A new experience: The Military

Deucemoi

Deucemoi

Member
Many baby boomers had older relatives that served in some
branch of the military. I was no exception and I started my
journey at age seventeen and a half when my father signed for
me and I joined the National Guard while a senior in high school.
This unit was Company C detachment B2 of the 19th special
forces. Often referred to as 'sneaky pete's'
Weekend drill periods included physical training, classroom
as well as field exercises.
One weekend we had divided into two groups for a weekend
of outdoor training exercises which included ambushing a convoy.

One of the men who was in the opposing team had come to the
drill with his hand bandaged with the excuse he had been burned
but did not want to miss the drill.
The team I was on went out first to set up the ambush along
an old dirt road in the country. Waiting in the dark, cold and windy
night for the convoy I envisioned how the event would take place.
Storm the convoy, guns blazing(blank ammo) yelling, oh what fun.

We did assualt the convoy and took the forces prisoner which
were taken back to the armory and our 'commander' for interrogation.
While being questioned the man with the bandaged hand fired a
pistol he had previously secreted thus killing our commander.

Lesson learned: take nothing for granted, check everything.

Since this type of force usually operates behind enemy lines in
gorilla combat situations I learned many things that would NOT
be taught in my subsequent years in the Navy.
 

A surreal moment

Fast forward a few years.
Nha Be Vietnam the port where we usually tied up when not moving
cargo. I am a Navy radioman. A lot of old messages have been
piling up and since we do not have a shredder they are placed in
paper bags which will get burned. Two of us take the bags over to
a large incinerator on the base. It is hot and humid. We have removed
out tops and are wearing sweatbands. Flat paper sheets do not burn
well so we are crumpling them to create air space. We toss them into
the incinerator and stir with a steel pole.

We have been working about a half an hour when I notice a young
girl about 19 or 20 walking down the road towards the pbr/swift boat
base. She is wearing a white blouse and black skirt with a white bandolier
that reads "Miss Red Cross". She is accompanied by an older woman
about late 40's and an oriental man carrying more camera gear than
I ever saw. We crumple the paper and toss it into the incinerator, stir
vigorously and quickly trying to stay away from the heat.

A flight of huey's is coming in for a landing at the base and you can
hear the whop whop of the rotor blades. We crumple paper and toss
it into the incinerator and stir. Sheesh it is hot. I am soaked with sweat
and look forward to some beer in the em club. We crumple paper
and toss it into the incinerator and stir.

The Red Cross entourage continues down the road to the boats.
A base ambulance is also heading to the boats so I guess there may
be some wounded. We stir the incinerator and crumpled paper.

The other radioman tosses in a handfull of flat sheets and I admonish
him about getting a complete burn as these are classified messages
and must be completely burnt.

The base siren sounds. The base mortors start firing across the river.
We crumple paper and toss it into the incinerator. I look towards the
boat base and the young girl is on her knees barfing, the old woman is
sitting beside her and the camera dude is kneeling next to them trying
to take a picture of the ambulances and commotion by the river boats.

We crumple paper and toss it into the incinerator and stir.
It's like the world has suddenly stood still as we watch all the
action around us while we continue to crumple and burn the paper.
 
Surprise mortor fire

The Mekong river has two channels. The main and an alternate. When
we make cargo runs we would go up one dropping off the supplies
and come down the other until we have finished. We then return to
base or perhaps go to another base to pick up a different cargo.

We have been upriver for a week of deliveries and are returning to
our base. It is late in the day and we have moored to a flimsy metal
dock at Can Tho/Binh Thuy base. I pull the duty and must stay
onboard.

Nothing to do so I go up to the bridge to bs with the watch. We
watch as Rvn soldiers toss concussion grenades into a side pond
created when the tide went out and the kids jump in to retrieve the
stunned fish.

The watch and I bs about nothing in particular, smoke cigarettes and
I keep an ear tuned to the radio on the bridge for any calls.

