Like many others, my grandfather had always dreamed about returning to the places he served, during peaceful conditions. The trip was codenamed "Operation Walkabout" and became the one of the most exciting experiences a grandfather and grandson could share.

   During the summer of 1993, he took this special trip, and took his grandson along too. Together traveling for over a month on a self-guided adventure of remembrance about the past. For veterans, the desire to look up old friends, identify old buildings and revisit overgrown battlefields is something only a fellow combatants can appreciate. Seeing my grandfather remember things forgotten for a half century, and locating old friends was just as exciting as the actual traveling. We traveled the same path my grandfather had taken in the Army, a half century ago...

     We passed through Sydney and Brisbane, just as he had, before returning to his Army camp in Rockhampton, Queensland Australia. Then, we traveled to Cairns before departing north for Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

   In New Guinea we flew through Nadzab, an airfield built by the Americans during the war, before finally landing at the coastal town of Madang. Returning via Hawaii, we visited Pearl Harbor.