The Admiral's Flag

The whole thing started when we reported aboard the ship. We were docked over at the supply depot pier. I think they said all the ships docked there before sailing to load supplies. There was only one problem with it: Location. They had us docked at the end of a long warehouse; no problem, the Marine gate was just on the other side of the warehouse and over a little. The problem was that to get to the gate from the ship or to the ship from the gate you had to walk, no, hike all the way down the warehouse, cross over to the other side and hike back to the gate. Normally not a big deal but for some of us who walked everywhere on liberty, getting back to the ship seemed like a 2-mile trek. And what got to bother us was that little parade ground in front of the warehouse.

You see the 2-star Admiral that was in command of the supply depot had his offices in the end of that building. So every time we hiked out to liberty and staggered, ah walked, back we had to go around the end of the warehouse and through that little parade ground. Now to visitors, and us at first, that little area with its fenced off grass, (which we had to walk around), it's white painted benches, flowers, and a big flag pole with this 2-star Admirals flag flapping in the breeze, was really a nice area. But that flag became the symbol of why we had to walk all the way around that stupid building. Slowly, through the haze, someone hatched the plan of the century, "Let's take his flag".

Now actually who came up with the idea, it may not have even been one of us, but Bob Heidinger, Gary Harger and I adopted it as our own. We would sit and plot how and when to do this "deed of honor" for ship and crew. There were times when we would just sit on the bench in that little parade ground and actually time the coming and going of the SP jeep and any other regular traffic. But our nights of liberty were always just that, watching and planning. Until finally the last night in port came.

We had liberty that night and so off we went, going into Norfolk to try and rid it of its 3.2 beer. At the end of our evening, as we were heading back, the time line is a little fuzzy so the story picks up with me sitting on that stupid bench again listening to the flag flapping in the wind. Bob, it seems, stopped somewhere to tell a waitress bye, and Gary, I don't remember. The other function for that parade ground and its little bench was as a gathering place before the last trek to the ship. Sometimes waiting was a good idea because two or three were a little less likely to walk off a pier as one would. Anyway while I was sitting there Gary walks up and flops down on the bench. "Tonight's the last night", he says. "Yelp and it's our last chance", I replied. With that little exchange we both knew what had to be done.

With our usual (well almost) timing and precision we knew that as soon as the SP jeep disappeared around the corner we had 15 minutes before he came around again. "Where's Bob?". "Should we wait for him? ". "If we wait too long the SP is gonna know who we are". "Right." "Let's do it next pass". "Well, OK next pass". As the jeep turned the corner, our courage mustered, we jumped up, grabbed the halyard, and with the jerk that would make any signalman proud, jerked down the Admiral's flag.

Immediately we had a problem we hadn't foreseen, THAT DARN THING WAS HUGE! It fell over both of us like a blanket, then came the sudden urge to run it back up and get the h*** out of there. But we gathered it up and stuffed it between us as much as possible and then arm-in-arm walked as fast and as straight as possible for the ship.

We were getting close when we heard the roar of a jeep racing up behind us. As we stepped up on the gangplank, a voice from the jeep froze us in our tracks. Or at least one of us anyway because as I stopped, Gary (now former best mate) released his grip on the flag and kept walking. "Excuse me sailor," the SP said, "What's that you're carrying?". "The flag", I said as I watched Gary step into the Ops quarters not missing a stride.

Back at the SP station a SP Chief with a million hash marks was on the phone and he was standing pretty stiff. (To this day I believe he was talked to the Admiral whose proud flag we has just swiped.) "Yes Sir.....We recovered it......Yes Sir.......two enlisted, we have one.......Yes Sir........They sail tomorrow.........Yes Sir....Yes Sir....Aye, Aye Sir". With that exchange he hung up the phone and left the room. I sat there and could see my short career getting even shorter, huge piles of potatoes to peel, or making little rocks out of big ones. All this was going through my head as the SP's led me back out to the jeep and off we went; probably to enlisted man's hell, never to be heard from again.

As we were driving it dawned on me that we were heading back to the ship! I was ceremoniously headed over to the OOD (who had to be woke up). That didn't help my case. He was told to handle the incident shipboard and to ensure that I didn't leave the ship again that night.

Because of our pending departure in the morning, the OOD handled the matter himself. I ended up doing extra duty for a couple of weeks each evening. During the day I was put on galley duty. (It seems my two assistants have willingly supplied the photos.) I definitely didn't have any sea legs and the rough water off Cape Hatteras and down the east coast didn't help. So because of the wonderful cooking aromas and the time spent doing the prewash on dishes, I spent a whole lot of my time taking the voyage by rail.

