July 2014

BRYCE CANYON UPDATE
Volume 19, Issue 3
July 2014
Inside this issue:
President’s
Message
1
Welcome Mat &
Taps
2
The Tattoo
3-4
Obituaries
4
Remembering July
1969
5-8
A Newsletter Serving Former Crewmen of USS Bryce Canyon (AD-36)
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
BY MICHAEL NESBIT
USS BRYCE
CANYON
REUNION
OCTOBER 16-19,
2014
NASHVILLE, TN
HOLIDAY INN
NASHVILLE
AT OPRYLAND
AHOY SAILORS:
We’re getting close to
our 2014 Reunion in
NASHVILLE, TN (OCT 16
-19). There has been a lot
of interest for this reunion
in Nashville, home of the
Grand Ole Opry Town.
This is where the MUSIC
STARTED and Western
Singers
became
Famous. We are going to
visit the “Grand Ole Opry”
and see the attractions
that made NASHVILLE
FAMOUS. If you haven’t
been to a reunion before,
this will be the one you
won’t want to miss. If you
have any suggestions of
where you would like to
have our BRYCE CANYON Reunions, please let
me know or the Premier
Reunion Service so we
can plan a reunion in that
area. During a BC Reunion we have a Business
Meeting on Saturday after
our tours, and we discuss
and vote on where we
would like to have our
next reunion. We try and
hit all 4 Time Zones so
that our reunions will be
close to our BRYCE
CANYON
SAILORS. This year I’ve received a dozen or more
phone calls from Bryce
Canyon Members that
have never been to a
reunion. A lot of these
BC Sailors are very interested in who the former Crew Members are
that attend our reunions
and what we do. Many
people have asked for
the BC Challenge Coin,
a Bryce Canyon Hat, or
a BC Plaque. One of
our Members (Bruce
Campbell)
recreates
Bryce Canyon Cruise
Books, Bryce Canyon
Calendars, the History of
the Bryce Canyon with
pictures and Bryce Canyon Greeting Cards with
pictures of the ship on
the front. Bruce’s new
book on the History of
Your Ship (the Bryce
Canyon AD-36) will be
available for sale this
year. We bring all this
stuff to our reunions, so
the BC Sailors can be
proud of your BRYCE
CANYON’s History and
its former crew members
and get a chance to get
a copy of our ship’s history created by BRUCE
CAMPBELL. Please feel
free to call me, Bruce or
the Premier Reunion
Service anytime you
want to know what we’re
doing, where we’re going, and be proud of your
service on the USS
BRYCE CANYON. We
always like to see and
hear from former BC
Shipmates.
Don’t forget to send
in your $20 Annual BC
Association
Dues
which helps to pay for
the Newsletter and
mailing.
Michael Nesbit
BC Association Pres.
9605 Derald Rd
Santee, CA 92071
(Continued on page 2)
BRYCE CANYON UPDATE
Page 2
(Continued from page 1)
E-mail: [email protected]
Hm # 619-562-5690
Cell # 619-357-9688
Site:
www.mlrsinc.com/brycecanyon
Bruce Campbell
3162 Isadora Dr
San Jose, CA 95132-1920
Ph # 408-729-6088
E-mail: [email protected]
Premier Reunion Services
Ph # 828-256-6008
E-mail: [email protected]
Newsletter e-mail: [email protected]
__________
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
FOR 07/14
Balance from 04/14
Dues Received since 04/14
Coin Sales Net since 04/14
Available for 07/14
$2755.47
$475.00
$29.04
$3259.51
Cost of 04/14 issue (8 pages—528
copies)
Postage:
$158.93
Paper:
$190.08
Envelopes:
$36.96
Small Envelopes
$0
Printing Costs:
$380.16
Labor:
$130.00
TOTAL COSTS:
$896.13
Balance Remaining for 10/14
$2363.38
Dues of $20.00 are due in January of each year. If you have not
submitted your dues, you may still
do so by sending them to Premier
Reunion Services at the address
below. Be sure to state that they
are for the Bryce Canyon Update.
__________
Published By:
Premier Reunion Services
PO Box 11438
Hickory, NC 28603
828-256-6008 (voice)
828-256-6559 (fax)
[email protected]
[email protected]
Web site: www.mlrsinc.com/brycecanyon
“Our Reunions Work So You Don’t Have To”
WELCOME MAT
The USS BRYCE CANYON Association announces the following former crewman has recently been
located. Welcome aboard and we
hope to see you at the next reunion.
