Home Was Never Like This

Okinawa's Kadena Airbase was last week proving that life in a remote U.S. military outpost facing Red China can indeed be beautiful. Not only were the brass and high-ranking non corns on Okinawa enjoying the privilege of private bathing beaches and their well-appointed clubs; even privates and corporals could go to their own pleasure domes for evening relaxation. Each evening, busloads of pretty Okinawan hostesses pull up to the blue-and-white-striped awning before the Kadena Airmen's Club (for airmen up to corporal's rank), and the gaily chattering girls--each of whom has passed a physical exam--hurry inside to dance with and entertain G.I.s. The charge for an evening's companionship: 75-c-.

Girls are not all a G.I. gets. In the club foyer stand 34 slot machines that spill out jackpots of up to $1,500. The slot machines are what makes everything else possible. There are bingo games with $1,000 prizes, plus free trips to Hawaii with all expenses paid. At the bar, cocktails and highballs cost 5-c- each. Steaks served by dimpled Okinawan waitresses come higher: 25-c-. Once a week, pizza pies are served free; once a month, all drinks are on the house.

The Gimmicks. The job of thinking up new delights for the 4,447 club members belongs to M/Sgt. Joseph Peter Klauzar, 42. A beefy (237 lbs.), Milwaukee-born former movie-house manager, Klauzar says: "When I was in showbiz the secret was constant gimmicks." Some gimmicks come easy, like giving free champagne and 16-ounce steak dinners to any G.I. on his birthday, and again when he completes his tour of duty and must say "sayonara" to kindly Kadena. But only a showbiz expert like Club Manager Klauzar would have the daring to go shopping for Stateside acts like the De Castro Sisters, Sammy Davis Jr. or Ray Anthony's band to provide a floor show for the tired airman who has spent a hard day in the hangar or office.

Another gimmick that has the authentic Klauzar touch is the "Mister Big Shot" contest. All members of the Airmen's Club are eligible for a weekly drawing, and the lucky winner gets the personal use for four days of a chauffeur-driven, air-conditioned Lincoln with gold-and-black brocade upholstery, plus $50 for spending money so that he can live up to it. M/Sgt. Klauzar tactfully offered the first ride in the G.I.s' Lincoln to Okinawa's Air Force commander, tall (6 ft. 6 in.) Major General Dale O. Smith, who wrote a thank-you note: "It was a thrill to ride in such luxury, and I envy those fortunate airmen who earn the Big Shot title. I noted with pleasure the increase in interest and activities so prevalent in the Kadena Airmen's Club. Such enthusiasm typifies the esprit de corps of the United States Air Force fighting man!" The Take. The Air Force likes to point out too that the Kadena Club and the 49 other servicemen's clubs on the island keep soldiers on base and out of Okinawa's bars and brothels. They also like to talk of sideline good works, such as having G.I.s' wives run up bedsheets and curtains for Okinawan hospitals. But the main fact is that the clubs pay no taxes on liquor duties, and are happily exempt from the local Okinawan law that forbids all gambling. They run up profits of as high as $12,000 a month, while charging members only $1 a month dues. The revenue from slot machines alone is an estimated $2,-500,000 annually for the 50 service clubs.

Sergeant Klauzar feels he must pay particular attention to his 80 Okinawan hostesses. Airmen are not allowed to board the buses that take the girls home at 11 p.m. (2 a.m. on Saturdays), but there is no rule against making dates off base after hours. Klauzar urges his girls to read magazines. Each day each hostess must name one topic on which she feels she can talk.

The Talkers. Klauzar requires gabbi-ness in his girls because long experience has given him an image of the U.S. soldier far different from that of the flip, brash, nimble-witted G.I. projected by Hollywood. Confesses Klauzar glumly: "The average American is backwards with girls.

I could take five G.I.s from anywhere and put the five loveliest girls in the world next to them. If the girls didn't start a conversation, the G.I.s would just sit there looking at them. They would be afraid to talk. The girl has to give the lead." In the interest of making his G.I.s more at ease with women, Sergeant Klauzar last week was busy with a brand-new gimmick: the building of an oblong annex to be known as the Key Club. Explains romance-minded Klauzar: "It's to be for couples only. It will be a place where they can . . . um . . . hold hands. Each couple will have their own key, and there will be a doorman checking membership cards to be sure that only members get in."

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