USGI sea stories

[richhodg66]

I just got done reading a book called Descent into Darkness by a retired Navy officer who was a young salvage diver in the states and was suddenly on the first thing smoking to Pearl Harbor on December 8th, 1941. The book has a lot of this kind of stuff in it like this. Besides Pearl Harbor, he spent time out in the fleet, got a ship shot out from under him and spent a few months on Guadalcanal before returning to finish things up at Pearl. Interesting stuff, and I don't think men that brave exist anymore, at least not in those numbers. The Greatest generation.

[Tom W.]

Dad didn't talk about WW II or Korea, but around Christmas time ha and I would get pretty intoxicated and he'd tell me about things that happened in Vietnam. Once he was driving a big caterpillar off of a truck to help clear a road, got about six feet from the trailer and ran over a mine. It lifted the Dozier up about a foot in the air and that was it. Completely ruined, they just left it there.


The other thing that he talked about a lot ( when intoxicated, never when sober ) was when he was up at Dong Ha in the compound there was incoming . It came as a surprise to everyone, and as he was running to the bunker a round hit next to him. One of the guys in the bunker said
"There goes the Gunny" as he was blown about 50 yards through the air. The guys were going to see if they could help him, but he got up and ran like a rabbit to his bunker. Bruised, scuffed and shaken, and almost deaf, he made it okay.

He missed a promotion due to the fact that he refused to take a squad of people on patrol due to the fact that they were all stoned.. The new lieutenant was rather perturbed about it but Dad said if those people went out no one would come back. So the lieutenant wrote him up and took the squad himself.

I saw the color pictures.
Heads in one basket, arms and legs in another, and the torsos in a third. All strung up on some trees along the trail.

Dad only talked about it when he was intoxicated.

[Larry Gibson]

When I was in basic, infantry and airborne training in late '64 and early '65 we still had a lot of Korean War vets as DIs and range instructors. They would offer up bits and pieces of their experiences as lessons learned to reinforce training. In infantry training at Fort Ord we had a few Viet Nam Vets also. As a young scout in the recon section on Okinawa we also had quite a few WWII, Korean vets in the 173rd Bde (ABN). A short time later in Viet Nam we would talk about what was going on, they would compare their previous experience with what we were seeing in Viet Nam. I learned a lot very quickly. Even after returning stateside to the 101st I found there were a lot of WWII, Korean and Viet Nam vets....we did talk among ourselves......sometimes. So after a a multitude of years in different wars, different locations and may different circumstances I have my own "war stories"......

So, there I was with my company on the north fork of the Humongous River dug in when we were attacked......went to hand to hand and we were knee deep in grenade pins and up to our *** in brass......got really bad.....and one of those two darned near got away from us...........

[owejia]

Had a WWII veteran as a neighbor for many years. We were talking one day and he told me about capturing some Japanese and their supplies on one of the Islands in the Pacific. They found a large amount of greenbacks and thought they were rich until it turned out to be counterfeit.

[Catshooter]

So, there I was with my company on the north fork of the Humongous River dug in when we were attacked......went to hand to hand and we were knee deep in grenade pins and up to our *** in brass......got really bad.....and one of those two darned near got away from us...........

. . . and the mortars were pointed nearly straight up . . . Helluva way to make a living!



Cat

[samari46]

On my ship they spent quite sometime making ash trays out of spent 5"54 brass casings. And most if not all were given to the officers. And they saved the brass remains for Hong Kong Mary. The deal was she would get all the brass and she would furnish all the labor to paint the ship. Took a week to do the painting and out to sea we went. Paint does not stick well to salt water covered surfaces,especially to the hull. We came back about a month later and the ship looked like a tramp steamer. Oh and the brass shells made into ash trays for the officers?. I got mine the next time we had gunnery practice while on our Westpac cruise. Spent many hours on watches sanding it down. Still have it over 50 years. Frank

[Catshooter]

Frank,

That's cool. Got a picture?


Cat

[popper]

Ahh, red lead and chipping hammers. Rocking the deck.

[Winger Ed.]

Ahh, red lead and chipping hammers. Rocking the deck.

