A Veteran's Journey

Trivia Questions (Answers @ end)

1. Who said, “You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching, Love like you’ll never be hurt, Sing like there’s nobody listening, And live like it’s heaven on earth.”?
2. In what movie did we hear, “The Almighty tells me he can get me out of this mess, but he’s pretty sure you’re f**ked.”?
3. In what song (and who sang it) did we hear the following:
   Gimme a head with hair
   Long, beautiful hair
   Shinin’, gleamin’
   Streamin’, flaxen, waxen
   Give me down to there
   Shoulder length or longer

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I made one Westpac cruise in 1975, leaving San Diego in May. After six months, we headed back home. Our overseas home port was Subic Bay, Philippines (“PI”). We were in and out of PI seven times, mostly cruising in the South China Sea.

Fortunately, the Vietnam War was over, so most of the flight operations were, as far as I know, “standard training exercises.” But then, I was a low-life, 3d Class Petty Officer, working in Crash & Salvage, part of the V-1 Division, part of the Air Department.

There were about 80 guys in V-1, but only 14 in Crash. We were short a few crewmen, but it didn’t really matter to me. I much preferred to be working 16-18-hour days on the flight deck.

Transit to Japan

After our 6-days of max liberty in Hong Kong (we only needed to be aboard if our section had duty), and after a week or so back in PI, we began our longest time at sea without hitting a port—about five weeks.

During this transit, we had a few days of around-the-clock flight ops. That was pretty demanding, and Crash had to split into two, twelve-hour shifts. Gary Borne (R.I.P.) and I had to work longer shifts, since we were both 3d Class POs. I worked the day shift this go round which was fine by me. I got to do my 0600 morning radio show, so I was happy.

We left PI and headed up to Japan. It turns out that we were on the edge of a typhoon and we experienced a lot of rough weather.

All flight ops were canceled. On the flight deck, we had to double all the tie-down chains on the planes. Instead of the usual 6 tie-down chains, each plane had 12 to 15 tie-downs. All the equipment, including the Crash trucks, all the tow tractors, and even big Tilly, our humongous Crash crane, had tie-down chains.

During the day it was so bad that if we headed out onto the flight deck, we went in pairs with a lifeline tied between us. We even saw water coming over the bow. I thought they were waves breaking over the bow, but the waves broke lower; it was just the force that pushed the water over the bow. That was impressive, though, especially since the flight deck was 60 feet above the water line. I can’t imagine how the smaller ships in our task force managed these horrendous sea conditions.

Max Liberty

We arrived in Japan on Friday, October 17, and we were in for a treat: we would have 6 days of max liberty in Yokosuka.

As we pulled into the harbor, it was a bright, clear day, and we could see snow-capped Mt. Fuji off in the distance.

The exchange rate at that time was three hundred Yen for one U.S. dollar. Japan was more expensive than PI and Hong Kong. A beer in Yokosuka cost 300 Yen ($1 US), compared to three pisos ($.45 US) in PI and $4 HK (Hong Kong dollars, about $.85 US).

On Sunday, Gary Borne (R.I.P.), Bud Laney, Jim King, Tom Watson, Gary DeSaulniers (R.I.P.), and I headed up to Tokyo. We took the bullet train and I’ll tell you something, it was a bullet. Wow, I had never been on a train that fast before. It only took us 30 minutes to get there. The cost of the train ride from Yokosuka to Tokyo was only 300 Yen.

The weather was overcast and cold, but because we were walking everywhere, we stayed warm. One of the first spots we stumbled upon was the Emperor’s Palace, very old and very traditional Japanese. There was a huge moat surrounding the palace with lots of those humongous goldfish (koi).

We also spotted a Japanese McDonald’s downtown. That was funny because we were not used to seeing American businesses in foreign countries. We recognized the golden arches, but the rest of the writing was gibberish to us.

A Change of Culture

Japan was a welcomed stop. We had been in PI for a while and had visited Hong Kong, but those seemed like third-world countries compared to Japan.

To me, Japan was more civilized, definitely cleaner, and had more of a business and cultural feel to it.

When I think about it, I never traveled or toured anywhere while in the Philippines, which is a shame because I’m sure there were some wonderful places to visit. I spent almost all my time either on the ship, the base, or in Olongapo City.

If I had to do it all over again, I would definitely find some other places to visit in the Philippines. That’s what the lifers told me, too. You learn the ropes on your first cruise, and you do more sightseeing and get more involved with the culture and the people on the second cruise.

Just outside the main gate of the Naval base at Yokosuka and across the street was Thieves’ Alley. They say, “Many a sailor has lost his credentials here,” whatever that means. But there was a group of us, so I wasn’t too worried.

By the way, does a sailor really ever have credentials?

Bars and gift shops filled Thieves’ Alley, and the owners there liked to bargain. It was almost like Times Square in Manhattan or Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

Here, you could bargain away and usually come up with some pretty good deals. You had to be careful though, because while a watch may say Rolex, it may not really be a Rolex on the inside, if you know what I mean.

