" The red light district in the old section of San Juan was around Calle Del Cristo. The Army operated a Pro-Station, right in the middle of this area, and its bright blue identifying lights served as the lighthouse to guide us in. We arrived believing that we had safety in numbers, so the three of us went into one of the many rowdy sailors’ bars that had the kind of atmosphere we were looking for. Before long, we were throwing back Cuba Libres and laughing with some young ladies, who had magically appeared and were hanging onto our arms. The loud Latin beat drowned out our conversation, but there was no doubt but that the girls knew what we wanted. I was still hesitant about going through with it. I had thoughts in the back of my head of the recent warnings. I nearly chickened out, but as my brother used to say “the juices were flowing!” “This story is happily continued on page 301 in “Salty & Saucy Maine. "

― Hank Bracker