what was the absolute worse place you took shore leave at?
Naples.
Had duty the day we pulled in.
My birthday.
I had a midnight watch on the fantail with an M14 and a walkie talkie to talk to the quarterdeck.
My watch was from 2330-0330. The whole time I kept thinking of the USS Cole bombing in Yemen. I didn't want to be the one who let something get by. My blind eyes kept watch all night for those terrorists.
The next (and last) day of liberty was Sunday and I'm tired. Naples was a working port (this time) and I had to work. We didn't get off until 1530 (3:30pm). I took a bus to NAS Naples, the local US Naval Base for the Sixth Fleet, just to have a few beers for my birthday before we shipped out of port. I was there for two hours. 4-6 local time. They were playing
Hotel California. It was Sunday and the place was closing. Then I find out we missed the last bus back to the ship.
Me and my buddy started walking. We're trying to remember the route back to the ship. We have a midnight curfew. My buddy (you have to have a buddy when you are on liberty) is a mop headed ginger with a handlebar mustache. He's one of those guys that acts out
Rocky Horror Picture Show at the movie theater
. He's wearing a leather jacket. He's a fireman that works down in the engine room. I'm a skinny jean jacket wearing glasses admin.
Naples is one of the most dangerous places in the Med. We had this video warning us not to go to certain areas.
I thought "Let's go back to the USO." I think I remember where that was. It was back through the tunnel in the mountain. Great...
We're turned this corner from one road to another and there were these cars lined up on the side of the road. The driver's door is open and a ladies leg dangles out. This is supposed to be a sign of prostitution. Or so our pre-liberty video warned us. About four of them. The thing is they look like ladies, but the video says a lot of them are men.
We're walking towards the tunnel and these Italians in a van of some sorts pulls over and asks if we want a ride. I say we need to get to the USO. He says he wants $5 for gas money. I'm not sure if I should trust this stranger. I do not speak Italian. I know some Spanish. We go through this long tunnel. I guess that's a good investment. We stopped at some "petrol" station and he gets $5 worth of gas. We did get to our destination. Trouble is USO is closed as well and we are now five miles from the ship. We didn't know this at the time.
I'm walking through the worst neighborhood that the pre liberty video warned me about. I'm going into strange restaurants and asking if they know where my ship is at. I'm saying, "Porto! Porto!" as I pantomime. They kept saying they didn't speak English.
So, we trudge on. I'm hoping me feeble mind can remember where to go to next. I am now smoking my buddy's cigarettes. Trying to look tough. I'm 26, but I look 17.
We walk over the railroad tracks. Something is going on in the dark. I'm guessing sexual trade. We push on. Finally, I recognize the pier. We get back and it's 2330. We walk up the brow to the quarterdeck, salute the OOD (Officer of the Deck) and request permission to come aboard. What a crappy birthday. However, it did have a lot of cool backstories!