Tokyo, Japan, June 1959: Stars and Stripes Pacific staffers are ready to celebrate!

Today — May 14, 2025 — marks the 80th anniversary of the Pacific Stars and Stripes and what better way to celebrate than have our former staffers toast!

The photo was taken when Shel Silverstein (on the left) revisited the Tokyo Office in 1959. Silverstein — better known to the greater public as the author of the children’s book “The Giving Tree,” worked for Pacific Stars and Stripes as a cartoonist from 1954-1956 and drew — among other things — the cartoon “Take Ten.”

Picture with Silverstein and his former colleagues Al Ricketts (middle), entertainment editor and columnist (1952-1968) and Pat Carroll, staff writer (1954-1959) and holder of a giant bottle of Sake.

Check out Stars and Stripes Pacific’s special 80th anniversary section here.