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| U.S.S. Allen M. Sumner DD-692 | ||||
| Sea Stories - Chapter 2 | ||||
From: Frank Presfield (FTG3 66-69)
Subject: Square that hat sailor!
We all had Shore Patrol duty from time to time and in one port or another. But, I often
think about my first stint on "Permanent Shore Patrol at Jacksonville Beach, FL. I
got my orders to report to the lead Shore Patrol at headquarters. He was a SM1. Portly guy
with a real attitude. But, I made my peace with him when he found out I could type. That
was my assignment. Four days on and four days off and stayed at a motel right on the beach
for a month. I kept pulling this duty every time they called the ship for someone. Got to
kind of liking after awhile. I remember getting asked to go on patrol. Strapped on a
little .38 and night stick and sat in Shore Patrol van on the corner outside of the local
night spots. One night a couple of sailors came by the van and this SM1 told me to tell
them to square their hats away. I did and they promptly gave me the middle finger salute.
That really po’d that lead SP. These two guys jumped in a car and sped off. He flips
on the red light and hollers for me to buckle up. What a ride. We ended up chasing these
guys all over Jax Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Neptune Beach.Finally, he radioed for the
locals and there were four squad cars and us flying up and down streets trying to get
these two clowns to stop. They finally, crashed in someone's front yard. I thought more
then once that this could have easily got somebody killed. But, it was one of those cases
that I believe both sides might have over reacted. I bet that those two sailors wish they
had simply put those hats on square.
From: Frank Presfield (FTG3 66-69)
Subject: Get off my bridge!
Some of you that were on board from say, ‘65 thru ‘70 probably remember FTC
Johnson. He was a helluva FT. Knew that analog computer like a fine watchmaker knows a
watch. But Johnson he had is faults. He would smuggle his booze on board whenever we went
to sea and lay them down in the cable runs under the deck plates. It wasn’t uncommon
to see him staggering from time to time. More than once he got myself and the other two
guys that played in the ships little "bluegrass" trio up in the middle of the
night to go play for him in Chief’s quarters. But, once he went to far. I was up the
on the bridge and Lt. O.D. Thompson, the "Gun Boss", had the con. He sent word
he needed to talk to Johnson. He waited and waited and sent word again. This time Johnson
came up the ladder to the bridge. He had his civies on and this bright Hawaiian shirt.
That did it. Thompson yelled, "Get the hell off my bridge! He was in the dog house
from then on. He could place a shell on target with the best of them. I never knew what
happened to him. I think he had to take early retirement.
From: Doug Hurst (BT1 51-55)
Subject: Those courteous natives
On our "Round the World Cruise" in 1953, we were anchored out in Aden to take on
oil. As I remember the place it was nothing but a hot barren rock, but it had lots and
lots of oil. We were tied up to take on oil and sitting on a small wooden platform,
controlling the valve that gave us our supply of oil was a gook with a head set that was
connected to our ship. When he was told to start pumping, our life line to the shore was
started. When he acknowledged with a hand signal instead of the phone I should have known
we were in for some problems. Needless to say as time progressed and as our tanks filled
up he was given a five minute stand by to secure, a two minute to secure and finally
secure fueling. When nothing happened and the oil continued to come aboard there were a
lot of harsh words going out over the JV Phone and frantic waiving back and forth. He was
very courteous and smiled and waived back to all of us. The oil started to back up out of
the trunk and run down the deck.....he finally got the word and secured not before many
gallons ran down the deck and required most of E Division to clean up the mess.
From: Doug Hurst (BT1 51-55)
Subject: Extra chow
I had on my watch a young lad by the name of LeRoy Dutton, from Wisc. LeRoy was still
growing and had to eat every few hours (he was a little on the heavy side) he hadn’t
lost his baby fat yet. LeRoy found out that if you went to the Foward Head there was a
hole in the bulkhead where you could peak into the Chiefs Quarters and see if anyone was
out and about. Needless to say, LeRoy would go up and observe the Chiefs Quarters and if
there was no one up, he would go in and rifle their fridge and come back with all kinds of
goodies. We really ate good, meat sandwiches with butter, eggs, or what ever was
available. Thanks to LeRoy it was better than the potato soup or baked potatoes we baked
on the mud drum. LeRoy if you are still around its been some 46 years. Some how I have
visions that you might have stayed in the Navy and retired a Fireman First.
