Who's Got One?

[harmonica]

Were you primarily an east coast sailor?

I went through the Panama Canal twice, but never around the Horn. That would've been cool...

..everything except Hawaii, I did in less than 4 years...my first four years stationed in HAWAII!!!!!!!

 

[harmonica]

In 20 years I was on eight different ships. Four of them, though, were minesweepers, and transfers between those were normally done via TAD and not PCS...

I'd love to see pics, if you got em...I've got a bunch

 

[harmonica]

Chilean Inland Waterway --very scenic

 

[harmonica]

small village Inland waterway, at bottom of pic--in the middle of nowhere...88' got there in a foggy/rainy evening....89' was there in the cool, crisp sunny morning --

 

[harmonica]

..traded sugar/etc with the villagers seen in boats port side aft near the ship ..I think we got oysters - not good at all!!--not my ship--of course

 

[Hossfly]

Crossed 1st time in April '63 going to Korea. 2nd time August '65 to VN. 2 other times by air.

 

[Canon Shooter]

..traded sugar/etc with the villagers seen in boats port side aft near the ship ..I think we got oysters - not good at all!!--not my ship--of course
View attachment 529921

The best trading we ever did was in Saudi Arabia. We'd give them a five pound can of coffee and they'd give us a ten gallon container of vanilla ice cream. That was seriously the best ice cream I've ever had.

In the PI in '84 we needed a valve for our Sonar dome pressurization system; we couldn't get underway without it, or we'd crush the dome. The yardbird was saying it might take a week to get one shipped over from Sasebo.

Later that day he was lamenting that it was his son's birthday, but he didn't have enough money to buy him a cake. So, we got a hold of the night baker and he made the kid a cake. We gave it to him at the end of the day. The guy was in tears, but we didn't want the kid to not have a cake on his birthday. The next morning, here's come this 160lb Filipino guy coming down the pier, dragging a 300 pound dome pressurization valve on a skid behind him...

 

[harmonica]

Canon Shooter I wish I could've done a WestPac....but I got around anyway

 

[harmonica]

the watcher what ship?

 

[Mushroom]

Were you primarily an east coast sailor?

The Marines could go on almost any cruise, just depends on which they feel like sending them on. 2nd MarDiv could to on a WestPac, and 1st MarDiv could go to the Med. In general, they normally tried to schedule a Battalion about 2 years between deployments. With one being one of the 6 month "cruises", and the other being 6 months on "The Rock" (Okinawa). With the 1st MarDiv at Hansen, the 2nd MarDiv at Schwab.

 

[the watcher]

allagash ao 97