About Me
- Dalton R. Phillips
- I served in the U.S. Navy from June 1964 to September 1987, retiring as a Senior Chief Petty Officer (E8). I am a Vietnam War veteran. I worked for several DOD contractors, including General Dynamics/Bath Iron Works, until I retired on disability in 2004. I am rated as 100 percent disabled by the VA because of severe lung scarring most likely ccaused by asbestos exposure back in the 1960's. I lived in Jacksonville, Florida from 1987 to 2004, when we moved back to Texas to be closer to the grandchildren. I now live in Temple, Texas.
A good read. Brings back old memories.
ReplyDeleteDalton, I just finished reading your "Ramblings of an Old Veteran" story. I was a Second Class Damage Controlman and I served on the USS ORISKANY (CVA-34) from 1964 to 1968. I swear - I could have wrote that story myself - exact same experiences and same views. I even had a friend get killed in a car wreck (Dan Napier 1966). I don't know if you remember this or not - on October 26, 1966 we had a bad explosion on the CVA-34. As a Damage Controlman, I was one of the first people to arrive on the scene. I was burned on the face, arm and back. 44 men died and many others were injured I don't have the exact count.
ReplyDeleteWe were also there when the USS FORRESTAL (CVA-59) blew up on July 29, 1967. They thought about sending some of us over there by helicopter to help fight the fires on the FORRESTAL but decided against it. It was a different class ship and they decided it would be suicide for us to go over there. I am thankful for that - the burns from our earlier fires had not entirely healed.
Anyway - thanks for the memories.
Ron
The aircraft carriers had the reputation of being "floating Zippos". We were lucky on the HANCOCK - we had several fires and some of them were scary. But we never had a catastrophic fire and no sailors were killed by fires while I was on board.
DeleteLater on in my Navy career I served as a fire fighting instructor. One of the most interesting assignments I had was with the Commander, Naval Air Forces Pacific Fleet at North Island NAS, California. The Admiral created a special team to go aboard the aircraft carriers when they were in port at San Diego, to conduct hands on fire fighting and aircraft carrier survivability training. I was one of the people picked to be on that team. The sailors called us the "Torture Squad". We were headed up by a full Commander and there were 8 of us enlisted men on the team - all E-6 through E-8. The team members were requisitioned from the carriers and there were people there from all of the carriers in the Pacific Fleet. We went on board a carrier that was "chosen" unannounced outside of normal working hours. The Commander would have the CDO assemble the crew on the hangar deck - everyone that was on board - where we would divide them up and start our training. We were typically on board for three or four hours. It was some of the most realistic training I was ever involved with in the Navy. The Admiral said he wasn't concerned about sailors having broken arms or legs but hopefully we wouldn't kill any of them. He wanted his sailors trained up "hard and fast", as he was tired of seeing them killed by taking the wrong actions or not knowing how to use the equipment when a major fire broke out on a carrier. That was around 1977. I like to think that we did some good and helped save some lives. I was on that team for around five months. Being the boss - the Admiral had all of the Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers (except MIDWAY) do a port visit to San Diego, so they could benefit from the special training. It was interesting duty but very grueling - even for us.
DeleteBy the way - I was not assigned to the billet with the special training team at the Commander Naval Air Forces Pacific headquarters because I was anything "special". I reported on the USS CONSTELLATION(CV-64) about the time the mandatory personnel requisition came through requiring two people from each of the seven Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers, to be issued orders ASAP to report to the Commander Naval Air Forces Pacific and remain attached there until further notice. The requirements were simple - E-6 through E-8 from any rating with a warm body, a pulse and a relatively stable performance record. I met those requirements and since I was the "new guy" and did not have a job on the ship yet, it was only logical for them to send me. In that respect, I was basically shit-canned before I even got started on the CONNIE. I will have to say that it was one of the luckiest breaks I ever had during my 23 years in the Navy. It was very challenging but it was a big morale booster for me. It gave me a new viewpoint about what training was really all about. It was around the ten year mark for me and I was involved with damage control and fire fighting training for the rest of my time in the Navy.