From: Frank Nekrasz (SO1 50-54)
Subject: Rough seas, the MWB and being an SA/SN
In the fall of 1950 we had completed overhaul at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and GITMO
Refresher training.We returned to the Des-Sub piers in Norfolk for two weeks prior to the
Med Deployment. I remember Thanksgiving Day and the weekend before Monday's
deployment as being rough seas even tied up to the pier. Underway on Monday into
rough waters. We really hit some rough ocean. Galley closed down. Best sleeping -
partially triced up bunk with you laying in the hollow with some bunk straps across your
body to keep from being thrown up and out. Water stove in bulwarks, sprung the forward
hatch leading to Chief's Quarters and Bosun Locker. Literally stripped paint off of the
ship. Lost the motor whale boat (MWB), all the crates of potatoes that were stored on 01
level behind #1 stack. Lost a man over the side during one night. No witnesses, he just
turned up missing at one of the "Muster on stations". He was a 1st Class in the
Engineering Department. Sorry I don't recall his name. We received some emergency repairs
when we got to Gibraltar along with a new MWB. On to Palermo, Sicily where all Seaman, not
just deck apes, had to go over the side to paint ship. The deck ape Leading Seaman got to
handle staging lines topside. Med liberty was via the ship's MWB. The skipper and XO made
up a schedule that was basically hourly trips. Loading was by rank/rate which meant that
SA/SN's got ashore darn close to liberty expiration time. Messcooking and the above two
items were just some of the many things that prompted me to seek promotion. Another item,
the Korean War caused a call-up of reserves which meant we had an excess of Sonarman so I
wound up standing watch on the signal bridge or in CIC. As a SOSA I wasn't "senior
enough" to rate being part of the sonar gang, except for housekeeping duties!
From: Ed Izzi (BT2 66-69)
Subject: Mess Cooking
While on our way to Nam..I was a non rated BT. Think B Div had to provide one mess cook
for a 3 month period, So BT1 Barrett put all the non rated men's names into a hat. One
thing I didn't wanna do was be a mess cook. You know like what did you do during the war..
would hate to say .. mess cooking. Well as Barrett pulled the name I knew it would be me..
and .. "IT WAS". I had one more watch to do and the next morning I would report
to the MAA. I was burner watch.. it was the mid to 4am. All I could think about was Mess
Cooking. It was time to change burners.. so I got this idea... if I was hurt I couldn't go
mess cooking. So ..I grabed the empty coffee can.... and pulled the burner.. allowing 148
degree Black Oil to spray on my thumb. It hurt but didn't say anything till morning.. by
that time my thumb was twice the size and all blistered. The Dr. said I couldn't go Mess
Cooking till it healed.. so Bishop got picked. By the time it healed I had made 3rd.. and
never went mess cooking.. still have the scar.
From: Frank Presfield (FTG3 66-69)
Subject: Thanks, Bill
We were tied up at the annex at Key West. We're down there for regular anti-sub exercises.
Several of us decided to play some basketball on the outdoor courts. The game was getting
pretty spirited. I went up for a block on someone and came down the wrong way. Laid my
ankle upside down. Lord, I knew it was broken. The guys carried me back to the ship and
Doc Boland had me dropped on some bags of laundry next to his sickbay space. He looked at
the ankle and said he was sure it was broken. He had me sent to the Naval hospital and
they put it in a cast. I first thought I'd be going right back to the ship. But, no this
surgeon said he might have to operate on it. I stayed there for three weeks. When they
decided I could walk again I just kind of figured I would go back to the ship. But she had
gone back to Mayport. I went to the barracks and they informed me I had been transferred
to a DE that was going on a "blue nose" cruise. Whoa! was I upset. I called the
ship in Mayport and talked with Bill Moye and he told me he would look into getting
transferred back. Don't know what he did, but when the MAA at the barracks found out, he
told me to get out of his barracks right then and didn't want to ever see me again for
going over his head. I went to Boca Chica NAS and hung around for three days trying to get
a hop back to JAX NAS. Finally, they called and said to report. I walked up to desk and
this guy hands me a .45. I asked what it was for and he said if you want to get back to
your ship you'll put it on. So I did. It was a prisoner flight. I sat in the back with
that .45 in my lap with these guys glaring at me who were in shackles. We got back to JAX
and I headed back to Sumner just as fast as I could. I never really thanked the Exec
properly. But I will in Baton Rouge.
