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After joining the Navy in 1983 I found myself in on a ship at Subic Bay in the Philippines in what seemed like a flash. Prior to the Navy I'd been out of the state of Oregon exactly twice, once by less then 30 yards. Anyway one day a group of us left our ship and headed out to Subic City. The Naval base at Subic was basically part of Olongapo City which was filled with brothels and bars. Subic city was a 10 min. Jeepney ride and had a really rough reputation. We went into a local bar/brothel and ordered drinks. Mojo juice and Sam Magoo's beer I'm sure. Any way the minute we walk in the door we're surrounded by young girls, many I'm sure are under 18. They all want two things. "Buy me drink?" and "Pay my bar fine?" Personally I'm not interested in anything other than the Mojo, and was suspect of it. The girls look way too young and the rumor was the Navy didn't do health checks on girls outside of Olongapo. After less then an hour we all decide it's time to head back to Olongapo. As we head out the door we're confronted because no one bought any drinks for the girls and the girls spent time with us. Basically we played pool on a table that was painted green but had no felt, had a few drink and were ready to leave. I quickly noticed the number of guys around us had nearly doubled. I'm assuming the bars next door sent their guys over to make sure we paid our way out of the place. One of the guys in our group asked what the bill was at one point. Turns out the bar fines total whatever cash we're currently carrying. I remember thinking "screw that I've nearly $60 on me." Lot of money for an enlisted sailor in those days. Butterfly knives start flying around and the conversation went from heated to physical in a flash. We were out numbered at least 3 to 1 but I know, as did everyone else in our group, that one of our guys is some Dojo, 3rd degree black belt, master. Little guy, last name Kelly, didn't look like much but I'd seen him kick a hole in a iron pipe three feet above his head once. I have no idea how many guys he took out. I managed one. He swung a pipe at me, I grab the pipe with one hand and hit him in the side of the head with my other. He started to go to the floor and before he hit it I grabbed the back of his tank top, pick him back up and hit him again. After that I looked around and the bar floor was covered with Filipino guys and the girls are all screaming at us in Tagalog and broken English. We hit the door and ended up walking most of the way back to Olongapo, none of the jeepney drivers seem to want to be seen picking us up. We all said later that it was "over in a flash and we left with our cash." Sounds lame now but was funny at the time, might have been the Mojo.
Several guys had a hats made with that logo when we hit Korea. I bought a coffee mug that said "Just Another Shitty Day in Paradise," that was my reminder of that day. But that was a "fuck it" moment for me.
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I used to drink to drown my sorrows, but the damned things have learned how to swim- Frida Kahlo
Vice President Starkizzer Fan Club
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