Alright, I will condense it as much as possible.
We had been in Subic Bay in the Philippines maybe a week. By we, I mean the US Navy Destroyer I served on. That was my first intro to the Philippines and Dog on a stick. Some of the guys called it Pooch Stick. I don't think any of us had heard of shish kabob in those days, so no Pooch kabob.
Anyway, about a week of this and we got sent to get a man held hostage on Island. The Island was on edge of the South China Sea, inbetween that sea and the Sulu Sea. In between Palawan to the north and the Island of Borneo, then called the Dutch East Indies, now Sabah, part of Malaysia.
When we neared the area, we kept the ship out of sight behind another Island and I went ashore at night to see what was up and begin to figure out how to get this guy.
The first thing I want to know is, do they have dogs? Nope, so things get a whole lot easier. They have Cocks and PeaCocks that will raise a ruckus, but not good on watch like a dog.
Anyway we got the job done and I was thankful for no dogs.
Had done a similar job the year before on the other side of the South China sea, in what we called IndoChina, no dogs there either but I had not been to the Philippines yet, so I did not know why.
I know from History now that the place was Vietnam but, we had charts for IndoChina, so that is what I knew.
It matters little what the name of the place is though, most of the ring around the South China sea is it's own culture, regardless of the what the Political map looks like.
Mulims fisherman and sometimes pirates when the opportunity arises. Infidels captives are a cash source when the opportunity comes. I think dogs are preferred to pig on the stick. It's alright with me.
