A Veteran's Journey

Trivia Questions (Answers @ end)

1. Who said, “Life gets more precious when there’s less of it to waste.”?
2. In what movie (and who said it), did we hear, “We thought you was a toad.”?
3. In what song (and who sang it), did we hear the following?
   As I walk this land with broken dreams
   I have visions of many things
   But happiness is just an illusion
   Filled with sadness and confusion

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In my last blog, I posted about “The Decision” I (and many others) made to enlist in the United States Navy. Many great replies (thank you!) and many different reasons to join the Navy.

Besides the initial shock introduction to military life during those first few weeks in boot camp (Orlando RTC, July ’73), the learned discipline continues with me, and the comradery of so many great folks I met and worked with during my “short” 4 years, there are many things I can never forget.

Yes, the language is one of those things I purposely chose not to forget, but it’s not the only thing. [See my online Navy & military glossaries].

I was an airdale (Aviation Boatswains Mate-Handler), worked at NAS Agana, Guam for 15 months in Crash & Rescue (’73-75), then assigned to V-1 Division/Crash aboard USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), an aircraft carrier (’75-77). I spent 2½ years on Kitty Hawk’s flight deck, made the Westpac ’75 cruise, and spent a year in the Bremerton Shipyards (’76).

I wrote about all those experiences (several times).

“Three-two” Beer

I didn’t really drink much before joining the Navy (I was 18 at the time). Even during high school, I only had a beer here or there, but not like some of my classmates.

There was that time, though, during my first (and only) year at Florida State University. I was 17 and while I couldn’t stand the taste of beer (that’s changed over the years), I “helped” empty a pitcher at a local restaurant. Yes, I was underage, and no, the restaurant owner didn’t know. The drinking age in Florida at that time was 18 and at 6’ 4” and 165 pounds, perhaps I passed muster.

And yes, I learned early on (the hard way) what the term “knee crawling, commode hugging” meant.

But I digress…

After ABH “A” School in Lakehurst, NJ, my first duty station was NAS Agana, Guam. I worked in Crash & Rescue, one day on & one day off (Port & Starboard sections—I was “Port”) for 15 months. Not bad duty, and Guam… well, I’d call it a diver’s paradise.

Since I was single, I lived in the recently renovated WWII barracks. There were four of us assigned to one room and we all got along fine.

We also had a common rec room, complete with a pool table & ping-pong table. I grew up playing both and considered myself pretty good. I got better, since the Crash Barn also had a pool table & a ping-pong table.

There were two vending machines in the rec room: one had sodas, the other had beer. Both cost a quarter each.

More than one time, several of us gathered in the rec room to play pool, ping-pong, and drink beer. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s ever tried to empty a vending machine of beer. The thing to remember is that no matter how much you drink, there seems to be more hiding in the back, just waiting to be released.

And I learned another important tradition in Navy life. You never really “buy” beer… you merely “rent” it.

Tell me I’m wrong.

Beer in the Mid-70s

Back in the 70s, “craft beer,” as we know it today, didn’t exist. Now, there are tons of microbreweries around (we have several excellent ones here in Gainesville).

But back then, the name brands I remember were Schlitz (“The beer that made Milwaukee famous”), Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer (“PBR”), Busch, Budweiser, Miller High Life, and Coors.

BTW, back in the 70s, you could only purchase Coors beer west of the Mississippi River. Remember the movie, Smokey & the Bandit, with Burt Reynolds, Jerry Reed, & Sally (The Flying Nun) Field? Yeah… you know what I’m talking about.

Most 12oz beers back then contained 4-5% alcohol by volume (ABV). “Three-two” beer contained 3.2% alcohol.

Obviously, the main purpose was to drink more beer without consuming too much alcohol.

“That don’t make no sense!” My favorite line in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, delivered by Pete Hogwallop (played by John Turturro).

There are several dozen articles on the Internet about 3-2 beer. I started to read them but then realized, in the long run, it doesn’t matter. I’m no longer in the Navy and I no longer drink that swill. I can go full bore with real beer these days. And I’ve also noticed some of the newer “craft beers,” can reach upwards of 12% ABV.

What about you? Have your “beer tastes” changed since leaving the Navy?

“4/2” Sea/shore Rotation

As an ABH in the 70s, our “sea/shore” rotation was 4 years sea duty, then 2 years shore duty. I don’t know what the rotation is now for ABs (anyone know?).

