On 4/21/2014 4:48 PM, F*O*A*D wrote:
On 4/21/14, 3:21 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 4/21/2014 1:12 PM, F*O*A*D wrote:
On 4/21/14, 12:54 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 21 Apr 2014 12:30:23 -0400, F*O*A*D wrote:
On 4/21/14, 12:23 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 21 Apr 2014 12:00:28 -0400, F*O*A*D wrote:
On 4/21/14, 11:47 AM, wrote:
On Mon, 21 Apr 2014 08:03:10 -0400, F*O*A*D wrote:
Do you remember the USS Coates, the DE that "guarded" New Haven
Harbor
during the 1960s?
I remember the USS Drum that kept the godless communists away from
the
Washington Navy Yard (called the gun factory at the time)
After that sailed away the mission was left to the USCGR unit
next to
the Wilson Bridge ;-)
I was a high schooler in New Haven when the Coates was assigned
there
as, if memory serves, a training vessel. We encountered it from
time to
time in the really small boats we used to play, fish, waterski, et
cetera, on Long Island Sound. Mostly, though, the Coates was docked.
Just looked it up...it was used as a target vessel and sunk in the
early
1970s. 
I am not familiar with that one but I was in the 5th district.
Pretty much all of the weather cutters were given to the
Vietnamese in
the late 60s and early 70s.
I guess it was a tax write off ;-)
I often wonder what became of them.
The Chinese turned them into razor blades and Apple computers! 
I would not be surprised. I am sure they were cut up for scrap by
someone.
I looked up the Absecon and the gooks were still using it as late as
2000.
I bet we took the ASW stuff off before we gave it to them. (at least
the torpedoes)
The AVPs were originally built as sea plane tenders during WWII,
designed to sit in a lagoon somewhere. They were round bottom tubs
that were tough to handle in 20' seas. We still cruised at around 18
kts.
The CG liked them because they were floating fuel tanks that had a lot
of endurance at sea.
I think we could have sailed around the world without stopping and
still had plenty of fuel. .
Interesting.
Why haven't you expunged the word "gook" from your vocabulary?
I *knew* you were going to say that.
Why didn't you?
Because I am not on a crusade in life to influence political correctness
or correct the use of offensive racial names. I calibrate people by what
they say and do and that determines my willingness to be associated with
them. My responsibility to correct or influence was with my kids and,
in some cases, some who worked for my company although that was in the
form of policy.
For many who served in Vietnam the term "Gook" was an intentional
derogatory name for people who were trying to kill you, much like "Jap"
and "Kraut" were commonly used in WWII.
I agree that those terms are not appropriate today. But listening to
how people speak or reading what they write often provides calibration
of who you are dealing with and what makes them tick. When someone says
or writes three sentences with two or three, "****'in" (whatevers) in
them, you get a pretty good idea of what kind of mentality you are
dealing with.
I'd argue that it's better to let them rip than to listen to feigned,
political correctness. At least you know.