William Clinard (1975-77)
1216 Washington St
Harper, KS 67058
620-491-3691
[email protected]
Joe Taylor (1965-67)
2044 Phillips Cir
Leeds, AL 35094
205-613-0100
[email protected]
Ronald Summery
(1961-62) MM3
242 N Putnam St
Meredosia, IL 62665
217-370-0517
Rene Cazenave
(1952-54) Opticle Shop
PO Box 251
Sutter Creek, CA 95685
209-257-5725
James Pendo
(1965-67) Machine Accountant
122 Timberwood Dr
Williamsburg, VA 23188
757-566-4223
__________
TAPS
The Bryce Canyon Update
learned of the following shipmates’
deaths since the last newsletter.
Every member of the Association
sends his heartfelt sympathy to the
families and friends of the deceased.
Tilden Fleming
Plankowner (1950-51) FPG3
Died April 14, 2014
John Holman (1958-61)
Died March 26, 2013
William Asplund
(1951-55) MR1 5th Div
Died June 19, 2013
Abundio Gonzales (1952-54)
Died May 25, 2013
Frank Birt
(1971-74) Sr. Chief Storekeeper
Died January 21, 2012
Charles Schmitt
(1950-53) MM2 5th Div
Died July 29, 2009
George Karol, Jr
(1950-52) MEG2 6th Div
Died November 25, 2013
Courtland Smith
(1962-Decomm) MR3
Died May 26, 2014
__________
LIMITED NUMBER OF CHALLENGE COINS AVAILABLE
There is still a very limited
number of the Challenge Coins
available for sale. Send payment of $15.50 to Premier Reunion Services, PO Box 11438,
Hickory, NC 28603.
Volume 19,
Issue 2
Page 3
“THE” TATTOO by Roy Akers SK-2 USS Bryce Canyon (AD-36) 1956-60
As I recall, it was in early 1957 not
long after I first reported for duty
aboard the Bryce Canyon. It was on a
normal mid-week liberty day after completing my chores, either swabbing the
deck or chipping paint somewhere on
the ship. I had the unfortunate luck of
having been assigned to “X” Division
directly out of boot camp, because I
had missed an opportunity to go on to
school and was left in limbo.
However, this is not a story of my
trials and tribulations as a member of X
-Division—this is a much more interesting story of one of my adventures
ashore or, as some might say, misadventures ashore.
As soon as I showered and went
from my dungarees to a dress uniform,
I hit the quarterdeck and waited along
with a lot of my shipmates for the next
liberty boat. From the boat landing I
made my way towards the Main Gate
and the city bus stop. After a crowded
bus ride loaded with lots of eager sailors and base civilian personnel, some
headed home to their families while
others headed into the city of Long
Beach to try their luck! Or not!
After many stops and a bumpy ride
over the old pontoon bridge that separated Terminal Island from the city, I
headed straight for the “7-Seas Locker
Club” so that I could change into my
“civvies”. Soon I was in the locker room
surrounded by a bunch of other sailors
and marines already there, preparing
for their evening ahead. Uniforms were
quickly replaced by Levis or Cords and
shirts of every type imaginable, from
short sleeve prints to pearl buttoned
long sleeve cowboy shirts.
The front of the “7-Seas” was like
one big military supply store, offering
everything from sew-on insignia patches, almost every military ribbon or
medal ever awarded and even tailormade uniforms, including Navy dress
blues with Chinese Dragons sewn on
the inside of the cuffs. Some of the
newer members, mostly recruits, both
“swabbies” & “jarheads”, probably
bought their first pack of cigarettes at a
7-Seas Locker Club, either there or in
San Diego.
I do remember of having a plan for
that evening and it was a simple one. I
had decided to take in a movie, go to
the “Pike Amusement Park”, eat dinner, ride a few rides and hopefully,
be back to the ship before lights out.
That was the plan.
After strolling up and down Ocean
Boulevard, checking out the theatre
marques and reading the movie
posters, to see who was starring in
them, I decided on a Hal Wallis movie called “The Rose Tattoo”, starring
Burt Lancaster and the Italian actress Anna Magnani. Apparently the
movie had won a number of academy awards, including best actress for
Magnani. Most of the sailors and
marines, who came to town to see a
movie, came to watch “skin flicks”,
not something as serious as “The
Rose Tattoo”. However, I was alone
and I liked good movies and that is
the one I chose.
