Please don’t take this to PM, us newbs are enjoying the history lesson...
Please don’t take this to PM, us newbs are enjoying the history lesson...
Thanks for your interest in history and your ability to recognize and perhaps absorb wisdom. I'm currently reading "Conduct Under Fire" by John Glusman. It came to me as a cast off and I began the read it mostly because it was true and about WWII in Bataan & Corregidor AND, my great uncle Barney had survived the "Bataan Death March". I was thirteen when Grandma and Grandpa took me to visit Great Uncle Barney in Monrovia, Ca. I was under strict orders not to ask him anything "about the war"as he was "shell shocked" (PTSD). That was terribly hard to do as he had a Jap Samurai sword on the mantle AND a pineapple hand grenade next to it. I silently stared at it long enough to get him to come over, pick it up and explain to me just how it worked.....so cool ! Those men endured hardship that we may not be capable of understanding much less surviving. A very humbling and sobering read.What picklesuit said. I hang around here to live vicariously through the experiences of others haha... deeply appreciative of the ability to learn, and also just read flat out cool stories. My first job ever, at the tender age of 14-15 or so, was one of a few dozen volunteers at what is now the Natl WWII Museum, then simply the D Day Museum. Most of the other volunteers were WWII vets, and the summer of the Grand Opening was fortunate enough to guide a large number of D Day and WWII vets through the museum. Talk about humbling, and also a great opportunity for a young'un to sit back, shut up, and listen.
We were never issued one Maddog and I might have declined it or put it aside. I did have a very nice, useful and inexpensive (at the time) Breitling Navitimer that I regularly used the time/distance function on, you know, TACAN ticks off one mile in 20 seconds and the bezel shows 180m/hr. Well, snorkeling at Subic Bay out at Grande Isle, the three of us hid our gear on the beach not visible from the road. We're out 400 yds or so in 20' of water amongst the coral and tropical fish and along comes a banca boat....putt....putt....putt, spies our gear, swings in, beaches, guy jumps out, grabs the gear and back in the boat and off to the distant shores of Subic Bay. Biggest loss; camera, USS Hornet Zippo cig lighter AND my Breitling. Now, that watch would be worth thousands I think. Walked up the brow of the ship in my Speedo with mask, fins and snorkel and barefoot no less....and the OD gave me a ration of shit ! With my recent loss of material possessions, that snapped my "officer and a gentleman" demeanor and I let him have it. Sadly, Uncle Sam saw no reason to compensate me for the loss. Wife rewarded me at Christmastime with an Omega Speedmaster (Moon Watch) which I still have. My "workin' in the woods" everyday watch is a $15 Casio.....as we used to say, "Hell, I'd watch a monkey fuck for $15".@Meffer ...what kind of watch[es] do you wear?
Do you have your issued watch [if there was one issued] from active duty per chance?
My dad was in VS-33 way back when flying STOOFs...because he'll ask, when were you in the squadron?Just got outta "New Member Jail" and wondering what the extent of this community is; aviation experience, boat experience, age spread, gender spread (LOL)
Are you shitin' me ???