220309 Sentinel, Hong Kong

One night in Hong Kong.
I made three trips to Hong Kong; this story is one of those trips. I was assigned Shore Patrol duty one evening so I reported to the Patrol office at the pier. I don’t know why, maybe it was that perpetual scowl I had on my face in those days, but I was selected to ride with the British Marines that night. The two of them were massive brutes, like I had never seen before or since. The lorry (truck) they drove had only two seats in front so I got to ride in the cage in the back with the felonious types we picked up and returned to Shore Patrol headquarters. Those two lads were permanently stationed in Hong Kong and had the British accent to go with the outfits. They were fun to be with and were very interested in exchanging their crummy British cigarettes for my American smokes. The evening went well; we picked up rowdy sailors and returned them to the brig at the pier for safekeeping until the barge would take them back to the ship.

Later that night when it was time for that last barge back to the ship they returned me to the pier and the Navy Shore Patrol on duty were released for that last trip to the ship we were given a package to deliver to the brig on board. It was a young sailor who was absolutely wild on drugs, so much so that we had to handcuff him and carry him down the pier like a huge wriggling python. He fought all the way down the pier and onto the barge where we handcuffed him to a rail.

The ferry left the pier headed out to the ship in the harbor. The water was a little choppy but not terribly so. I was up on the top deck, sitting there minding my own business when a sailor stood up in the front row of chairs and had that look in his eyes along with an unsteady walk that told me he was terribly drunk and looking for a place to puke. I could see his stomach pull in the first time but he held it in. Then he raised his hand to cover his mouth and I knew what was going to happen next. I jumped from my chair trying to get out of range, but the hand over his mouth only added to the pressure of his stomach contents hurling out of his body. It was like a lawn sprinkler spraying everywhere! I was quick enough to get out of the range of the big stuff, ending up with just a few small spots on the bottoms of my trousers and shoes, but some of those passed out at close range really got a shower. I often wondered when they woke up the next morning if they questioned what that terrible smell was on their dress blues? He had sprayed twenty guys, none of which even moved; they were so unaware.

When the barge arrived at the ship we Shore Patrol had to wake the drunks and load them onto the gangplank. The belligerent one was un-cuffed from the rail and escorted to the brig where the Marine detachment welcomed him with open arms. He was no less amped up at that time. I saw him three days later in the chow line and it appeared that the Marines had taken the wind out of his sails. I don’t know what they did to him down in the brig but it did have an effect on the young sailor. I understand there was quite a bit of exercise involved in those brig vacations and there’s nothing like eight or ten hours of Marine physical training a day to show a sailor how good he has it back in his division or squadron. Those brig rats were very quiet in the chow line and polite too. They all stood in silence until everyone had his tray filled and was at the table before any of them sat and were given permission to eat.

Three of my shipmates and I made the trip the next evening on the ferry from the ship for liberty. We wandered around and ended up at the landing for the Kowloon ferry. Kowloon was restricted, but we had just enough beer in us that we wanted to see why the island was out-of-bounds to military personnel. We bought tickets and took the ferry out to the island. We never did see why it was restricted, in fact we saw some nice people over there. They didn’t have the hustle of the mainland where everyone was out to squeeze every last nickel a sailor had. We didn’t speak any Chinese but facial expressions told me we were welcome.

We ran across some teens that had a soccer ball in the street. I asked the guys if they knew anything about soccer and received a resounding yes! So we challenged the kids to a game. It was no contest; they kept the ball from us so well that we never did gain possession. We out of shape sailors gave up and bowed to the victors. Several adults who were watching the game clapped and cheered. I think we did more in a half hour than two dozen Washington bureaucrats could have done in six months to improve U.S. Chinese relations.

I enjoyed roaming the streets seeing how people on the other side of the world lived. There were hundreds of small boats that entire families lived on in Hong Kong harbor. It got cold there overnight, so accommodations weren’t very comfortable. I had many pictures of Hong Kong but the Polaroid pictures all deteriorated with chemical spots. They just didn’t last very long. I wish I had a digital camera then.