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When a Veteran leaves the "job"
and retires to a better life, many are jealous, some are pleased and
others, who may have already retired, wonder if he knows what he is
leaving behind, because we (retirees) know! We know, for example,
that after a lifetime of camaraderie that only few will experience,
will remain in us a longing for those past times. We know that in
Military Life there is a fellowship which lasts long after the
uniforms are placed at the back of the closet. We know that even if
he throws them away, they will be on him in every step and every
breath that he takes in life. We also know how the very bearing of
the man speaks
of what he was
and in his heart still is. These are the burdens of the job. You
will still look at people suspiciously, still see what others do not
see, or choose to ignore, and always will look at the rest of the
military world with a respect for what they do; only grown in a
lifetime of knowing. Never think for one moment you are escaping
from that life. You are only escaping a "job" and merely being
allowed to leave "active" duty.
So what I wish
for you is that whenever you ease into retirement, in your heart you
never forget for one moment that "Blessed are the Peacemakers for
they shall be called children of God," and you are still a member of
the greatest fraternity the world has ever known.
| Of the Lost Boats: "I can assure
you that they went down fighting and that their brothers who
survived them took a grim toll of our savage enemy to avenge
their deaths," Vice Admiral C.A. Lockwood, USN.
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| "We shall never forget that it was our submarines
that held the lines against the enemy while our fleets
replaced losses and repaired wounds," Fleet Admiral Chester
Nimitz, USN. |
Newsletter By
Pecos
Click Here for LINKS!!!
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| Sea
Tales by James "Milt" Beard
Sake;
The
Spinax was getting ready to leave Yokosuka, Japan to
head home and my buddy Jim Doherty IC 3 and I 'EM 2'
decided to have a real Japanese dinner before we
left. At the time I didn't drink and at the dinner
they served us warm Sake. It tasted so good that I
kept asking for more. Needless to say I got drunk
and had the worst hang over when we got underway the
next morning with rough seas.
Follow
up on Going home turns;
I was
senior controllerman in maneuvering room on my watch
in 1962 and we were heading home from our Westpac
trip. A lot of the time on the surface the ordered
speed was All Ahead Standard on four engines. Each
electrician figured standard speed differently, so
each time the watch changed the speed changed(
faster of course). The officer of the deck called
down to maneuvering and said slow down number three
engine was smoking. We had to back down a little
bit. After three requests to change the ETA Captain
Schlosser told us to slow down because he was not
allowed to request a fourth change, we got home
three days early.
Growing
beards at sea;
After
leaving Pearl Harbor in 1962 headed home from
Westpac
Captain Schlosser put the word out that if we wanted
to we could grow facial at sea, which help save
fresh water. When we pulled into San Francisco three
days early with going home turns on ,the Captain put
the word out that there would be no beard's go
ashore. My last name is Beard and I thought that
wasn't fare to me. I shaved my beard off and dyed
the whiskers and put them in an envelope and wrote
on the front 'Beard's Beard' and put it on Captain
Schlosser desk. Never heard anything about it so I
went ashore when liberty went down.
James
'Milt' Beard |
Sea Story by Bob Dwinell
| Got
another little story that might tickle the crews
memory, I call it " IN SERVENTIUM BENTUM" and goes
like this;
Back
around 1962 SPINAX'S then skipper, LCDR Frank
Schlosser, who was
really into training his officers as well as the
crew. In keeping with this philosophy it was
his practice to have junior officers make the
landings when we returned to San Diego from
weekly ops. On this one occasion we were
coming alongside the nest at Ballast Point, great
day, no wind or current to speak of, then
something came adrift on the bridge and we
ricocheted off the outboard boat and in so
doing did in not only our inboard screw but also the
other boats outboard screw,
well, you know, shit happens.
The Main Power Mafia decided that this remarkable
feat should not go
unhonored, so, as the leader of the MPM I went
ashore to a model shop and procured a
3-bladed brass propeller about 2 1/2" in diameter
whose blades were suitably bent in the vise
in the forward engine room and a medal ribbon
was attached with a medal clasp affixed bearing the
logo in pseudo-Latin: "IN SERVENTIUM BENTUM"
With the skippers permission, at quarters, the
officer involved, a full fleet JG as best I
recall, was called out of ranks and duly
presented with this honorarium being pinned on his
blouse with the admonishment from the Captain
that this fine medal was his to wear at all
dress functions until
another luckless ship handler was to relieve him.
Bob
Dwinell ex-don of the SPINAX Main Power Mafia |
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