From: Fred Willshaw (SK1 67-69)
Subject: Thanks again, Bill
While we were on the gun line in Vietnam, CS1 O'Donnell got a kidney stone and it was so
bad that Doc Boland had him filled to the top with drugs. He had had so much he could not
talk but the tears of pain were still running down his face. They sent a chopper out and
took him to the hospital at DaNang. This was near the end of the deployment. About three
weeks later, we had just gotten to Yokosuka, and I was standing on the Quarterdeck and saw
a guy in Marine Greens out on the pier and recognized that it was O'Donnell and I started
to say Hi. He motioned don't say a word. Then he climbed onto the ship over the rail,
bypassing the Quarterdeck, and went straight to Bill Moye's cabin. He had found out that
the Navy was going to keep him in in the Far East and not send him back to the 692. He had
somehow found out where we were and hopped on a military flight and gotten to the Naval
Base. Again, don't know how Bill pulled it off but "OD" went back home with us
and later on made Chief while still aboard..............
From: Frank Presfield (FTG3 66-69)
Subject: Local Cuisine
We’d pulled into Subic Bay from a stint on the gun line. I think it was after about a
month or so out, so any port was welcome. GMG2 Brown and I hit the beach together on most
occasions. This was no exception. I remember crossing that bridge and those kids trying to
pick our pockets. They got Brown’s watch. Man! was he ticked off. Play on words. We
wandered down the street and decided to have a few San Miguels. They were always green.
Like they had brewed it the same day. And always luke warm. We stayed in this place for
quite a while. Brown says he was getting hungry, so I said I would go get us something.
Went outside and got some hotdogs and chicken on a stick. After a while he asks me how I
like the local cuisine. Said not to bad. Besides I was getting to a condition that it all
tasted the same. I said I like the chicken. He says, "What chicken?" I said.
"This chicken". Then he busts out laughing. I said. "Whats wrong?". He
said, "That ain’t no chicken, its monkey!" I replied, "No way".
Then he does it. "Pres, when was the last time you ate chicken with knuckles".
Gulp. Oh well. Served me right, but made for memories to talk about.
From: Don Gillis (DK3 70-71)
Subject: Among the Rich!
The Sumner's visit to Monte Carlo (1970) was memorable because we accidentally spilled
about six hundred gallons of a mixture of black oil and seawater into the harbor while
transferring it from one tank to another. The engineers were all sent out in small boats
to wipe off these gorgeous white yachts that were in the harbor with us!
From: Frank Presfield (FTG3 66-69)
Subject: You've killed me!
One night I had the quarterdeck watch. It was the evening watch. Wasn’t to busy.
Around 2300 I made the rounds of the ship. Went down on the mess deck and saw the TV was
still on. I shut it off and went on my way. A little later I came back thru the hatch to 1st
Division and noticed the TV was back on. Didn’t see anyone, so I turned it off again.
I started to leave the deck and one of the BM’s who’d been on liberty yelled at
me to leave that @#! TV alone. I told him it was secured and it was lights out. With the
TV off and only the standing lights on there was that typical red glow. All of a sudden
this dogging wrench comes flying by my ear. I looked over and this BM was headed for me.
He took a swing at me and missed. He’d been drinking pretty heavy. I grabbed him by
his belt and under the arm pit and turned him upside down and hung him on a cleat. Now
he’s hanging there and he hollers, "You’ve killed me!" I looked back
at him and there was this red fluid running out all over the deck. I really thought I had
injured him. Turned out he had stashed a pint of red wine in the back of his jumper and it
broke. I took him to the head and straightened him out. He looked me up the next morning.
Seems he was getting transferred to the new crew of the New Jersey and was afraid if I put
him on report that would be that. I let it slide, but always wondered if I made the right
decision. He’d been a "brown water sailor" before coming aboard. A big
change from swift boats to a tin can to a battleship.
From: Frank Presfield (FTG3 66-69)
Subject: It's a small world
After Capt. Baty was relieved, Capt. Beaman wanted to meet the crew on an individual
basis. As time permitted he asked each of us to stop by his cabin and visit for just a few
minutes. We were talking and he asked me where I went to FT"A" School. I told
him Bainbridge, MD. He asked who my instructors were. I told him and then he smiled. He
said, "That brother of mine, was he a good FT?" I looked at him a moment. Then
he replied, "Yes, my brother was your instructor". Later when I was at home on
leave I pulled out my class photo and looked at FTG1 Beaman’s picture sitting on the
front row. What a resemblance. Just never thought about the name connection. Small world.
