I stopped at Wake Island in 1961 on my way to Clark AB in the Philippines and again in 1962 on my way to CONUS. We went to the mess hall both times. In 1961 I didn't think the Air Force could have a worse mess hall; in 1962, nothing had changed. I remember the Aerodrome OOD coming into the mess hall, dressed in PT shorts, PF Keds, a sidearm and a pith helmet and nothing else. It wouldn't take long, maybe 30 minutes, for island fever to set in.
In 1963 I found a worse mess hall: the "dining facility" at McGuire AFB, NJ, where we were being separated. Awful, awful, awful.