Trivia Questions (Answers @ end)
- Who said, “Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.”?
- In what movie did we hear (and who said it), “Three things to remember when you get older: never pass up a bathroom, never waste a hard-on, and never trust a fart.”?
- In what song (and who sang it), did we hear:
Maybe I didn’t love you
Quite as often as I could have
And maybe I didn’t treat you
Quite as good as I should have
If I made you feel second best
Girl, I’m sorry I was blind
Since it’s been more than 50 years, I’m going to assume the Statute of Limitations may be in my favor; at least for some of these “mishaps.”
I spent three years, eleven months, and 29 days (but who’s counting) during my time in the United States Navy. With two different tours (NAS Agana, Guam) and USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), I experienced a lot of challenges and a plethora of rewards. I could’ve stayed for a career, but then I wouldn’t have had the other journeys in my life.
I am proud of my time in the Navy and made some great friends, many of whom I still stay in touch with today.
But there were a few times …
Don’t Mess with the Marines
Our overseas home port during Westpac ’75 was Subic Bay, Philippines (“PI”). It was “unique” in many aspects, but to get into town, Olongapo City, we walked across the base and crossed a bridge over what was commonly called “Sh*t River.” Why, you ask? Well, because it smelled like shit. Apparently, many of the residents living alongside the river dumped their raw sewage into it.
And … I’ll leave it at that.
Since PI had a midnight curfew, you had to be off the streets by midnight, or the local police could “shoot you on the spot,” according to the PI president at the time, Ferdinand Marcos.
The gates to the base were guarded by Marines. Most of the time, these guys were cool, unless someone got out of hand, and then they would disappear into the guard shack with the sailor.
One night, I got out of hand coming back from drinking in Olongapo City.
Coming through the gate, you were required to show your military ID card, and the Marine would wave you through. Keep in mind this was right at curfew, and there were hundreds of sailors coming through the gates at the same time, much like cattle on their way to the slaughterhouse.
Photo credit: Carl Bronson
I was slightly drunk, and when I came through the gate, I showed the grunt my ID card, but unbeknownst to me, it was upside down.
He asked nicely if I would turn it over. I said something stupid like, “Don’t they teach you guys how to read upside down?”
That was the wrong thing to say to a Marine.
The Corporal in charge ordered about four Marines to haul my drunk ass back to the guard shack. Needless to say, I wasn’t sure what would happen; these Marines moved quickly. What now?
If memory serves, it wasn’t so bad. They manhandled me to the back, had me put my hands against a wall, spread my legs, and they performed a pat-down search. Fortunately, I wasn’t carrying anything illegal.
I lost a little dignity, but they let me go back through the gate with my ID card held right side up.
I would not make that mistake again.
Admiral’s Boat
During the six-month Westpac ’75 cruise, Kitty Hawk travelled to Hong Kong in mid-August. We did not have a pier to pull up alongside in Hong Kong like we did in PI or Hawaii. Instead, we anchored in the harbor near Green Island and took ferries into Hong Kong.
We had what was called max liberty, meaning we only needed to be on the ship if we had duty. I had duty the first day in port, so I did not venture into Hong Kong the first day.
I was one of the few guys in Crash who knew how to operate the Boat and Aircraft (B&A) crane. It was a huge crane just aft of the island that swung out from the starboard side of the ship over the water and could raise and lower either aircraft or boats.
Photo credit: PMAN Javier Capella
The Admiral was on board Kitty Hawk, and he wanted his boat in the water. “No problem,” I said.
The Admiral’s boat was kept aft on the hangar deck, so the V-3 Division Yellow and Blue shirts towed it to Elevator #3, which had been lowered to the hangar deck level. Bos’n Robuck was with me to make sure everything went smooth.
I lowered the hook on the B&A Crane so the guys on the elevator could hook up the boat to the massive 1,500-pound pulley. There were also three Boatswain’s Mates in the boat making sure everything was hooked up properly. They used a heavy shackle to connect the four straps to the hook on the pulley. Nothing major, just standard operating procedures. There were four-to-five-foot seas, but Kitty Hawk was so heavy and so big, it did not sway much.
I operated the crane, slowly lifting the boat and the three BMs off the elevator, then swung the crane so that the boat was over the water. I then slowly lowered the boat until it was in the water.
While it was not rough seas for the carrier, it was pretty rough for those guys in the Admiral’s boat. They were trying to wrestle with a 1,500-pound pulley in four-to-five-foot waves.
It was not easy. Every time they signaled me to lower the hook so they could undo the shackle, they got bounced around.