From: Fred Willshaw (SK1 67-69)
Subject: Another MWB tale
In January 1969 we were headed home from another stint of refresher training at GITMO.
As normal we stopped off for a day at St. Thomas. I was really looking
forward to this visit as it would be my last foreign liberty before returning to the
civilian world. This time we anchored out and would be riding the motor whale boat in to
the pier. The Bosun's got it in the water, cleaned it up and got the engine going
but they had one small problem, they could not get it into any gear but reverse.
Well the Captain was too embarrassed to let us go in like that, so my much anticipated
"last liberty" was cancelled...........
From: Ed Izzi (BT2 66-69)
Subject: My favorite Uncle
My favorite Uncle, dead now, but he loved that I was on the AMS, here's the story:
My Uncle Hawkins.. big.. from Texarkana, Texas
served on the AMS in the same fireroom I was in. "The Forward Fireroom" he as a
Water Tender not a BT like me (Barely Trainable). It was during the time the AMS tested
the A bomb on the Bikini Islands. He was the OLD NAVY. I remember I came home from
"BT A School" and went to his home in South Philadelphia. I told Him I was going
to the AMS.. he got excited.. took off his shirt and .. he had all the ships he served on
tattooed on his upper arm. 2nd on it was the AMS ... then I knew I was there for a reason.
He never wore shoes till he joined the U.S. Navy ... he never had a first name, he was
known as Hawkins, When recruited he was asked his name, he said "Hawkins", they
said OK what's your first name he said I don’t have one. They said to join the navy
you need a first name ... so he said H. J. Hawkins. So that was the beginning of my naval
mentors career. Don't have to use it, just wanted to say ... I love the AMS and it’s
crew .. cause of Him.. Later gaters.
From: Bill Wunderlin (EM2 52-55)
Subject: That amazing MWB
We had just finished with a yard period and were on a shake down cruise. My gosh the years
have dimmed my recollection of the year but I vividly remember our newly refurbished whale
boat with a "CHROME" railing around the tiller and a "CHROME" plated
Compass housing! The deck crew were in the process of lowering the boat to probably run
guard mail when suddenly they lost there grip on the lines, or the winch slipped, or
whatever, but the rear of the motor whale boat took a severe drop and guess what went
overboard? You got it - everything including the compass which by this time was already in
the housing! Was the Chief Boats’ mad? Thank God I was a EM striker by that time!
One more whale boat story - When we left on our around the world cruise in 1953, our first
port of call was Athens Greece. We were anchored out in the bay on this absolutely
beautiful Sunday. I had duty so to kill some time I went up to the Bridge in order to scan
the beach with the BIG binoculars. There were many people out in the bay with various
sized sail boats so there was a lot to view.
I heard the whale boat come along side and tie up. It idled there for a while and then
cast off.
The coxswain gave a bell and the boat eased away from the SUMNER'S side - With that the
Coxswain sounded two bells to the engineer - the two bells were answered and the coxswain
threw the tiller hard a starboard having to step off of the transom in order to do it.
What ever happened next is unclear but the coxswain did not recover his footing as quickly
as he should have and the boat was by this time traveling rather rapidly - and headed
right for one of these sail boats!!! Before anything could be done - and I can still see
this poor old Greek man yelling "HEY", "HEY" and waving his arms
frantically as our motor whale boat bore down on him. In the next instance the Greek was
in the water and the sail boat was under the keel of - you guessed it!
The next scene is one angry man on the Quarter Deck soaking wet, with no one able to
understand what he was saying!!!! But you could well imagine!!! Somewhere in the log of
that day there has to be an entry of what that error cost our ships budget!! I hope you
guys have enjoyed this story. As I was writing it I was forced to stop typing and laugh
about it.
If that Whale boat could talk what stories it could have told!!! (Webmaster's
note: Bill is right about the log - click
here to view the entries)
From: Ed Izzi (BT2 66-69)
Subject: The Playboy Oil King
On our way to 'Nam we stopped off in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Of course the BT's had to
refuel the ship. The Oil King then was BT2 Jose Garcia. We were doing other things while
the tanks were filling up. Jose of course, had the last tank...but he was distracted by a
Playboy magazine. I remember going to the space were he was at...and telling him we were
almost done. Not paying any attention to me...he just kept on reading the Playboy. All of
a sudden the mess deck area started to fill with Naval Standard Black Fuel. Jose got the
word and had the oil barge to stop pumping. We ended up with hundreds of gallons of fuel
in Gitmo Bay and 2 inches in the Mess area. We (Engineering and 1st division) rode boats
all night dropping carbon sand on oil pockets. The Captain decided to leave right at
daybreak so the Admiral wouldn't keep us there for more cleaning up. Those were the
days...oh yeah, BT2 Garcia went to Captain's Mast...he got away clean!
