Since the Navy has some boats, and since there are vets here, I'll
relate this encounter.
If I'm out of line, let me know.

I was on my way to a day of liberty, walking down one of the D&S
piers, Norfolk.
McKinnon, a buddy who was stuck aboard, called down to me from the
ship. We BS'ed a little while as I kept walking, and soon I was
walking backwards as he had followed me to the bow..
Just as we finished talking and I was turning around my legs struck a
slowly moving big car and I almost fell on the fender.
I caught my balance by smacking a hand hard on the very shiny hood,
and continued walking, but bent down so I could sneer at the driver.
What the hell is he doing with a car on the pier? Idiot.
Didn't want to make a big issue of it, just give him a sneer.
An Elvis type sneer, nothing too heavy.
Since the car was moving slowly by as I was walking, quickly I
found myself sneering at the old guy in the back seat, who was looking
at me.
He had on a hat adorned with a whole mess of scrambled eggs.
About the same time it sunk in that the car had flags on the fenders
flying 4 or 5 stars.
So I had just loudly smacked my hand on the hood of the 2nd Fleet
Admiral's car, and then sneered at him. WTF? How did that happen?
I stood from bent posture and kept walking, hoping for the best, like
maybe God would make me invisible.
Got about 40 feet and heard a car door opening and a voice shout
"Sailor!"
I turned around and the Admiral was storming down the pier at me, all
that gold flashing in the sun.
I quickly decided to act like a Marine, and came to ramrod attention,
hand in perfect salute. I wanted my liberty.
"SIR!! I shouted.
The Admiral got right in my face and he was ****ed. Shaking ****ed.
I guess my hood slap and sneer had been pretty good.
"Didn't you see my car, sailor!?" he shouted.
"NO SIRI!" SORRY SIR!! I shouted back, but much louder than him.
Found out later they heard me way back on the quarterdeck.
"You can't be walking around running into cars sailor!" he said, not
quite shouting now, but still ****ed.
He was checking out my uniform and posture, which were perfect.
I was good at all that. Would have made a good Marine too, except I
was smart and I liked to shag women, disqualifying me.
"YES SIR!! "I'LL BE MORE CAREFUL SIR!! I shouted.
He cooled down some, but got even more flustered, and stammered, since
he was getting nothing but good Marine stuff from me, and had to close
it out.
"You just...just.. carry on, and be, be..... be a good sailor now!"
were his last words.
"YES SIR!!" I shouted.
He turned around and stormed back to his car and I carried on to my
liberty.
Never heard a word about it either, so that Marine trick works with
officers, even Fleet Admirals.
First time all those John Wayne movies I saw came in useful.

NEXT:
"How I tripped the Captain of U.S.S. Harry E. Yarnell as he was piped
aboard U.S.S. John King" or "Ain't My Fault He's Got Big Feet"

--Vic

"Vic Smith" wrote in message
...


NEXT:
"How I tripped the Captain of U.S.S. Harry E. Yarnell as he was piped
aboard U.S.S. John King" or "Ain't My Fault He's Got Big Feet"

--Vic

Did you ever hear the story of how a couple of friends and I almost started
an international incident by flying kites off the fantail of a DE?

Eisboch

On Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:33:12 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:


"Vic Smith" wrote in message
.. .


NEXT:
"How I tripped the Captain of U.S.S. Harry E. Yarnell as he was piped
aboard U.S.S. John King" or "Ain't My Fault He's Got Big Feet"

--Vic

Did you ever hear the story of how a couple of friends and I almost started
an international incident by flying kites off the fantail of a DE?

Seems familiar, but you better tell it again.

--Vic

"Vic Smith" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:33:12 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:


"Vic Smith" wrote in message
. ..


NEXT:
"How I tripped the Captain of U.S.S. Harry E. Yarnell as he was piped
aboard U.S.S. John King" or "Ain't My Fault He's Got Big Feet"

--Vic

Did you ever hear the story of how a couple of friends and I almost
started
an international incident by flying kites off the fantail of a DE?

Seems familiar, but you better tell it again.

--Vic


I won't repeat the whole thing, but it happened during one of the many
patrols in the Med that we did, poking along at 7 kts towing an array of
passive sonar gear, tracking Soviet subs. The Captain had called holiday
routine one Sunday afternoon and we decided to try flying the kites. They
flew very nicely. As it started to get dark, someone got the bright idea of
attaching those small, flashing locator lights used on the Navy lifevests
to the kites. We tied the kite strings to the rail and forgot about them.

The kites were too small for the ship's radar to pick up at that close
range. Later that evening I noticed all kinds of activity in radio
central. Messages were being sent out about the lights that were following
the ship that were not being detected by radar.

No liberty for a week.

Eisboch

On Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:06:25 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:




I won't repeat the whole thing, but it happened during one of the many
patrols in the Med that we did, poking along at 7 kts towing an array of
passive sonar gear, tracking Soviet subs. The Captain had called holiday
routine one Sunday afternoon and we decided to try flying the kites. They
flew very nicely. As it started to get dark, someone got the bright idea of
attaching those small, flashing locator lights used on the Navy lifevests
to the kites. We tied the kite strings to the rail and forgot about them.