DeleteCommander Jim Fones was the officer in charge of the team. He was one of the most interesting people I ever served with. He was not your typical Navy officer. In some ways - I think he was crazy. For the first four weeks we spent most of our time in a conference room at the headquarters. Commander Fones gave us all kinds of assignments, mostly things that made us think. When he came in the conference room, he took his oak leaves off of his shirt collar and he was "Jim". He gave us all kinds of motivational training and we had live roll playing scenarios, where we would get confrontational with each other. It never came to blows but we had some big shouting matches. Before he left the conference room, he placed the oak leaves on his shirt collar and he was "Commander Fones" again. He wanted to get us all pumped up, he wanted to piss us off, and he wanted us to let him know that we were pissed off. It was not what I was used to in the Navy. Out of the 14 people who showed up there, he sent 6 back to their ships within the first few days. That left 8 of us. After spending all that time in the conference room, over the next few weeks we spent a lot of time at the fire schools around the San Diego area - watching and actually stealing some of their students to practice with - when we could get away with it. The was no real curriculum or printed lesson plans to go by - we put it together as we went along. After the first three or four carriers were behind us - we all felt comfortable with it and it became a routine for us. I think it went very well. We didn't kill anyone. After five months, the Admiral issued all of us a nice letter of certification and sent us back to our aircraft carriers. He directed the CO's to establish training programs on their ships, to continue this kind of hands on training, and to utilize us to get things set up and operating.
DeleteCommander Fones was quite a maverick. He did not want a standard by the book Navy Petty Officer to be on his team. He wanted people who were a little off center, a little different, maybe even a little crazy - like he was. He was a real dynamo and I was amazed when I saw him in action the first few times. We all wore the same uniform - red jump suits and red ball caps, with no rank insignia of any kind. We put the sailors through some drills that had never been done before, on any of the ships, as far as I know.
DeleteIt was not the standard "stand at the podium and lecture" type of training that we were used to. We would give them a quick intro, something like this - "you are about to participate in a drill where you may very well be seriously injured or even killed if you do not do the job right the first time. Listen up people, this is for real! I will tell you what you need to know one time and one time only - then you will do it. Your participation in this is not voluntary - it is mandatory. If you ride an aircraft carrier you have to know how to survive a fire or other catastrophic event." The sailors did a lot of grumbling at first but I think they were actually enjoying it after a while. They would get competitive, which made it more interesting and fun for them. It was all very fast paced - we went from one evolution right to another one, giving them little time to stand around and gripe about things. We had some of the sailors come up with pretty bad cuts, scrapes and bruises, but no broken bones or other serious injuries that I know about. I think most of them realized that they really did need to know how to do these things and it was all for their benefit.
DeleteThe fires on the aircraft carriers in the sixties and early seventies were very tragic. Many sailors died because they did not know how to use the lifesaving equipment or did not follow the proper procedures when fighting fires. There was a great deal of confusion and panic - in some cases there was poor control and coordination and things got out of control. Too many people were moving around and taking actions. Sometimes the actions taken only made the situation worse. I don't mean to be critical because some of those guys were true heroes. More training was definitely needed and it is something you can't learn from reading a book. I think the Admiral was right when he came up with the idea for the new hands on training program on the aircraft carriers. We had serious fires on some of the aircraft carriers after that but none were as catastrophic as the earlier fires were.
DeleteThe assignment with Commander Fones was great for us. We stood no duty and went home every night, even though we sometimes worked crazy hours. If Commander Fones told us to report for work at 0200 then it was up to us to be there, 15 minutes early. We worked when Commander Fones scheduled it - we sometimes did not go in for 4 or 5 days straight - other times we might work 10 days straight without a day off. There was no at sea time, all of our work was done in San Diego while the aircraft carriers were pier side.
