Excuse me but Didnt you mean TONKIN Gulf not Persian?
I was on in 72 and remember having SP in Subic and with only a few weeks left didnt care to get in the riot so me and another guy decided in our best interest to stay a bit farther from that area.
I was a Photographers Mate on the Hawk from 8/72 - 5/75 and remember that incident pretty well. There had been some racial tension for a while and I pulled SP in "The Jungle" in Olongopo a night or two before we pulled out. Being a white guy, it was a rather tense night for me. Myself and another photographer, Charles Simpson, were temporarily bunking down of the forward galley with a group of Philipinos while our assigned bunks were being worked on. We heard a big commotion above us and Charlie went to investigate. I was reading a book and told him to come back and get me if it was anything interesting. He didn't come back and a bit later we got the word of what was going on. I was told to stay where I was at until it was safe to come to the photo shop. Shortly after that, a big group of African-American guys came down the ladder and were hollering about finding and killing white guys. I was on a top bunk back in a far corner armed with a big wrench hoping since I was on the top bunk, they would have to climb up to get me and I could bop them enough to discourage them. Fortunately, they didn't see me and the Philipinos told them there were no whites down there so they left. Those guys may have saved my life. The next day a bunch of my photo mates armed with pipes and knives came to escort me to safety in the photo lab. Charlie had made it, but had gotten beat up pretty bad - broken nose, black eye, and a bunch of bumps and bruises.
We heard it started in the chow line when an African-American guy wanted 2 sandwiches and the white server told him he could only have 1 like everybody else. The guy reached in to take a second sandwich and the white guy hit his hand with the serving spatula. That was the spark that started it, but we had been over there a long time, having already been extended once before, again thinking we were going home, and then getting extended again. Lots of frustration that boiled over.
Hi,My name is dean or ski when i was in the navy. I did a west pac in 1972. I did not see the riot till the am. I worked G div. on the hanger deck. i know two guys left on a stercher.the deck edge ele. op. was never found.
Hello, I was aboard when the riot broke out. Yes, the tension was high between the blacks and the whites, for sure since the yard time in Bremerton in early 1970. The night of the riot I was writing a letter at my bunk which was on the third deck under the port main passageway. The first clue was people running all out in the main passageway. Later over the 1MC the XO clicked on without piping and asked for the CO, if he could hear to call back at xxx. Obviously the XO was quite rattled. I don't recall if it was the XO or the CO, but first all Marines were ordered to the aft messdecks. Later, all Marines were ordered to the Forecastle. The next day Zebra was set and people were drafted from all divisions as temporary Master at Arms to man the passageways and monitor travel. I think we were 'locked down' that way for a week or so. We were due for a stop at Yokosuka (sp?), but it seems we were not deemed safe for such a prize port. We hit the PI and another riot broke out at the Sampaguita Club on base.
