So many who had never stepped foot into a bar, tavern or night club were allowed to do so here. There were those who enlisted after high school and were sent to the fleet immediately after boot camp. I’m guessing that in 1972 the average age of enlisted military personnel was probably in their early 20’s. Whether you just spent months at sea or crawling through a jungle you need some sort of way to just relax for awhile and have some fun. Then, you get there and realize they were pretty accurate in their descriptions of this small Philippine city that appeared to pretty much survive on the money spent by soldiers, sailors and airmen looking to cut loose. You sort of blew it off as over-excited storytelling and tell yourself that there just can’t be any place on earth like this.
When home on leave they would tell stories of a place in the West Pacific that you just couldn’t believe. Well, what can you say about the City of Olongapo on the island of Luzon in the Philippines? When I was in high school, I had a couple of friends who were older and had joined the Navy right after they graduated.
Looking up Magsaysay Blvd from near the bridge.
