Oral History Interview with Stephen E. Van Nostrand, April 20, 1987 Page: 14
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14
Marcello:
Van Nostrand:
Marcello:
Van Nostrand:
Marcello:
Van Nostrand:oil business essentially for the Department of the Army.
When was this?
That would have been in 1957.
So you were there approximately from 1957 to 1959.
I was there until December of 1959, yes, sir.
Talk a little bit about that Okinawa operation while you
were there. First of all, what was your specific position
and responsibility?
I went down there to be its manager. I was being a little
facetious when I talked about them not thinking I'd take the
assignment. I think they felt that because this was a
contract that we were servicing with the U.S. Army, the
Washington experience would be helpful for me. We had been
told by the civil administration on Okinawa, which had the
authority over our operation, that they were going to phase
us out. We had made a five-year contract to supply the
civilian economy exclusively. It was a monopoly. We were
also to train Ryukyans to take over the business ultimately.
This contract was a five-year contract drawn up, incidentally,
by Jim Voss. It had existed for a couple of years on its
"evergreen" feature, which was that in the absence of an
eighteen-month notice of cancellation by either party, it
would continue on for another year.
They had told us they were going to exercise their
option, that they were becoming more and more vulnerable
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Marcello, Ronald E. & Van Nostrand, Stephen E. Oral History Interview with Stephen E. Van Nostrand, April 20, 1987, book, April 20, 1987; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc306889/m1/16/?rotate=90: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Oral History Program.