Growing up, we had a neighbor who'd retired from the Air Force.
He was old enough to have gone overseas on troop ships before they started flying everybody.

He told of sitting out on deck, watching the ocean on one side for a few hours,
then going to the other side of the ship, and watch the ocean on that side for awhile.

He noticed guys would come along, chip off some paint, leave,
then a couple more would come and prime, then paint the spot.

He said it never ended, sailors went around chipping and re-painting the USS Big Gray during all daylight hours.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

It's been too many years now for me to recall the name of the island, but I had an ex-Air Force friend who was stationed on an island that was fought over and captured from the Japanese by the British during WW II, and where the USAF maintains an installation. When the war ended the British troops were ordered to line up in several files and walk out into the surf to meet the boats that would take them off the island. As they did so, they were ordered to stack their No.4 Lee Enfield rifles in the water where they were abandoned. He said that you can still see several piles of them today. I've done a lot of reading about the war, and actually read an account of this very incident, but could never find the reference again.

[Winger Ed.]

My Dad had a friend who'd served in the Navy for almost all of WWII.
He was on a USS Big Gray his whole time, and kept his Mae West life jacket with him at all times.
It was never more than arm's reach away.

When the war was over, he still had it.
It had become dirty, greasy, and tattered, but he had it with him constantly.

When they pulled into San Francisco and walked off the boat- he threw it in the harbor--- and it sank.

[poppy42]

My brother Joey spent his time in the army stationed near Bamberg Germany in the late 60s. He was in the 4 armor division, maintenance battalion. Let’s just say that Joey was not suited for a life in the military. He didn’t exactly follow rules or take orders very well! He wants told me that he got so many article 15 is it the rest of the guys in his unit started referring to article 15‘s as Joey‘s . Joey told me that for a brief period of time they actually had a really cool CO. The Co actually let him paint a Jeep gloss army green as opposed to the normal drab olive green. The CO was soon transferred and he brought in a new gung ho colonel. The first thing the new colonel did was to make sure all vehicles were painted the appropriate drab green. A short time after that there were wargames/maneuvers or whatever they called it scheduled . As these maneuvers was scheduled for the height of summer Of 1969, and my brother knew it was going to be hot and the rest of his unit would get Mighty thirsty. My brother Joey got the bright idea to empty out the Jerry cans that were strapped to his units jeeps and refill them with ice and beer! Well you’ll never guess who’s jeep overheated . That’s right that same company CO who made Joey paint the jeeps back to drab olive green and you guessed it brother Joey was in for another article 15 . The winter of that same year my brother was in a tent repairing a half track in the freezing cold when the wrench slipped and my brother cracked, his knuckles on the half track . And as my brother was relieving some stress by spurting out quite a few expletives about the army and needs a leader ship who do you think decided to walk into that tent? When the kernel asked my brother if there was a problem he responded by throwing an inch and a half wrench, Barely missing the colonel ‘s head. Joey follow this up bye not so politely informing the general what he could do with the half track and the whole van on me for that matter. Joey was soon arrested and was facing a full court-martial when in January 1970 our father passed away of a sudden heart attack. The Red Cross manage to get Joey emergency leave and had him immediately shipped stateside for our dad’s funeral . I was only 13 at the time but I still vividly remember picking Joey up from the airport and going directly to the funeral home for dad’s funeral . I guess you could say dad was always looking out for his boys even in death . That was the last anyone ever heard of a court-martial and as a matter of fact after we buried my father my brother Joey never spend another second in a uniform! I’m sure Joey and eyes older brother Peter had a lot to do with getting Joey out of the army but as I was only 13 at the time the specifics were never revealed to me . However I did hear some of the details of Joey’s receiving some of his article 15‘s as I recall there were several instances of him being caught with a civilian female in his barracks. as I said earlier Joey definitely did not like to follow rules . Lol. My brother Joey, to say the least, was a unique and entertaining individual . As I’m writing this I can’t help but chuckle while remembering quite a few stupid/hold my beer things that he did throughout his life. Sadly I lost all my brothers and a two month period of time in the spring and summer of 2015. I miss them all but Joey will always have a special place in my heart as he was the closest in age to me being eight years older .
Ps: I apologize if any of the terms that I used in my post that were not proper military terminology. Military language is somewhat unfamiliar to me. This is because due to circumstances beyond my control I did not have an opportunity to serve . I have the upmost respect for any and all that serve now or have served in the past. I deeply regret not being allowed the opportunity to serve my country. I would never want to offend anyone I not using the correct military terminology. If in my post when I referred to things such as battalion, unit, or article 15 these were not exactly the correct terms I apologize I was merely relating a story as I recalled it !