Three huey's are coming in for a landing over to the other side of the base.
We here a soft thump sound. What the heck was that? We look around.
There is a big explosion just as the first huey is setting down and we
look at each other. Did it just crash?

Another soft thump. The sound is coming from behind us. The stacks
of beer/pop sitting alongside the road to the exchange suddenly explodes.
The base siren sounds. Damn we are under attack. The Captain comes
to the bridge and tells the watch to sound general quarters, battle stations.
I hear the diesel engines start. The crew is scrambling to gun positions.
The deck crew is struggling to get the mooring lines hauled in.

Ahead of us an lst had beached itself and lowered the ramp to load cargo
and they have dropped their stern anchor into a small boat which is
taking it out into the river to they can winch themselves off the beach.

The base personnel are all running around, vehicles going everywhich
way.
Again the soft whump sound and the roof of the base hospital erupts in
flames. Sheesh. I go back down to the radio room and tune up the base
frequency.

We finally pull away from the dock and head down river a few miles
where we drop anchor in the middle of the river for the night.
We string antisapper lights arould the ship and the roving watch
tosses concussion grenades into the water ever 15 minutes.

Later we learn that the enemy had smuggled a mortor onto a sand bar
in the middle of the river and were shelling the base. But damn, did
they have to blow up the beer?
 

Shipboard Fire:
Episode I, the basics

There are three main classes of fire A, B, C, but the Navy has a fourth
called pyrotechnics. This class deals with exotics such as thermite(
which cannot be put out) magnesium, phosphorus and a flare(which was finally
found to be extinguisable). All Navy personnel undergo fire fighting
training beginning in boot camp and later in schools(such as the one at
treasure island S.F.). And continues while we are underway thru drills.

Most fires can be put out with water, after all we are floating on several
billion gallons of the stuff. There is also equipment to dewater compartments
after a fire or when the ship has been damaged in battle and flooded.
The main point is to never give up the ship, it is a long swim back
to shore. And unlike the Titanic a Navy ship is very hard to sink.

In past wars even heavily damaged Navy ships still engaged in combat.

There are a great many pieces of equipment available for our use, and
these are stored in various compartments throughout the ship called
Damage control lockers.These lockers are connected to the main damage
control office through sound powered phone sets.

Included in these areas are OBA(oxygen breathing apparatus) a self
generating oxygen unit. Along most of the internal passages are various
pieces of fire fighting equipment. Also there are 5 gallon containers
of foam making material and a special nozzle which mixes this with
air and water to create a thick foam. This material is usually used as
a last resort since when it dries it resembles concrete and is hard to remove.

The nozzles of regular hoses have a fitting to accept the insertion of
an extenion which puts out a fog at the end and is used to help surpress
the heat and flames from the fire fighting crew.
 
Shipboard fire:
Episode 2, the ship

The U.S.S. England DLG-22. There is a web site that contains many
photos and history of the ship if you desire to look.

I first came aboard this ship as my first command in october 1966.
The ship was homeported at Long Beach California naval base. My
first sight of this ship as I walked down pier 15 on the mole was how
big this thing was. As I stood on the pier I was awed by the size.
Look at this thing, it is huge..WOW. Well kinda small actually if you
compare it to a carrier. My home for the see able future.

I stood there and drank in the view from the hurricane bow to the fantail.
Missile launchers fore and aft, torpedo tubes along the side and the guns
on the boat deck. The double macks with large radar antenna and radio
antenna everywhere.

In boot camp we are given tests to determine where our interests and
skills might lie. Since I scored very high in mechanical I have been given
the rating of bt(boiler tender) and thus would be in the aft fireroom.
I scored high in other areas as well which would help in later years to
change my rate over to rm(radioman).

There are two firerooms and two engine rooms that supply the propulsion
for this ship.
The boilers are Foster Wheeler type D left hand fireside and produce
1200lb of steam. This is equal to about 35000 hp. There are two in each
fireroom.
The engine room has delaval gear reduction steam turbines rated at 70000
shp. According to official statistics the ship is capable of 35kts or about
42mph.(a knot is equal to 1.2 statue miles).

