San Francisco // Current TV

San Francisco Sourdough

While sourdough bread is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt, it's claim... more

baghdadbythebay
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14 days ago
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Tony Does Frisco

I know I hate using the word Frisco for San Francisco, but I was trying to do a riff... more

baghdadbythebay
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1 month ago
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Video #4 - Training for the San Francisco Marathon

Training for my first marathon - the san francisco marathon - video #4

velo
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1 month ago
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Training for my 1st Marathon - San Francisco Marathon

velo
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Buffalo Calf Dies in Golden Gate Park After Chased By Illegally Off-Leash Small Dog

Los Angeles Times... . Buffalo dies at Golden Gate Park after chased by small... more

EthicalVegan
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1 month ago
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Healthy San Francisco

Gavin Newson was loved and then hated after he left, but I have to admit that I... more

baghdadbythebay
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1 month ago
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SF becomes first US city to top $10 minimum wage

SF becomes first US city to top $10 minimum wage By BETH DUFF-BROWN, Associated... more

KB723
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1 month ago
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Being Positive: Love And Life After An HIV Diagnosis | Thump

Chris Whitney lived in San Francisco in the 1980s, when there wasn’t much known... more

ThumpBlog
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2 months ago
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Federal Reserve confirms it's a private corporation and pays dividends to shareholders

Humboldt State University was visited by David Lang and Yelena Takhtamanova from the... more

DavidHaynie
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3 months ago
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Nights At The Roundtable - Sopwith Camel - 1967

A nod to the under-appreciated and unsung tonight.

Gordonskene
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3 months ago
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This is one of my favorite stories my grandfather tells of his military service.

Shanghaid in Shanghai
By Ron Turner

We sailed aboard the USS J C BRECKENRIDGE from San Diego somewhere around the end of Jan. first of Feb. 1947. A whole bunch of Marines, fresh out of boot camp, headed for China, stopping at a few islands in the Pacific along the way. We first sailed up the coast to San Francisco and picked up some Navy personnel and service dependents. Seeing the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time and sailing under it was impressive.

It was a couple days of rough sailing to Hawaii. It was best not to stand along the railing at the exit from the mess hall. Guys had trouble holding their food down.

We were met in Honolulu by a band and hula girls on the dock. I had the unfortunate experience of being on a painting detail down in the boiler room at the time. Didn't see any of this. We had an afternoon of liberty and walked all the way to Waikiki and back. I remember seeing the beach and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Somewhere along the way we stopped and shot pool. We left some Marines there. Seemed like a great place to pull duty but I had my mind set on going to China.

From there to Guam was smooth sailing. The ocean was flat as a table top. Saw some flying fish for the first time and some schools of porpoise. We felt a bump at one time. Someone said we hit a whale. Never saw it. Otherwise it was very boring for a few days. They were asking for volunteers to stay on Guam. I hid. Didn't seem like a very fun place to serve.

Manila was interesting. A bunch of young kids were swimming next to the ship when we docked. Not a healthy place to swim. They would dive for coins guys would throw in the water. We had liberty that evening and were impressed with the friendliness of the locals. They were still thankful remembering how we freed them from the Japanese. They would give you transportation to and from town for little or nothing, mostly in jeeps. A nickel or dime was fine with them. Didn't do much except walk around and take in the sights.

I walked a post on the upper deck of the ship in the middle of that night and never forget it. There were rats as large as house cats, very large house cats, roaming the docks. Docking ropes to the ship had large discs fastened to them to keep the varmints from coming aboard. There were men sleeping on top of stacks of bags of grain but the rats never touched them.

Shanghai was a most unforgettable experience.After we docked we were given liberty at approximately 1700 hours. We were advised not to go alone because of the threat of being rolled. We heard there was an enlisted mens club there so six of us, Bob Thatcher, Bob Vaughn, myself and three other guys whose names escape me decided to go there and shoot some pool and have a few beers. On the dock the only transportation we could see were pedicabs. China marines know what they are but for those who don't they are three wheeled vehicles much like a bicycle with a seat for passengers, usually two, in the back. There were only two cabs available, we dickered with the boys for a ride. They said they knew where the club was and could handle three passengers in each cab. And so off we went in this strange land and rode for what seemed an hour. We had no idea where we were so were at the mercy of our pedicab boys. Suddenly we turned in to a blind alley. A honey wagon (human waste transporting cart) pulled in behind us blocking our exit. It seemed like a hundred Chinese men in their long dress like robes with their hands up their sleeves surrounded us. we were ordered out of the cabs and and they asked for all our money. What could we do? We were greatly outnumbered. Then they took our watches and rings. Bob vaughn said he had a knife tucked in his sock and should he use it? We advised him not to. Like I said, we were outnumbered. We were then free to go.

So here we are, somewhere in Shanghai, and didn't know which way to go to get back to the ship. We were due back at the ship at 2200 hours. Nobody spoke English except the pedicab guys and they were long gone we tried using sign language but that didn't work. After walking several blocks, probably in the wrong direction, we came
upon a policeman and although he didn't speak English, he seemed to know we wanted to get back to our ship. He pointed in a certain direction and we headed that way. After communicating with several more policemen along the way we finally got back to our ship at about 2145 hours. six tired marines. That was our liberty in shanghai. "Shanghaid in Shanghai" I tell my friends & relatives.

A couple days later we pulled in to the port of Tsingtao. I served as a military policeman for about 18 months.This is one of my favorite stories my grandfather tells of his military service.... more