I liked standing on the bridge wing at sunrise with salt spray in my face and clean ocean winds whipping in from the four quarters of the globe - - the ship beneath me feeling like a living thing as her engines drove her swiftly through the sea.

I liked the sounds of the Navy - the piercing trill of the boatswains’ pipe, the syncopated clang of the ship's bell on the quarterdeck, the harsh squawk of the 1MC, and the strong language and laughter of sailors at work.

I liked Navy vessels -- nervous darting destroyers (they were called 'tin cans' for a reason), plodding fleet auxiliaries and amphibs, sleek submarines and steady solid aircraft carriers.

I liked the proud names of Navy ships: Bennington, Midway, Lexington , Bunker Hill, Saratoga, Coral Sea, Antietam, Valley Forge - - memorials of great battles won and tribulations overcome.

I liked the lean angular names of Navy "tin-cans" and escorts - - Kenneth D. Bailey DDR-713, Barney, Dahlgren, Mullinix, McCloy, Damato, Leftwich, Mills, Stickell, Noa, Paul, Coontz, T.C. Hart, Glover - - mementos of heroes who went before us. And the others - - San Jose , San Diego , Los Angeles , St. Paul , Chicago - - named for our cities.

I liked the tempo of a Navy band blaring through the topside speakers as we pulled away from the oiler after refueling at sea. (I missed this thrill...) I liked Liberty Call and the spicy scent of a foreign port.

I even liked the never-ending paperwork and all-hands working parties as the ship filled herself with the multitude of supplies, both critical and mundane in order to cut ties to the land and carry out her mission anywhere on the globe where there was water to float her.

I liked sailors, officers and enlisted men, from all parts of the land; farms of the Midwest, small towns of New England , from the cities, the mountains and the prairies, from all walks of life. I trusted and depended on them as they trusted and depended on me - for professional competence, for comradeship, for strength and courage. In a word, they were "shipmates"; then and forever.

I liked the surge of adventure in my heart, when the word was passed: "Now set the special sea and anchor detail - all hands to quarters for leaving port," and I liked the infectious thrill of sighting home again, with the waving hands of welcome from family and friends waiting pier side.

The work was hard and dangerous; the going rough at times; the parting from loved ones painful, but the companionship of robust Navy laughter, the "all for one and one for all" philosophy of the sea was ever present.

I liked the serenity of the sea after a day of hard ship's work, as flying fish flitted across the wave tops and sunset gave way to night.

I liked the feel of the Navy in darkness -- the masthead and range lights, the red and green navigation lights and stern light, the pulsating phosphorescence of radar repeaters - they cut through the dusk and joined with the mirror of stars overhead. And I liked drifting off to sleep lulled by the myriad noises large and small and the rocking from side to side that told me my ship was alive and well, and that my shipmates on watch would keep me safe.

I liked quiet mid watch with the aroma of strong coffee -- the lifeblood of the Navy permeating everywhere.

And I liked hectic watches when the exacting minuet of haze-gray shapes racing at flank speed kept all hands on a razor edge of alertness. (Some times those shapes came too damn close.)

I liked the sudden electricity of "General quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations," followed by the hurried clamor of running feet on ladders and the resounding thump of watertight doors as the ship transformed herself in a few brief seconds from a peaceful workplace to a weapon of war -- ready for anything.

And I liked the sight of space-age equipment manned by youngsters clad in dungarees and sound-powered phones that their grandfathers would still recognize.

I liked the traditions of the Navy and the men and women who made them. I liked the proud names of Navy heroes: Halsey, Nimitz, Perry, Farragut, John Paul Jones and Burke. A sailor could find much in the Navy: comrades-in-arms, pride in self and country, mastery of the seaman's trade. An adolescent could find adulthood.