For some reason, the Navy considered NAS Agana, Guam sea duty. That, combined with my 2½ years aboard Kitty Hawk, would put me at 4 years’ sea duty.

That meant… if I wanted, I could reenlist for a few more years and be assigned to shore duty, perhaps in the states. I was an ABH2 (I made second class in less than 3 years, primarily due to that one year in college at FSU, even though I flunked out).

Master Chief Kenneth Breig was a decent Chief in V-1 Division, though he was a pain in my ass more than once. Let’s just say we didn’t see eye-to-eye on most things. He followed the book when it came to “chiefing.” We used to joke that when he returned home after a Westpac, he’d line his kids up for a haircut inspection.

When Chief Breig asked me if I wanted to reenlist, I asked two simple questions: “How long and how much?” The Navy offered enlistment bonuses for certain rates back then.

Without hesitation, Chief Breig kindly and matter-of-factly informed me, “If you reenlist for six years, the Navy will give you $1,200.”

I’d heard that the nukes (Nuclear Submariners) were getting bonuses of $20,000 for four years, so that was an easy, “No.”

24-hour Military Clock

The military uses a 24-hour clock, commonly known as “military time.” I know other professions use this way to tell time, too, but stay with me here.

For those of us who spent time in the service, this way of telling time helps us understand if it’s day or night, especially for those in the Navy who didn’t work on the flight deck and rarely saw the sun when at sea. Submariners also appreciate knowing if it’s 1 o’clock in the morning (0100 – pronounced, “Oh-one-hundred hours”) or 1 in the afternoon (1300 – pronounced, “thirteen hundred hours”).

In today’s digital world, almost all digital watches and phones provide the opportunity to choose whether you want the time of day to appear “normal” 12-hour or “military” 24-hour.

Even though I have all my clocks & watches set to 12-hour time format, I’ll still think (and often state) the military time.

… especially when I’m awake in the early morning hours at “zero-dark thirty.” WTF?

Anyone else?

Flight Ops Crash Crew

During Westpac ’75, we had about 80 ABHs in V-1 Division. There were 14 of us in Crash, not including the Air Bos’n, CWO2 Ty Robuck, in charge of Crash. We didn’t have a Crash Chief. ABH1 Jeff Atteberry was the Crash LPO (Leading Petty Officer) and ABH2 Shelby (“Big Willie”) Williams was Asst LPO.

ABH3 Gary Borne and I (also an ABH3) were the two other petty officers in Crash.

From what I remember, Crash needed to have at least 11 crew on the flight deck during flight operations, including an hour before and an hour after. With flight ops from 1000 until midnight, that meant for long days.

Gary liked the night shift, so I didn’t have any issue with him taking the night shift duty. It was too boring for me. He and two others slept during the day and worked a few hours at night. I say that jokingly, but Gary usually put in more hours to help out during the day shifts. That was just how he was: thoughtful and knew the long hours many of us worked.

Gary was a tall, good looking, sailor from Hagerstown, Maryland. We first met in Guam; he’d been there a few months before I arrived. He taught me how to drive all the different Crash trucks in Guam. We shared many hours out on the “Alert Spot” (a designated area between the runways where we spent two, 4-hour shifts a day), waiting for something you hope would never happen—an aircraft crash.

Unfortunately, I recently learned that Gary passed away in January 2019 at age 64; he lived in State Line, PA. I don’t know from what, but it saddened me and brought back a lot of great memories I had, not only of Gary but also of the shenanigans we experienced together, both in Guam and Kitty Hawk.

Rest in peace, Gary. “Fair winds and following seas. We have the watch.”

Until we meet again,
Andy Adkins

Answers

1. Bonnie Raitt.
2. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), Delmar O’Donnell (Tim Blake Nelson)
3. What Becomes of the Brokenhearted (1967), Jimmy Ruffin; written by James Anthony Dean, Paul Riser, William Henry Witherspoon.

Previous posts mentioned in this blog:

• #121—The “Decision”
• #4—From Civilian to US Navy
• #53—You Always Remember Your First
• #54—Westpac ’75 Aircraft Carrier Squadrons
• #30—USS Kitty Hawk, CV-63 @ Bremerton Shipyards, Part 1
• #42—The Shipyards, Part 2
• #35—US Navy “A” School (ABH)
• #67—Flight Ops: A Day in the Life of Crash & Salvage