DeleteCommander Fones was quite an actor and show man. He was also quite a psychologist He liked to "get inside our heads". If one of us was slacking off - he knew the right buttons to push to get us back on track. Working with him was kind of like being in a show of some kind and we all had character roles to play. We would all get pumped up before we went on a carrier because we knew we were going to be resented at first - we would have to get those sailors motivated and moving, doing things that they really didn't want to do. Once on board - we "hit the decks running" and we kept that pace up for the duration of the training session. We had to keep them moving, avoiding slack time where everyone just stood around. One of the most animated drills we did were the "wild hoses". We would have the sailors lay three fire hoses out on the hanger at each of the elevators. After a quick briefing - we turned the unmanned hoses on with full water pressure and it was up to the sailors to get them under control. That was quite a show and it is where more of the sailors got hurt. Those hoses would be going every which way, worming around like big, mad, powerful snakes, slamming into people and things and spraying water under high pressure everywhere. We usually did the wild hose drills early on - it got everyone's attention and started the adrenalin flowing - also let them know we were not playing and it was the "real deal". The sailors thought we were crazy. I thought we were crazy - the first few times we did it. We would set them up in groups of ten or twelve so everyone got a chance to wrestle with the hoses. When they finished that part of it we would suit them up in OBA's (Oxygen Breathing Apparatus) and have them run up and down the length of the hanger deck several times. That was another big favorite. There were always a few dummies who didn't listen up and we would hear the OBA cannisters start popping because things hadn't been done right. That can be serious because the pressure blows downwards - toward a man's private parts. They found out if the OBA was not donned properly real fast because they would fall out from lack of oxygen when the run started. Then it was back to square one - to do it all over again. Commander Fones expected us to stay super charged and he was pissed when he saw one of us slacking off. To keep things moving kept all of us busy and we didn't have time to stand around idle. We would have 300 to 400 people out there and with only 9 of us working it was hard to keep them all moving. I think we did a very good job of it. Commander Fones was "one of us" - he was out there doing the same things we did. We took them below decks and practiced escaping to a clear atmosphere (hanger deck) in smoke filled compartments with no lights and zero visibility. There were several other drill scenarios we ran but those were the most exciting. We did those drills at every showing - some of the others were optional. All in all - it was fun, in a warped kind of way. If someone got hurt, we dragged them off the filed and the Corpsmen were there to attend to them. The show went on.
DeleteI don't know if the Navy does things like this nowadays or not. Probably not because it was very dangerous. Well - serving on an aircraft carrier is very dangerous and the better the crew is trained up, the better it will be for the ship and all concerned if something goes wrong and all hell breaks loose.
DeleteI am a firm believer in hands on training. There is no better way to learn how to do something than actually doing it. At the Naval Damage Control Training Center in Philadelphia, I ran the USS BUTTERCUP. It was a WWII vintage all purpose trainer platform that put the sailors through the paces of learning to save each other and their ship, by actually fighting fires, controlling flooding, repairing battle damage, bypassing damaged electric feed lines, running pumps, rescuing and evacuating people and treating personnel casualties in a simulated shipboard environment. Most sailors remember the BUTTERCUP. I tried to make the instructors stay all pumped up, the way we were when we worked with Commander Fones.
DeleteSo much for the way it used to be. Now I have a hard time standing up after sitting on the toilet. HOO-RAH!
DeleteWhen we started with Commander Fones it was very strange - to say the least. After he finished the weeding out process and had the 8 people he wanted to keep - he put us in a conference room with a long table with seating for about thirty people. Piled up in the center of that table were books and manuals - looked like everything ever published by the Navy about aircraft carrier fire fighting and damage control. He told us to hit those books and come up with the things that every sailor serving on an aircraft carrier needed to know. All of us were E-6 or E-7, except one E-8, who was appointed the lead man. Commander Fones told the Senior Chief to keep us busy and to come and get him when we had something that needed to be discussed. We started hitting the books and discussing it between ourselves. We had arguments and things were really intense. We would send for Commander Fones and he would say "keep digging" or "Good job - we will include that!". Day after day we did that - working anywhere from 6 to 12 hours. We were really getting crazy and around the tenth day Commander Fones came in and handed out little booklets to all of us, with information about the 14 things every sailor serving on an aircraft carrier needs to know to survive a catastrophic fire.
DeleteCommander Fones had put us through all of that bogus research when he already knew what he wanted to do with this program. We were pissed! None of us had ever been through anything like this and I think it is safe to say that we all thought Commander Fones was some kind of a nut. That is when the psychological training and motivational training really started, with Commander Fones himself taking the lead.
DeleteWe watched videos about the "I'm OK - You're OK" concept, Self-Actualization, Active Listening and Reflection, and so on and so forth. We set up role playing scenarios - basically confrontational situations where we took turns - practicing being criticized, insulted, heckled, laughed at, disrespected and you name it. We were all pretty thick skinned after a couple of weeks of that. Then we started spending time at the Fire Schools, watching how things were done there and studying the techniques of the instructors. We planned the drills that we would do on the carriers and talked about how we would get started. Finally - one morning Commander Fones said, "This is it! Tonight we visit the KITTY HAWK." That night we arrived on the quarterdeck of the USS KITTY HAWK (CV-63) at 1830 and the show started.
