"Friends are treasures." ~ Horace Bruns

To our Sasebo Reunion Family

Background:  Being a "Military Brat", we found ourselves changing addresses, schools and friends on a regular basis.  Leaving behind old addresses and schools was disruptive, but nothing was more difficult than leaving your friends.

For those of us in Sasebo during the '50s, '60s and '70s, trips to the train station or "bus stop" to say "goodbye" to our friends, who "were headed back to the States", became a regular occurrence. 

Because there was no Internet, no cell phones to keep in touch, we knew these "goodbyes" were most likely "final goodbyes".

Jumping ahead 40, then 20 years:  In 1999, a handful of Sasebo friends from the late '50s found each other (ironically through the Internet).  It had been 40 years since they'd said their "goodbyes" at the train station...40 years since they'd heard or seen each other!

Quickly becoming geeks to this Internet stuff, they learned of an "Overseas Brats" web site that was having a reunion in Dallas.  Overcome with excitement, they immediately quit their jobs, divorced their wives, said a final farewell to their children, and drove like NASCAR to Dallas where they located 10 more of their friends from Sasebo.

On the way home, they decided that before all of their friends from Sasebo ended up in the afterlife, they needed to round up as many as they could and put together the Reunion none of them had ever had.  Using their cell phones, the Internet, and word of mouth, they managed to find about 30 of their Sasebo friends.

In 2000, they put together their 1st Sasebo Reunion.  Nearly everyone they'd found attended.  In addition, a contingent of friends. who had been in Sasebo some 15 years later in the mid '70s, joined in.  The '70s group responded by having their own Reunion the following year (2001).  The '50s group and the '70s group quickly discovered that the "15 year gap" between their times in Sasebo made little difference.  So many of their experiences were the same...they could have changed places with one another and hardly noticed a difference.

Using their heads, something they rarely ever did in Sasebo, they joined together, and the "impossible dream team" was born!  What had begun as 1-day reunions in 2000 and 2001, became a 3-day, first ever, Impossible Sasebo Reunion in 2002.  They established a web site so others from Sasebo could find them, and by 2004, the "impossible dream team" had found more of their missing friends from the '50s, '60s, and '70s.  The 2004 Reunion made it obvious that there was a need, and the support for, reunions every 2 years.  In 2006, we moved the Reunion from the Golden Nugget to The Orleans, where it became the home for all future Reunions.

Over the next 10 years attendance grew to as many as 200.  Not really a surprise.  Our reunions were unlike "typical reunions" (1-day/night every 10, 20 years), but instead were "gatherings" that brought old friends together and the opportunity make new ones every 2 years.

Reunion moments:  There is no way to capture all the "special" moments that have happened during our 20 years of reunions.  Each of our Reunions had lots of planned things to do.  Recalling and sharing memories of their time in Sasebo, dining, drinking, music, dancing, more drinking, and a heck of a lot of laughing and joyful crying.  It was like the Teen Club had found its way to Vegas!

Hundreds and hundreds of Sasebo friends/classmates have experienced magic moments with friends/classmates after 20, 30, 40 years of being apart.  Spouses, parents, children, and occasional strangers who recognized a good time when they saw it, often joined us, and became a part of our Sasebo Reunion Family.

With each Reunion came those "extra special" moments when friends who had not see or heard from each other in 20, 30, 40 years came face-to-face.  Some things had changed...wrinkles had appeared that weren't there at 16, and where had all that hair gone??...but then again, some things hadn't!  Whether it was the smile, the voice, or the laugh, there was no doubt.  We'd been transported back in time!

To experience this, or watch it happen to others, without getting a "smile" on your face, a "lump" in your throat, and "tears" in your eyes was virtually impossible!  These are the moments all of us had imagined, and now it was actually happening!

For some attendees, our reunions satisfied their "curiosity", for some the chance to "check a box" they never thought was possible.  But for so many of us, the reunions gave us the chance to say "thank you" to our friends from so long ago, and to let them know that despite all the "lost years", they were never forgotten, along with the memories of the friendships we'd shared in Sasebo.

So where are we now?  Beginning around the time of our 2014 Reunion, our attendance began to decline, and by our 2021 Reunion, it had dropped 40.  To further aggravate our situation, we now find ourselves on the edge of a recession, an inflation that's hurting everyone except those that put us into it, and prices for everything including food, hotels and transportation have exploded.  These costs, paired with a declining attendance, have made it impossible to provide the kind of reunions we've grown accustomed to and deserve.

Sadly, this "impossible journey" of 23 years with 11 amazing stops (Reunions) along the way, has reached its final destination.  We've just run out of the fuel (attendance) to keep it going!

From all of us who "engineered" the ride:  With a lump in our throats the size of Kansas, we can't begin to describe the sadness we feel.  This truly was a labor love, an impossible dream come true!  Just look at what we accomplished...giving so many of the Sasebo Reunion(s) we thought we'd never have!

To all of our Sasebo Reunion Family:  As this incredible 23-year journey comes to an end, our hope is that you'll stay in touch with your friends we found, and the new friends you made along the way.  Our site "SaseboAlumniAssoc.org" contains contact information for many of our Sasebo classmates, and will remain available for now.

We will never forget all of you, and the "impossible journey" we shared together!!

Domo Arigatogazaimashita!!

Sayonara!!