| The Visit of the USS Belleau Wood to Victoria, BC |
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| Written by Ingmar Lee | |
| Wednesday, 01 November 2006 | |
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published in briarpatch magazine
Ingmar Lee Recently the USA Navy Amphibious Assault and Command Ship “Belleau Wood,” which carries a complete Marine battalion landed at Ogden Point and disgorged as many as 1900 sailors. Readers will be interested to know just how Victoria benefitted from this one week American military rampage which was visited upon our city.
As a taxi driver working the night shift, here is what I observed: Victoria’s taxi fleet spent much of the Belleau Wood visit transporting falling-down-drunk sailors between “Monty’s,” a downtown strip club, to the “Red Lion,” Victoria’s other strip club. In between strip clubs, the sailors invariably wanted to “drive-through” at McDonald’s, Wendy’s or A&W. During the wait, I asked how they felt about being used by oil companies to attack, invade and massacre other countries to steal their oil. “I hear you, man, but we can’t talk about that,” was the standard answer. So much for the ‘freedom’ these guys are supposed to be fighting for. Each trip, I was greeted with the same request, “Where can we get those Victoria chicks?” Some sailors even dressed in uniform for their night on the town, hoping that this would impress Victoria’s “chicks.” Upon reaching their destination, they demanded exchange rates for American dollars and referred to Canadian money as “Monopoly money.” And now, in the wake of the Belleau Wood visit, a large influx of prostitutes continues strolling all the way down Government Street. Victoria is an increasingly popular destination for giant American warships bristling with Weapons of Mass Destruction looking for service. When American push-button & video-terminal warriors come to town, the Red-Light and Fast Food industry flourishes. Such are the economic benefits which accrue from US military visits to our town.
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