DeleteWe always rode together from the headquarters building over to the carrier pier in an old white ten seat Navy van. Commander Fones thought it was best for us to arrive in force. The first few ships were pretty rough for us but after that things settled down and it started going pretty smooth. We varied the routine a little to keep everyone guessing. The word got around about us and the sailors on watch would keep an eye out for our old Navy van. If it was sighted - the word would be spread around somehow and we could see the sailors running around on the hanger deck and flight deck. I am sure some of them managed to hide, to avoid our training sessions. But Commander Fones figured we covered about 70 percent of the people who were on board the ship when we drove up. There were always people on watch and the shirkers who did not participate. As time went by, the participation got better. The sailors didn't like us but I guess the word got around that what we were teaching was a good for them to know and they started getting competitive.
DeleteWe did that routine for the next four months or so. We visited several carriers almost very week. We visited some of the carriers several times. It was all different and interesting but it sometimes became a grind. We were not all that disappointed when Commander Fones told us that the team was being disbanded and we were going back to our carriers. Then I started thinking about people on the CONNIE recognizing me as one of the "Torture Squad" guys and trying to kick my ass. Some did recognize me but I never had any problems with anyone over it.
DeleteAfter that - Commander Fones went on to the USS MIDWAY homeported in Japan. He had his orders before we disbanded. I am not sure if he served as the Chief Engineer or Damage Control Assistant. They had a bad fire while the ship was in a dry dock in Japan. There was a lot of material damage but as far as I know there were no deaths or serious injuries. Saving lives was what it was all about and I like to think that we did some good.
DeleteI was very proud of my certification and service as an "Aircraft Carrier On Board Firefighting and Survivability Specialist". It was something unique and it made me a better person.
DeleteAnyway - it is too bad that the Navy did not enact something like this back in the sixties, right after the first major fire on an aircraft carrier off the coast of Vietnam (ORISKANY, I believe). There were some changes made after the ORISKANY fire - more control over the way the "bomb farms" were set up on the hangar deck comes to mind. But - it was basically "business as usual" until the FORRESTAL blew up. I wasn't around the carriers again until 1977 when I reported on the CONSTELLATION. I know that after the FORRESTAL fire, there were major fires on several aircraft carriers - some involving the loss of lives. The Navy usually gets around to doing the right things eventually but it just takes them too damned long to get around to it.
DeleteAs Commander Fones used to say - to hell with trying to save material. It can all be replaced. We want to focus on saving lives! A dead sailor can't be brought back to life.
DeleteBack on the USS CONSTELLATION (CV-64) I continued to work in the Damage Control Training Section. All new arrivals, including the Air Wing people, spent a week or so going through Aircraft Carrier Firefighting and Survivability Training. It included many of the hands on drills.
DeleteTHE FORGOTTEN HOMECOMING
DeleteTHE FORGOTTEN HOMECOMING
More than 40 years have passed and the words have never been uttered
No songs, no banners, no gratitude just people who closed their shutters
No parades, no ticker-tape, no standing ovation
Only silence, and whispers of a protesting Nation
Although there were many who might care to stand,
To reach out with gratitude and shake my hand
There were many more who took FREEDOM for granted
No concern where my mission and feet had been planted
Many had been called upon by our great Nation
To bring hope and democracy for a new generation
I served diligently with honor, humbly fighting to stay alive
The taste of FREEDOM was always my main drive
Now 45 years later as I memorialize in my mind
The battles for FREEDOM and the friends left behind.
Some ungrateful, taking FREEDOM for granted - that's ignorance
They have no concept of the cost of battle for independence
Today as I reflect on the years that have passed
I still see how Patriotism is standing steadfast
As I celebrate and appreciate another year of life
Loving my friends, my children, my wife
I embrace a generation of those that I served
And a new generation that seem un-assured
I hope that democracy, truth and decency are still alive
And the FREEDOMS many have died for will continue to thrive
God Bless America and the men and women who have sacrificed
In the name of FREEDOM!
And may I not forget the reason that I wrote this poem –
WELCOME HOME WARRIOR,
WELCOME HOME!
FOR ALL THOSE WHO WERE NEVER WELCOMED HOME
(or never made it home) THANK YOU ~ YOU ARE NEVER FORGOTTEN
My family is GRATEFUL –
Written by Sandra Eichler-Gonzalez ~ aka ~ PATRIOTCHICK
I served on a destroyer from 1965-67. I was a BT. We spent most of our time chasing the aircraft carriers around off the coast of Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteWarm regards,
Mike
I used to watch the tin cans get battered by waves during heavy seas as they steamed along with the carriers at high speeds during flight operations. When we pulled into port, we could pick out the tin can sailors by the way they walked. They still had their "sea legs" - swayed from side to side as they walked on solid ground. I found out what that feels like later when I served on LST's. I had a friend on the USS BRUSH (or was it BUSH?) ... hull number DD-745 I think.