[Mytmousemalibu]

A good buddy of mine served in the Navy in the 80's on a sub. He told me some of the tricks they liked to do to the newbies. I guess throughout the boat they had ports that bled in high concentrations of oxygen for breathing. They would take in a mouthful of O² and blow into a lit cigarette and it would throw about a foot long flame!

The other funny one is when they had a newbie at the helm operating the directional controls, they would quietly assemble a large party of men and they would rush fore or aft to upset the balance of the ship. The poor seaman would compensate for the pitch change and the men would surge to the other end and cause an overcompensation! Basically making the ship porpoise around and make a fool of the guy!

[Winger Ed.]

I had a Great Uncle that got drafted towards the end of WWII, and was sent to Ft. Bliss near El Paso, Texas.

It was a tent city then, and their Mess Hall was also a tent.
The place had a few real pack rats.
They usually carry something, and when they find something they like better, they drop it and carry the new item.
That's how your diamond necklace gets swapped out and replaced with a stick, a piece of string. or a pretty rock.

Over a few weeks, all the silver ware slowly disappeared.
Unit Commanders and the MPs searched the troops and barracks several times-- no silver ware...….

Being in the desert, nobody thought much of all the sticks and twigs in the Mess tent.
If you weren't near the front of the line, you had to wait for a fork, or eat with your hands.

Finally someone found all the silver ware---- in a giant pack rat nest a few yards behind the Mess Tent.

[popper]

Life jacket- what is that? Never knew where they were. Had GQ on the bridge for a while, maybe I wore one then? Had a teak deck that was 'polished' weekly with a stick and sandstone brick (rock). Every once in a while I'd get to canvas wrap and paint the ladder chains. Every day, steel wool the blast door seals and coat with silicon grease. Til I got moved to telemetry, then just drank coffee in the shack.

[samari46]

Cat, sorry but no pics as I'm electronically challenged. The Navy had a saying if it moves salute it and if it does not move paint it. And all the guages in the engineroom had brass rings that held the glass faces just like a watch. Those go polished at least once a day. The steel deck plates were wire brushed daily. The cool aid we drank in the mess decks came in quart bottles and was highly concentrated and highly acidic. We'd pour it on the deck plates and it would literally eat the grease off the plates. Wipe it off with rags and wire brush it. Lots of fun. Frank

[Winger Ed.]

[QUOTE=samari46;4697185] The steel deck plates were wire brushed daily. The cool aid we drank in the mess decks


We called that 'bug juice'.

We didn't have steel decks anywhere I was at, be we had tile or concrete floors in the barracks that were waxed and polished to a high luster.

We got enough practice with those big commercial buffer machines that we could ride, and race them in the passageways.

[hwilliam01]

I know this is really for personal stories, and unfortunately I have none to share and I saw this one on FB and thought it was at least in the spirit of other posts. Spoken by a veteran of Iwo Jima....

https://www.facebook.com/marines/vid...1586783535101/

[Winger Ed.]

I know this is really for personal stories, and unfortunately I have none to share and I saw this one on FB and thought it was at least in the spirit of other posts. Spoken by a veteran of Iwo Jima....

https://www.facebook.com/marines/vid...1586783535101/

Excellent. Thanks.

I never drank coffee myself.

I've heard 2-3 instances from Viet Nam vets who would have coffee grounds in a forward base camp, but no pot or filters.
They all said they boiled it in a helmet and filtered it through a sock, or use the sock like a tea bag when they boiled it.

Bear in mind:
If you're not close enough to a field kitchen to have access to a coffee pot---
You aren't very close to a washing machine either.

[lefty o]

bug juice is a great brass polish, especially for fire plugs. just remember not all sea stories are factual!