Beijing China
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Coordinates: 39°54′50″N 116°23′30″E
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Country
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China
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Settled
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473 BC
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Elevation
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43.5 m (143 ft.)
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Population
(2009)
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22,000,000
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U.S. President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China was an important step in formally normalizing relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China. It marked the first time a U.S. president had visited the PRC, who at that time considered the U.S. one of its staunchest foes. The visit has become a metaphor for an unexpected or uncharacteristic action by a politician.
President Nixon and his advisors on AF1 in route to China |
Chairman Mao and President Nixon |
The Nixon’s arrival in China |
Letter of Appreciation |
Certificate of Membership |
Destinations
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Dates
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Purpose
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Agana
Guam
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February 20-21,
1972
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Rest
stop in route to China
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February 21-28,
1972
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State
visit; met with Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou En-Lai.
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WHCA’s Role in the President’s Trip to China
Agana the Capital of Guam |
B-52 departing Andersen AFB to Vietnam |
R-1051 SSB Receiver |
The WHCA Mini-switchboard |
Guam became the staging area for all equipment and personnel returning from China. Of course, the C-141 Crew was tired of running shuttles from the three trip locations in China to Guam, so on arrival the aircraft was grounded for repairs and for a new crew was assigned to fly us to HI.
The KBCCT flew directly to Guam from China by the most direct route. Some details are fuzzy, but they remembered the Exchange and Snack Bar were closed on their arrival at Anderson AFB, Maybe they were just tired and ready for a good old American Cheeseburger, however the only food available was a mobile "Hot Dog Cart" in front of the Exchange. and it was bought out in record time! Those were some nasty hot dogs, but they ate every one of them! When they left China, it was late in the day then when they arrived in Guam the C-141 when they arrived had to be unloaded and then reloaded on the plane that we had loaded with the equipment from the Guam stop. The long flight from China to Gaum plus the 2+ hour time shift gives you a long very day.
We had been on Guam for 35 days and were all anxious to get home, but the Military Customs Officers on Guam had other ideas they read the rules, and they were NOT going to allow anyone to enter the U.S. territory from the People's Republic of China. Since we were on Guam we were not required to go through customs however by sharing the plane with returning WHCA personnel we had to wait while the Customs Officers contacted the State Department in Washington DC.
The
answer was to defer our customs clearance until we reached the U.S. instead of Guam.
Finally, The plane was loaded, and we were ready to depart Guam for a couple of
days of rest in Honolulu, Hi. We
received clearance and departed
Guam for Hickam AFB, once again we had a major problem with the C-141. All of
the equipment that we loaded on the C-141was deck mounted and not as simple as
moving a dozen pallets, so they wanted to fix the aircraft instead of unloading
it. The Hickam AFB folks were like the people in Guam, checked the regulations
and deferred the Customs clearance to mainland U.S.
We were all ready for some R&R after spending close to a month preparing and executing this very historical event. We stayed in Hawaii for almost three days at the Ala Moana Hotel on Waikiki beach in Honolulu both the El Toro CCT and the Homestead CCT again boarded the aircraft.
Ala Moana Hotel in Honolulu HI |
Both the El Toro CCT and the Homestead CCT personal were on the aircraft along with all of the communication equipment from both stops. We landed at El Toro MCAS, and it was very hot and with typical Marine logic, we had to stay on the hot aircraft for almost an hour. While the Customs Agents were discussing the process they needed to follow, the El Toro Team started un-strapping their portion of the equipment, and setting aside all of the PX purchased Sony and Pioneer stereo equipment of this era that they purchased in both Guam and Hawaii. Finally, the El Toro Customs said they would only clear the El Toro team members to remove their equipment and would be getting off the plane at El Toro, so, March 2, 1972 the San Clemente CCT returned to their home base at El Toro MCAS form Guam and the China trip was over.
EL
Toro Marine Corp Air Station operations
The rest of the personal and equipment were deferred to the next stop. There were both DC folks bound for Andrews Air Force Base (AAFB), and the Key Biscayne CCT headed to Homestead Air Force Base still on board and they were not allowed to deplane at El Toro.
Because there was a pending visit by the President to Key Biscayne there were helicopters ready to take some of the team members to Walkers Cay. These people basically hugged their families, got a new suitcase, and headed out for the weekend. Bottom line is the people from Key Biscayne never did clear customs, the Customs Agent from Fort Lauderdale called his guy and said, just let them in.
Little did I know that in three months I would be transferred to Key Biscayne and live on Homestead Air Force Base.
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