From: Chuck Morrell (LTJG 64-67)
Subject: Lady Killer
Here is a picture of the boat with unknown BM’s as crew. This craft was the rumored
highpoint of a tour of the AMS in foreign ports. The deck dept. especially escorted local
ladies. Click the icon below (133KB).
From: Frank Presfield (FTG3 66-69)
Subject: Where is it Now?
I was just looking at Chuck Morrell’s picture of the whale boat. It brought back
something I thought every Sumner Vet would be curious about. In the early 70’s, after
Sumner's scrapping, the whale boat was purchased by the City of Tulsa, OK. The reason I
know is I was playing golf there at LaFortune Park and noticed a boat that I thought was
like Sumner’s at a maintenance building up on blocks. I climbed over a fence and
walked over to it. You could have knocked me down when I saw that "692". I
called a local city councilman and he said the city had purchased it and they were going
to use it to transport tourists on rides on the Arkansas River near their new riverwalk
area. I don’t know at this time whether that happened. But it would be worthwhile
investigating. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to know a piece of her, that we all had
experienced, was still around! (Webmaster's note: Please, let us know if you
know the current whereabouts of the Whale Boat.)
From: Frank Presfield (FTG3 66-69)
Subject: Took the Points
We had left Gitmo for the Virgin Islands. We had a wonderful time there. I had almost to
great a time. Came back to the ship that night and dropped a bit of change in a poker game
in Plot. Didn't know it though cause had been partying to hard on the beach in Charlotte
Amalie. When I woke up the next morning, someone hollers, "Pres, you got Shore Patrol
in San Juan." I groaned and said tell me when we get there. "We are there!"
I hollered back, "I'll give twenty bucks to anyone that'll take SP duty today. Forgot
who it was, but someone stepped up and I didn't have to do it. Now I'm really short
because of the night before. But since it was Super Bowl Sunday, thought I'd check the
odds. Jets plus 17. What the heck. Took them and the rest is history. So everytime I see
that shot of "Joe Willy Namath" with his finger in the air, I remember where I
was and that I took the points.
From: Fred Willshaw (SK1 67-69)
Subject: Operation Petticoat
When the Sumner finally pulled away from the pier for Vietnam she was almost broke.
Each year, each ship is given a budget or Operating Target of how much money may be spent
for what are called consumable items such as paint, toilet paper, lube oil, parts, tools,
etc. In essence all the day to day items required to keep a ship operating.
We really weren't broke, we had $200 left and would get our next annual budget in 5
months! Well if you ever saw the movie Operation Petticoat and remember the
character played by Tony Curtis that is how we made it through. Very heavy empty
cans of paint and lube oil would leave the ship and then return, mysteriously looking
newer and seemingly just as heavy. Anything not tied down was fair game to the
Sumner. When arriving at a new port, ships arriving behind us seemed to have less
supplies on the pier than they thought should be there! At one point, Captain Beaman
even tried to transfer the Welfare & Rec money into the Ship's funds. If you
can't say anything else about the Sumner, you can say she had a most resourceful crew!
From: Frank Presfield (FTG3 66-69)
Subject: No Mail Call
We were off the Portuguese & Spanish coasts one night on plane guard for USS Wasp
CVS-18. We were used to this type of detail as it had been common place for the current
crew as well as crews back to the beginning. This particular night it was dark as a coal
mine when the lights go out. My job at the time was pilot rescue, in case a plane crashed.
I had a leather harness with a rope attached to it and a knife. Usually I would just
simply lie down and catch some sleep on the deck. Nothing ever happened. This night,
however, was different. The mail plane came in and crashed off the deck and the ship must
have ran right over it. I was awakened when a couple of the bosuns threw me over the side.
Spot lights were searching the black water. I was swimming around trying to locate any of
the crew. Mail and debris was everywhere. There were no survivors. Got what mail I could.
But this gave us an understanding that all the details were more than just going thru the
motions.
