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“When the Arizona exploded, she rained sailors.” — Memories of a survivor
Today’s my 50th Submarine Qualification anniversary. En route for Pearl from WesPac I told the qual officer, Lt Durbin, on the 7th that I was ready. He had me meet him on the bridge that night on the 2000 X 2400. He kept me up there answering questions for nearly 4 hours. The The waves were just bad enough to come up through the bridge deck. I was soaking wet from the waist down. He then told me to meet him in the FTR at 0800 the next morning. By 1130 I was a live an’ kickin’ ginuwine qualified submariner. Damn it felt good.
What felt better was getting to give a non-qual Ltjg that reported aboard the week I did a bad time. But that’s another story. The photo below was taken at an inspection shortly after we returned and just before entering PHNSY. The skipper is just kinda pretending to pin ‘em on. I know Jim Duke qualified on that trip back to Pearl also. And I’ve seen a photo of him taken on the same day as this one.
On February 3, 1959, a small-plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, United States, killed three popular American rock and roll musicians: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, as well as the pilot, Roger Peterson. The day was later called The Day the Music Died by Don McLean in his 1971 tribute song about the crash, “American Pie“.
The above was stolen from Rontin’s BBS. And here’s Don McLean doing the long version of American Pie.
ps: I was in Advanced Diesel School in Great Lakes that day. Big Bopper had been one of my longtime favorites.
Saw this posted on Martini’s BBS this morning.
Thank you for your service, sir.
J. Russell Coffey, one of three oldest living World War I veterans known in the U.S., rests while sitting in a wheelchair during an interview at Blakely Care Center in North Baltimore, Ohio, Friday, April 13, 2007. Coffey was the last WWI vet in the state, according to the Veterans Affairs Department. He died Thursday Dec. 20, 2007 at the age of 109, said the Smith-Crates Funeral Home in North Baltimore, about 35 miles south of Toledo. The other known surviving American soldiers are Frank Buckles, 106, of Charles Town, W.Va., and Harry Landis, of Sun City Center, Fla., according to the Veterans Affairs Department. (Madalyn Ruggiero/ AP Photo )
Yeah, I know we lose them by the score every day but this one is the brother of a good friend. The friend is Ron Smith who was a torpedoman on USS SEAL during WWII. I don’t remember how many war patrols he made but it was a bunch. On one patrol the crew counted over 300 depth charges dropped on them over several hours. I’ve told you before but it bears repeating. WWII submarine veterans were something. Anybody who volunteers for service where 25% of the men are lost is a hero in my book no matter what. And I’m very glad I got to serve with several of them.
Anyway, Ron’s brother Bob, who served on USS BLUEBACK, has terminal cancer and received his last rights yesterday. I never had the honor of meeting him but I know I would have admired him like I do all WWII submarine vets. Here is a photo I had put on a web page I did for Ron a number of years ago. They were home on leave together.
Ron is on the left and Bob on the right.
As the author of this video, James Hooker, says “when you start thinkin’ your Christmas sucks, think about these kids and how they spent their Christmas.” Oh yeah, Hooker is a co-founder of the Grammy Award winning The Amazing Rhythm Aces. Just thought you’d like to know.
Our real problem, then, is not our strength today; it is rather the vital necessity of action today to ensure our strength tomorrow. – Dwight Eisenhower
There’s a thread over on Martini’s BBS titled Disband the Air Force. And as usual for that venue, the topic strayed. The last several posts have been regarding the A-10 Warthog and whether or not the Army flies them.
In my travels around the innertubes in search of the various types of aircraft the Army does fly today, I found the below. No date just the notation that the Army bought 2 off the shelf. While they were ground effect meachines and not really flying cars, they’re still pretty cool. Speaking of ground effect, ever see a ground effect lawn mower?
Here is a tribute video by an 8th grader. An 8th grader. And some say todays kids aren’t aware. Well, this young man is.