Aboard this ship I have made two westpac deployments to the Tonkin
Gulf of North Vietnam on a picket line. Called SAR(search and rescue).
There are about a dozen ships including carriers here carrying out flight
operations during the Vietnam conflict.
Our job here is to rescue pilots unfortunate to be shot down.
In our deployment of 1968 there was an incident here for which I can
never divulge the events. Ah, military secrets, gotta love em.

We have visited the ports of Hong Kong, Subic Bay, Yokusuka and Sasebo.
Bucked the towering waves of typhoons. Pearl Harbor past the
remains of that great war and render honors to those fallen before us.
 
Shipboard fire:
Episode 3, Loadout

It is late spring 1968. I have changed my rate to radioman and work in
radio central. I operate the fleet broadcast. I make copies of messages
addressed to the ship and distribute them to the various departments.

We are preparing for another westpac deployment. We spent the last
week at Belmont shores naval weapons depot loading munitions.
The ship is equiped to fire the terrier boosted missile which has a
range of 150 miles. We loaded 12 of these into each of the missiles
houses. These missiles are also nuclear capable.
The ship also is also equiped with asroc(antisubmarine rockets).
We loaded a couple dozen of these into the launcher just below the
bridge.
Smart topedoes, if you will. Fire and forget. The will be fired out
some distance, drop into the water and start hunting for a submarine.
We also carry the convention torpedoes which are fired from tubes
mounted about midships on both sides of the ship in a triple tube
arrangement.

There are two twin mount 3 inch 50 guns just forward of the fantail
and up one level. We loaded dozens of these into the ammo locker.
Go to the pier, pick up a shell, put your hand around the base, carry
to the little door for the locker and put in, base first. The machinery
will pick it up and foop, it is gone. Return, for the next couple of hours
repeat.

After we returned to a pier at Long Beach we had a harbor tanker come
alongside and we refueled the ship. Several thousand barrels of NSFO
(navy special fuel oil) a special distillate for the boilers and a couple
thousand gallons of jp4 for the rescue helocopter we carried.

The ship is hot. Boilers are boiling, radar is spinning maybe the sonar
is pinging. We are finishing our preparations for the trip. Finish putting
nonskid on the weather decks, paint the hull. Clean the guns, clean the
small boats, stand watches.
Finish loading stores, dry goods and the reefers(cold food).
 
Hi Deucemoi. Just thought I'd stop by and thank you for the stories and also for your service. Reminds me of some tales my uncle wrote up and sent me about his experiences in the Army in WW2. I may post some in my journal thread, now that you've triggered my memory.
 
Shipboard fire:
Episode 4, FIRE
The timeline may not be all that accurate. I didn't take notes and it
has been 50 years.

06:55 It is 5 minutes until the serving line is opened for breakfast
at 07:00. The cooks are busy with final preps, cooking, frying bacon
in the ovens, cracking and making scrambled eggs on the grills.
One cook at the other end of the galley is preparing to deep fat fry his
special donuts. He is the baker, makes cakes for birthdays, donuts
and other pastry goodies.

I have been assigned as a messcook, reliving the junior signalman
from his three months, as I take his position. I have been assigned to the
deep sink area of the galley. I wash the pots/pans and utensils the cooks
dirty while making meals for the crew of 366.
Occasionally I also peel spuds/carrots and make salads.
I am taking a break and standing in the hatch(see diagram) looking into
the galley.

I see the baker cook jumping around on the far side of the galley.
I step into the galley and I see flames shooting into the air. geesus!!
Next to me on the bulkhead(wall) is a 50bl Co2 bottle on a mount. I
grab the bottle, heft it with my right hand and pull the activating pin
charging the unit. I run across the galley to the fire. The first fryer has
overheated and the top of the grease is on fire. I spray Co2 on the fire
and it goes out because the Co2 is cool and lowers the temp enough.
But it is not enough, the grease reignites and again I spray Co2 on the
fire. Out again but reignites, I repeat the spray and this time the cook
drops the lid on the fryer.
The fire is out. Neither of us has had the presence of mind to turn
the damn fryer off and allow the grease to cool. Fog of war I guess.
Someone else had apparently noticed the fire and called the quarter
deck watch. Over the ships pa system the alarm is sounding.

