As I have related in earlier writings, my friend Reed Ledwig and I arrived at WAS aboard a Jolly Green helicopter that dropped us off prior to retrieving the drone later in the day. It was early morning and no doubt we went to the WASCOM the first night. After 40 years, my first day settling in at Wallace was not a significant event. The next morning, however, Reed and I went to the Det 2 orderly room, which was in a small building close to the radar domes and soon we had about 15-20 people in an area designed for 5! It was around 9:30 and the Commander, Captain Valchuk and First Sergeant SMSgt McClaran led the group to the WASCOM for coffee. As best I remember, coffee was free for members. Since everyone was a member, coffee was pretty much free!
Reed and I started eating at the WASCOM regularly—usually once or twice a day. Plus, we would hit happy hour several days of the week and sit with folks from Det 2, even though we were equal opportunity socializers. That is, anyone was welcome to join our table, but as best I remember most GIs tended to socialize with their work partners and those from their squadron. For example, the 848th tended to drink at the WASCOM by crew or maintenance; the SPs tended to socialize as a group, and Det 6 was small but also tended to drink together.
As best I remember, and please feel free to chime in, the window for alcohol was located the first door on the left, followed by the slot machine room, and the bathroom, club manager’s room, and money exchange window was situated on the right side of the hallway. To enter the main eating area you had to turn left and go through a glass door (or doors?). The bar was off to the right and the band/stage was straight in front of the door. Again after 40 years this is what I remember. If your memory is better than mine, PLEASE help me out! Was anyone at WAS when the club was first built? Did the floor plan change after I left Wallace?
On pay days, we would go through the line, showing the senior NCOs our ID card and then receiving a check that we signed and the NCO then gave us new bills that were crisp and smelly. In 1969 we received brand new silver certificates that were sequentially numbered and I still have about 10-15 of them. Interestingly, as soon as you exited the pay line, there was a WASCOM representative (often Rick the assistant manager) waiting with your bill to collect your monthly dues. As a young Sergeant I thought this was pretty smart, to collect the money first while the GI still had their full pay.
The club was almost always busy. Certainly evenings were busier than early afternoons! It seemed like a number of Filipinas, normally wives of GIs or contractors had a mah jong game going at the first table on the left upon entering. When the game was not in session during my tour, the Thompson’s (Bill and Ida) often sat at that table. Mrs. Thompson also played mah jong religiously. A few GIs and contractors tried to jump into the game, but they quickly lost money. The jukebox played popular, though often months outdated, songs in the background. As folks socialized, it could be noisy but I don’t remember too many raised voices.
As I have previously stated, the waiters were great. I can rename a few that worked in 1969-70: Caesar was the head waiter and he was assisted by Lita, Arthur, Freddy, Connie, and several others whose names elude me at present. I was told that all the waiters were cousins or close relatives of Caesar and Rick the assistant manager. I thought the service provided was as good as I received at the other bases in the Philippines and perhaps slightly better.
In 1969, the WASCOM hired a band to play 5-6 nights a week. The band was good and I want to say that Tony was the bandleader. Tony’s wife also hung around the club while he played and practiced. Like many Filipino bands they were excellent at reproducing top ten songs. Their renditions of Jimmy Hendrix and Beatles songs were quite good. Every few weeks or month, we would either have a USO show arrive or the club’s management would bring in entertainment from Manila. Often this included a singer, perhaps a juggler, and an exotic dancer (or two)! Early in 1970, one of the 848th guys let one of the exotic dancers remove a cigarette from his mouth on the floor. Unfortunately, the dancer stepped on a wet spot on the floor and fell on the poor GIs head, rendering him unconscious! I still remember Doc Green rushing to the dispensary for a stretcher and carrying the poor fellow out. Needless to say this guy received a terrible teasing for at least a month after this incident!
One night after a payday show, I thought this one young lady who was a good looking singer might like some company so I walked into the manager’s office where she was dressing. We started a nice conversation for about five minutes and things were looking promising. About that time one of the Staff or Tech Sergeant night managers walked in and told me nicely to get the heck out. This put the “quietous” on my aspirations to get to know the lady a little better.
We also had a large number of associate members from downtown. I believe GIs could sponsor locals who would buy food and drink and help financially support the club. Also, anytime there was a special show, the site commander reserved a front table for the Mayor of San Fernando and his party. The trick was to have enough members supporting the club without saturating the facility.
