We were there for about two days, which was plenty of time to tip back some local beer and catch a Bruce Lee movie. Of course it was subtitled which was fine because I came for the action.
The next port was Singapore. This city was a lot larger and dirtier. Again plenty of bars and tattoo parlors and women of the night. We were here for only 24 hours. Then on to the Philippines.
When we pulled into the Philippines it was like looking at Hawaii. Palm trees blowing in the wind. The ocean was a beautiful blue and crap, it was HOT!
Before departing from the ship for shore leave we all had to attend an orientation meeting about the Philippines. The talk covered protection when having sex. Just like in school. Okay maybe it was more gruesome. They show pictures of men with diseases they contracted there. It sure was scary. Then they told us about the beer. San Miguel, it was a lot stronger then beer back home. The temperatures were usually close to 100 degrees. So stopping in a bar and having a beer then leaving to go bar hopping could come as a surprise to some. After sitting in the bar and having one or two beers then walking outside, bam! The heat hits you and you can almost pass out.
For the young men like ourselves this place was like paradise. Things didn’t cost a lot there, $20.00 was like a $100.00 to the people of the Philippines. Beer was cheap, food was great, the girls, beautiful.
The name of the town was Olongapo. The town was located right across the river from Subic City Naval station. As engineers we had a big job to do. We were to lay new side walk through out the base. We were to be here for six months. Because of the job being outside we would start early and quit before noon. Usually the sun would bake us with 110 degrees in the shade.
One day we were told that the cruise was pulling out and that we would be on a mission to go to another island where Americans hadn’t been seen in seven years. We would be gone for just a few days. To tell you the truth I cannot remember that name of the town. It was small and a lot of the people were there on the docks to greet us. We got shore leave shortly after we docked. A couple of us headed right to a bar. Ordered a San Miguel and when it came it was warm. Warm, yuck! We found that they did not have refrigeration for beer. They did have some of what was called yellow ice. They brought out small chunks in a glass and we poured the beer over the ice.
We found out that our being there was to show the strength of the U.S. military in the region. After a couple of days were returned to Subic. On our way back our ship had to make way through a monsoon. It was a terrible storm that really rocked our ship. Waves splashing over the deck. We were called to general quarters. Which meant that we went to our bunks and waited the storm out. No one was allowed on deck.
The next morning it was clear sailing, some of the fellow marines got sea sick. Not me, I felt fine on the water. When we went on deck the sun was just starting to rise on the horizon. What a beautiful sight. By the end of the day we heading our way back.
Back to work laying more side walks. This went on for another month. The ships pulled out to go to another port, we made our way to Hong Kong, China. Wow! It looked like New York, with huge buildings and lots of boats. We were going to be here for four days. This was a city where Marines and Sailors seemed to get into a lot of fights. Fights just like in the movies. As squad leader it was my job to keep my men out of trouble. Well, I tried and didn’t do a bad job of it. We got in some rig shaws and road around town. Rig Shaws were like an ancient form of taxi cabs, two wheels with a seat and an old papa san pulling the cart. Some of the fellows tried to get the old men to race.