The gist of the movie was; this
woman had lost her husband, who
she loved very much, in a terrible
wreck. Her married name had been
Serafina Delle Rose and her husband, as a sign of his love, had a
rose tattooed on his chest. After
three years of mourning his loss she
met Burt Lancaster and later, after
an evening of drinking, in which she
told him about her husband and his
tattoo, Burt, in a show of his devotion
went out and had a rose tattooed on
his own chest. However, when he
returned later, and Serafina saw it,
she went into a fit of rage and threw
him out of the house, saying it disrespected her late husband. The movie
continues on with tragedy after tragedy and lots of dark emotion and
tears.
By the time I walked out of the
theatre I had made up my mind, I
was going to be a macho man, like
Burt Lancaster, and get a tattoo of
my own. But, as soon as I got to the
closest tattoo parlor, just a few doors
away, I had gone from getting a rose
tattoo of my own to absolutely no
idea of what I wanted or where on
my anatomy I wanted to put it! Too
late to turn back. I had already entered the tattoo parlor and an older
gentleman (probably in his 30’s or
40’s) and covered with tattoos, asked
me what he could do for me.
I was too embarrassed to turn
around and go back out the door and
too ashamed to admit that I didn’t
have a clue! In my mind I had already eliminated the idea of a rose
on my almost hairless 17 year old
chest and the idea of girlfriend’s
name was out of the question. I didn’t have one! The old guy kept offering suggestions like; “Mom”, my
ship’s name, “U.S. Navy”, a “Dragon”
or a “Serpent” and many others. Finally, he gave up and suggested that
I should look at all of the pictures he
had throughout the place, covering
all the walls. He said if that didn’t
work I should look through the photo
albums he had on the counter and
maybe I would find something there.
While he started working on another
guy, who obviously knew what he
wanted, I looked at what must have
been hundreds of tattoos, both on
the walls and in the albums. To no
avail! The more I looked the more I
became convinced that I no longer
wanted a tattoo!
Totally frustrated, and humiliated
at my indecision, I attempted to quietly slip out the front door. But, before I could reach the handle on the
door he was on me like a crow on
fresh “road kill”. I was trapped!
Before I knew it, I was sitting in
one of the “barber” type chairs, behind the counter and he was cleaning the surface of my left forearm
with antiseptic, preparing to tattoo
my name ”Roy”, in script, from an
original drawing that he had created
just for me. He had convinced me
that it would be an “original” and he
would never do another just like it. I
agreed and watched as he tattooed
with one hand and wiped the blood
and ink off with the other.
Well, here it is some 57 years
later and, he was right! I have never
seen another quite like it and over
the years, whenever anyone saw my
tattoo, I would get comments like,
“What is it anyway? Why would you
get your own name tattooed on yourself?” And then, many years later,
(Continued on page 4)
BRYCE CANYON UPDATE
(Continued from page 3)
after my son, probably a teenager at
the time, became the first one to refer
to my tattoo as the “duck”! And, guess
what? That old “original” piece of tattooed art work, entitled “Roy” and written in script, with the quotation marks
on either side, looks just like a “duck”!
And, today, to all three of my children
and all six of my grandchildren, it is,
COURTLAND HAL
SMITH
. Courtland Hal Smith passed away in
his sleep on May 26, 2014. He was
72. He came aboard Bryce Canyon in
1962 and served as an MR3. He was
there until 1964 or ‘65 when they decommissioned the Canyon. He was
then sent to Bremerton, WA. He was
living in Porterville, CA where he had
lived for many years. He leaves behind a wife, one son and one daughter. He was called Smitty aboard ship
and rode motorcycles with me in Hawaii.
Submitted by Larry McKelvy
BC HISTORY BOOK
PHOTO SUBMISSION
DEADLINE
To all shipmates wishing to submit
photos to be included in the Bryce
Canyon History Book, please submit
any photos you wish to be included in
the history book no later then Saturday, August 16, 2014. This will allow
me sufficient time to add the images
to the book, and have sample copies
printed in time to take them to the reunion this coming October. This would
be nice to purchase as a gift for your
husbands or grandchildren.
Send to:
Bruce Campbell
3162 Isadora Drive
San Jose, CA 95132-1920
Email to: [email protected]
Page 4
and will always be, a “duck”.
Today, as I watch television shows
such as “The Voice” and “Amazing
Race” and I see participant after participant, men and women, with multiple tattoos, including many with full
“sleeves” of them, and I can’t help but
recall that one evening of liberty, accompanied by lots of mental anguish,
and I must admit, a certain amount of
pain, at getting just one, small, simple, blue tattoo. Not a “sleeve”, or
even the beginnings of one, just a
tattoo that is either; “Roy”, or a
“duck”, depending on whose looking
at it. Maybe, just maybe, I should
have opted for “U.S.S. Bryce Canyon,
AD-36”, instead of the “duck”?
