Not to say that they all were black Americans, but this article did nothing to lay the blame to the Philippine government for allowing and even supporting places like Angeles City. BBC just takes another swipe at all Americans.
I did not serve or even pass through PI. I saw a version of Angeles City in the southern area of Teheran that was nicknamed “Camel Town” by the US contingent but the locals translation for it was “New City”. Everyone knew it was there and what it was. You could smell it outside of the walls.
My time in the Far East was spent (primarily) in Korea, and you saw the same thing there, although many of the Korean girls were expert at bilking American service members for cash and merchandise, then kicking them to the curb when they were about to PCS.
One of the NCOs who worked for me “fell in love” with a Korean “juicy girl” who lived in the local bar district. He even wrangled permission to move off base (fairly rare in those days) and set up housekeeping with his girl friend. Over the next few months, he spent thousands on furniture, appliances and clothing, in preparation for her move to the U.S. when he rotated to Fort Meade. About a month before his PCS date, she announced that everything was off, and she was keeping all of the “presents.”
In another case, I sat on the court martial panel for a young one-striper who was sent to Korea fresh out of tech school. During his first week in-country, he met a juicy who promised her undying love. Not surprisingly, she had sick relatives and need financial help. So, the airman started bouncing checks all over base to support his girl friend. By the time he was court-martialed, he had written over $5K in bad checks and his military career was ruined. He got a BCD, two months in an Army brig, and a ticket home—all before his 20th birthday.
A good friend of mine was also stationed in Korea at the same time—he had the same job at Osan that I held at Kunsan. He told me that a senior NCO working for him decided to have a little blow-out bash before heading back to his wife and kids in the states. He took $9K in advance pay and 10 days leave in-country before heading home. The NCO—a MSgt—blew the entire wad on a hotel room, booze and an endless parade of hookers that passed through his suite. God knows what he took home to his wife—besides an empty wallet.
I’m hardly a prude, but I can say I never made it to the local bar district during my time in Korea. For that, I can partially thank my predecessor. He spent most of his tour chasing Korean girls and playing intramural sports, so that meant I had to work 14-16 hours a day fixing everything he left undone. But there were many airmen like my predecessor; you could find them at the same place every day at 5 pm—waiting to catch the bus to “A Town” and the evening’s activities.