This might amuse you.
As you know, a few years ago the US Navy and Air Force were kicked out of major bases in this country. For several years after that, all military contact ceased. Last year, though, a "Visiting Forces Agreement" was signed, and not long ago a substantial joint exercise was held. No ships came into Subic, but a substantial group of Marines and SEALs flew in to take advantage of the JEST school, which has evidently been missed. I met a few of them: they were having a discreet coke on the beach, and saw me paddling the kayak; a couple of them were paddlers, and we talked boat a bit. They seemed pretty solid fellows, smart, aware, and low-key; I'm sure any of them could have paddled a lot farther and faster than I can, and I don't say that about just anybody.
Anyway, they were around town a fair bit, behaving very modestly - they had clearly been told that booze, broads, and any behaviour that might create controversy of any kind was totally off limits.
The funny thing about all this was the reaction of the little cluster of veterans who own and patronize the few rickety girlie bars left up in Calapacuan. These fellows have been anticipating the return of the Navy with all the fervor of a Pentacostal preacher awaiting the second coming, and their disappointment was bitter. They simply couldn't comprehend the idea that men who might be sent into combat could spend their free time doing anything but drinking and whoring. Much moaning about the degenerate new generation, many dire predictions about what would happen if we ever fight another war, much howling about "this bunch of faggots".
Actually, I think the guys I met would do pretty well if called on to defend, but the notion that you have to be a hard-drinking whorehound to be trusted in combat struck me as positively quaint. |