"General Quarters General Quarters fire fire in the galley man your
battle stations fire."
07:00 366 men jump to and scramble about the ship each to their
station in preparation. Tuck you pants into your socks, turn up and
button you collar. Damage control lockers are opened and men
assemble their gear. Some put on the OBA units, others are preparing
fire hoses and stringing them to the fire. I am assigned to the locker
opposite the galley. I am the phone talker relaying message between the
chief in charge and the damage control office located aft of the galley.

All watertight doors/hatches have been secured. Electricity to the area
has been turned off(we are fighting a fire with water-dont need the juice),
light is from battle lanterns mounted at various points around the messdecks.
I can hear orders being given by the Chief, he is in charge of two fire teams.
I can see out the hatch the fire hoses fill with water as the nozzles are charged.

07:30 I hear them open the serving line doors, and I hear the Chief give the
order to begin spraying water on the fire. 'A point here is that they
ignored all there training and used a solid stream of cold water on the
hot grease instead of the fog'(my opinion). Well guess what boys and girls,
it EXPLODED.
The fire has slopped over into the other fryer and now both are on fire,
the hot grease from both has been blown into the overhead wiring.

The heat must be intense since the noncombustible insulation on the
bulkheads is smoldering and putting off a very dark bad smelling smoke.

08:00 The Chief comes to the locker and tells me to relay that the fire is out
of control and is into the overhead. So I call dc central and tell them.
The say keep at it.

galley.gif
 
Last edited:
Shipboard fire:
Episode 5, outside events

Yes, I am going to build the suspense and keep you in the dark about
the fire until the very last. I was only 19 at the time and scared the living
daylights out of me.

Our sister ship the USS Gridley DLG21 was moored alongside and
outboard of us at pier 15 on the mole, Long Beach Naval Station.
Tugs from the the base have pulled her away and out into the harbor as
she does not have her boilers operating(called cold iron).

Marine fire boats from Los Angeles Fire department have arrived and
are spraying water just in case they are needed. And these babies are BIG.

The destroyer tender across the pier from us has strung their fire hoses
out in preparation in case they are needed.

The base hospital has been informed that there is a Navy ship on fire
in the harbor and there maybe injuries so they have sent personnel and
ambulances to the mole in case they are needed.

I think every firetruck in Long Beach was sent to the base to assist
in case they are needed.


However the gist here is "Let them fight the fire, that is what they are
trained to do" we will standby just in case we are needed.

It's NOT everyday that you get a fully loaded and armed war ship of the
Navy on fire in a big naval base. At sea during battle is a totally different
scenario.
 
Shipboard Fire:
Episode 6, We put the fire out

And it ain't gonna be easy.

09:00 I have not seen the Chief for more than a half hour. Several
of the men have come into the locker to exchange canisters in
their OBA units. They dump them into a bucket of water to cool as
generating oxygen creates a lot of heat.

I am sitting on the deck. The smoke is very dense up near the
overhead. I have pulled my t-shirt up over my mouth and nose.
My eyes are burning from the smoke. There are no more OBA
units.

I hear a report from the aft fire room that the smoke is getting to
thick on the upper level to be manned and all personnel have been
moved to the lower level. There is a very acrid smell to the smoke
and it is irritating to nose, eyes and throat. The aft engineroom is also
reporting heavy smoke.
The air intake for the after engineering spaces is right behind the exhaust
for the galley and the smoke is covering most of the aft mack(stack/mast
combination).

Another unforseen problem has begun to crop up. Since all the hatches
between compartments and decks have been closed the galley is in
effect a very large contained space. We have been pumping water
into this space for a couple of hours and there is no where for it to go.
There is about a 6 inch lip around all the doors and hatches. The water
has not reached the top,,,,yet.

