After a lifetime in Japan, 96-year-old Korean War vet remains a Yokota regular

More than 75 years later, Arthur Picotte said his memories of Korea remain vivid. He recalled attending a show by vaudeville performer Al Jolson in Busan and riding in the back of a truck in freezing weather.

Arthur Picotte said his memories of Korea are vivid. He recalled going to a show by Al Jolson and riding in the back of a truck in freezing weather. Korean War veteran Arthur Picotte, 96, poses during one of his regular visits to Yokota Air Base, Japan, Sept. 24, 2026. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes) YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — At 96, Arthur Picotte still drives himself to the home of U.S. Forces Japan, where he recently recalled a military career that he says took him from postwar Japan to wartime Pyongyang and eventually back to the Tokyo area for good. Picotte said he arrived in Japan as a 19-year-old soldier in 1949 and deployed from there to Busan, South Korea, in July 1950, shortly after the Korean War began.

What he expected to be a three-week mission turned into more than a year at war, he told Stars and Stripes at Yokota on Sept. 24. “As young kids we thought we were going to go over there and kick a few butts,” he said. Picotte said he advanced with Eighth Army headquarters as far as the North Korean capital before an influx of Chinese troops drove United Nations forces south. More than 75 years later, Picotte said his memories of Korea remain vivid. He recalled attending a show by vaudeville