Stolen from Peter Yeschenko

Okay, who is going to admit that they went to Black’s Beach in San Diego! Lol.

There’s a sheer cliff you had to climb down to get to the beach…that’s what I heard anyways…

Stolen from Robert Stratton

I often reminisce about events I experienced in the Navy that were resolved without disciplinary action. In 1964 I received orders to the USS Nereus AS17, a submarine tender home-ported in San Diego, CA. The ship had a crew of about 900 officers and enlisted men. We also had several submarines tied up alongside us.

The food on the Nereus was great and plentiful. Take all you want, eat all you take. The supply officer CDR Goble was aware of food waste and wanted to know why. A petty officer was assigned duties as to where the sailors returned their food trays for washing. If you have uneaten food, the petty officer would take your name, rate, division, and why you didn’t eat your food.

The cocky sailor gave his information, then stated that the food tasted like shit.

Needless to say, when CDR Goble read those remarks, he wanted to talk with that sailor. When CDR Goble finished asking that sailor how long he had been eating shit, did his mom cooked shit for him at home, whether it was served hot or cold, whether it was a side dish or the main course, were there leftovers, etc.?

CDR Gobles office was in the supply office, and about ten sailors heard the conversation as CDR Goble intended.

That story spread throughout the ship; sailors answered honestly about uneaten food, and food waste was cut down to nothing.

2nd Story:

From day one, we were told that you don’t smoke while walking on the base or in a government vehicle. Sailors love to break rules, so if caught smoking by the base 1st lieutenant, you were given a bucket with sand inside. You would then walk around the base until for found someone smoking. Within an hour or two, you could not find anyone smoking.

There are many others, and they were called “severe emotional learning experiences.” Once adjusted to Navy life, it was a great experience.

I enlisted in 1962 when I was 22 years old and served for 26 years. Retired when I was 48 years old in 1988. Followed by a 29-year federal civil service career and fully retired when I was 78.

Not one regret!

SOMETHING YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW.

Stolen from Peter Yeschenko

On 21 October 1797, the 44-gun 204-foot US Navy frigate USS Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides, was launched in Boston’s harbor.

The USS Constitution was never defeated in 42 battles.

216 crew members set sail again in 1997 for its 200th birthday.

Although her construction was almost halted by a 1796 peace treaty with Algiers, the USS Constitution was launched-christened by visiting Captain James Sever using a bottle of Madeira.

It was actually the third attempt to launch her; the first was a month earlier, when the ship got stuck after moving only 27 feet.

Two days later she moved another 31 feet before getting stuck once again.

For the third attempt, workers made the launching ways steeper, which finally enables a successful event.

The public, which included several French aristocrats, was warned beforehand that the launch of such a large ship might cause a dangerously large wave, but none actually materializes during the event.

Stolen from Peter Yeschenko

We’ve all heard much about the Chinese Balloon in the last few days. Not the first time balloons have been used against us.

SOMETHING YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW.

THE JAPANESE BALLOON BOMB IN 1945.

Warren Hyde never served in the military, but his extraordinary effort in a remote part of Box Elder County, Utah, one day provided key intelligence in stopping a widespread Japanese attack on American soil during World War II.

On this day, 4 February 1945, Hyde, the county sheriff, received a call from Floyd Stohl, a rancher in the Blue Creek area.

While heading out to do his morning chores, Stohl spotted a strange-looking contraption that looked like a parachute floating in the air in one of his pastures.

When Stohl described the object to Sheriff Hyde, it immediately rang a bell in the sheriff’s head.

Sheriff Hyde jumped in his vehicle and raced to the ranch.

When he saw the object, he knew what he was dealing with…a weapon known as a Japanese “Fu-Go” bomb.

Between 1944 and 1945, the Japanese military launched an estimated 9,000 bomb-rigged balloons across the Pacific Ocean.

Carried by wind currents, the balloon bombs traveled thousands of miles to western US shores.

Hundreds were discovered up and down the west coast, and even as far inland as Indiana and Texas.

One killed six people in Oregon.

The bombs weren’t just aimed at killing people, but also at starting forest fires, something they never achieved, thanks in part to Sheriff Hyde and his wild ride.

On that February morning, Sheriff Hyde sprang into action.

He drove his car to the pasture as far as he could, then ran across the field, chasing the balloon as the wind carried it along.

When he finally caught up to it, he saw the bomb dangling below the balloon and knew he would have to be careful.

If he touched it, or if it touched the ground, it would detonate.

Sheriff Hyde grabbed one of the shroud lines, and when the wind picked up, it carried the balloon into the air…along with the sheriff, as high as 30 feet in the air.

He was eventually able to anchor it when it came back to the ground, and soon after, FBI agents and military personnel arrived to detonate the bomb and take the balloon away.

It was the first Fu-Go device to be captured fully intact, and the information it provided would lead to the end of the program.

Harrowing balloon ride aside, Sheriff Warren Hyde was a legendary figure in the Box Elder County, Utah community.

In June 1945, four months after his airborne adventure, Sheriff Hyde was summoned to the Utah State Capitol, where he was honored in a packed governor’s boardroom full of military officers, civilian defense leaders, state executives and others who had come to pay tribute to his efforts.

FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover wrote him a personal letter of thanks.

By Garland Davis

The Shipbreaker’s working up on the deck

Same deck my shipmates and I walked

Our young men’s dreams turned to dust

Watered with tears in among ships and rust

Old ships and rust

A whole way of life gone to old ships snd rust

Stretch of black oil that marred her side

Shade of a gun mount for a brief rest

Comes to an end with the Bos’n call

A long time since we had time on our hands

The man found where a thirsty sailor hid his booze

Can’t think of his name now don’t reckon I will

With no one the wiser what’s passed them on by

Well Sometimes it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie

There goes the port bridge wing

The chair where the Captain would nap

He mumbled while ship;s routine went about him

I’m glad he can’t see or hear what’s happening today

They rendered no honors as Charlie Noble went ashorel

And quarterdeck where thousands whiled away the hours

Where the Bos’n told stories of Barcelona and the Gut

And sugar sweet girls at the end of the day

Old ships and rust

A whole way of life gone to old ships snd rust

Progress oh progress move on if you must

But save me that small patch of deck and rust