Feature: From Subic Bay to everywhere… In The Navy

By: JOEL M. MONSALUD

 

SOME TWENTY THREE YEARS ago, there were twenty one of us who received our first military order directing us to Recruit Training Center Orlando (Florida) for our boot camp training. With this paper, a small Identification Card, $50 (Php1200) pocket money and the clothes we were wearing, we flew out of Cubi Point and stayed in Okinawa for the night. The next morning, we continued our flight using a defense contracted flight to Anchorage, Alaska, transferred into United Airlines heading to LAX and finally flew out of LAX to our final destination, which was Orlando, Florida.

 

We were strangers from each other and in the next 10 weeks, we learned so much from each other that we have become bond of brothers, often comforting each other, often cheering each other to relieve us from our homesickness and culture shock. We helped each other out- whether one needed to have a running buddy or needed to learn how to swim. We didn’t only sleep together; at times, we would be seen sitting on toilet seats which during those times didn’t have any walls; yes, we took showers together, even before we met our future wives. The shower area had become our meeting place for that was the only place private where we could talk in our native tongue, often sharing tips how to produce a spit shine pair of boots, often reliving our previous life in the Philippines (which we knew would never happen again) and often attempting and practicing our new found language.

 

It wasn’t too long after, we graduated from bootcamp, we were sent separately into the fleet of different commands and ships, but we remained friends. We were scattered mainland and oversea. We were assigned to carriers, destroyers, back then, battleships and even shore based commands. Yes, many of us were stationed in South Carolina, New Jersey and Virginia- other races couldn’t believe that whenever the ship moored into one the naval bases other than its homeport, someone would pick us up; the question was always, “How can this low life guy who couldn’t even speak straight English would find someone who would house him, feed him and give him a ride?”

 

With only a handful of us who remain active in the service, it is just so nice to remember our humble beginning. It has been a great journey. Happy Anniversary.