On 3 August 1969, Biddle pulled into Subic Bay and tied up. Except for a few hours in Guam on 20 June and in Subic on 24 June, when the ship had first arrived there, I had been at sea for 53 days. So . . . of course . . . I had the duty when we arrived this time.
We learned it was also the 8th straight day of rain in Subic, and I learned in time that pretty much if it was Subic, it was raining.
My first real day in Subic was 4 August. My first target was the Exchange. “Looked over all the goodies,” my journal noted. With almost two months of pay and nowhere earlier to spend it, I was “flush.”
Went out on the town [Olongapo] that night, along with ENS Graham, LTJG Armentrout, LCDR Wendt, LT Morris, and LT Daniels. According to my journal, our itinerary began with the “Top 3 Club.” My journal notes that my raincoat was stolen and that “Graham’s girl told him to get me out because they were going to roll me.” Ah, Olongapo. Finished the night at “Pauline’s.”
My journal for 5 August also notes that I remembered being at Pauline’s and then I woke up in my rack. What happened in between, as Jimmy Buffett puts it, “I haven’t a clue.”
I bought a reel-to-reel tape deck at the Exchange on 6 August. According to my journal, “I was going to get an Akai for $238, but I finally decided on a Sony for $195. The whole setup [can’t remember what else I got] cost me $389.”
Additional stops for me during our five-day stay in Subic were the “Chuck Wagon” and “D’Cave.” I also had duty again, so it was more a three-day stay for me and most of the rest of us.