Pine Island (AV 12) - Naval Cruise Book

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to a .better citytthan it was. before. 'Many finel' stores, office buildings, hotels and homes are seen under construction, with a fine system of broad new ' boulevards to handle the great number 'of automobiles every modern city will expect to handle .vin the future.- The best way to 1 sightsee- Manila, as evidenced by the Pine Islanders, ,Was by a little two wheel-wagon powered by a pint-size pony that races all out' for the entire two or three hours that the trip. may take. The guide proved to 'bef one that knew his city thoroughly, he explained every bit of the history of the city, but proved to be a crafty individual, for when it came time to pay the scallywag off, he' asked for two to three times more than the. amount agreed upon prior to the trip. He was banking on the fact. that the average American will pay up, but quick, when a goodly ,size crowd accumulates to see what allithe excitement is about. ' Many ofthe crew were anxious to tour the outskirts of the city and did so against warning that the Huks were threatening to take the city of Manila. Every main road into the city was lined' with armored vehicles, 5 the banks and important buildings were protected by troops with rifles and machine guns. Some of our men felt fairly safe riding the buses from Manila to Cavite City but they were a little on the ,nervous side 'in the dark and lonely sections when the bus stopped to discharge passengers, not knowing whether- a band of' Huks would request the Americans to step outside for a little lead poison- ing. As it turned out the attempted raid never turned out and we were left pretty much to ourselves. The money changers proved to be a bunch of pests when they learned that we had just arrived with a bunch of greenbacks. They were more than anxious to get their hands on this money by offering three and in some cases three and a half pesos foreach American dollar bill 'while the official rate of exchange was two, pesos for each one dollar bill. Some of the men took advantage of this rate of exchange until they realized that the money would eventually wind up in the hands of the Communists. For the souvenir hunters of our good ship the Manila prices seemed to be fantastically high especially when compared to the extremely low prices asked for the same merchandise in japan, 74 As an example, it wasn't unusual to see the side- walk vendors opening a package of Camels or Chesterfields to sell one cigarette at af time for five centavos, the cost of the entire pack would be in excess of' what the purchaser had on his person at that time. t r The Ship Service Store and the PX did a brisk business with those men that forgot to pack their swim suits in the States and were now buying bathing suits and sport shirts in order to take advantage of the wonderful tropical sunshine and beaches. The tradesmen that boarded the ship did a landslide business with those that desired a stainless steel belt buckle engraved with the name of the ship and the various ports visited. r The swim suits were quickly put to use at the swimming pools on the base or the clubs and- hotels in Manila. After a long and hard day travelling around the dirty streets of Manila and trying to cram everything in, for the four short days that we were in Manila nothing seemed finer than to take a nice swim in the early evening, or may be to sit on the terrace overlooking the beautiful bay under the stars watching that magnificent sunset, that only Manila is famous for the world over, while listening to the sweet strains of soft music enjoying a nice tall, cool Tom Collins. C J. H. Boulger. Lt.,

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HEY! How would you like a weekend pass in Okinawa? Don't ask a doggie that, because to him Okinawa is just another ,spot on the map, and a mighty small one at thatg But to the men on the Pine Island, Okinawa was found to be a Post intriguing place, one with a definite mean- mg' 3 hiSf0fY in culture, customs and the Place where the US Fleet came to stay as the Japanese Kamikaze planes found out. From the first day, the men from the Pine Island had found their way around the island discovering all the necessary activities for. a successful liberty. It 'was found without too much effort that the US Army had set up many recreational facilities at all the major sites in Okinawa fordancing, Amovies, stage shows and excellent eating places with delicious food. The Stateside Club was immediately invaded by, the Chief Petty Officers of the good Ole Pine Apple Maru as their base of operations for wine, - - - - - - and song. Their greatest problem was in trying to find a nice quiet spot in order to have that nicet tall cool drink without being bothered by the many pretty and Vivacious young American girls that were working with the Administration Section of the Occupational Government, At all times, at any of the many clubs, an excellent band of Filippino musicians would be -holding forth with very good dance music. Then 3, 313. ,f .- ' 'f eip?-23321535 'f:'ff32FfE-'IE - '- ' - r H ' 2: . ' t'5:1:fg5:,4g:,-'f,2i::2231, , ada. , ' , , ff.. - - L--y:.f1f . . f 4 3:-H .g,..l4.i:.'-.y11:.:., ,g1,:,.f,,f:,. there were the' privileged few, who were always able to date some sweet young girl from back home and who were residing in Okinawa. Trav- elling a little further from the Rycom area you would arrive at the Castle Terrace Club affording a most wonderful view of a beautiful valley that a few years back was being savagely fought ,over by our gallant forces against the deeply dug-in Japs. Here, at this club one could secure all the comforts of any club in the States. Driving over to Naha, that is if you were fortunate to know some one with wheels, you would see a few of the Pine Islanders really celebrating at many of the Enlisted Men's Clubs. Here is Where a man could have a glorious time and not worry about the cares of the world. i Softball was the favorite pastime for the men of AV-12. We played many a hard-fought game on a small but good field and the many foul balls that were hitfailed to promote good feelings between the Americans and the native women busily cultivating the nice gardens adjacent to the ball field, for in retrieving the ball a few of the carefully grown plants would undoubtably take a beating. ' A peculiar custom of the native Okinawans was the ceremonial funeral processions carrying a deceased member of the village to his last resting place. The body was placed in a carved and gilded hearse carried on the shoulders of 'four men,