From: Frank Presfield (FTG3 66-69)
Subject: Hamburger Heaven
One night we were tied up in the "nest" next to USS Yellowstone AD-27. The
"Charlie R." Ware DD-865 was inboard of us. It was getting around 2400 and time
for "Hamburger Heaven" on board Yellowstone. I decided I had the munchies and
went over to the mess deck. I’m sitting there having a couple of burgers and coffee
when I noticed this SA come off the steamline with this huge platter of burgers. The MAA
sees him headed for the hatch and hollers, "Hold it sailor! Where do you think your
going with Yellowstone chow?" The kid responded he was taking them back to the Ware.
Wrong. "You take it, you take it, you eat it", responds the MAA. The look of
utter despair on that seaman’s face was something to behold. He sits down and one by
one commences to down them. I hung around for a about half an hour, but couldn’t
watch. It was a lesson. That SA must have left that mess deck ten pounds heavier and
probably didn’t want a "Big Mack" the rest of his life.
From: Wes Kreske (SA 49-50)
Subject: Reunion Man
The Following was received from Wes and certainly qualifies as a Sumner Sea Story.
He wrote, "Hello Fred: The other day you wrote and said you wanted me to tell you a
sea story well, that’s out because when I was on the Sumner the only time it left the
CE Piers is to clean the coffee grounds from under her. However I checked out the website
and see that this years reunion is in Baton Rouge great place. Hope you have all the
extra’s we did 3 yrs ago when we went on the Kidd. Great people. Hope too that you
are setup for a visit to Bayview Bar & Grill. Talk about food. We all had fried turkey
what food. Great place too. What a show they put on for you. I would go back there on a
heart beat. If I can keep it working. One month before that reunion I had a valve repaired
in heart, 30 days after I had colon cancer operation. My Dr said no-go I said sorry
charlie. I’m going if it’s in a hearse. I even walked the reef from the ship to
the memorial which was one long walk because I had to walk up the long gang way to the
front of building. We were all piped aboard, and we had Mt 3 fire some rounds. Does this
qualify as a sea story..... HA HA !!!!!!!"
From: Frank Presfield (FTG3 66-69)
Subject: Didn't know his own strength!
We were off the North Vietnamese coast one day. And GQ was getting to be as regular as
having breakfast. I had been asked, and I can’t remember his name here, by one of the
Sonarmen, if he could "Come and see the war". I told him if he could get
permission to come up and have a look through the rangefinder. He came up and about that
time shore batteries opened up on us. Now those guns of theirs chased us out to sea and
seems we zigzagged for miles. I had been doing some PM on the hatch of the director and it
wasn’t quite closed. In fact it was frozen. He stuck his head outside and a geyser
went about 75’ in the air. He reached up with one hand and spun the hatch shut. I
asked him how he did that since it was frozen. Couldn’t answer. Took me another two
days to unjam it, though.
From: Frank Presfield (FTG3 66-69)
Subject: He was a fighter, not a lover!
I’ve got to mention my recollections of STG3 Merryman. You would think those guys
would be kind of quiet, considering their rate. But Merryman, no way. He was muscular to a
tee. My first memory of him was in Key West. We had been out running guard for a spy ship,
can’t recall the name. Sister ship to the Pueblo, though. Boring duty. Just back and
forth off the coast of Havana. One night we were on liberty in Key West at what we all
called the Sumner Bar, "Cecil’s Tavern". It was crowded with nothing but
Sumner crew as was usually the case when we were in port. All of a sudden in walks a group
of Marines. Someone says, "Can’t come in here. Sumner sailors only." Boom!
I remember this little jarhead hit me so hard I hit the deck and slid all the way under
the shuffleboard table. I found that a good place to stay and I did. Merryman, however,
was taking care of business. Shore Patrol showed up. They took him outside. Down goes one,
down goes two, and finally down goes three SP in a heap. Next time the ship’s landing
party was practicing landings on a sand isle on the St. John’s River for anticipated
delployment to Vietnam. Other groups of landing parties from the squadron were involved.
As luck would have it Merryman and another guy got crossways with each other upon
returning to the pier. Merryman got this guy down and bit part of his ear off! Lastly, we
were in Japan on liberty. Merryman was his usual self. Gets into it with the owner of a
club and gets thrown out. The guy makes the mistake of trailing Merryman outside. Merryman
hits this poor guy so hard it lifts him up over the hood of a car. Darn near killed him.
He got the worst of it though cause he was restricted to ship for the rest of the
deployment. He was good ST, as they all were.
Do you have a story to share? Send us an E-Mail today.
Webmaster's Note: If you find
any of these stories beyond the realm of reality,
then you have obviously missed one of the great opportunities of life - service in the Tin
Can Navy!
