I guess I am a troll. I don't know if B. was a sailor or a marine, but I bet he's heard of Subic.
I was never at Subic. The closest I got was a little fishing/rice village twenty miles away. I heard a lot of stories though. And I'm sure B. agrees that we should believe every story we're told, well.... at least those told by some member of a special sympathy set, especially from 40 years ago.
OK, I'll tell some.
I got on a plane once, and flew 10,000 miles more or less, which landed in the Philippines. It was 1970.
Too late, I realized that I had been abducted by a deep dark devilish cult. I was handed a Book of Mormon, and told to tell everybody it was true, translated from gold plates. I was surrounded by trusted members of the cult who did an all-out mind-control programming method on me, my passport was locked in the vault in the headquarters so I couldn't go anywhere..... my money had to be kept there too because.... well.... Americans were the fav target of every pickpocket, thief, and burglar, and the police were worthless.
Everything that gang said, they said they knew it was true, in the name of Jesus Christ, however weird it sounded to me. If I said anything wrong they kicked me in the shins. Once a poor Filipino who was just a bit shy and not very comfortable trying to speak our language, got into the same trouble. My leader told him how to pray, and asked him to do it. Bowing our heads we waited...... well, we explained the procedure again, and waited again........ and again..... and yet again.....
Finally our timid host just rattled off the Lord's Prayer, which he had memorized in English.
My leader jumped up screaming...... NO!!!! THAT'S NOT RIGHT!!!!!! YOU DIDN'T DO IT RIGHT!!!!!!!
Our investigator was just about sobbing. We didn't like him.... whatever... he was trying to be nice.
I spoke up and praised him. told him he did it very well and that we appreciated him.
My leader was furious. He stormed outta there... I followed..... I was supposed to follow. He got pretty outta control.....
told me some months later he'd never come so close to killing someone in his life...... well.... I hope not.
My next "leader" was sorta "gay". He had some friends.....he liked to go to massage parlors. He didn't beat me to within an inch of my life though.
I was wondering what I could make of the situation, and since I had the Book of Mormon and D&C in my bag, I'd pull it out and read it while I sat in the lobby at the Kakura steam bath..... A girl named Yolanda came up to me while she had a chance to speak to me alone..... begged "Please help me get outta here.... These people are gonna kill me."
I didn't know my way around, had no where I could go, even. A lot of businesses were run by gangsters there.... cafes, restaurants, barber shops.... A lot of young Filipina women, hardly 16 years old I bet, even, go to the city to try to find a job to help their farmer parents and families, and show up at these places. They are hired. They are carefully trained to wait tables, give pedicures, whatever. And how to smile at customers..... especially how to smile. If they get very good at that, maybe they are offered a raise to do massages.....or more. That's how the Yolandas of the third world get their start.......
I dunno.... maybe she was working a more sophisticated gig on me. If she got me to walk out the door with her, who knows...... maybe they'd call the cops and call it kidnapping or whatever..... maybe they'd call the cab company and tell them where their driver should take us.... to the Pier, say.... where they'd be waiting. Who knows. Every American is rich. Every American has family Stateside, who'll pay ransom....
I still dunno..... maybe she'd show me the way to get her home..... where she'd tell her parents she's been with me all along, and I'm the father of her unborn babe-to-be seven months thence....
I do know one story though, that I do believe...... a woman about 28, a long-time prostitute by trade..... was about to kill herself.... she said.... But an angel appeared in her room, and showed her a book. It was a copy of the Book of Mormon.
He said this would be her way out, her only way out to a good life.
A few days later, some rather dopish, inexperienced boys with name tags on white shirts knocked on her door. One was gay, the other thought he was in hell. But they had a Book of Mormon, and when she saw it she just broke down sobbing, begging them to help her.
She did make a complete turn. A lot of people believed her story. A lot of people became Mormons.
I like Pence. He has good sense. He doesn't walk on the wild side at all. I dunno about Moore. Sessions is a complete phake, I mean phony, I'm so disappointed with him. But Moore gets my sympathy if, on his first year or so stateside, he kissed some 14-yr old or whatever. I don't know if she said she was 19. I bet she looked older. Who knows. I don't know anything, I just highly suspect the stories. If I were a lass and I wanted to be believed, I'd pick a better time to bring it out....oh, say 40 years ago.... or one,say. It all sounds so horribly minor compared to the very very heartrending sistuations I've seen in this life..... and..... If his memory is like mine, and his wife is like mine, he should just be forgiven. Let's move on with some issues, please.