General Non-Fiction posted January 21, 2025


Exceptional
This work has reached the exceptional level
My experience

Panama

by Cecilia A Heiskary


I landed in Hawaii, and within 48 hours I was back on P-3 going to Panama. It was a long flight and we stopped somewhere for fuel. I don’t remember where though. Yes, I did get off and go pee, because you know the bathroom situation on the aircraft.

We got to Panama and got settled. I was attached to the supply department, and the air crew did thier thing. The only time I saw them was when there was a party at the Quonset huts.  There was a supply detachment from the east coast already there. They had another week before the new detachment showed up. I don’t remember the name of the guy that was already there, so we will call him Paul.

He was interested in me (not happening), and taking me, and the other two girls into town to see the sights. I think it might have been on a Saturday when we all had the day off. We loaded up into the US government van and went to town. We had to cross the Bridge of Americas to get anywhere from base. We had been riding around a couple of hours, when all of a sudden, we get pulled over by the local police. The gentleman claimed the driver had run a red light. It was an absolute lie. This so called police officer got into the van with us, and instructed the driver to drive until we landed in a back alley somewhere. I was scared to death, as were my other shipmates on this little escapade. Once in the alley the police officer demanded all of our money and valuables. Unfortunately, for him we didn’t have a lot of cash amongst us, and no one was wearing jewelry. We all sat there nervously while he decided what to do. I guess he was satisfied and got out of the van and told us to go. After such a harrowing experience all we wanted to do was go back to the base. No more sightseeing for us.

The following week the detachment that would relieve Paul arrived. The relieving detachment came out of Louisiana somewhere. I don’t quite remember. Anyway, Joe was the person who would relieve Paul. Since Paul’s detachment was leaving in a few days they decided to have a party over at the Quonset hut area. This is the sleeping arrangements for all the men. The women were put up in the barracks.

So, we all go to this party, and yes alcohol was involved. Like I say, Paul had cotton candy dreams about us getting together, but I didn’t see it that way. The only thing I remember from this party is, Paul decided he was going to bite my leg. This didn’t work out so well for him, because I kicked him in the head with my other foot, and he went tumbling backwards. I had literally knocked him out. People from his detachment and everyone else for that matter were laughing. I wasn’t laughing, because I didn’t find it funny. He could have gotten in trouble had I reported him. He lay on the ground not moving, so I nudged him in the ribs and he groaned. I then proceeded to take the rest of the beer I had and poured it over his face. He came sputtering to, trying to figure out what was going on. A few guys told him, and like a wounded dog he skulked off to his Quonset hut.

The message I sent that night was loud and clear. Don’t mess with me. I learned a long time ago to take care of myself. During those times women were totally outnumbered by men. So, you had to be careful and move with two or three women at a time. Safety in numbers.

So, Joe and I became more than friends and I’ll just leave it at that. We were always hanging out at work, and outside of work. Part of this time is blurry, it’s so long ago, but I can remember a few things.

I remember anything we sent back to the states had to be dropped off at customs. We had a great relationship with the Panama customs agents. It was so hot that I took off my shirt and had on just a white t-shirt. The stares I got walking across that area every day, freaked me out. You want to talk about being a prime piece of meat on display. It sucked and I really didn’t like it, but I refused to put my shirt back on. It wouldn’t have mattered, they would have stared anyway.

Joe took me and the other two girls to see the Panama Canal that was pretty cool. We got to watch a ship go through the locks. We did some more sightseeing and this time we were just fine.

One thing I remember about Panama, other than it being hot and humid, were the little spider monkeys. They were so cute, I wanted to take one home. Every day they would run up and down the fence being cute. We didn’t adventure into the jungle, as it wasn’t safe. These were the days of Noriega, so we were careful what we did and where we went.

I remember another day we were out and about we had to cut it short, because we were told they were shutting down the Bridge of Americas for terrorist activity. That was scary as we raced our way back to base. We didn’t know if we would make it or not. We did, but just barely. Understand Navy personnel weren’t armed. We left all the jungle running to the Army.

One other memorable thing was going to the club. I was dressed in my hoochie mama clothes and going into the club I got called a puta. The Panamanian women did not take kindly to the American women. I stayed close to Joe and I was fine.

I had a great time in Panama and was sad to leave. Joe and I tried to work our long distant relationship out, but the distance just wasn’t feasible, but we stayed good friends.




Recognized


Quonset hut-s a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel with a semi-circular cross-section (Wikipedia) The picture is of a quonset hut.

Hoochie mama cloths-tight shirt with a body forming mini skirt.

Puta-whore

I never served on a ship, so this is the end of my sea stories.
Pays one point and 2 member cents.


Save to Bookcase Promote This Share or Bookmark
Print It View Reviews

You need to login or register to write reviews. It's quick! We only ask four questions to new members.


© Copyright 2025. Cecilia A Heiskary All rights reserved.
Cecilia A Heiskary has granted FanStory.com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.