GEORGE KAROL
George Joseph Karol, Jr., passed
away on November 25, 2013 at his
home in Chesapeake, VA. He was
87. In his own words, he would tell
you that despite growing up during
the Great Depression and living
through multiple wars, he had survived, thrived, and prospered and
that in spite of it all, he had run a
good race and that his blessings
were many.
Born in Philadelphia to Hungarian
immigrant parents, George was one
of thirteen children. George entered
the Navy at 18 and served in the Pacific as a Water Tender and Metal
Smith onboard: USS SEA PERCH
(USAT), USS CHIKASKIA (AO-54),
USS BAIRKO (CVE-115), AND THE
USS BRYCE CANYON (AD-36).
Most of the time, he and his shipmates spent their time underway
providing fuel and stores to the many
Task Forces engaged in the Pacific
theater. He survived the infamous
typhoon of 1944, witnessed the unconditional surrender of Japan, participated in the occupation of Japan,
and the atomic bomb testing at the
Bikini atoll.
After the Korean War, George
returned to Philadelphia and worked
as a laborer for the Atlantic Richfield
Oil Company (ARCO), eventually
working his way through the ranks to
Lead Draftsman in the Engineering
Department. From ARCO he then
moved to support the British Petroleum (BP) refinery in Marcus Hook,
DE. His final years in the oil production industry (some 44 yrs. worth)
were as an independent contractor
serving as union trades liaison for
the refineries in the PennsylvaniaDelaware industrial complex.
Although woodworking was his
favorite hobby, his most cherished
time was spent with his family.
George is survived by his loving wife
of 57 years, Phyllis; his son, George
of Chesapeake, VA; his daughter,
Holly Beth of Tampa, FL; and grandchildren Katelind, Aleksandra, John,
Grace, Morgan, Gavin and Shay;
one brother, John, and one sister,
Olga.
__________
Jesse House, BT2, 1953-56, brought his cruise book to the San Francisco Reunion and apparently left it
there. If anyone might have recovered it or knows its whereabouts, he would like to have it back. Contact Mr.
House at 707-584-7705 or 3855 Primrose Ave, Santa Rosa, CA 95407. Thank you for any help you can give him.
Page 5
BRYCE CANYON UPDATE
FROM AN OLD
SHIPMATE
I served on Bryce Canyon from
Feb. 1956 thru Dec 1959 in R-4 Division. I played on the baseball and
basketball teams. I reported aboard
from EM “A” school, San Diego, CA
as an EMFA. Would love to hear from
anyone who served during these
years. I was promoted to EM1 in Oct
1959 and decided to make the Navy a
career.
I served on the following ships and
stations and retired as a LT (USN)
March 1979:
EM1—1960-62 Harbor Defense Unit,
San Francisco, CA
EMCA—1962-64—USS Strong (DD758)
EMC—1964-68—USS Bigelow (DD942)
WO1—1968 USS Forest Royal (DD872)
WO1—1968—OCS—Newport, RI
CWO2—1968-72—USS Saratoga (CV60)
LTJG—1972-74—EOD School, Indiana,
HD, MD
LTJG—1974 USS Cascade (AD-16)
Naples, Italy
LTJG—1974—Comservfor Sixth Fleet,
Naples, Italy
LT—1974--77—USS Piedmont (AD-17)
Naples, Italy
LT—1977-79—OX Sima Little Creek.
VA
My family and I enjoyed every minute of our time in the Navy. Would
not change any part of our time.
Buford E Latham
1921 Cavendish Ct
Viera, Fla 32955
321-433-8138
__________
REMEMBERING JULY 1969
AND THIS AIN’T NO SEA STORY
By Sam Henke
Remembering back 45 years ago to
the month, the month of July 1969 and
what it meant historically to the shipmates on the USS Bryce Canyon, to
the people of the United States and
probably to the people of the world.
The month started out with the 193rd
Independence Day celebration on July
4th. Next we knew of our departure for
Pearl Harbor, (Oahu) Hawaii, but we
also were told of our Homeport being
changed to Pearl Harbor from Long
Beach, CA. After several days of loading Ship’s Stores/Cargo and Automobiles, and my best recollection we left
July 12, 1969, on a 6 day cruise to Hawaii. We arrived at the channel to Pearl
Harbor late morning July 17, 1969 and
tied up to the pier at Ford Island, not
far from the Arizona Memorial, and
straight across from the main part of
the naval base.
