Pre-trip to Diego Garcia

I was the senior enlisted in my work center and as such, I had to go on a fact-finding mission to Diego Garcia before the whole squadron packed up and deployed. About a month prior to our deployment they sent a forward party out to gather some important information.  Again, I was the only female on this flight. There were 9 aircrew and another male going to see his fiancé  who was with our sister squadron in Diego Garcia.

The flight was smooth and we stopped in Utapao, Thailand for the night. Upon arriving at the Royal Thailand Navy’s airport, we were given a brief of what not to do. One of the main things this custom’s official told the aircrew was to not leave me alone, and to travel in groups. We dropped our luggage at the hotel and set off to go see the sights. I came down to the hotel lobby and the only person there was Andrew.* He was the young gentleman flying to see his fiancé. The males from my squadron had already taken off without us. So, Andrew stayed with me throughout our one day stay.

They had open air bars throughout the streets and all sorts of entertainment. We sat down at the bar and the next thing I know, a boy about five years old was tugging at my sleeve. I almost smacked him, as I raised my arm to get away from him. It wasn’t aimed at this child just a knee jerk reaction to some childhood trauma. When I looked down and saw this poor child barefoot and no shirt it broke my heart. We were warned against these child beggars. They would rip you off even before you knew what was happening. After disentangling myself from this child I told Andrew we needed to move on.

I want you know that this city is in the poor part of Thailand. There were little beggars wandering around barefoot, through trash, and the area smelled like a big sewer. It was utterly disgusting. The one thing I saw that appalled me, was seeing a grown man holding a little boy’s hand walking down the side street for sex. I almost threw up. I had a son back in Hawaii that age. I was told it was the norm around here. What a sad existence for those children.

We wandered the streets some more and saw the same thing no matter where we went. Andrew and I got sick of it and found a small store and bought some bottled water. We were told to use bottled water to brush our teeth. We returned to the hotel until dinner.

We went out to dinner at this quaint little restaurant, but we had to be careful what we ate. We were told to eat only cooked food and no fresh vegetables, due to them being grown in human feces. I didn’t eat a lot, because my stomach was feeling sick. To think people lived in these conditions was appalling to me.

Perhaps I am a snob, but seeing this poverty up close and personal opened my eyes to how good I really had it. We boarded the aircraft the next morning and flew into Diego Garcia. Funny story was these British custom officials had such a thick accent and they were talking so fast we couldn’t understand them. We all just looked at each other and started laughing. The customs officials didn’t find it funny though.