My days in the Panama Canal Zone were like vacation time. Golf courses, tennis courts and world class water sports. The worst part of my time there was the initial flight from Fort Jackson to Howard AF Base. Cold ass C-130. The 534th MP Company was big MP company by comparison. It had many different divisions such Pass & ID, Town Patrol (in Panama City), Panamanian Liaison, Traffic, Line Duty (gates, residential patrol etc) and the best of all, Special Operations. We secured crime scenes for CID, ran border checks from Atlantic to Pacific Oceans, jungle patrol, search and rescue, etc. Sound exciting? Not so much. We had one murder in 18 months, a Mexican killed a Puerto Rican in a knife fight, both US army soldiers, search and rescue consisted most of butterfly chasers or relic hunters from around the world getting lost in the jungle. A few drownings in the sea but I was not a diver.
My Special Operations Unit was perfect. We lived in Two-Man Bachelors Qtrs above the PX at Ft. Clayton, just across the road from Mira Flores locks of the Canal. My roommate lives about ten miles from me today here in Arizona. We have been good friends for over 50 years and never lost touch. There were 16 of us in Sp Ops. Four on duty at any given time. We had a 1969 Ford Fairlane for our private use. It was medium blue and as plain as any car Ford ever made. No AC, no heater, no radio, 3 speed on the column, 4 door and ugly. Our prides were 6 Honda 250 Scramblers that we used to trek from one side of Panama to the other, cross over and return trip. US territory was separated from Panama by a power line road and square concrete studs about 18" x 18" and 4' high and every 100 meters. This was also our target practice time. We got all the expired 45 cal ammo for our pistols from the company armory. We had to return spent cartridges, or at least most of it. This border check happened once a month and we rotated this choice duty.
The US had very good relations with Panama during my time there. I had a counter-part in the National Laguardia named Sgt Major Aldo Batista. He was a very trusted partner.
The Top Cop in those days was Col Charlie Shuttleworth. Car One! He became my mentor and he was very instrumental in my six years in the army. I remained in touch with him over the years by written correspondence. He passed away in 2016 in Ft Huachuca, Arizona. He was a very talented artist. Especially water colors on drift wood. I was his official collector of drift wood from the beaches. He was the protector of the Special Operation Group.
Sp Ops had perks. As I said, prostitution was legal in Panama. There were girls from around the world working in bars and night clubs that far better than was I was used to in Oklahoma. These girls were, on average, drop dead beautiful. Sp Ops could get these girls passes to enter the bases and special passes to shop in the PX Pharmacy and General Store. This was a HUGE bargaining chip and we took full advantage of it. The Catholic girls would go "off-duty" at midnight on Saturday. No working on Sunday. Sunday was the day that we loaded up the girls and headed up the coastline to small villages with thatched roofs huts and hand pump running water just off the beaches.
I asked my First Sgt if I could re-enlist for 20 years to stay in Panama. After 4 months of additional schooling with a TS4-Q security clearance. At that time Q indicated a nuclear arsenal clearance. I spent the last 3.5 years of my service as a Strategic Weapons Courier Guard based at Seneca Army Depot in Romulus, New York. A very select job that was afforded me by Col Shuttleworth. I have no war stories to tell about my military career.