This could easily end the story but it leaves out a point or two. How did the jeep come after us so fast? And how did he know to come to our ship? On the way back, the SP told me that the departing ships spend their last days at this dock. And it seems that this brainy idea to swipe that flag was not a new one. So to slow the losing of that flag the trees had been cut away so that the Marines at the gate could see it. (A point we missed.) So as soon as the flag dipped the Marines called the SP's and they headed for us.

One last thing. Bob, really got ticked off when he saw the flag was gone and he wasn't involved when he helped plan it, hasn't fully forgiven us for not waiting for him. And Gary, probably due to extreme guilt, later gave me a 2-star Admirals flag, which I still proudly have. Thankfully it's of smaller size.

The Seabat Encounter

On March 14th, 1967 the U.S.S. Noxubee and her crew crossed the 180th Meridian. First of all you have to understand I had no idea what was going to happen. I was just an innocent young sailor. At first I didn’t even believe in flying fish, but it didn’t take long sailing in those Pacific waters before I saw lots of them. I remember having to go down on the tank deck to throw the ones that hit on the deck during the night overboard before the cook got to them. It was rumored that he put anything and everything into the pot that was or once was breathing. So it seemed like a good idea to throw them back quickly.

On this particular day, right after supper, one of the Petty Officers from our Department came to me and told me, rather excitedly, that old so-and-so had caught a seabat. Now just catching something was not unusual since there always seemed to be somebody fishing somewhere. We did manage to hook several really weird things so when he seemed rather excited about this “seabat” I was naturally curious. So off I went (like a lamb to the slaughter) to see this demon of the deep.

When I got to the foredeck I saw a group of several mates talking about the catch, one of them even proudly held a fishing rod. “Hey Don, come and look. Bet you’ve never seen anything like this back in Texas”, they said. There were about 6 or 8 huddled around something on the deck. As I elbowed in a little one of them, on the other side of the group, was holding up the edge of a towel and looking into a large bucket was saying, “Man I ain’t never seen one this big before.” Now I really wanted to see the seabat in the bucket. “Don, come around on this side and you can see it” he encouraged. And so around to the other side I went.

As I drew close to the bucket with its mystical prisoner I found it a little hard to see what was under the towel. “Get down real close” they advised, “And you’ll get a good look.” Well the key words here are “you’ll” and “get” because when I bent over to view the seabat………….”Whoosh----Splat”…..I got nailed in the rear end with the wettest, the slimiest, and the grimy mop these partners in crime could create. And the topping came when I straightened up they threw the bucket with its demonic contents on me. I thought Satan himself had me. Well, anyway, something did. It was all over me. Its long stringy tentacles-TENTACLES, on a seabat! On clearing my eyes, straightening my glasses, and regaining my feet I saw two things. Everyone else was falling all over themselves with laughter and the dreaded seabat, that was, in real life, a mop head. “Come on “, I said, “Let’s get set up again and go find someone else”.

Rough Seas and No Water

We departed the Panama Canal on October 23, 1966 and headed for Acapulco for replenishment before crossing to Hawaii. As you can tell by the chart, things went normally until the 3rd day out. Way off to the southwest of us a typhoon was building up and was expected to make landfall near Acapulco in a few days. That would mean we would still be in port when it hit. Not a situation any sailor wants to be in. So on the morning of October 27, 1966 the decision was made to skip the stop in Acapulco and head for Pearl Harbor thereby skirting the storm on the north and west.

Any rough weather can be bad on a small ship, but since She was a little flat-bottomed She would ride up the swells and then coming down She would slap the water like a board on a pond. The whole ship would shake and shutter and the mast seemed like it would snap at the next slap. The swells and waves were washing over the tank deck catwalk with enough force no one was allowed to cross it. It's only 8-10 feet from the waterline to the level of the catwalk so you can imagine the amount of water that washed across her middle with each swell and crest. In fact we rigged a safety line along the catwalk when we readied for foul weather. The only one I remember crossing the catwalk was the cook with a bag of sandwiches and a couple pots of coffee twice a day. It was a risky trip. The storm, if memory serves me right, also knocked out the freshwater evaporator.

The storm passed and the seas returned to normal, but the problem with the FE was not repairable until we got to Pearl. (Side note: Normal seas are kind of like the opening scenes to that old show "Victory at Sea"). We went on immediate water rationing. This was a real bummer. Any fresh water left was saved for cooking, drinking, and stuff like brushing teeth. Bathing was less glamorous. If you ever have the opportunity to take a saltwater shower…….RUN. It may beat not taking one but not by much. But even that had a bright side.

