{"id":3004,"date":"2018-02-05T20:34:17","date_gmt":"2018-02-06T01:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/?p=3004"},"modified":"2018-02-06T16:22:15","modified_gmt":"2018-02-06T21:22:15","slug":"tanker-trip-to-guam-x-clark-air-base","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/tanker-trip-to-guam-x-clark-air-base\/","title":{"rendered":"Tanker Trip to Guam X | Clark Air Base"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I landed at Clark Air Base in the Philippines in 1987, I landed in a country in transition.\u00a0 There was political unrest, instability and yet hope at all the same time.\u00a0 Ferdinand Marcos was out and Corazon Aquino was in.\u00a0 The Filipino people held their breath to see if things would get better.\u00a0 The US personnel at Clark Air Base held their breath to see if things would stay stable.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Corazon Aquino\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Ferdinand Marcos\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Imelda Marcos<\/em><\/p>\n

Ferdinand Marcos ruled the Philippines from 1965 to 1986 (https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Ferdinand-E-Marcos<\/a>).\u00a0 Arguably, he started off as a decent leader, but as the saying goes, \u201cpower corrupts\u201d.\u00a0 Corruption increased steadily through the years.\u00a0 In 1983 his major opponent, Benigno Aquino, was assassinated.<\/p>\n

In 1986, Aquino\u2019s widow, Corazon ran for president under the slogan, \u201cPeople Power\u201d.\u00a0 Although Marcos \u201cwon\u201d the election, fraud was documented as being widespread.\u00a0 The people exerted their \u201cpeople power\u201d and protested.\u00a0 Marcos was escorted out of the country with his wife Imelda, by the United States and taken to Hawaii.\u00a0 When the Filipinos entered the Presidential Palace they found shoes\u2026hundreds of pairs of shoes, belonging to Imelda.\u00a0 Hence began the expression, \u201cShe\u2019s got more shoes than Imelda Marcos\u201d.\u00a0 (For the story on her shoes see: https:\/\/imeldamarcos.weebly.com\/her-closet.html<\/a>)<\/p>\n

When I arrived in the Fall of 1987 Aquino had been in power for 19 months and stability was present, but not secure.\u00a0 I was relieved to learn that we would be staying in the Visiting Officer Quarters (VOQ) on Clark Air Base.\u00a0 That seemed a much safer option to me than being put up in a hotel off base, as if often the case when the VOQ is full.<\/p>\n

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The next day we returned to the flight line to meet Dorothy and the crew she had flown with (see previous blog: https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/tanker-trip-to-guam-ix-the-philippines\/<\/a>)\u00a0 They were responsible for carrying a lot of the cargo and gear for the exercise we were going to participate in over the next week.\u00a0 There was a lot of gear.\u00a0 Attached are some photos of the offloading of the cargo.\u00a0 Note the wooden bins that boom operators constructed back in the cargo bay.\u00a0 It allowed the cargo to be stacked higher and thus be contained in a smaller space.<\/p>\n

We basically constructed a human chain to unload all the gear.\u00a0 Officers as well as enlisted unloaded.\u00a0 We had a lot of stuff!<\/p>\n

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I learned that Clark Air Base was next to Angeles City.\u00a0 The second a military member walked off of the base into Angeles City, he\/she was met by a Filipino offering to take you out to dinner, a show, a ride in their vehicle, etc.\u00a0 Often it was part of a huge scam plan.\u00a0 Once I said hi to a man that approached because I thought Kevin knew him.\u00a0 Kevin said hi, because he thought I knew him.\u00a0 The guy begged us to come over to his house for dinner.\u00a0 Soon Kevin and I figured out that we both did not know the guy, so we declined his offer, even after persistent attempts.<\/p>\n

A permanent party guy from Andersen AFB who had \u201chopped\u201d over to the PI with us was not so fortunate.\u00a0 The young man had told us on the flight over that he was in the market for a big fish tank.\u00a0 He saw an ad in a local newspaper for fish tanks.\u00a0 The US guy called and was told the address to which to come.\u00a0 He went to the address, did not find a fish tank, but found a poker game.\u00a0 \u201cBeing the card shark that I am\u201d (his phrase, not mine), he stayed for the game.\u00a0 After a trip back to Clark Air Base to cash a check to get more money, he was totally fleeced and lost several hundred dollars in a scam.\u00a0 A call back to Guam to tell his wife that he needed more money deposited in their bank account did not help his situation.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Roasted Dog (left) was a delicacy.\u00a0 Kobe Beef (right) was also popular.\u00a0 I had only the Kobe Beef<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

I found that things were very cheap on the island.\u00a0 I got a professional massage at the Clark Air Base Gym for 30 minutes and it cost me 1 dollar.\u00a0\u00a0 Almost everything off base was bartered for.\u00a0 I purchased a pair of \u201cjams\u201d for the equivalent of a dime. \u00a0I also got some polo shirts and some custom made dress shoes and belt that I wore for years.\u00a0 For the dress shoes, they literally did a trace of my feet.\u00a0 I came back two days later and \u201cvoila\u201d there were a pair of black shoes made to exactly fit my feet.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

There were no rental cars on base, so the best way to get around is by \u201cjeepney\u201d as the locals called their taxis.\u00a0 A ride cost the equivalent of a dime.\u00a0 Here is a picture of me, Kevin, and Dorothy about to board a jeepney.<\/p>\n

I found that the Filipino people loved American culture, especially pop music.\u00a0 I often heard beautiful long haired Filipino girls singing \u201cAlways\u201d by Atlantic Starr with their eyes closed as they tended their market shops.<\/p>\n

The restaurant menu was usually exciting.\u00a0 Dog was a favorite cuisine.\u00a0 One night after getting Kobe Beef (a local favorite I was introduced to) we ran into Tom Jarriel of ABC\u2019s 20\/20.\u00a0 It is amazing, after being in the PI hearing only Filipino spoken, how refreshing it was to run into some Americans who were not in the military.\u00a0 Interestingly, the 20\/20 team never told us what story they were working on.<\/p>\n

In the next blog I will share the three most fascinating experiences I had while touring the PI.\u00a0 The featured photo at the top of the blog is a picture of one of the many Philippine islands I snapped from my co-pilot’s seat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I landed at Clark Air Base in the Philippines in 1987, I landed in a country in transition.\u00a0 There was political unrest, instability and yet hope at all the same time.\u00a0 Ferdinand Marcos was out and Corazon Aquino was in.\u00a0 The Filipino people held their breath to see if things would get better.\u00a0 The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":338,"featured_media":3019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[39],"tags":[675,676,666,677,667,657,670,665,672,663,664,668,673,671,669,678,674],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTanker Trip to Guam X | Clark Air Base - 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