The next day was pretty much back
to normal routine in the shop. At that
time, I was Shop P.O. (Petty Officer) in
charge of the Shop, making sure all the
shop personnel had a job/jobs to do
and/or doing their duties, and one of
my main priorities that day, was to get
the TV* in our shop working (several
years before I came aboard ship, there
were 5 or 7 guys in the shop who went
together and bought a 15” portable
TV). They mounted it up in the corner,
next to the hull and above the work
bench, right at the overhead for best
viewing (and no one was allowed to
work near the TV; they didn’t want the
TV screen smashed/busted). As those
5 to 7 guys departed the shop or ship,
by getting out of the Navy or being
transferred, they would will their share
of the TV to one of the other guys in
the shop. So by this time, I ended up
with almost all the shares, so I
reigned over the TV. I wanted a good
signal reception between our antenna and the TV. (I made the antenna** a few years before because of
poor reception, which was done pretty quickly.) The reason being the
hype was really starting to build
about man landing on the moon and
man walking on the moon. We had
been out to sea the last 6 days and
wanted to know what was going on,
because Apollo 11’s lunar module
(Eagle) was to land on the moon on
July 20, 1969.
So, on Sunday, July 20, 1969,
around 6:17 a.m. (Hawaii time), Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin
E. Aldrin, Jr. landed on the moon. (It
seems to me I stood by for somebody in the shop that had duty that
weekend and had the last watch,
which was from 4:00 a.m. to 7:00
a.m. on Sundays.) Then, about 6½
hours later or around 12:30/12:45
p.m. (noon Hawaii time), Astronaut
Neil Armstrong stepped out of the
Lunar Module (actually you probably
have to say he crawled out of the
Lunar Module), and really made
some history for mankind. I was really proud to be an American at that
time and moment. As this was all
happening, besides the other guys in
the duty section from R-Div. Shop,
there were other shipmates coming
into the shop to watch this historical
moment. It was pretty much a full
shop, even sailors standing in the
two doorways trying to see, or at
least listen to the live coverage by
the narrator of what was taking
(Continued on page 6)
*Notes: To the best of my r ecollection, ther e wer e only 2 TV sets ar ound the enlisted men’s areas of authorization. That being the one in our shop (R-Div) and the one in/
on the Starboard side—forward corner or the mess decks, which was a lounge/leisure
area.
**Notes: Was without some contr over sy, usually with the Captain, especially when
underway, he would look out the portholes on the Bridge toward the bow of the ship and
say, “What the hell is a TV antenna doing up there?” But the reign of R-Div Shop would
prevail in the end. (I think with a lot of help from Lt. Robert Kronberger, Chief Engineering Officer.)
Samuel (Sam) Henke
BRYCE CANYON UPDATE
(Continued from page 5)
place. There was a lot of talking going
on and it was getting louder and louder. I had to say several times, “Shut
up or get out, people. I want to hear
what’s going on.” So after their 49
minutes of moon surface activities and
their return to the Lunar Module, the
talk in the shop really got going again,
which was O.K. then. I don’t remember any of the exact things that were
said, but I do remember how proud
and jubilant everybody was at what
the two astronauts had accomplished
and practically all the sailors were
saying and agreeing, “Yeah, boy, people will be talking about this forever.”
“Yeah, yeah, you said it.” I can still
remember that and can hear it in the
back of my mind right now, just like I
was there again. So, about 14 hours
after Astronaut Neil Armstrong had
stepped out of the Lunar Module, and
their return to the inside to rest and
sleep for 7 hours, it was time for them
to leave the moon. That would be
around 2:30 a.m. in the morning of
July 21, 1969 (Hawaii time). I told
whoever had the 12:00 (0:00) to 4:00
a.m. watch to come and wake me up
at around 2:00 a.m. (I don’t remember
who that person was) because I wanted to see and hear the lift-off from the
moon. Several other shipmates had
the same idea, and we watched until
they hooked up with Columbia, the
Command Module, with Astronaut
Michael Collins operating it.
Now, all we had to do was wait
until they splashed down in the Pacific
Ocean and be picked up by the USS
Hornet. It would then be put in a trailer
-like module for quarantine and
brought back to Pearl Harbor and then
be transferred from the USS Hornet to
a flat bed trailer and taken over to
Hickam Air Force Base. Then they
would be flown back to the main side
U.S.A. to Johnson Space Center in
Houston, Texas.