In my first entry, I discussed the animosity between first termers and career NCOs. Probably about March of 1970, one of the first termers took a picture of a SSgt who had an attractive woman sitting on his lap. Somehow, this picture was sent to the SSgt’s wife with an anonymous note telling her how her husband was suffering this isolated tour in the Philippines. As best I remember, a sign went up either restricting or banning photos inside the WASCOM!
From looking at photos of Wallace that were taken in later years, it is apparent there is a swimming pool behind the WASCOM. Was anyone there when the pool was built? I think the pool would have been a popular spot rather than walking down the stairs to the Wallace Beach and fighting the coral reefs and rocks found there. Honestly, I spent very little time in the water at Wallace. My friend Pat Brown and I would often go to the Nalinac, Cresta Ola, or Bali Hai on Sunday for a relaxing time to read, enjoy the water, and drink a few San Miguel beers.
The first Monday night of the month, was member night. This meant that only full members (all male) were allowed to enter the club to enjoy happy hour priced drinks, while watching X-rated movies. The movies were pretty bad in 1969-70—most were short videos, black and white, and no sound. After watching the movies for a couple of hours, however, there always seemed to be a number of jeepneys waiting in front of the WASCOM ready to take overly excited GIs downtown!
I really liked the slot machines--imagine a nickel, dime, or quarter slot machine today! My gambling strategy was pretty conservative. I would change a dollar or two and play as long as my money held out or until I was up a dollar or more, when I would quit. A nice remembrance is that many of the Filipinos would bring their old US money, normally mercury head dimes or silver quarters and play the slots. Nearly all were from the 1940s and early 1950s and had an “S” signifying their minting in San Francisco. Most remain in my US coin collection.
In Japan, when a supervisor and worker drink together the subordinate may tell the boss things he does not like about him and then feign amnesia the next day—“I was so drunk, I am not sure what I said!” During my tour several first-termers did something similar to their NCOIC or Commander and ended up receiving extra duty or an Article 15! However I do not remember any physical violence occurring.
There were also aggravating times at the WASCOM. I was regularly asked to buy booze/cigarettes for locals and several times the man at the currency exchange window pulled pesos from his pocket and told me it was not necessary to sign the exchange sheet! I have also been told that many days as the flags were being lowered by US Security Police, a jeep left the WASCOM loaded with contraband that easily slipped through the gate with only a cursory inspection.
No doubt you have stories related to the WASCOM. Let us hear from you, please. No matter whether you were at Wallace AS in the 1950s or if you closed the site in 1991, you enjoyed some good and perhaps wild times at the WASCOM or club that was operating at that time. Share your stories with us. Allow us to share in your experiences. It would be wonderful to taste a cold San Miguel that cost 10 cents right now! As a SM advertisement use to say in tagalog: “Ayos na ang kasunod” (It is so good)!
Posted 6/16/09
WASCOM
By Buck Brennan
I have to tell you all about the WASCOM since no one has mentioned it. As many of you can remember the WASCOM was a place to gather for relaxation ,communication,and some serious drinking. As for me I did not drink, but had no problems with those who did,it was the out come of some of those who drank to much and forgot they were human and airmen/officers that gave me many headaches and aftermath.
Usually I would go to the club around 1900 hours to listen to the floor show and enjoy some club food. While there many airman would leave to avoid me and to hide their drinking . I was approached by the club manager saying I was putting the club in the red. I advised him it was the airman not me. Prior to all this when I arrived at Wallace I found many airman /NCOs'/officers going to the club and drinking while on duty,My director of OPS supported me in eliminated the drinking on duty hours.
I have to tell you that watching the girls and their boyfriends was a riot the table hopping and actions by these females could only come from there education from the WASCOM. Now come the final coup de group, this has not been mention in all the postings ** Pee pickers**or also known as Peso Pickers. When I first arrived there were many complaints that this type of entertainment had been eliminated by the CO, several of the NCO'S had asked me if I could get the PICKERS back .
I arranged a meeting with the CO and he had explained that some airmen would get drunk and their actions were inexcusable. I asked him who they were and those names I went back to Ops and called them out one by one stating that if the pickers came back one bad action on their part would bring some serious discipline action. I went back to the CO laid out my plan and he agreed to them coming back. Prior to the first pickers showed up, I brief my troops as to their conduct. Surprising I saw the troops policing themselves on their conduct.As for me it was fun to watch all the troops get all worked up and enjoying themselves.