Because of the water situation we would heave to (stop moving) and have a swimming party! This was great, even if the shark lookouts did make you a little nervous. The other more humorous side to this story was that we were constantly trying to get in the path of any rainsqualls that came near us. And if we were lucky enough to catch one everyone that was able would hit the open deck, buck-naked and working that bar of soap and shampoo as fast as they could. Now the mental imagery may warp you forever but try to picture the scene; 25-30 men with tanned arms and necks buck-naked covered with soap and shampoo trying to get in the heaviest part of the rain. It was a sight to behold (well, once, at least). But somehow we made it into Pearl on November 8, 1966 and were able to "Man the rail" for the arrival and give proper and respectful honor to the Arizona Memorial as we passed.

Battle Stations

With all of our training from Virginia to Viet Nam, going to battle stations as a drill was nothing new. We practiced it over and over, day or night until we got it right. And then we did it some more. Our very lives and the life of our ship might depend on how we did this. But nothing really prepares you for the words, "This is NOT a drill".

I don't remember the exact date or which pumping station we were at. (I think it was the one at a river's mouth.) The Marine base was just off the beach but close enough you could hear their shouts and the sounds of everyday life. Hearing a few gunshots and seeing a parachute flare or two during my mid-watch as radioman was not unusual. A lot of the time I would take the long headset cord and move out of the confines of the radio room and stand on the starboard bridge wing. It is hard to describe how beautiful the night sky usually was. The stars were always so bright. The waves and swells that rocked us gently and the sound of the water lapping around the small boats added to the serenity of the scene. The small boats, usually bladder boats from the Marine Depot came out to feast on our mid-rats (midnight rations). This usually consisted of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on fresh baked bread with some soup made from anything left over from that day. And this was that scene that night when suddenly all hell seemed to break loose on the beach.

Suddenly, from the Marine base, came shouting , parachute flares, and a hellofa lot of gunfire. My headphones suddenly erupted with hurried, excited voices telling of an attack on the perimeter of the base. The sky, so tranquil a moment ago, suddenly looked like a ballpark after a 4th of July ballgame. In seconds the marine that was onboard as a communicator (with his buddies at the fueling station on the beach) bounded up the ladder (stairs, for you civies) asking for the OOD. Before he even got the words out the OOD (Officer of the Day) was suddenly on the bridge. They talked back and forth for a minute or two then the marine went back to his station (to assist in stopping the fuel transfer) and the OOD headed for the Captain.

In a few minutes the Captain came up, talked by radio to the Marines ashore, then turned to the other officers that had assembled by there and told them that we needed to go to general quarters. He told us to resume pumping, but to standby for emergency disconnect and departure. The Marines had requested we standby in case the Viet Cong tried to attack from the beach side of the camp. I wondered what we could do. Our armament was not all that impressive. We had several 50 cal machineguns, some rifles and pistols, and some grenades. We probably would be shaking so badly we wouldn't hit a thing but maybe we'd scare them a little. I remember glancing over the bridge at the 3" gun and wondering what we were going to do with that? The beach was so close you could also spit and hit it. Well, it sure seemed that close that night. Adding to all the commotion was all the small boats from the base coming out to the seaward side of the ship for protection. Yeah, I thought, put us in between you and them. This was starting to get a little spooky.

I think the attack lasted for about an hour before, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. But for that hour I was closer to the war than I had ever wanted to be. It's a strange feeling to stand there so close to a firefight that you can hear the shouts of orders being given, see the tracer shells flashing off into the darkness, the parachute flares popping and floating down, the whine of the ricochet (some out our way), and worst of all the sounds of pain as someone got hit. It was like I was watching a battle scene from the movie "Green Berets". No matter how hard I tried I couldn't swallow that lump in my throat.

Things got deadly quiet for a little while, waiting I guess for another assault, then the Marine walkie-talkies start chattering again and the small boats headed back. We stood down from general quarters and within minutes all was quiet, I was again alone on the bridge, and it seemed like it never happened. Except I still had that lump and my knees was shaking from knowing just how close I had been to things I'd only heard about or had seen on the T.V. news.

Soon my watch was over, another day had started, and everything seemed as it had been. But I wouldn't be the same and I'm sure that most of my shipmates wouldn't be the same either. We didn't talk about it much after that night, we being salty sailors and men after all, but I imagine that firefight made all of us stop and think. We all got closer to the war than we wanted. And one last thing;

I'm just grateful I'd gone to the head before starting my watch that night. Amen.