Popeye's Sea Stories

jobjed said:

I thought the military was supposed to be a disciplined environment and workplace? Soldiers have the most sacred of duties; to protect their nation from aggression, and they dare to act in such a degrading and undignified manner?

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The military is a disciplined environment. but people are fallable, and they make choices not in keeping with their duty, the interests of the nation they defend, or even in their own self interest.

When you have a couple of million people (or whatever the total number is for whatever country) in uniform, there are simply, statistically, going to be some bad apples.

The idea is to find those who are not suited for service as quickly as possible and keep them from doing too much harm to their country, to others, or to themselves.

Most of the time, boot camp and the initial schooling and requirements of the first year or two weed them out.

Some get through that, only to pass through episodes in their life that raise stress levels and they fall apart then.

For example, in a lot of cases, when there are long deployments either because of combat, or simply because of the type of rating and specialty an individual chooses, they will be away from home for long periods and this can introduce a lot of stress on families...particularly new spouses, or spouses with a lot of kids, bills, etc. to take care of in their spouses absence. Marital problems, financial problems, problems with kids, etc. can all take their toll.

And sometimes people react to such stress in different ways. Some soldier on, and keep the faith...others get depressed (some to a point where they are unfit for service), some drown their sorrows in booze, or try and trip out with drugs, and some absolutely flip out and there is no telling what they will do.

But, as Popeye says, the vast majority honor their commitments, their duty and their service and we are all better for it. But make no mistake, military service is not a "breeze," or an easy street to simply getting an education or out of trouble. It is a hard job and there are big stresses associated with it. I always thank anyone I see in uniform. I make a point of going over to them and doing it because I know the stresses it can bring, and I thank them for that sacrifice on behalf of our country and our freedoms.

As those of you that read this thread there are many different types of persons that join the service..just as in any walk of life.

One group we use to call "non-hacker" Guys that just could not adapt to military life. They were always in trouble or going over the hill..UA we called AWOL in the USN. AWOL does not occur until 30 days consecutive absence.

When I was aboard the JFK we had a kid I'll call ARR..He was always in trouble. He vowed not to make the '73 Med cruise..We thought he was a sure bet to deploy with us because he was on restriction..He could not leave the ship. His restriction did not expire until the cruise was about 10 days in. So here's the ruse he pulled.

The day before the JFK got underway ARR had two messcooks, for a fee, stash him away in a trash can and simply carry said trash can off the ship. as soon as ARR was hidden by the dumpsters by the end of pier 12 he made his escape. That evening the MAAs(Master at Arms..ships police) were combing the JFK looking for this fool. They could not find him. Of course he was long gone.. or so we thought. The next day the JFK got underway for her 1973 MED cruise..the sights and smells of Mediterranean ports echoed in our little bitty brains..So at about 0900 the we were on the flight deck manning the rails when low and behold we saw ARR standing on the pier waving goodbye to us...a very ballzie move.....as far as I know he was never apprehended.

bd popeye said:

As those of you that read this thread there are many different types of persons that join the service..just as in any walk of life.

One group we use to call "non-hacker" Guys that just could not adapt to military life. They were always in trouble or going over the hill..UA we called AWOL in the USN. AWOL does not occur until 30 days consecutive absence.

When I was aboard the JFK we had a kid I'll call ARR..He was always in trouble. He vowed not to make the '73 Med cruise..We thought he was a sure bet to deploy with us because he was on restriction..He could not leave the ship. His restriction did not expire until the cruise was about 10 days in. So here's the ruse he pulled.

The day before the JFK got underway ARR had two messcooks, for a fee, stash him away in a trash can and simply carrier said trash can off the ship. as soon as ARR was hidden by the dumpsters by the end of pier 12 he made his escape. That evening the MAAs(Master at Arms..ships police) were combing the JFK looking for this fool. They could not find him. Of course he was long gone.. or so we thought. The next day the JFK got underway for her 1973 MED cruise..the sights and smells of Mediterranean ports echoed in our little bitty brains..So at about 0900 the we were on the flight deck manning the rails when low and behold we saw ARR standing on the pier waving goodbye to us...a very ballzie move.....as far as I know he was never apprehended.

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Since that sailor is AWOL that long I bet he wish right now he wouldn't have done that. Does he gets a Dis-honor y discharge and no benefits of any kind after services?

jobjed said:

I thought the military was supposed to be a disciplined environment and workplace? Soldiers have the most sacred of duties; to protect their nation from aggression, and they dare to act in such a degrading and undignified manner?

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Schools are also supposed to be sanctified places of learning. However, more often than not you will find students who party all weekend, drink heavily, or even use illegal drugs. Some people exercise self-control whereas others just do whatever they wish.

Equation said:

Since that sailor is AWOL that long I bet he wish right now he wouldn't have done that. Does he gets a Dis-honor y discharge and no benefits of any kind after services?