In years to come, when sailors are home from the sea, they will still remember with fondness and respect the ocean in all its moods - the impossible shimmering mirror calm and the storm-tossed green water surging over the bow. And then there will come again a faint whiff of stack gas, a faint echo of engine and rudder orders, a vision of the bright bunting of signal flags snapping at the yardarm, a refrain of hearty laughter in the wardroom and chief's quarters and mess decks.

Gone ashore for good they will grow wistful about their Navy days, when the seas belonged to them and a new port of call was ever over the horizon. Remembering this, they will stand taller and say, "I WAS A SAILOR ONCE AND I WOULD DO IT AGAIN."

a shot of whisky

In the old west a .45 cartridge for a six-gun cost 12 cents and so did a glass of whiskey. If a cowhand was low on cash he would often give the bartender a cartridge in exchange for a drink. This became known as a "shot" of whiskey.

the whole nine yards

American fighter planes in WW2 had machine guns that were fed by a belt of cartridges. The average plane held belts that were 27 feet (9 yards) long. If the pilot used up all his ammo he was said to have given it the whole nine yards.

buying the farm

This is synonymous with dying. During WW1 soldiers were given life insurance policies worth $5,000. This was about the price of an average farm so if you died you "bought the farm" for your survivors.

iron clad contract

This came about from the iron-clad ships of the Civil War. It meant something so strong it could not be broken.

passing the buck / the buck stops here

Most men in the early west carried a jackknife made by the Buck Knife company. When playing poker it was common to place one of these Buck knives in front of the dealer so that everyone knew who he was. When it was time for a new dealer the deck of cards and the knife were given to the new dealer. If this person didn't want to deal he would "pass the buck" to the next player. If that player accepted then "the buck stopped there".

riff raff

The Mississippi River was the main way of traveling from north to south. Riverboats carried passengers and freight but they were expensive so most people used rafts. Everything had the right of way over rafts which were considered cheap. The steering oar on the rafts was called a riff and this transposed into riff-raft, or riff-raff, meaning low class.

cobweb

The Old English word for "spider" was "cob".

ship's state rooms

sleep tight

Early beds were made with a wooden frame. Ropes were tied across the frame in a criss-cross pattern. A straw mattress was then put on top of the ropes. Over time the ropes stretched, causing the bed to sag. The owner would then tighten the ropes to get a better night's sleep.

showboat

These were floating theaters built on a barge that was pushed by a steamboat. These played the small towns along the Mississippi River. Unlike the boat shown in the movie "Showboat” these did not have an engine. They were gaudy and attention- grabbing which is why we say someone who is being the life of the party is "showboating".

over a barrel

In the days before CPR a drowning victim would be placed face down over a barrel and the barrel would be rolled back and forth in a effort to empty the lungs of water. It was rarely effective. If you are over a barrel you are in deep trouble.

barge in

Heavy freight was moved along the Mississippi in large barges pushed by steamboats. These were hard to control and would sometimes swing into piers or other boats. People would say they "barged in".

hog wash

Steamboats carried both people and animals. Since pigs smelled so bad they would be washed before being put on board. The mud and other filth that was washed off was considered useless hog wash.

curfew

The word "curfew" comes from the French phrase couvre-feu, which means "cover the fire". It was used to describe the time of blowing out all lamps and candles before sleeping for the night. It was later adopted into Middle English as curfeu, which later became the modern "curfew". In the early American colonies homes had no real fireplaces so a fire was built in the center of the room. In order to make sure a fire did not get out of control during the night it was required that, by an agreed upon time, all fires would be covered with a clay pot called-a curfew.

barrels of oil

When the first oil wells were drilled they had made no provision for storing the liquid, so they used water barrels. That is why, to this day, we speak of barrels of oil, rather than gallons.

hot off the press

As the paper goes through the rotary printing press, friction causes it to heat up; therefore, if you grab the paper right off the press, it is hot. The expression means to get immediate information.

There, don't you feel smarter now?

