However, walk a few blocks off the Ginza, and you saw the same old tired buildings, dirty streets, panhandlers and beggars. Those of us at the Joint Armed Forces Information Center soon realized Tokyo was not quite ready, but they did pull it off. I was the lone stateside sportswriter. The staff was made up of Army, Marine and Air Force writers stationed throughout the Far East. I was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, from 1962 to ‘65. One of my primary beats was the U.S. modern pentathlon team. The late retired Lt. Col. Ralph Mendenhall, who retired in El Paso, took the team to Tokyo. Led by Army Capt. Jim Moore, the team won the silver medal, the second Olympics the U.S. had ever placed that high in. We were housed in the Pacific Stars and Stripes compound. We lived in a recently constructed five-story housing unit for officers, but soon found out – like some of Tokyo’s Olympic venues – it was nice to look at but lousy to live in! Doorknobs came off, like shaking hands with a pickpocket. The windows, recently painted, had dried shut and would not open. Showers spouted mostly cold water. The elevator usually stopped between floors, resulting in long waits with no air conditioning, while the repairmen worked speedily to rescue the stranded. Transportation stopped where it wanted to, not when one wanted to get off. Electricity failed at the oddest times, like when you were watching an event or trying to shave or shower. These are but a few of the mishaps that I recall. Multiply those blunders by the other housing sites – like the Olympic Village itself – and one can envision a madhouse of unrecorded misery. One of the worst boo boos, which could have ended the careers or lives of several in my group, happened one evening between Tokyo and Yokohama. While stationed with the Far East Network in 1957-58 as a radio announcer with Jamie Farr (later Cpl. Klinger on MASH), I had traveled a winding two-lane road many times, but in 1964 the Japanese had hastily erected a multi-lane freeway. We drove to the airport outside Tachikawa Air Base to purchase a special silver Olympic coin, and upon returning to Tokyo were sipping beer with our Japanese interpreter. Amid lots of laughter and talk about the day’s athletic action, someone remarked, “Hey, what happened to all the street lights? Slow down.” We did not see any signs or barriers. “Stop, stop” our senior NCO yelled. We got out, walked about 10 yards, looked down and saw only rooftops. The brand new unfinished freeway ended right there, without any stop signs. There was another interesting episode in which Australia’s Dawn Fraser, a multiple gold medalist in freestyle swimming, jumped into the imperial moat by the emperor’s castle. She had won her gold medal and decided to take a lap or two in the guarded waters. The guards smiled and let her swim. It’s amazing how millions of people will go to a sporting event, yet miss so much going on behind all the bright lights, flags, music and marching. I hope Athens does their Games with gusto, honesty and pride.