I'm sure that if all of you Westpac sailors dug into your memories, one of the first things to pop forward would be the old "Club White Hat!"

"Hey! Who's going to hit the beach tonight?"

"Headed for the White Hat if I can find some clean socks! The Ko sisters are waiting for me!"

"Clean? That's a new word for you. Just grab some Cherry drink money and let's go!"

...and we'd head off into the night, heading for "Our" place...the old White Hat club. The sanctuary of sanctuaries for us old smoke boat sailors. The bartender kept your own personal bottle of booze behind the bar with your name scrawled on it. I don't know how he kept track of everyone, but you'd walk in the door and your bottle would be waiting for you on the bar in front of his friendly smile.

It was OUR place with OUR booze and OUR Cherry drink girls, and pity the poor fool of the surface navy if he ventured in by mistake.

The White Hat club was one of hundreds of sailor bars popping out of the woodwork. The narrow streets would be packed with the drunken push of staggering sailors heading from place to place.

I've spent a night or two hitting other bars, but it was not without risk. There was always the chance that someone would pick up your scent and chant: "Fe fi fo fum, I smell the stink of a submarine bum." Well, not exactly, but you get the idea.

I guess I expected the White Hat club to always be there to welcome a new breed of submarine sailors, but alas, the new Navy doesn't seem to be interested in drinking and raising a little hell.

The White Hat club is gone...bulldozed and replaced with a shiny new set of office buildings to house the new Japanese workers. The cherry drink girls replaced with business women and secretaries, and the sailors swaggering down the streets are replaced by bustling men in suits and ties.

I know that the new Navy frowns on traditions and actually having fun on liberty, but it seems to me that every young sailor needs a place like the White Hat club to help him grow and find out what it takes to become a man.

I know I did!

Peace brothers

Pecos