DeleteI was against the war from the start. It was crazy. It is a shame that so many men had to die in Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteYoung and naïve - I fully supported the war until 1967. By then, even I could see that it was a no win situation for us unless we actually invaded North Vietnam, which was never going to happen. Looking back, I think it was all caused by one stubborn old man (LBJ) whose ego was bruised. He could not back down and let it go in 1964. He was surrounded by a bunch of bean counters, (McNamara and his merry band), mostly "yes men", who gave him erroneous information and bad advice. Worse yet, they wanted to run the war from Washington DC instead of letting the Generals and Admirals have full control. In short - they put all of our asses on the line without having a good plan in place. Their mismanagement caused many thousands of good people to die over there and caused great unrest here at home. LBJ was basically a broken man when he refused to run for a second term as our President in 1968. You can not "undo" something like that and LBJ went to his grave with the ghosts of all those he killed haunting him. I pray that we never let our President and the politicians get us involved in a situation like Vietnam ever again.
DeleteIn hindsight - I think sending our military forces into Vietnam was a big mistake. I never had a problem with those who were against the war for the right reasons. What I did not like were those who were against the war simply because they did not want to serve. They were basically hiding behind their signs and banners to save their asses. They were content to let others go over there and do the dirty work - then treated them like dirt when they came back home. Let me tell you - for every one who was against the war for the right reasons, there were ten who were against the war simply because they did not want to serve.
DeleteSan Francisco was a unique experience in those times, as it is now. I remember the sights and sounds of it very well. The cable cars, all of the different characters on Market Street, the hippies, the joints in North Beach district and viewing Alcatraz through the wispy fog rolling over the bay in the morning. Beautiful city!
ReplyDeleteEric
Yep - right along with the wino's sleeping in the store fronts, walking around the puddles of stinky vomit on the sidewalks, the bums, the he-she's on Turk and Eddy, the pimps and con-artists everywhere!
DeleteSome of the worst people I ever met were in Frisco. Some of the best people I ever met were in Frisco.
DeleteI agree that Frisco is a beautiful city - especially if you look at it from the Oakland side. I could never get warm there. Even in the middle of summer, I would freeze my butt off at night - sometimes even during the day. The characters I ran into there are unforgettable. They say if a man runs away, he will eventually show up in San Francisco. I believe that.
DeleteSome of the most beautiful sunsets I ever saw were from the CVA-19 Hancock when we were steaming in the South China Sea off the coast of Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to believe that we were so close to all of the violence that was going on just over the horizon in Vietnam. Early mornings and late evenings were the best times for us to get topside, when we could. It was truly beautiful and so tranquil.
DeleteAs I look back at the pictures us in R Division back in those days, I see mostly a bunch of kids. We prided ourselves for being a rough and rowdy bunch and we all thought we were bad asses. I think that is the way it was for most of us who served in Vietnam - soldiers, marines,airmen and sailors. We were scared kids placed in a bad situation and we tried to make the best of it, taking it one day at a time. So sad to think about all of those who died there.
ReplyDeleteWhen we were moored at the pier in Alameda, small jeep carriers would sometimes pull in and tie up on the other side of the pier from us. They would be loaded to the gills with Army equipment and soldiers - headed for Vietnam. I used to talk with the soldiers, usually at the mobile canteen when it made an appearance on the pier. They were just like us - excited about going over there but still scared. I often wonder how many of them didn't make it back home.
DeleteI keep thinking about my old best buddy, John Henry King. He was killed September 12, 1967. He 21 years old when he died. He wasn't killed in Vietnam. He died after being injured in a one car accident on a black top country highway northeast of Dallas. He was the driver of the car and apparently lost control in a curve. The car left the road and flipped over several times. John received massive head injuries and lived for only a few hours after being taken to a hospital in Dallas. John was a good friend. We served together on the HANCOCK. We were both on leave in Texas when the accident happened. John was supposed to pick me up in Rotan, Texas on his way back to California. He regained consciousness and told his sister to call me, to let me know that he wouldn't be able to make it.