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Depends on what offenses he's committed. I don't know if AAR was ever captured. I know when I lived in San Diego every once and a while an AWOL sailor or marine was caught at a traffic stop. Generally they have been AWOL for long periods of time. One marine was caught at the US Mexico border trying to get back to the US..that was just a few years ago. He'd been AWOL since the 1966.. When this happens generally the culprits are given a less than honorable discharge.

This has happened several times

siegecrossbow said:

Schools are also supposed to be sanctified places of learning. However, more often than not you will find students who party all weekend, drink heavily, or even use illegal drugs. Some people exercise self-control whereas others just do whatever they wish.

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You can't compare the amount of responsibilities of soldiers and the amount on students. Students don't have to give their blood, sweat or life in defence of their country. Students are in school to secure a decent future for themselves, soldiers are serving to secure a decent future for their country, there's a slight difference.

I served aboard the USS John F Kennedy (CVA 67) from march 24th 1972 until August 1st. 1973... When the ship was in it's home port of Norfolk VA(aka NOB..Naval Operating Base) Fridays when I did not have duty for the weekend I'd go to my moms home in New York.

I remember this so well.. On Fridays was supposed to be the ships training day. But after quarters we'd go down to our shop sign the training sheet and if you did not have duty you could take off.

I did not have a car so I'd take the Greyhound bus to NY. The USN made this easy by allowing the Greyhounds to come on base. So all a sailor had to do was walk down to pier seven and the buses were all mustered their. . I remember that it cost $24 dollars round trip to NYC. On the way to NYC the bus used US route 13 northbound and always stopped at "State Road" Delaware for a 20 minute rest stop. At this place there was a shop their that sold terrific Cheese-steak sandwiches..Philly style. It was only $3.50.. That cost included your sandwich, fries and a soda. It was great.



Then the bus proceeded to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC. She lived in Mt Vernon NY. Her home was about a mile and a half from the Dyre AV station.



From there I'd take the subway to my moms home.



On Sunday evening I'd have to return. The bus left the PATH bus terminal at about 2130(9:30PM) ..It took about 6 hours to get back to Norfolk. Before the bus left a vendor would board the bus and sell salty snacks.. then after that the same vendor would get back on the bus and sell soda and other soft drinks... Well when we got back to NOB the bus dropped us off on pier seven and I had to make that long cold walk back to the JFK...back in the day....

bd popeye said:

...At this place there was a shop their that sold terrific Cheese-steak sandwiches..Philly style. It was only $3.50.. That cost included your sandwich, fries and a soda. It was great.

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Oh, popeye, man...you're killing me here.

it's almost lunch time and I see that on the screen...and nothing close by my duty station here to let me even come close. I feel like trying to eat the frigging computer screen! LOL!

Man that looks good.

I bet you Mom loved having you come visit. What a blessing to be able to do so and spend that time.

I used to have to travel to Huntsville , AL for work 25-30 years ago quite often. Sometimes staying two weeks or more. On the weekends I would drive my rental car down into south central Alabama and visit my elderly Grandmother. She lived in a very small town called Goodwater, AL. As kids we used to spend two weeks there with her and my grandad every summer. He died in 1967..but she lived on into the 80s. Anyhow, it was always great to go down there and spend time with her and my great aunt, and great uncles in the area (two of which were Wolrd War II verts, one of which who met my Dad near Luzon in World Wr II as their ships spent four hours together docked in the same port. Only time for a very quick jaunt over to the large auxillary ship my great Uncle served on. My Dad was the CO on an LCI. Anyhow, they talked about the 20 minutes they had together in that combat zone for the rest of their lives.)

Anyhow, they all would would love it when I came to visit and scheduled all kinds of visits to meet more family and relatives. Grandmom ALWAYS served up some southern Banana Pudding while I was there because it had always been one of my favorites as a young boy...and still is to this day. Will never forget those times.

I miss her to this day. She was a grand, gentile woman of the south. As Christ-like and wonderful as they come. Those trips and experiences are a part of me now...something I shall always treasure.

God's speed!

I was looking at some pix at and saw this one.

PACIFIC OCEAN (April 20, 2013) Operations Specialist Seaman Danielle Krieger, from New Market, Md., receives an Anthrax vaccination in the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). Nimitz is on a deployment to the western Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Vanessa Y. David/Released)

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I remember the year just before I retired we were standing in line waiting to get our flu shot. There was this young woman in front of me just sweating like crazy..I hadda to ask her was she OK. She said she hated needles and wish they just shoot us with the "shot gun" like in boot camp.. so the closer we got to the front the worse she got. She was sweating profusely.

Finally she was next. the Hospital Corpsman held the needle up and tapped on it like they do and she saw that and went down (fainted) like a blond oak tree. The put one of those amoniona poppers under her nose to awake here. They took her out of the room probably to allow her to recover...I wonder if they gave her that flu shot? Oh Well...

yeahh this is what you DON"T want to see..... Stevie Wonder with that inoculation gun in his hands..yikes and gadzooks!

The dreaded "Shot Gun"

This is the beast they shot us with in boot camp. If you moved too much it could cut you. I think it worked on CO2 pressure. Beastly gadget .