Posted 6/21/09
WASCOM MEMORIES
By Thomas “Jake” Jacobson
I was stationed at Wallace from Oct 71 to Mar 73. Earl Honeycutt has given a very good description of the WASCOM and how it was laid out, as well as the entertainment. I just have a couple memories of my own to add.
I don’t remember ever getting paid at the WASCOM. When I was there, all the pay was issued in the NCO quarters. I remember, because I was a Security Police flight chief and handled security for the payroll. I took the threat of theft seriously, so I usually showed up that day armed with a .38 revolver, M-16 slung across my back, and holding an M-12 shotgun. I must have looked like Pancho Villa, but we never got robbed.
The band was very good. It attracted a lot of locals who enjoyed American music as much as the rest of us. One of the visitors we had was Victor Wood, a hugely popular singer in the Philippines and known as “Mr. Jukebox.” All the girls were mesmerized by the sight of Victor up on the dance floor. He had brought with him a hot little babe and didn’t mind showing her off. I wanted to ask him to dance with my girl, but I was afraid she would faint or something.
It’s funny Earl would mention finding collectable coins at the WASCOM. I had collected coins for years and it was in the WASCOM where one of the waiters brought me change and I found one of the rarest Jefferson nickels ever minted. I had looked for it in the States for years, but found it at the WASCOM.
While I was there, the club manager had a pet spider monkey in a cage in the back. Some of us would go out there and play with it, as it was quite friendly. One time, on a midnight shift, we took the monkey from its cage and brought it to the dorm. Some Ops guys (scope dopes) had left their door unlocked. We let the monkey inside and it hopped up on the chest of one of the guys who was sleeping. He woke up, stared at it, and after about 10 seconds said, “Hey, there’s a monkey on my chest!” I think he had been drinking. So the three other guys in the room all woke up and were telling him to shut up. So I flipped on the light switch and they all said, “Hey! There IS a monkey on your chest!” That was just a typical night of craziness at Wallace. Another night Guy Symosko and I went back to see the monkey. Guy had a new pair of glasses he had just bought that day. The monkey snatched them off Guy’s face and threw them on the ground, breaking them. He could be a naughty monkey.
One memorable night a bunch of us cops gathered at the WASCOM for drinks and decided to buy bottles of the cheap champagne they sold there. We got pretty hammered. Every time the waiter brought us a new bottle, we’d aim it at the Bingo board and shoot out the lights with the cork. The manager didn’t appreciate that.
In 1972 “The Godfather” was a hugely popular movie. So on Halloween, some of us decided to dress in Mafia costumes. Gil Kain played the Godfather, and the rest of us were his lieutenants. We all had our hair slicked back and powdered gray, wore shiny suits and fedoras, and walked into the WASCOM smoking cigars and carrying fake saw-off shotguns and at least one fake Tommy-gun. Gil Kain was a master at making very realistic fake guns from some old boards and pipes. The manager met us by the door and said we couldn’t come in till he had inspected the “guns” and made an announcement to the crowd that it was all for show. This was because some of the locals were tied in with local organized crime and there could have been a real problem. Everyone in the WASCOM loved it.
One other goofy thing we did. There was a cop, Ken Spaulding, who liked to sing but was tone deaf and couldn’t hold a note in a bucket. He loved to try and sing, “Green, Green Grass of Home.” If he hit one note on key, it was a miracle. But we would persuade him, time and again, that he was a good singer and would he PLEASE sing that Tom Jones song for us, just one more time. So Ken would mount the stage and take the microphone. We’d all be rolling on the floor laughing, with the rest of the club holding their ears. We must have done that at least once a month.
Some of my very first and very last memories of Wallace centered on the WASCOM. It was a great club and a great assignment. I really miss that place.
posted 6/21/09
OLDER THAN SIN
By Jerry L. Smith
I don't know if this is the right blog for this story or not but here goes. The WASCOM manager TSGT Johnson, who was also my roomate decided we'd go up to Baguio and do a photo shoot of the city and John Hay one sunday in 1967. The trip up the mountasin also provided several photo ops.
On arrival we began touring Baguio city, St. Louis cathedral and the big park. We also visited the Baguio marketplace. In the far dark reaches of the market I felt someone tapping me on the back. I thought, oh no not again, everywhere I go in the P.I someone is always tapping me on the back. Reluctantly I turned around and was aghast looking at two of the oldest women I had ever seen in my entire life. They had wrinkles on top of wrinkles, on top of wrinkles, on top of wrinkles. They were wrapped in warm black cloth, they smoked black stoggie cigars and chewed beetlenut. Their teeth was black as the night, they were two old beggar women who were allowed to live in and pan handle in the marketplace. Whoever said that smoking would shorten your life was liar.