ReplyDeleteI expect John will be one of those who will greet me when I pass away. I wonder how that works - he will be a young man and I will be a decrepit old fart knocker!
DeleteWe lost a lot of good people in Vietnam. It was such a waste.
ReplyDeleteI remember when the USS PUEBLO was captured by North Korea in early 1968. I believe the term "high-jacked" is more accurate. I was at the Navy Exchange Canteen at the Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco when they did a news flash on TV about it. That was a bitter pill for us to swallow. I couldn't believe the U.S. could not get some jets in there to prevent the PUEBLO from being taken - I still find that hard to believe. I expected all hell to break loose over it but the U.S. didn't do much about it. Most of the American people just shrugged it off. It was a very sad situation.
ReplyDeleteThe way the PUEBLO Incident was handled didn't do much for my morale. I was already losing faith in our government by the way things were going in Vietnam. When they let that ship and its entire crew be captured without putting up a fight, it really left a bad taste in my mouth. If they were going to send them in that close to a hostile shore, there should have been provisions made in advance for protecting them - if it became necessary. It was just another case of "PISS POOR PLANNING PRODUCES PISS POOR RESULTS".
DeleteRandy Griggs, Little Rock, Arkansas - ARMY
ReplyDeleteTHE FORGOTTEN HOMECOMING
DeleteMore than 40 years have passed and the words have never been uttered
No songs, no banners, no gratitude just people who closed their shutters
No parades, no ticker-tape, no standing ovation
Only silence, and whispers of a protesting Nation
Although there were many who might care to stand,
To reach out with gratitude and shake my hand
There were many more who took FREEDOM for granted
No concern where my mission and feet had been planted
Many had been called upon by our great Nation
To bring hope and democracy for a new generation
I served diligently with honor, humbly fighting to stay alive
The taste of FREEDOM was always my main drive
Now 45 years later as I memorialize in my mind
The battles for FREEDOM and the friends left behind.
Some ungrateful, taking FREEDOM for granted - that's ignorance
They have no concept of the cost of battle for independence
Today as I reflect on the years that have passed
I still see how Patriotism is standing steadfast
As I celebrate and appreciate another year of life
Loving my friends, my children, my wife
I embrace a generation of those that I served
And a new generation that seem un-assured
I hope that democracy, truth and decency are still alive
And the FREEDOMS many have died for will continue to thrive
God Bless America and the men and women who have sacrificed
In the name of FREEDOM!
And may I not forget the reason that I wrote this poem –
WELCOME HOME WARRIOR,
WELCOME HOME!
FOR ALL THOSE WHO WERE NEVER WELCOMED HOME
(or never made it home) THANK YOU ~ YOU ARE NEVER FORGOTTEN
My family is GRATEFUL –
Written by Sandra Eichler-Gonzalez ~ aka ~ PATRIOTCHICK
I served in the Vietnam war between 1067-1969. I looking for others that served in Vietnam during that time. Please contact me if you know anyone who served. summe66@bellsouth.net
DeleteI was just listening to some music from back in the 1960's and 1970's - you know the $5 "super bargain" CD's they have at Walmart. (When you get old - your music gets cheap!) One of the CD's I bought today was by Janis Joplin. She wasn't one of my favorites back then and I didn't know much about her. Listening to her brings back a lot of old memories. She was definitely a unique talent. I went on the web and found a good biography for her. Her story is a very sad one and she died of a drug overdose in 1970, when she was 27 years old. We were complete opposites back then - our lifestyles and basic value systems were different. But if she was alive today, I would like to sit down and talk with her and I think we would like each other now.
ReplyDeleteJanis Joplin is typical of the hippies we ran into in San Francisco back then - freaky people with outlandish hairdos, gaudy clothes and weird adornments. They were stoned, freaked out, turned on and spacey - sometimes barely coherent. A walk down Market Street in "Frisco was never dull for us because we never knew who we would run into.
DeleteThe visits to the Subic Bay Naval Base in the Philippines were always the high points of our WESTPAC cruises. Subic Bay was our home away from home. It was our main port of call and it was a full service stop for us. The crews could get some much needed R&R (rest and relaxation), essential maintenance and repairs could be done on the ships and the ships could also be re-provisioned. A normal port call there was from 7 to 21 days, depending on the tempo of operations in Vietnam. Despite its popularity and the large number of U.S. Navy ships that were serviced there, the people there still lived in poverty and squalor. I felt so sorry for the little kids there.
