Bob Patton writes:

Thanks for the reminder, Dave. I saw it. Cold chills at the discussion of
those things. Didn't see any folks I recognized, though. I talked to my Dad
in some detail a month or two ago about the subject, and I was amazed that
some of my comments to him about contingency orders, the real story not yet
having been told, and other things, were said almost verbatim by some of the
people in the program. Just shows that many of us probably think pretty much
the same way.

hotbunking beside a torpedo; 12-hour watches; kicking the RM out of his
radio room and locking the door; three or four people in a radio room space
not much bigger than the front seat of my car; bi-weekly showers. Using a
25-lb box of TNT as a chair (never really thought about what 25 pounds of
TNT could do to a sub). Movie strips comprised of spliced nude scenes from
every film that came on board (Barbarella!). Endless supplies of rabbit
meat. Bug juice made with confectioners sugar with powder in it that never
dissolved. Water-soluble paper - not compatible with coffee!

On long transits across the Pacific we had nothing at all to do, so it was a
good time to read, work on correspondence courses, etc. I still have a
water-stained economics textbook and assignments that I typed on the IBM
Selectric we had.

Anyway, I guess maybe we done good, buddy.

Bob

d;o) It was 44 years ago for me. The first one there were three of us, so it
was four on and eight off. Ya never really got a good sleep, and hot bunking
didn't help. I still have my purloined gen-u-wine submarine laundry bag that
snapped onto the bunk.

I too didn't see anyone I recognized. I figured they would surely have Capt.
Ed. Beach.

Bi-weekly showers? Man, you had it tough. We showered every day. The thing I
remember best is eating the floor. All the canned goods were stored in the
passage ways and you could tell how long you'd been at sea by the the floor
"disappearing". I don't remember the rabbit meat, but our first two or three
days at sea we ate lobster (east coast sailor d;o) ). I remember getting
hooked on mocha - a bag of cocoa dissolved in a cup of coffee. When we pulled
into a port in Germany and finally had some fresh vegetables, I can remember
removing a green worm from my salad just before I began chomping down. Great
steaks and surprizingly good mashed potatoes. Oatmeal. Lots of oatmeal. The
meals inbetween meals were called "soup-down" and you had soup, sandwiches,
cheese, and usually a good movie.

And the smell of your clothes. You didn't realize you smelled until you went
top-side and breathed fresh air. When we returned to Groton after ops were
secured, we played games with the Brits, acting as a radar picket. On the
surface for several days in rough weather in the North Atlantic. Nearly
everyone aboard, include Beach, were seasick, many with a size 2 can tied
around their neck to vomit into. But, everyone did their jobs. Unbelievable.

Yep, we done pretty good, buddy. I sure as hell wouldn't wanna do it for a
living, though. d;o)

Dave

http://hometown.aol.com/davplac/myhomepage/index.html