10:00 The Chief comes into the locker and tells me the smoke from the
fire is very thick and it is making the detection of the main fire
body difficult.
He tells me to call DCC central and request permission to foam the
fire. I call DCC central and give them the request, they say stand by
while they make the decision. There should be the Chief Engineer here,
a Lt.Commander, the Damage Control officer, a Lt. and a couple of
Chiefs plus the phone talkers. They are all probably talking to the
Captain via phone and making decisions.
10:30 The Chief comes back into the locker and asks about the foam
request, I tell him I have heard nothing.

11:00 I think lunch is going to be late.
DCC central finally calls me and wants to know just exactly where
the fire is located and how much has it spread. I don't see the Chief.
I crawl over to the hatch and I see the Chief squatted down by the hatch.
I motion to him, and he squat crawls over to me, I tell him what
DCC central wants. He squat crawls back to the hatch, Looks around and
squat crawls back to me and says, the fire is in the same place it was
two hours ago.
I crawl back into the locker, call DCC central and relay the message.

12:00 DCC central calls me and says permission to foam is granted. I
crawl over to the hatch and the Chief is not in sight, crap.. I grab
the nearest hose and shake it hard. The hose man looks back at me
and I motion for the Chief. He nods. I crawl back into the locker.

The chief comes into the locker and I tell him permission to foam
has been granted. He says roger that and leaves. I see hose men
coming down the passage carrying red 5 gallon cans of foam material.
One man is carrying the special nozzle which has a pickup hose hanging
from the bottom that is inserted into the cans. The nozzle is somewhat
flexible and can be bent around corners.

12:30 The aft fireroom calls DCC central and asks permission to abandon
the space as the smoke has reached the lower level and breathing has
become difficult. I say no way, we need their cans of foam up here.
The aft engineroom chimes in with the request to leave their space also.
DCC central says to standby.
12:40 DCC central gives both aft engine spaces permission to leave and go
top side.

1:00 The Chief comes into the locker and says the foam in having an
effect on the fire and it is now under control but not out.
I call DCC central and tell them. They say keep at it.

2:00 The chief comes into the locker, takes off his OBA unit and squats
on the deck. He says the fire is out.
Well it's about time.
I call DCC central and tell them. The say set the reflash watch and they
are sending an inspection team to evaluate the fire and whether the ship
can stand down from general quarters.

2:30 The team from DCC central has made the decision that the fire is
indeed out and over the pa system the call is made to set the standard
in port watch. I take off my phone set and hang it up.The men are
coming into the locker and removing their gear and stowing it.
I step out into the passage into ankle deep water and climb the stairway
to the weather deck.

Wow. There must be a couple hundred people on the pier. I see the firetrucks
and the big fire boats.
I look over across the harbor and it is a sea of color. I see green, red
and a lot of white. There must be 5 or 6 thousand people over there watching
the ship burn. I can just imagine their thoughts. Are they waiting for the
explosion? Or the badly burned bodies being removed from the ship.

The ship is towed to the yard where the side is cut open and all the damaged
equipment is removed and new ovens, grills etc are installed. The hole is
welded shut and the piping, wiring cables are placed on the fantail and
forecastle.
We must get underway for westpac to relive the ship there. We will make repairs
during the trip. But now with no working galley how do you feed 366 sailors?
Baloney sandwiches and soup. The grills are the first to be back in working
condition so we have fried baloney for breakfast. Baloney sandwiches for
lunch and baked baloney on a stick for supper.
To this day I don't eat baloney sandwiches.

There is an investigation into the cause of the fire. I am called to testify.
The decision is made to relocate the shut off switch for the fryers outside
the galley. Noone I know receives any punishment. Total damage to the galley
and surrounding area is $75000.
 
Family Gram-A letter home

This is a letter home from the commanding officer of my ship.
It is old, it is faded. It was a long time before I could revisit past military
events. I think you will still be able to read it.