Now, for the rest of the story:
On Saturday, July 26, 1969, (which
I had the weekend Duty), late that
morning, the USS Hornet was to arrive around 10:00 or 10:30 a.m. at
Pearl Harbor. I wanted badly to get
pictures of her sailing by us as she
pulled into the harbor. My camera
wasn’t a real good one, but it was all I
could afford and I could operate it. I
think it was one of those 35 mm cameras that was kind of long, maybe 1”
or 1½” thick and about 2” deep and
you put one of those funny looking
cartridges (with film inside) in the
camera by popping it open and slapping in the cartridge, which held and/
or let you take 24 pictures or so.
About every 10 minutes or so, I
walked out of the shop over to the port
side of the ship on the main deck with
my trusty camera in my shirt pocket
and looked toward the channel of the
harbor to see if the USS Hornet was
approaching. Finally after several trips
(starting at 9:45 a.m.) I could see the
bridge (island) of the USS Hornet
coming into the channel of the harbor,
having to look past and beyond the
shipyard cranes and their high booms,
to see it moving along slowly. I figured
by now she had some tugs tied up to
her. Just as I thought things were running smoothly and I was excited about
getting some pictures of the USS Hornet and maybe of the astronauts in
the quarantine module and/or the
space capsule/command module,
which was hopefully out on the flight
deck, one of the other duty section
guys with me that weekend came out
on the main deck next to me and said,
“We got a problem. Just got a call that
there is some kind of situation down in
the ship’s galley.” I said, “Can’t it
wait?” He said, “No, they need us right
now. We have to take care of it now
because they’re starting noon chow
and they can’t start until it’s fixed.” I
said, “O.K. I’ll meet you down there in
a minute.” So, I took my camera back
into the shop, put it in my sea locker
and told the other duty section guy
sitting in the shop, “Come on, let’s go.
We got work to do down on the mess
decks.” By the time I got down to the
mess decks, I was boiling over, I was
so mad. I met up with the other duty
section guy that went down ahead of
us and asked him, “What’s going on?
What’s the problem?” He said, “The
galley mess cooks plugged up a
drain.” I said, “You get those SOBs in
here right now!” When they got there
(in very short order) I said, “I should
stuff you guys down the drains, you
stupid *!%?$. Now get busy. You’re
going to do all the work for being so
Page 6
lazy in the first place.” Besides the
plugged up drain, they broke a PTrap off the sink drain, so that had to
be fixed. That was the real emergency that stopped noon chow from
starting. I told the Head Cook, “You
owe me big time.” We got the job
done pretty fast, but not fast enough,
because by the time I got back up on
the port side of the main deck, the
USS Hornet was just passing by and
what I was seeing was the aft end
and/or the stern of the ship. I did see
the Space Capsule on the after flight
deck, so I ran to the shop to get my
camera and got back out on the port
side of the 01 level and took two pictures of the USS Hornet as it was
pulling into the main pier over at the
main part of the Naval Base.
Then it was back into the shop
where the TV had been going all
morning long with coverage and anticipation of the arrival of the USS
Hornet. Once the USS Hornet was
tied up to the pier and secured, off
loading procedures of its historic and
valuable cargo commenced. This
pier, where the USS Hornet was tied
up, is or was usually called the carrier pier and was adjacent to the main
gate, a very short distance away.
Outside the main gate were people
as far as you could see, lining the
street (called Nimitz Highway, and by
the way, about 10 years ago I discovered that maybe Admiral Chester
W. Nimitz is a distant relative of my
family as his mother’s maiden name
was Ann Henke.) anticipating the
astronauts in their quarantine module, leaving the Naval Base in order
to go to Hickam Air Force Base for
their flight main side U.S.A. The
street lined with thousands and thousands of people were being held
back by lines of police, military police
and military personnel, not letting
people go near the quarantined module, not knowing what the effects
could be. The TV coverage was by a
local TV announcer team and it didn’t
sound like they were from Hawaii.
They talked about all the people
showing up, lining the street on both
sides, going way back 10 to maybe
30 deep, in trees to get a better view,
on top of cars and on top of whatever
to get a view. They said the route
(Continued on page 7)
Volume 19,
Issue 2
(Continued from page 6)
distance was about two miles long from
the main gate at the Naval Base to the
main gate at Hickam Air Force Base
and that would be their coverage. Also
they said they were on a flat bed truck
with cameras, audio equipment and
microphones at a desk and would be
proceeding off to one side and just a
ways in front of the trailer hauling the
quarantined module, at a speed of
about 3 to 5 MPH, thus making sure all
the people who turned out for this historical moment would be able to view
the three astronauts in the quarantine
module.
