Well, it's the end of January 2008 and I have yet to wish everyone a Happy New Year!! I always seem to be a month behind on the newsletters! Not my fault, I was born a month late and have never quite caught up!!!
Anyway...."Happy New Year to all my shipmates!"
Life and Times of an old Submariner!
Once a submariner, always a submariner! This is true of all of us who wear the dolphins (if no longer on our uniforms, then in our hearts)!
Dex Armstrong told a tale of visiting the sub base with his wife a few years back. He called to see if he could get on base and was somehow connected to the top brass. He tried apologizing for bothering the Captain and was asked if he had earned his dolphins! Replying in the affirmative, the Captain told him that he had earned them for life and was welcome aboard his base at any time. In fact the Captain gave Dex and wife a personal tour. I apologize to Dex if I didn't get all the facts straight, I'm to lazy right now to verify all the details!
I wear my Submarine Veteran hat with pride wherever I go. I tried wearing a "Silent Service" hat, but got tired of everyone asking me what it meant!!! One of the most common reactions from folks seeing my hat is "Oh! I could never go down in one of those things! I would get claustrophobic!" I have had hard core grunts and soldiers who spent the war fighting eye to eye with the Vietcong in the jungles of Vietnam tell me that being on a sub would scare the crap out of them!
Now tell me the truth, brothers. Were any of you really freaked about bobbing around and under the sea back in the day? Were we brave? Well of course, :-) but I think we were mainly just young and didn't know any better.
Now, I can't make a statement like that without a word for the true sub heroes, The WWII guys! I know we had a few when I was aboard (COB McFarland comes to mind), and the tales they told forced my eyebrows into a permanent look of amazement!
I know a few of you like to read books from the war guys and their love affair with depth charges. I would like to recommend a few:
-
"The Bravest Man!" The story of Dick O'Kane; XO of the Wahoo and Captain of the Tang! This guy was NUTS! He won the medal of honor!
-
"Wahoo!" All about the Wahoo and Captain "Mush Morton!"
-
"USS Pampanito!" Which is a museum boat in SF. This is interesting because it was compiled through crew members.
-
Also "Submarine Commander" about Captain Schratz.
-
"Enemy Below" is one of my favorites. It is about Captain Fluckey (ret. Admiral), who recently went of final patrol.
-
There are many more out there. I would love to hear some other choices from you guys!
Pecos
|
Thanks to:
Jay K.
Davis For their donations to the Newsletter/website! |
|
|
Coming out of sub school, I somehow missed out on the training cruise on a New London sub, so my first dive was after I reported aboard Spinax (Yes, I was a dive virgin). For some reason I can't recall I was laying on a bunk in the after battery when we took our first dive. Of course this turned out to be one of the Spinax special "stuck sternplane" dives, with us heading to the bottom at a 45 degree angle! I just hung on to the bunk with things crashing around me and wondered what I had gotten myself into. I thought this was a normal dive!! Well, just rambling today! Think I will shut up and go get something to eat! Peace brothers!!!
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Click Here for LINKS!!!
|
||
|
NEW!! Just in From the Hankins: |
Well, one thing I have learned about shipmates is that they are slightly unwilling to send me stuff (sea stories, biographies, etc.) But I will keep trying! I know there is a wealth of information out there. I'll keep trying!!!
"LIFE AFTER SPINAX" BIOGRAPHIES:
There is a move afoot to get a "biography" from ALL Spinax Shipmates reflecting "Life after Spinax" ... everyone wants them, including me so I can set them up for entry into the Spinax Website for Pecos, then send them on to the Thormahlen's to be input into a "special surprise!" I have about 5 Biographies at the present and have "harassed" many shipmates to write them and send them to me. It doesn't really matter who you send them to as we, Pecos, Elaine & Jack Thormahlen (I always have to look their name up to ensure I spell it correctly!) or myself, as we will forward them to one another. JUST WRITE AND SEND THEM IN SHIPMATES!!!! ... and don't be bashful, I personally find it interesting when I hear or read about shipmates' lives. Some of our "lives" have been exciting, some maybe not so much so, but I am certain everyone has "done" interesting things since their "Spinax daze!" Heck, my ole good friend Otis Nelson sent me his "laconic" life's bio' ... (About 15 words: "Went to work in construction for 30 years, retired ... that's it, Otis" ... and that is Otis, the way he was, the way he is, "to the point" and Otis doesn't wastes any words to get that "point" across! (he he he) So, write them and send them to Pecos, Linda & Jack, or me, it's simple, just please do it shipmates!!!
My best to each of you and your families!
Remember to, "Live, Love, Learn, & Leave a Legacy"
Gene "Willy" Williams - COB
CMC/MMCM (SS) Retired
U.S. Navy Submarine Service (1962-1985)
If an Auxiliaryman can't fix it, it ain't BROKE!!!
Also need your then and now photos!
Please send to Pecos and/or Terry Whitecar!
How is this for a "before and after shot"
Sam Powell, then and now (Guess which is which)!!
