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Vic Socotra

Author: Vic Socotra

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October 26, 2019 Vic Socotra

Life & Island Times: Jer-ree

Author’s note: W and I have been on the road as well as dealing with some family issues, hence the Coastal Empire’s brief hiatus. Now let’s go back in time for another short tale from my migratory construction worker days. -Marlow JR, or Jer-ree as a few fellow US Army types called him, was injured […]

October 25, 2019 Vic Socotra

Swamp Postcard: New Depths

Yeah, I will admit that most right-thinking folks are a little bleary today. At least the ones that watched the Astros-Nationals game last night until midnight. I confess I watched every pitch of both games so far, a first for this Major League Season, and I was gratified that no pro-Hong Kong demonstrations erupted. The […]

October 23, 2019 Vic Socotra

Wanchi Cherry Boy

Today, and forty years ago: 23 January, 1979 Wanchi Cherry Boy It all makes me feel a little sullied this morning, listening to the blather of absurdities we are supposed to believe. I have no idea if we are headed for times as troubling as 1968 was, and while exhilarating at times, mostly it was […]

October 23, 2019 Vic Socotra

Broadside: Unicorn Sighting

Gentle Readers, An alert reader noted that Point Loma stood bridge watches on big ships. Most intelligence officers did not stand underway watches, since they are (were?) commissioned as Special Duty- Intelligence officers. That was not true in the Amphib Fleet. The leadership there felt an officer was an officer, and I recall visiting big-deck […]

October 21, 2019 Vic Socotra

Hong Kong Trilogy, Part Three

Editor’s Note: Pt. Loma’s piece on Hong Kong really brought back memories from salty old WESTPAC sailors. The events this week in Hong Kong- ten dead, so far- makes these recollections that much more precious. I personally was skewered for failing to mention famed Jimmy’s Kitchen in Central was snubbed. Not true. Just visited on […]

October 21, 2019 Vic Socotra

Pont Loma: Hong Kong

Fabulous My friends back home used to ask me about port calls, and what my favorite place was. Well, here it is. As Westpac sailors, Hong Kong was a touchstone for us – I went there six times, and every port call was better than the one before (well, maybe Perth might be an exception […]

October 20, 2019 Vic Socotra

Arrian: Whose Interests?

Queen Victoria’s 6th Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, oversaw the British Empire at a time when it was nearing its greatest power (a total of 16 years as Foreign Secretary and 9 years as Prime Minister). Palmerston was quite willing to engage in all sorts of foreign actions, sticking the British “nose” into virtually every corner […]

October 20, 2019 Vic Socotra

Arrian: Whose Interests?

Queen Victoria’s 6th Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, oversaw the British Empire at a time when it was nearing its greatest power (a total of 16 years as Foreign Secretary and 9 years as Prime Minister). Palmerston was quite willing to engage in all sorts of foreign actions, sticking the British “nose” into virtually every corner […]

October 18, 2019 Vic Socotra

Point Loma: The Music of the Night

I took my family up to Baltimore to see the Phantom of the Opera performed at the legendary Hippodrome Theater last night – it was fantastic. The story by French writer Gaston Leroux is totally compelling, the staging and sets were magnificent, the production and musical renderings were incredible, and the impact had all of […]

October 15, 2019 Vic Socotra

Arrias: Sumo Wrestling in the Middle East

Imagine a US Army force of 13,500 soldiers, cornered by a much larger enemy force, on the other side of the world. What should we do to rescue them? Is there any cost too high to pay to get those Americans out of the way of the enemy buzz saw? In Syria the Turkish army […]