Finally, a little past noon, the vehicle
pulling the trailer with the quarantined
module and astronauts started through
the main gate and the parade-like procession commenced flowing smoothly.
The announcing team was talking
about the astronauts and what they just
accomplished, how the crowd was receiving them by waving, cheering, chatting and applauding. After moving a
hundred or so feet, the commentator
brought to the attention of the television
viewers, a little boy about 10 or 11
years old the commentator estimated,
who had somehow eluded the police
security lines and was running between
their vehicle and the trailer with the astronauts. He was waving at them as he
was running. One of the cameras focused in on the little boy, then another
camera showed the astronauts waving
back to the little boy. The cameras
would move around showing the crowd
of people waving, cheering and applauding from whatever angle or viewpoint they could get and find (some
were very unique). After several
minutes or so, the one cameraman
swung back down to the little boy and
the commentator would say, “He’s still
with us. Look at him.” He would run for
a ways, turning slightly, raising his right
arm and hand and wave at them for a
distance until his arm got tired, and
then he would put it back down and
continue jogging along with the announcer talking about him and the astronauts acknowledging his existence
by waving back and pointing, talking
among themselves. The cameras
would swing back to the crowds of people. This same routine continued on
until the commentator felt the proces-
Page 7
sion had traveled more than a mile or
halfway or better and said to the announcer, “How much further can this
little tyke go?” They continued to talk
about the little guy for a while as the
procession continued on. After a
while the announcer said, “I see the
main gate to Hickam Air Force Base
and there are still thousands of people wanting a glimpse of the astronauts.” The commentator said, “And
yes, our little buddy is still with us. It
looks like to the end. Do you realize
that he ran that whole route, and
that’s two miles. I couldn’t do that. I
would’ve quit a long time ago. The
space program better keep an eye on
this little tyke. That’s the kind of people they need.”
The vehicle pulling the trailer with
the quarantined module and astronauts went through the main gate at
Hickam Air Force Base. The little boy
was stopped by the Gate Guard with
the camera on him the whole time.
As he stood looking at the trailer with
the quarantined module and the astronauts, his right arm and hand were
still waving. The commentator said,
“Those astronauts must be really big
heroes to that little boy and in his
heart.” As the trailer and module
turned out of the little boy’s sight, his
arm dropped to his side, he looked
for a little bit, then turned and started
walking back with his head looking
toward the ground. That’s when the
cameras switched back to the local
TV studio.
One of the sailors that was in the
shop watching the televising of the
event piped up and said, “I bet they
paid that kid to do that!” I got up out
of my chair and turned to him and
said, “You couldn’t have done that.
He is a better man than you, and I
don’t want to hear another word out
of you. Get out of my shop now.” He
turned and walked out.
Oh, it’s not over yet.
As the hoopla curtailed and the
crowd in the shop started dispersing,
things were returning back to the normal low-key weekend duty fashion.
Half hour or so after, boredom
seemed to set in. I thought it would
be a good time to make a security
check of the ship (fire, flooding, theft,
which was our procedures while
standing watch on duty). Leaving the
shop and heading aft down the main
deck outside passageway, I met a
sailor that I knew pretty well and in
passing he said, “Did you see the
astronauts and all those people out
along the streets trying to get a gander at them? Hasn’t this been crazy?” “Yeah,” I said. “I’ll be remembering this the rest of my life.” He said,
“Yeah, me too. Oh, by the way, did
you know that the Space Capsule is
right over there in the old hangar
building?” “What!” I said. “You got to
be kidding me! I was trying to get
some pictures of it on the USS Hornet as it passed by us here in the
waterway, but I was down on the
mess decks and galley with a
plugged drain and broken P-Trap,
so I didn’t really get a good picture of
it, just a long distance shot of it on
the fantail as the USS Hornet was
about to dock at the carrier pier. I’ll
go get my camera and go over there
and get some close-up pictures of it.”
He interrupted me and said, “Oh, oh
no, you can’t take any pictures.
They’ve got 6 Marines posted around
it with rifles and the sailors that were
there were saying you can’t take pictures.” “O, damn,” I said. “Well, I’ll go
over and look at it anyhow. That’s
better than not seeing it at all.”
“Yeah,” he said. I said, “Thanks for
telling me, otherwise I probably
wouldn’t have known about it.
