It was a dark, stormy, night. The Sailor was on his first assignment, and it was guard duty.
A Captain stepped out taking his dog for a walk. The nervous young Seaman snapped to attention, made a perfect salute, and snapped out, “Good Evening, Sir!”
The Captain, out for some relaxation, returned the salute and said “Good evening Seaman. Nice night, isn’t it?”
Well it wasn’t a nice night, but the Sailor wasn’t going to disagree with the Captain, so the he saluted again and replied “Yes Sir!”
The Captain continued, “You know there’s something about a stormy night that I find soothing, it’s really relaxing. Don’t you agree?”
The Seaman didn’t agree, but then the seaman was just a seaman, and responded “Yes Sir!”
The Captain, pointing at the dog, “This is a Golden Retriever, the best type of dog to train.”
The Seaman glanced at the dog, saluted yet again and said, “Yes Sir!” The Captain continued. “I got this dog for my wife.”
The Seaman simply said “Good trade Sir!”
Andy Adkins is a US Navy veteran (’73-77) and the author of several books, including You Can’t Get Much Closer Than This-Combat with the 80th “Blue Ridge” Division in World War II Europe, published by Casemate Publishers (2005) and selected as the Book of the Month for the Military Book Club. His newest novel, NEVER FORGET, is the story of A Vietnam Veteran’s Journey for Redemption & Forgiveness; NEVER FORGET is offered as a FREE (PDF, eBook format) download. Adkins also writes a weekly blog, “A Veteran’s Journey.”
Great piece of humor, Andy. Haha, as I was a starstruck 17 year old at the time I joined, I can well imagine making this silly response, myself, then feeling like an idiot.
While waiting for the Kitty Hawk to return from RimPac75, I and some of my friends were stripping and waxing the NI terminal floor. I remember seeing a Master chief in the terminal while I was doing my part. I approached him from his left and noticed that his right star seemed misaligned. As I got around him, I glanced back and saw 3 stars! I thought HOLY COW, that’s MCPON Whittet! As much as my being impressed by him, I was impressed at the odds of seeing the only E-10 in the whole Navy. So I walked away lest I say something silly. Haha.
Thanks again for recording these memories, and the Navy humor. Blessings.
Wow. What a coincidence. I, too, got to San Diego too early. KH was on the ‘75 Rimpac, but they wouldn’t fly me out to report for duty. I had to wait, so I was at SDNS in a barracks with two other. The most boring time in the Navy, but I learned how to drive a floor buffer… Finally reported aboard the day after she returned.