ReplyDeleteWhen we left the base, we had to walk across a bridge over "Shit Creek". The little waterway was aptly named - it was filled with trash, filth and raw sewage. There would always be several small row boats - more like small canoes - there in the water underneath the bridge, with a bunch of little kids on each boat. The sailors and marines would toss coins and the little kids would dive in that nasty water to retrieve them. They were very good at it. It was pretty amazing to watch them.
ReplyDeleteAfter crossing the bridge, we entered the town of Olongapo. The main street was named Magsaysay Boulevard. There were a few sidewalks made of concrete or wood but it was mostly unpaved and often very muddy. There were always beggers - mostly kids and crippled or elderly people. Hundreds of brightly colored Jeepney's cruised up and down Magsaysay and they were the main mode of mass transit there. It was convenient for us to hop on a Jeepney to get where we wanted to go rather than walk through that confusion, with the mud and filth. Both sides of the street were lined with bars and a few little shops. Street vendors operated from little wheeled carts and they sold everything from cigarettes to rings and watches. There were also little BBQ carts where they sold grilled monkey meat on a stick (there were arguments about whether it really was monkey meat or just pork) and other Filipino delicacies. It was a carnival like atmosphere and it was always party time on Magsaysay
ReplyDeleteIt could be like Dodge City out there. Most of the shooting was done by the local Police. They didn't hesitate to open fire, even when the streets were crowded. I saw a young boy of about 15 shot in the back by a policeman after he plucked a big wad of bills out of the pocket of a drunk sailor. He was running away and the policeman fired from about 50 yards away. There were thugs who tried to lure the sailors into alleys and side streets, where they would be robbed, almost always beat up and sometimes cut up with a butterfly knife. Some of the Jeepney drivers were in cahoots with these thugs, and they would take a detour onto a side street - then stop and tell their passengers to get out. Usually the passengers were a few drunk sailors. The thugs would be waiting there and came springing out to do their dirty work. It was place where we tried to use the "buddy system" and we were always careful.
ReplyDeleteWADE SHARPLEY, Tampa, FL, U.S. Navy (1967 - 1971). Served aboard the USS KITTY HAWK (CVA/CV-63 from 1968 -1970).
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteDalton,
The story about Navy Boot Camp was good. Very well thought out.
It brought back a lot of memories.
I was right behind you, got there about
July 5th, 1964. Company 376
And strangely enough, being a Fort Worth boy, I flew there from Dallas also.
I went on to serve on the USS Hornet,
And then the USS Kitty Hawk for 2-1/2
Years.
Got out July 1968.
Virgil
Navy boot camp was an experience that I will never forget. It helped me to grow up. I think it was the happiest day of my life when I left there in September of 1964. I took two weeks leave and went home to Texas. Getting on that Greyhound bus headed for San Francisco and the USS HANCOCK (CVA-19) was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. I almost went AWOL. I was scared and I knew it would be a whole year at least before I could come back home again. That seemed like an awful long time. But I got on that bus and reported in on time. It took me about three weeks to get over the homesickness but the Navy became my life after that.
DeleteD.W. Anderson, Jacksonville, FL NAVY VET 1965-1969
ReplyDeleteThe new Navy ships are very plush where the living conditions for the crew are concerned. They basically have all of the comforts of home - some things most of us do not have at home. I was just thinking about what will happen if we ever get into a real shooting war again. It will be interesting.
ReplyDeleteVic huffman omaha nebraska usmc
ReplyDeleteI have great respect and admiration for the U.S. Navy SEAL's. Like all of the SPEC OPS types, they can be "full of themselves" at times. There is something about the SEAL's that sets them apart from the others. They came into being in the early 1960's, just before the Vietnam War heated up. Some of my best friends were SEAL's back in those days. I guess the one quality that stands out when I think about those old SEAL friends is LOYALTY. If you manage to make a SEAL your friend, you know you will have a friend for the rest of your life - no matter how tough things get.
ReplyDeleteIn the SEAL's - everything is about "the team" and taking care of your buddies. We were taught that in Navy boot camp but the SEAL's had it "hammered in" while they went through the toughest training you will find in any of the military forces around the world. I guess that is what makes them such loyal friends.
Delete!! REMEMBER 1 JAN 2016 All VETERANS FLY YOUR FLAG UPSIDE DOWN FOR THE DURESS!!