Finally, one last time, and they unhitched the shackle, but the boat lunged backwards, sending the 1,500-pound pulley right through the windshield of the Admiral’s boat.
It was not a good day for them or me.
We all worked hard trying to prevent any mishaps, but with the rough seas, it was next to impossible.
I was worried I might get written up for that incident, but I never heard anything more about it. In fact, Bos’n Robuck told me that I did a great job, despite the high seas.
I guess if he was OK, I was OK. The Admiral had his boat, albeit a little wacked up, but I’m sure the BMs were able to fix the windshield.
The A6 Intruder Training Incident
While aboard Kitty Hawk during Westpac ’75, we’d constantly train, before, during, and after flight ops. There were times when we would train on an aircraft that had just trapped. This would be the last one in the flight cycle, so there were not any more planes waiting to land, but we would pretend that the aircraft crashed, there was a fire, and we had to put it out and rescue the crew. The flight deck personnel would man four fire hoses from the catwalks. The Crash truck and Crash tractors would be on the forward side of the plane all pretending to be fighting the fire.
On one particular training exercise, I was the hot suit rescue man, so it was up to me to rescue the co-pilot on the starboard side of the A-6 Intruder that just “crashed.” Another Crash crew member “rescued” the pilot, though I think the pilot ended up climbing down his ladder.
I climbed up the plane’s ladder, unstrapped the co-pilot, and inserted the ejection seat safety pins. Then I pulled him out and threw him over my shoulder. He was nervous and asked if I was sure I could carry him.
I told him I was, so I climbed down to the flight deck, then with the help of a couple of other crash crew, carried him over close to the island and gently laid him down on the flight deck. Not bad for a day’s work.
We learned several things during that exercise. Not everyone was as big or as strong as I was, and when we were debriefing the exercise, somebody asked why not rig a rescue basket on the Crash forklift and use it to help get the crew out and onto the ground. That way, it would reduce the risk of dropping the pilot on his head when getting him out of the cockpit. That made sense to me, so Crash rigged up a basket, and we used that for rescue training the rest of the cruise.
Afterbrow watch—My Friend, J.J.
One reason I am no longer in the Navy is because as a petty officer, one of my less than glorious duties was to stand watch at the Afterbrow when the ship was docked at port.
To make a long story longer, one night I had the dog watch: 0000 to 0400 (12:00 a.m. ‘til 4:00 a.m.). As you might guess, sailors have a reputation for drinking, and most bars around the port closed at 0200.
About three o’clock one morning while on watch, I spotted an obviously inebriated sailor walking up the Afterbrow. He was swaying to and fro, and as he got closer, I recognized him as a friend of mine.
We had nicknamed him J.J. because when in port, he always seemed to have a bottle of Jack Daniels in one pocket and a bottle of Jim Beam in the other.
It is against Navy regulations to bring liquor on board and is punishable by up to thirty days in the brig with nothing but bread and water.
J.J. was staggering up the Afterbrow grinning from ear to ear with a bottle in each pocket. When he got to the ship, I stopped him and started my Navy lifer lecture.
“Now J.J., you know bringing liquor on board is against regulations. I’m supposed to report you and have you thrown into the brig. But you and I have been through a lot together on the flight deck. So, this is what I’m going to do: I’m going to turn around, and I want to hear two splashes.”
I was going to give J.J. a break. After all, he was my buddy and a fellow flight deck director.
I turned my back, and after waiting a few seconds, I heard a gentle “kerploosh, kerploosh.”
I turned around planning to give J.J. another lecture about bringing liquor on board. He was still there, swaying side to side, grinning ear to ear, and completely barefoot.
J.J. had thrown his shoes overboard.
He did what I asked, so I decided that since no one else was around, I had to let him pass. I have to admit that was really funny.
From that episode, I’ve since learned: what you want to hear, what you think you hear, and what you actually hear are not necessarily the same.
Until we meet again,
Andy Adkins
Answers:
- George Bernard Shaw.
- The Bucket List (2007), Edward (Jack Nicholson).
- You Were Always on My Mind (1982), Willie Nelson; written by John Jr. Christopher, Mark James, and Wayne Carson Thompson.
Previous Blogs mentioned in this Post:
- #53—You Always Remember Your First
- #41—Haze Gray and Underway!
- #185—Westpac ‘75
- #20—Port Call: Philippines
- #43—Port Call: Hong Kong
- #67—Flight Ops: A Day in the Life of Crash & Salvage
Andy Adkins is a US Navy veteran (’73-77) and the author of several books (www.azadkinsiii.com), many of which are free downloads (PDF, eBook format). He is currently retired and lives in Gainesville, Florida with his wife and life-long soulmate, Becky.