# In the 1980s was Ethiopia or Somalia a US Navy Liberty Port?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-1980s-was-ethiopia-or-somalia-a-us-navy-liberty-port/939885>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [April 13, 2021, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-1980s-was-ethiopia-or-somalia-a-us-navy-liberty-port/939885 "2021-04-13T02:41:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-1980s-was-ethiopia-or-somalia-a-us-navy-liberty-port/939885/1 "2021-04-13T02:41:25Z")

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Continuing the discussion from [Questions about anti-vaxxers and the COVID future](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-anti-vaxxers-and-the-covid-future/939874/7):

> [@Questions about anti-vaxxers and the COVID future](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-anti-vaxxers-and-the-covid-future/939874/7):
>
> Not currently, because none of the vaccines have been officially approved – they are just being distributed under an emergency use authorization. That’s why soldiers are being given a choice, too.

This is exactly the impression I had. Military can’t refuse vaccines that are approved. I tried to get out of taking Malaria Pills when I was in as I had no plans to go ashore in Ethiopia which was the reason for it.

We all had to take the damn pills and then they wised up and cancelled a liberty port of call at the country at the time with the highest Aids rate in the world. This was also right about the time of their civil war. Actually, this was so long ago, I wonder if the country we didn’t go to was Somalia?

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**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-1980s-was-ethiopia-or-somalia-a-us-navy-liberty-port/939885/2 "2021-04-13T14:45:56Z")

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I’m guessing it was possibly either the ports of Djibouti or Berbera.

Djibouti is the location of [Camp Lemonnier](https://www.cnic.navy.mil/regions/cnreurafcent/installations/camp_lemonnier_djibouti.html), but it would have been a French facility in the 1980’s.

The US signed an access agreement in 1980 that allowed them to use the port of Berbera, and had [personnel stationed there](http://countrystudies.us/somalia/80.htm) in the 1980’s

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-1980s-was-ethiopia-or-somalia-a-us-navy-liberty-port/939885/3 "2021-04-13T15:45:03Z")

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Thank you, Djibouti sounds vaguely familiar, that might well have been it.