FLASHBACK

 

It seems like only yesterday, but it was during Kawishiwi's 1971 WestPac deployment in the Tonkin Gulf. We had been unreping carrier task forces in the area when we received news that we would be receiving the cruiser USS Oklahoma City, which was then flying the pennant of ComSeventhFleet. Captain Wyand told all hands that this was a fine occasion to show them our stuff, and then directed all hands to make the ship "ready for inspection". Among other things, all our fuel rigs were dropped to the deck & a combination crew of deck & R-gang meticulously cleaned hoses and fittings inside & out.

The following day, under beautiful clear blue skies, USS Oklahoma City made a smart approach to our port side. What a sight! All their officers & crew in whites, brass polished, beautiful gray hull, holy stoned wood decks, everything in its place.

Shot lines were fired, and soon we were sending fueling rigs amidships and aft. Their forward receiving station was immediately below their bridge, and when our nozzle assembly hit their Robb receiver, it locked in place. They secured the riding line & gave us permission to pump NSFO (Navy Special Fuel Oil or black oil).

We fired up the pumps in our midship pumping station, opened our gate valve, and then it happened. The line pressure surged way over operating range, and our probe kicked out of their receiver! Worse yet, the automatic valve in the nozzle (which only permits flow when the rig is seated) failed to close! Held in place by its riding line, the nozzle assumed an up-angle of about 60°, so now we were shooting 3000 GPM of high pressure black oil right into their bridge! Huge clouds of oil vapor were wafting over the entire ship, officers and men in their pilothouse were either knocked down by the stream or slipping & falling on deck.

At their end, their men grabbed axes & tried to cut the riding line, to drop the rig into the water. But they couldn't cut it, so after about a minute of continuous douche-down, they just executed a hard turn to port. All our rigs just screamed with tension, then parted & fell into the drink. They didn't bother to hold station, they just left us there.

Everyone on board was stunned and speechless. Soon, we had flash traffic in the Comm Shack from Oklahoma City & ComSeventhFlt, which after deleting the expletives, amounted to "What are you guys doing?"

We retrieved our rigs, and investigated why the nozzle valve failed to close. The culprit - a pair of old dungarees (from the rags used earlier to wipe down the hoses inside & out) lodged in the discharge, holding it open and restricting flow (which built up the over-pressure). In our quest for quality control, we had, ahem,a few impurities in deliverable product. What was to be a sharp evolution, ended in disgrace.

Fortunately, no one was hurt. And ships, as well as reputations, can be cleaned up. Embarrassed though we were then, with the passage of enough time, well....there really was something hilarious seeing those guys getting sprayed down!

Respectfully, An Officer of the 70-71 Cruise.

(Reprinted with permission from Vern Bouwman's USS Kawishiwi AO-146 website.)
 

Veterans with one of 14 diseases presumed to be related to the herbicide Agent Orange and who served offshore or in the specified areas of the DMZ, can now file a disability claim with the Department of Veterans to receive benefits, thanks to a law enacted June 25.
 

H.R. 299 extends disability compensation to personnel who served off the coast of the Republic of Vietnam between Jan. 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975. It specifies that veterans must have served on a ship not more than 12 nautical miles off the coast. The expanse of territorial water covered begins on the southwestern demarcation line of Vietnam and Cambodia and runs through several points spelled out in the law.
 

According to Congress and the Department of Veterans Affairs, an estimated 90,000 veterans may be eligible for benefits under the law. Those eligible include veterans with one or more of the presumptive diseases whose claims were previously denied. It also includes those with new claims.

If a veteran is not sure where their vessel was located, but they have one of the associated diseases, they should file a claim anyway -- and do it as soon as possible, according to John Wells, an attorney with Military-Veterans Advocacy.
 

Information on how to file a VA claim for Agent Orange exposure is available on the department's website here.
 

If a veteran has previously been denied and need help appealing their claim, can get assistance from an accredited veterans service organization here.
 

Help is also available through the National Veterans Legal Services Program by email, [email protected] or by phone, 855-333-0677.