Gatling (DD 671) - Naval Cruise Book

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me Phillipines Travel in groups of 3x or 4, don't wander around at night, don't discuss politics, and above all, don't change money on the black market. Except for these warnings, we would have thought Manila was a pretty nice city. Shane was playing on a wide screen down town. You could get a banana split at the drugstore. The beer hall at the end of the pier was selling potent San Miguel. Subic Bay was even more pleasant. C division beat O in softball,every- one had an outing. The swimming pool was great. Besides, we were on our way home.

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S1-lGO r 5 9 , A The pilot on the trip up the Saigon River was a real hot-rod. We were racing the tide and we won with a little to spare. On the way we passed a royal yacht, French river forts and many strange fishing boats. ln the city itself, we were welcomed as visiting dignitaries. There were receptions and counter-receptions for the 1 brass. The division picture made the first page. Merchants were p glad to see us too. We had been told to exchange our money at thirty-five apastries' to the buck. It was rumored that the Indian shop keepers would have given sixty-five. Saigon had a few things that were the most expensive, little v that was the best, and one thing that was the biggest in the- world. We found the beer halls, bought a few souvenirs, hailed a rickshaw for a tour of the town Generally we were on our good behavior The people were watching us closely there was always a crowd of onlookers at the pier When fmal reports were m though all mght cabarets had been found too and the port's difficult lang uage barrier had been bridged many times we were m all respects ready to cross the lme N l S ga ff