Was when I made my one and only visit to the Korean peninsula. There’s a small story behind it, which I’ll share with ROK Drop readers.

From 1979 to 1989 I was a Hospital Corpsman in the Navy. Among the places I was stationed at as a Corpsman were Orlando Naval Training Center, Bethesda Naval, Balboa, and Subic Bay. It was at the last that I met my wife Leonita. I was stationed at Subic from Aug 87 to Oct 89 or when I separated from Navy. It was Feb 1988 that Leonita and I first met. She had a cousin married to Senior Chief Petty Officer stationed at Subic, and she was visiting. We were introduced by her cousin. In May 1989 we married.

I began the I-130 petition process for Leonita almost right away after our wedding. By the time I was leaving the Navy, Leonita still hadn’t been called for embassy interview. When I returned to the US, Leonita stayed behind with her family in Tacloban City on the island of Leyte.

Living on a US military base in a foreign county isn’t the same as living in a country. Particularly so for the Philippines, which is part of the 3rd world. I’ve stayed at my in-laws for up to a couple of weeks at a time during my life. Tacloban is a back water, few westerners visit except for the annual Leyte landing anniversary. Someone like myself who has blue eyes will get started at ALOT. A tourist guide book when talking about Samar(Where Leonita has some family) and Leyte warned about the staring. Besides the Philippines, I’ve visited Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Singapore. I’ve been around Asia quite a bit.

Back to 1989  after I left the Navy I moved back to Florida. Leonita got her letter in November asking her to come for a physical in Manila. Her interview at the US embassy was set for December 5th.

I made reservations to fly back out to the Philippines. Taking Northwest Airlines out of Miami and flying Miami-Memphis-Los Angeles-Seoul-Manila on November 30th with an arrival in Manila on December 1st.

My trip was unexceptional up to LA. There the pilot announced our plane would have to refuel in Anchorage due to high head winds. We would get to Manila later than scheduled as a result.

Shortly after the plane landed in Alaska, the pilot came announced a coup attempt had happened in Manila and that Ninoy Aquino airport was closed. Passengers were given this choice-

1- Get off the plane and return to your starting point. NW would give us a ticket to Manila for another date

or

2- Go on to Seoul. The airline promised to put us up for 2 days while we waited to see if Manila airport would open.

I picked the later. Seoul South Korea here I come.

We got into Seoul late at night. All the Manila bound passengers were booked into the same hotels. I stayed the first night at The Ambassador. As soon as I arrived I tried contacting Leonita. We had hotel reservations in Manila near the embassy and she wasn’t there. I called her family in Tacloban to find out she was in Metro Manila with family that didn’t have a phone.

I spent 3 days in Seoul. With my intended destination being the tropical Philippines, I didn’t bring cold weather clothes. That meant I was stuck in the hotels in Seoul, or their underground shopping areas. If I remember right there was one at the Lotte, the 2nd hotel I stayed at. The first night was at The ambassador but the hotel was booked for the rest of the weekend. Manila passengers were moved from hotel to hotel on Saturday.

The Lotte was like no other hotel I’d stayed in up to that point in my life. Its 19 years since I been there, my memories have faded some and it was a stressful time for me because of the worry I had for my wife who was in Manila during the time of a coup attempt. Civilians often get killed in Philippine coups or turn up getting held hostage. The fear I had was real.

What I remember about the Lotte

1- The young women dressed in Hanboks standing by the elevators.

2- The hotel restaurant wanting to serve Manila customers Salisbury steak for lunch and dinner every day. Northwest gave passengers a generous food voucher, but the management tried to assign your food.  You had to be polite but insistent to order something that you wanted.

3- My $400 phone bill trying to get a hold of Leonita.

4- The total amount of Manila passengers was 50-60. A Northwest represntaitve would update us at least once a day. After two days there was some small disputes, and the passengers elected a representative to speak for all of us. He was some kind of christian minister.

After three days, Manila airport was still closed. Passengers were told they could still wait in Seoul and have to pay any hotel bills from Mondy on themselves or go back to the US. Being of humble means and without a credit card, I returned to Florida. About the time my Seoul-Los Angeles plane took off, Manila airport finally opened. Too late to be of any help to me.

Leonita went for her embassy interview on December 7th by herself and got her visa I think the same or next day.  On December 17th she arrived in the US at LAX. I was there waiting for her. Almost 19 years later we are still married.