The bars were something else. I could not drink the beer; it was so bad. We did find a wonderful place that served great corn dogs and ice cream, something that the Crash crew craved. We frequented that cozy little spot several times—no beer, though, at least not for me.

The Sea of Japan

Once we left Japan, we headed north through the Sea of Japan and circumnavigated the main island. It was cold, and it did not help that we were flying around the clock. Since we did not have enough people in Crash to have two full shifts, several of us pulled double duty, working 24- to 36-hour shifts. We would catnap when we could, whether it was in the Crash compartment or inside the Crash truck.

Usually on the flight deck in the South China Sea the weather was warm, and all I wore on the flight deck was a pair of Army ODs, a red Crash jersey, a red float coat, my boots and socks, and a cranial helmet. When we were between flight ops, we would strip off our shirts, which was fine in calm seas because there was not any danger of being blown off the deck. Besides, it was hot; the sun felt good, and we worked on our tans.

It was quite a different story when we were in the Sea of Japan. I had my thermal long johns, my sweater, my Navy foul-weather jacket, my rain gear, my aviator knit cap, and even with all that on, it was still freezing cold.

Since we worked long shifts, there were many nights when we could not get down for chow. We would get box lunches, but the old horsecock sandwiches did not cut it.

Several times during this trip out, I called down to the galley and asked if we could get some hot soup. They said sure, come on down. So, a couple of us made several trips down several ladders to bring up a huge 25-gallon container of hot soup. It tasted so good, and all my guys got a break to come in and down some. It helped us choke down the cold sandwiches, too. We always kept the coffee brewing, too. That is something we never ran out of.

There were many times when I would come in off the flight deck to warm up and to get a cup of hot coffee. When I started drinking coffee in Guam, I would have it with cream and sugar; there was always plenty. But on the ship, I usually was the last one to get coffee (I always let my guys come in first); there was never any cream or sugar, so I had to drink it black. I got used to that.

There were also many times when I would tip the 100-cup coffee maker to get the last dregs of coffee, complete with grounds. But in that miserable weather, even that coffee tasted good.

The Russians Were Around

We usually had several Russian visitors around us. Not only were there Bears and Badgers flying overhead (“Launch the Alert 5!”), but we also had Russian trawlers cruising alongside.

I had never seen one of those before, but they looked like ordinary fishing boats to me. We waved; they waved. Hey, we’re all friends here.

This was during the Cold War, and we did not trust them any more than they trusted us. There was nothing any of us could do other than carry on our regular duties during flight ops.

Helo in the Water

Heading back to the Philippines, we lost another helo, this one to the water.

I was working the night shift, so I was in my rack sleeping and heard the call over the 1MC, “Man overboard, port side.”

I did not know what it was, so I quickly got dressed and mustered up on the flight deck in Crash. My friend Jack Kuiphoff was driving a tow tractor that day and told me he drove over to the port side of the ship and looked down. The helo was on its side, and the crew members were kicking out the windows and helping pull each other out—the helo was sinking fast.

In this case, apparently the helo was riding heavy and came in too fast and too low. Normally when a helo is going to land on the flight deck, the pilot brings the helo in off the port side, over the water and not over the flight deck.

The director then signals the pilot to fly sideways, bringing the helo slowly over the flight deck, ready to land. They do this for the exact reason why this helo went into the water. Had the helo been coming in over the flight deck, it would have been quite a mess.

The helo apparently experienced engine failure and the pilot was forced to ditch alongside the carrier. All five men aboard, unharmed, were rescued by the plane guard helo. After everyone was accounted for by the “Man overboard” call, I could get back to my rack for another snooze.

USO

The very next day, we had some surprise visitors. The USO had flown six beautiful women from the Miss America Pageant to Kitty Hawk for our entertainment.

They had probably never landed on an aircraft carrier before, but they all looked great. I caught sight of them disembarking the COD from atop the Crash truck.

The only problem I had was that I had just come off the night shift, working through the night and into the morning, and was dead tired. While they were singing and dancing into the hearts of the Kitty Hawk crew, I was grabbing some much-needed shut-eye.

I did not get to see any of their performances, which were done on a mock stage on the flight deck. But I heard it was a wonderful show.

Until we meet again,
Andy

Previous Blogs mentioned in this Post:

• #67—Flight Ops: A Day in the Life of Crash & Salvage
• #43—Port Call: Hong Kong
• #39—Good Morning to ya, Kitty Hawk!
• #23—Rough Seas: Sea of Japan
• #33—Launch the Alert 5!

Answers

1. William W. Purkey. However, the  phrase originated in a 1987 country song titled “Come from the Heart,” written by songwriters Susanna Clark and Richard Leigh.
2. Braveheart (1997); Stephen (David O’Hara)
3. Hair (1969); the Cowsills; written by James Rado and Gerome Ragni.