ReplyDeleteI call out to all American Veterans on 1 Jan 2016 For one day displaying this is the military way of saying we are under dress YOUR FLAG UPSIDE DOWN (for Duress) We are under siege (ANYONE THAT SAYS THIS IS WRONG ARE NOT FOR THE VETS BUT ON THE VA'S SIDE AS TO KEEP THE STATUS QUO). the VA is covering up and will continue the same methods as before. but if
20 million Flags are in DURESS across our country Our Washington Representative will have to act properly or be replaced... Hillery is not our friend and neither is Bill
I'm a disabled vet (I got my Paper work and regesterd in the VA as such) service connected i have been the system since 1986
As one of my service officer of the VVA told me once, the people running the VA are
not Vets (SOME ARE AND SHAME ON THEM), and they believe it is their money.
The district offices make all decisions on all aspects of the VA mainly to
determine Disability ratings for the VET's in their arena of influence. They
are like any Insurance Company !!! Deny Deny Deny !!!, and hope you
go away and give up trying. !!DON'T GIVE UP KEEP APPEALING..!! Now they
give out 142 million dollars for bonuses to the employees who take
advantage of VET's, How many doctors or nurses could they have hired.
!! REMEMBER 1 JAN 2016 FLY YOUR FLAG UPSIDE DOWN FOR THE DURESS!!
THE VA (THE WHOLE (THE NEW CASTERS ARE LYING WHEN THEY SAY VET'S ARE HAPPY
WITH THE SERVICE(COME TO DETROIT)) If you don't think I'm right, don't do
it, and get what you get as a Single Vet applying for VA benefits( I had
the VVA fight with me for 14 years this is all documented) REMEMBER 1 JAN
2016 WE ARE UNDER DURESS From BOLD FACE LIES FROM OUR WASHINGTON REPRESENTATIVES
!! REMEMBER 1 JAN 2016 FLY YOUR FLAG UPSIDE DOWN FOR THE DURESS!! One Day
Lets get something straight I would in no way dishoner our flag, but this is the military way of say we are under dress, and FOR One Day will show US as Real People who need care Vets help Vets ( Tom Cornfield)
!! REMEMBER 1 JAN 2016 All VETERANS FLY YOUR FLAG UPSIDE DOWN FOR THE DURESS!!
ReplyDeleteI call out to all American Veterans on 1 Jan 2016 For one day displaying this is the military way of saying we are under dress YOUR FLAG UPSIDE DOWN (for Duress) We are under siege (ANYONE THAT SAYS THIS IS WRONG ARE NOT FOR THE VETS BUT ON THE VA'S SIDE AS TO KEEP THE STATUS QUO). the VA is covering up and will continue the same methods as before. but if
20 million Flags are in DURESS across our country Our Washington Representative will have to act properly or be replaced... Hillery is not our friend and neither is Bill
I'm a disabled vet (I got my Paper work and regesterd in the VA as such) service connected i have been the system since 1986
As one of my service officer of the VVA told me once, the people running the VA are
not Vets (SOME ARE AND SHAME ON THEM), and they believe it is their money.
The district offices make all decisions on all aspects of the VA mainly to
determine Disability ratings for the VET's in their arena of influence. They
are like any Insurance Company !!! Deny Deny Deny !!!, and hope you
go away and give up trying. !!DON'T GIVE UP KEEP APPEALING..!! Now they
give out 142 million dollars for bonuses to the employees who take
advantage of VET's, How many doctors or nurses could they have hired.
!! REMEMBER 1 JAN 2016 FLY YOUR FLAG UPSIDE DOWN FOR THE DURESS!!
THE VA (THE WHOLE (THE NEW CASTERS ARE LYING WHEN THEY SAY VET'S ARE HAPPY
WITH THE SERVICE(COME TO DETROIT)) If you don't think I'm right, don't do
it, and get what you get as a Single Vet applying for VA benefits( I had
the VVA fight with me for 14 years this is all documented) REMEMBER 1 JAN
2016 WE ARE UNDER DURESS From BOLD FACE LIES FROM OUR WASHINGTON REPRESENTATIVES
!! REMEMBER 1 JAN 2016 FLY YOUR FLAG UPSIDE DOWN FOR THE DURESS!! One Day
Lets get something straight I would in no way dishoner our flag, but this is the military way of say we are under dress, and FOR One Day will show US as Real People who need care Vets help Vets ( Tom Cornfield)