AFP/MP Duty
By: Fred Ferro

On any give night working off base you could go from the mild to the wild. On most nights it was wild if the Fleet was in. Most calls were for a drunk Sailor or Marine. A fight in Apple Rock or a fight in the Florida Club, and so on. But then there would be the call you don't forget. And every AFP/MP wants in on the action.

A call come in for a unit to go to a home of a station service member. The wife is a Fli/Nat so you think the husband is an American white or black service member.  Well, the first unit arrives and the back up unit arrives The home is a mess, things are broken and the wife is crying. She state her husband was drunk and hit her and he ran away. The four AFP/MP's look around for him. Thinking he is white or maybe black. They never asked her. She would not stop crying. They tell her if he comes back send someone to get an AFP/MP.

Well, as soon as the two unit return to patrol, he comes back. This time he smashes the TV. So now five units show up looking for this guy. Still, not one of us asked her what he looks like. It is assumed he is white. It goes out over the radio to look for a white servicemen in that area of town. We all returned to patrol, same thing, come get us if he comes home.

Well he does, and this time he takes out some windows. This time six units arrive. No servicemen. Our town CPO comes to the scene. They are ready to tell her the same thing. When someone hears a laugh. We all look up and we see a naked Filipino in the tree laughing at all of us. The wife looks up and said, "that's my husband". He was a Filipino American Sailor.  We all took for granted that he was white or black. Goes to show you not everything is black or white.