YOUR military experiences

..on the Naval Base we guarded they had ''Midrats'' [ I think we called it that ] ..chowhall was opened till I think Midnight---for the on coming and off going watches [ Naval and USMC ] .......so, one of our watches was from 8-midnight--so, the ongoing watch [ 12 to 4 am ] would RACE around the base early to pick up the Marines on watch--and barely make it in time to get some chow before closing ....we would jump and tumble into the back of a pick up and they would zoom off ...no formal changing of the guard/etc
......I loved having a cheeseburger and eggs with hot sauce [ all in 1 meal ] for Midrats

 

thanks for replies ......I did a lot of snorkeling and scuba diving in Hawaii...we got to take the course for free---and not for military training...only had to pay about $20 for the manual
....how long was the trip to Jamaica or Haiti? what time would you come back to Cuba from there? were these US naval ships? thanks all replies

 

Left Cuba early evening on a Friday and arrived at either Island the next morning. Just for the weekend. USS Norris DD-859 or USS Glover FF-1098. When either was there for fleet training. On the Glover I chose to sleep up on the deck overnight between something, I forgot exactly the details. It was a very long time ago. But it was warm tropical breezes and the stars were beautiful.

 

..what was Jamaica and Haiti like? I'm guessing somewhat like a few places I went to in South America.....the cities had ''modern'' areas, but we went off the ''map'' in some places.

 

Haiti was poor, very poor and still is. They sold nice wood carvings. Kids begging for a nickel or a pair of shoes. Sugar cane as an industry so to speak. They had then, voodoo shows which I passed on. Nasty looking spiders and you could pick up some nasty diseases there if you weren’t careful. This was Port-Au-Prince. They have had government problems through the years, that the U.S. Navy was forbidden to send their ships there for liberty. As you have probably read, it’s a real mess now.
Kingston Jamaica was enduring a garbage strike while I was there. Went to some bars. The guy I was with from the base had been there before and knew a nice family that lived up in the mountains there. It was nice and refreshing to go up where it was cool and have a nice meal and talk with them. The family had a nice daughter our age who was very nice and refined, unlike the whores in Haiti. I suppose you could find them in downtown Kingston too, but we didn’t look. We rented a car there, almost smashed it by not being used to driving on the opposite side of the road. That’s all.

 

..wow--what do you think the voodoo shows were?

 

..we were walking around Manta, Ecuador looking for bars.....we went down some streets that were ''deserted'''....one local yelled at us , ''hey, come up here'''....we asked ''cervesa'' [ beer ] ..he said yes...we went up some steps and it was an apartment [ like something from 1950s New York ] .......it was a family party with relatives--- for a daughter who just had some religious thing [ teenagers ] ....they had this old, simple record player...and we had a good time ..I tried to communicate with grandma ....then we went out to get some more alcohol and came back .....
...they insisted that we dance with the girls --we couldn't refuse

 

I heard they cut off a chicken’s head or something, some other rituals that I wanted no part of. Some guys went, I didn’t. I drank some rum in a bar and talked with some girls.

 

like Live and Let Die !!! or Thunderball

 

disregard

 

Heh heh....Yours truly in the middle in the Finnish army service 1996....



RUK= reserve officer school ( medical section )

 

Vietnam?

 

Sorry, back for a second on my military pic. We started with the old m62 if I recall corrctly the year it was taken to use. It was all grey and we had black boots nicknamed "gypsy" boots as gypsy men pretty much always wore such boots. Then we changed to the camouflage uniform and it was soon called " the salad dressing". Oh yes, and another thing. As we had no separate walls in the toilet if we had to go for the no 2, we called it V8 as everyone could look anyone in the eyes while sitting and sh******....

 

I got the famous " Dear John " letter. At least I knew then she was not meant for me.

 

Just recently I have been called a liar. I am not a doctor, because I want to be friends with people, this particular person considers I am a fake instead. If you look at the photos, am I a military officer and doctor or not (?) and later on medical major or not? A doctor and someone in a place where civilians and own troops needed help? I know there are many who were in the army, would apology be enough or would you consider the person deserving a kick out for making such accusations. Waiting for your answe? I am open for your advice.I might accept apology but I know he is not that kinda person in the end, he is never wrong. So, Gentlemen?? Any advice.