Anyway I was willing two donate some pasos to them but first, I wanted some information from them. I needed an interpretor and one of the clerks standing by volunteered to speak with them on my behalf. I told the clerk I was willing to give them money but first I wanted them to tell us just exactly how old they really were. They conversed with one another and the clerk came back and told me that they were both two very old sisters, one was 131 and the other was 133 years old. SAY WHAT??? Believe it or not!!!
I also knew I was in the far reaches of the world when two natives who I believe were Igorots and were wearing nothing but loincloths and carring spears in their hands. Now that was just a little bit too scarry for this greenhorn farmboy. All in all we had a very enjoyable visit to Baguio city with plenty of great Kodachrome slides to show for our visit. end-
posted 6/22/09
THEY CALLED HIM "SLICK"
By Jerry L. Smith
I also have some very fond memories of my life and times at the "Outpost Club" and renamed WASCOM during my tour. The club manager before TSGT Johnson was a guy named TSGT Jackson, he was meaner than a junk yard dog. He Lorded over the club and everyone who worked or visited there. He didn't much care for me at all. let me explain why? The one arm Bandit in the club had a payout of usually $37.50. It only cost a quarter for having the opportunity to pull the handle and maybe win the pot.
I won 95% of the pots before I eased off. TSGT Jackson got up in my face real close one day and said in his nastiest tone "I can't prove it but DAMMIT ALL I think you're SLICK!!!! He wanted to ban me from using the bandit but decided against it. I wasn't slick at all, I was just an ole farmboy who never even saw a one arm bandit until coming to the WASCOM. I can't really explain the luck I was having, except maybe I was just collecting on some good Karma. Everyone on the site was amazed by my luck and even they were beginning to believe I was SLICK!!! It also earned me the name "Slick" by some of the guys.
Later on TSGT Johnson my roomy took over as the club manager and we had a swell relationship. We worked together on several projects for the club and he wasn't the slightest bit annoyed by my one arm bandit winnings. I really needed the extra money for I mistakenly had most of my official pay sent home to my wife. Often times I sit back and reflect on those wonderful days at Wallace. I like "Jake" miss the place and all the good times at the WASCOM club.
Posted 6/28/09
Former WASCOM Manager tells this story
By Harvey Swatsworth
I
arrived at Wallace in June 1968 and upon my arrival I became ill with walking
pneumonia and was confined to my bed for the next five days. The two medics
were absolutely outstanding, delivering all my meals and medication each and
every day until I was able to return to duty. I was assigned as Crew Chief
on Charlie crew and it was a winner. I cannot say enough about all the Airmen
that was on Charlie crew. Within the first couple of weeks we decided to challenge
the other two crews to any game of sports that could be played on Wallace.
We had just gotten started when I was selected to replace the WASCOM Custodian
( Chicken Man who was a piece of work, mustache and dress). I really had mixed
emotions about the transfer because I was enjoying my position with Charlie
Crew but Col. Porter said the selection was final and so I departed the Operations
building and went to my new office in the WASCOM. Two weeks later I was in
Taipei, Tiawan at a club managers conference and missed the going away party
for the Chicken Man.
Upon my return to Wallace, I began what was to be one of the best years of
my 20 year career in the Air Force. The civilian workers from Rick, Assistant
Manager and including every last one were a pure joy to work with. With their
help and knowledge, we transformed the WASCOM to a facility that served good
food and drink at a very low cost and our nightly bands and twice a month
floor shows made life a bit easier for all stationed at Poro Point. During
my tour, I had to RBI to Hq. each and every month and tell them that I would
not give as much away nor would I make as much profit as the previous month.
The next month I would repeat the same RBI.
One final note, I had noticed an old, old pickup truck parked near the club
and was told that the Airman that owned it had returned to the states but
was unable to sell it because it did not run nor did he have the title for
it. I spoke to the Manager of the shop down on the docks of San Fernando and
he said that for a bottle of White Label, he would fix it up for me to use.
Fix it up was a understatement. The truck was rebuilt from bumper to bumper
and looked like a new vehicle. I used it for my tour of duty and turned it
over to George Kish who was my relief. What an assignment and so many good
memories. I returned to the states in Aug. 1969