Yokosuka Navy Base's Fourth & Famous American Commander

CAPT Benny Decker took command of Yokosuka Navy Base in April 1946, and continued his duties there until June 1950.

Here he is, standing in front of a flooded Dry Dock No.6 (largest one in the base -- where the Imperial Japanese Navy super-carrier "SHINANO" was built):

Here is a description of what he did:

"Captain (later Rear Admiral) Benton W. Decker, who commanded the former Imperial Japanese Navy base at Yokosuka, barely forty miles distant from Tokyo, wanted much more. He set out to clean it up, reform the surrounding city’s government, and implant American-style citizen voluntary associations in the community. Decker instructed his staff to act as if the United States Navy would remain in Yokosuka for ten, or maybe even fifty, years. To that end he invited Japanese dignitaries, American celebrities, journalists, and virtually anyone else who would look and listen to Yokosuka. By 1948 his efforts netted an article in Reader’s Digest, the most widely read magazine in America, that dubbed Yokosuka “the Gibraltar of the Pacific.” It demonstrated how Americans and Japanese were working together in Yokosuka for the benefit of both. Decker’s efforts helped convince his navy superiors and the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the need to retain a base at the heart of Japan long before war in Korea made that truth obvious."

= = = = = = = = = =

Here is another interesting tidbit about CAPT Decker's personal beliefs:

"Among MacArthur’s senior aides was Rear Admiral Benton W. Decker, Commander of the Yokosuka Naval Base, who opened several Masonic lodges. He wrote in a letter to an overseas Masonic lodge:

"Under the wise and benevolent leadership of General MacArthur, defeated Japan has found new hope. The Occupation has given that benighted country the start toward a Christian culture and a democratic form of government…I have energetically and loyally followed the policies of my superior officer and brother Mason, General MacArthur, who has always been guided by Christian principles and the tenets of Free Masonry” 

= = = = = = = = = =

His statue was originally placed downtown, in front of Yokosuka City Hall ..... but, years later, it was transferred to a more distant/isolated spot up on a bluff overlooking the City and Tokyo Bay, within Yokosuka Central Park (Chuo Koen)...

In 2010, on a tropical day in August, when the cicadas were singing in full voice, I hiked up to Central Park to take a look:  Ode to Benny Decker