Shawver.familygram.jpg
 
Falcon: having a bad day? You can't figure out my gender? You viewed my photo in squattingdogs vietnam veterans day post, did you not see a male in uniform?
I also stated my age in another post. What more info do you want?
 
GUAM

The USS Protues as-19
Length: 574.6 feet (175.1 meters)
Beam: 73 feet (22.3 meters)
Speed: 18 knots
Crew: approx. 1250

Would you believe that a Navy ship full of qualified navigators
ever get lost at sea? Well guess again!

It is the summer of 1974. It has been so hot that the ship has
changed to tropical working hours, a change from 0800-1400 to
1000-1800. The ship is air conditioned to about 65 deg. and the
outside air is about 95 with a humidity of 93 percent. You step out
and instantly your clothes stick to you.

This saturday morning we will leave Apra harbor for a couple of
days at sea. We will dump affluent and do helmsman steering drills.

I am working as faccon (facilities control) operating all the radio
equipment (receivers/transmitters and associated gear) and the crypto
equipment.

The first day goes very well. We do the dump and most of the day
and all of the night new seaman are trained on steering the USS Proteus
AS-19 a submarine tender.

Sunday we continue to do training drills and maneuvers, until late
afternoon. It is time to head back to port since monday morning
all the base equipment to moor the ship back to the pier will be
waiting on us.

The captain gives the order, return to port. The quartermaster looks
at his charts and says it is that a way. Off we go. We have a loran C
but like most things on this ship it is busted and we can't get positional
fix. The radar is a wimpy thing with a max range of 50 miles. But we
are navy and we can find the port.
After 6hrs of steaming in the first direction the quartermaster says
should have put us in range of seeing Guam on the radar, but there is
nothing showing but open ocean. Well that is odd. Well let's try that
a way. And so we steam in the second direction for another 6hrs.
Still nothing on radar and the lookouts also see nothing.

I am in faccon and can talk to the comm center on the island via a
supervisor teletype circuit. And in fact have been chatting with them
since we left, over such things as changing frequencies and receiving
conditions.
The quartermaster says well let's try that a way. And so off we go again.
However after another 6hrs there is still nothing and it is now getting dark.
The captain says let's get a star fix by sextant tonite and then we will know
where we are.
After dark the quartermaster tries a start shot but it is overcast and the
stars are not visible. Well we will try a sun shot tomorrow but it is still
overcast and thus no position can be fixed.
I tell the captain I can find out where we are by asking the comm center
on the island to point a rlp(rotating log periodic) boom antenna at us
and get a signal strength. He says no that is out of the question.

Monday morning and the comm center is relaying a message from the
base asking us when we will arrive back in port as the equipment is
waiting on the pier.
What has happened is that during all the maneuvers, a short run of 1 mile
in that direction then turn and go 5 miles before changing course again.
One short turn and the new quartermaster fails to plot it on the chart.

We float! One of the lookouts sights a submarine some distance off and
reports it to the captain. Using signal light the submarine is asked to
identify itself. It reports it is a japanese submarine. We ask and where
are you going, they say Guam.

FOLLOW that sub the captain orders.
Our excuse for being late, we were so involved in maneuvers that we
lost track of time.

as19.jpg
 
I crossed the international date line a number of times going to south east asia. For the last trip across all of us received a very colorful certifcate. It was very large, very old and hard to scan but it shows the colors well.

gd.jpg
 
Returning home from summer camp montana national guard. My cousin next to me.
grd.jpg

Home on leave after parents moved to washington state. My youngest brother next to me.
hm_lv.jpg

Leaning on a twin 20mm antiaircraft machine gun. You would not have a loose filling after firing this gun.
1971.jpg

This is what it looks like when we opened up with all the guns shooting a target barrel.
fif.jpg
 

Attachments

  • saigon.jpg
    saigon.jpg
    34.5 KB · Views: 11
That last photo is Saigon from the river. For some reason this system messed up.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top