The kites were too small for the ship's radar to pick up at that close
range. Later that evening I noticed all kinds of activity in radio
central. Messages were being sent out about the lights that were following
the ship that were not being detected by radar.

No liberty for a week.

Hey, I don't remember the liberty part from the first telling. But
stories are supposed to get better every time they're told.
If you'd managed to cut them loose and everybody stayed mum,
your exploits would be heralded on the History Channel, UFO division.

--Vic

"Vic Smith" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:06:25 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:




I won't repeat the whole thing, but it happened during one of the many
patrols in the Med that we did, poking along at 7 kts towing an array of
passive sonar gear, tracking Soviet subs. The Captain had called holiday
routine one Sunday afternoon and we decided to try flying the kites. They
flew very nicely. As it started to get dark, someone got the bright idea
of
attaching those small, flashing locator lights used on the Navy lifevests
to the kites. We tied the kite strings to the rail and forgot about them.

The kites were too small for the ship's radar to pick up at that close
range. Later that evening I noticed all kinds of activity in radio
central. Messages were being sent out about the lights that were
following
the ship that were not being detected by radar.

No liberty for a week.

Hey, I don't remember the liberty part from the first telling. But
stories are supposed to get better every time they're told.
If you'd managed to cut them loose and everybody stayed mum,
your exploits would be heralded on the History Channel, UFO division.

--Vic


Actually, I added the liberty loss part. In reality, we *did* run down and
cut them loose. No point in being a hero.

Eisboch

On Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:33:12 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:


"Vic Smith" wrote in message
.. .


NEXT:
"How I tripped the Captain of U.S.S. Harry E. Yarnell as he was piped
aboard U.S.S. John King" or "Ain't My Fault He's Got Big Feet"

Did you ever hear the story of how a couple of friends and I almost started
an international incident by flying kites off the fantail of a DE?

That's a great story - tell it again.

It's worth it.

Holy crap, lucky your still not digging ditches, or whatever they do
on the ships.. My dad's unit went on bivwack and stole the innards out
of the sgts gas mask, leaving him jumping in a jeep and screaming off
the site during the cs attack... Nobody ratted, they dug ditches in
spare time for nearly a month iirc...


On Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:26:21 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

Since the Navy has some boats, and since there are vets here, I'll
relate this encounter.
If I'm out of line, let me know.

I was on my way to a day of liberty, walking down one of the D&S
piers, Norfolk.
McKinnon, a buddy who was stuck aboard, called down to me from the
ship. We BS'ed a little while as I kept walking, and soon I was
walking backwards as he had followed me to the bow..
Just as we finished talking and I was turning around my legs struck a
slowly moving big car and I almost fell on the fender.
I caught my balance by smacking a hand hard on the very shiny hood,
and continued walking, but bent down so I could sneer at the driver.
What the hell is he doing with a car on the pier? Idiot.
Didn't want to make a big issue of it, just give him a sneer.
An Elvis type sneer, nothing too heavy.
Since the car was moving slowly by as I was walking, quickly I
found myself sneering at the old guy in the back seat, who was looking
at me.
He had on a hat adorned with a whole mess of scrambled eggs.
About the same time it sunk in that the car had flags on the fenders
flying 4 or 5 stars.
So I had just loudly smacked my hand on the hood of the 2nd Fleet
Admiral's car, and then sneered at him. WTF? How did that happen?
I stood from bent posture and kept walking, hoping for the best, like
maybe God would make me invisible.
Got about 40 feet and heard a car door opening and a voice shout
"Sailor!"
I turned around and the Admiral was storming down the pier at me, all
that gold flashing in the sun.
I quickly decided to act like a Marine, and came to ramrod attention,
hand in perfect salute. I wanted my liberty.
"SIR!! I shouted.
The Admiral got right in my face and he was ****ed. Shaking ****ed.
I guess my hood slap and sneer had been pretty good.
"Didn't you see my car, sailor!?" he shouted.
"NO SIRI!" SORRY SIR!! I shouted back, but much louder than him.
Found out later they heard me way back on the quarterdeck.
"You can't be walking around running into cars sailor!" he said, not
quite shouting now, but still ****ed.
He was checking out my uniform and posture, which were perfect.
I was good at all that. Would have made a good Marine too, except I
was smart and I liked to shag women, disqualifying me.
"YES SIR!! "I'LL BE MORE CAREFUL SIR!! I shouted.
He cooled down some, but got even more flustered, and stammered, since
he was getting nothing but good Marine stuff from me, and had to close
it out.
"You just...just.. carry on, and be, be..... be a good sailor now!"
were his last words.
"YES SIR!!" I shouted.
He turned around and stormed back to his car and I carried on to my
liberty.
Never heard a word about it either, so that Marine trick works with
officers, even Fleet Admirals.
First time all those John Wayne movies I saw came in useful.

NEXT:
"How I tripped the Captain of U.S.S. Harry E. Yarnell as he was piped
aboard U.S.S. John King" or "Ain't My Fault He's Got Big Feet"

--Vic