Thanks again. See you later.” He
said, “See you later.” So I started
heading for the after bow to get off
the ship and head over to the hangar
building, which is like only 300 or 400
feet from the ship. As I’m walking
back there, it hit me—I can’t leave
the ship. I’ve got duty. I thought to
myself, “I’ll go ask my Duty Officer if
it’s okay to go off the ship and over
to the hangar building to look at the
Space Capsule, yeah.” I finally found
him and explained what I wanted and
he said it was fine with him, but to tell
the others in my duty section what
and where I would be and also check
in with the Officer of the Deck and
(Continued on page 8)
BRYCE CANYON UPDATE
(Continued from page 7)
get his OK. So, I did all of that and
headed on over there to see the Space
Capsule. Once inside the hangar building, I walked up as close as I could
(without getting shot, which wasn’t all
that close, like 60 or 70 feet from it).
Looking at it I thought, “WOW, WOW,
I’m really looking at history. Three men
went up in this and two of them went
on, in another spaceship and landed
on the moon and then got out if it and
walked on the moon.” There was probably a couple dozen other sailors and
some officers there looking too. (I wondered what was going through their
minds.) Then I started looking around
the hangar building to see if I could find
a spot that I could hide behind and not
be seen taking pictures. Then I overheard two sailors talking as they were
leaving say that the Space Capsule will
be here tomorrow, maybe several
days. O.K, I thought, that gives me tonight to think about how I’m going to
take pictures tomorrow, so I went back
to the ship.
The next morning, around 10:00
a.m., when most everyone is laid back,
others are at or going to church services, I went looking for my Duty Officer (and I’d already told my duty section guys, that I’m going to leave the
ship and go over to the hangar building) and eventually found him. I ex-
USS Hornet coming into channel
Sea Story by Sam Henke:
I wanted to be an Admiral, but that
didn’t work out. (The Navy recruiter
neglected to inform me that it takes
longer than 4 years to make Admiral
when he said, “Who knows, maybe you
could make Admiral.” He is probably
plained to him again that I wanted to
go over to the hangar building again
to look at the Space Capsule. He
looked at me kind of funny and I
said, ”It was kind of fast yesterday
and there was a crowd.” He said,
“OK, but tell your duty section guys
where you’ll be and check with the
Office of the Deck and get his OK.”
“Yes, Sir,” I said, and I was on my
way. So I went back to the shop after
checking with the Officer of the Deck,
got my camera and headed for the
hangar building. I kind of had a plan,
but when I got inside the building and
looked around, there were NO MARINES! I thought, “ AH HA!” There
were 3 or 4 guys in long white coats
working on the Space Capsule. I kind
of stood around looking at the Space
Capsule and the men in the same
general area I was the day before.
As I was watching the men, it looked
to me that they were pretty busy, so I
took out my camera from my shirt
pocket and took a picture, then stuck
the camera back into my shirt pocket. Then I moved more to my left
and a little closer and when it looked
like they were busy, I took out my
camera again and took another picture. So then I moved back to my
right and even closer and now I was
getting pretty darn close to those
men working. I stood there looking
Page 8
and looking and I’m trying to think of
a story (actually a lie) if they asked
me why I was taking pictures. I was
going to say, “I’m taking pictures of
the Space Capsule for our ship’s
newsletter.” So I pulled my camera
out of my pocket and took another
picture. I finished, put the camera
back in my pocket looked around a
little bit, everything looked OK, so I
turned around and walked out. I got
around the corner of the big hangar
doors and building and thought to
myself, “That was a piece of cake.”
So I got my pictures of the Space
Capsule and now I had to hope they
would turn out OK when I got them
developed.
Now I sit down and think about
that event, how great, how really,
really great that was for America and
for history. It must be the greatest
event ever, maybe bigger than the
Wright Brothers (Orville and Wilbur),
but then again I think, well, without
what Orville and Wilbur did in 1903,
or if they hadn’t done what they did,
maybe there wouldn’t have been a
man walking on the moon. But this is
the United States of America.
By Samuel (Sam) Henke, SFM2
SFM2 indicated Petty Officer Second
Class, Ship Fitter Metal Engineering
Department
R-Div. Shop
Space Capsule in hangar building
selling used cars telling everyone, “This
car was driven only on Sundays by a
little old lady to church and back, but,
he forgets to mention she’s “The Little
Old Lady from Pasadena”—Beach Boys
1964. So after I got out, I ended up becoming a construction-journeyman pipe/
welder/pipefitter with Local Union
82/26, Tacoma, WA.
P.S. I had to leave out the cuss words,
but use your imagination. Remember,
you were a sailor.