New sea stories ..... Yours too

[Francesca]

I like marshmallows...even in "jars"...

Francesca

[sdennislee]

Originally Posted by Wayne M

Bob,
Looks like you were gearing up for a bar fight.

Don't try and confuse the seamen out there. There are 21 piles of "stuff" with a marshmallow on top in that picture.

One good Marine.

I think my class had 3 marines in it at the same institution.

the best marines are navy corpsman. Dad was one

[codgerbill]

I was just thinking about the military uniforms....

They are all pretty spiffy.....but I think the Navy uniform is the only one that allows for some individual personality to show thru. How many sailors style thier white hats differently..and its all perfrctly acceptable. Another thing the navy uniform (dress blues) really have not changed much(except for the white hat). If you look at the civil war uniforms, the Navy has not changed. I was a little miffed when they came out with the chiefs uniform for the E-6 and below.....tradition be damned, Do they still have that suit coat for the lower rates?

[rmmpe]

A barfight?
Moi?

[sdennislee]

Originally Posted by codgerbill

I was just thinking about the military uniforms....

They are all pretty spiffy.....but I think the Navy uniform is the only one that allows for some individual personality to show thru. How many sailors style thier white hats differently..and its all perfrctly acceptable. Another thing the navy uniform (dress blues) really have not changed much(except for the white hat). If you look at the civil war uniforms, the Navy has not changed. I was a little miffed when they came out with the chiefs uniform for the E-6 and below.....tradition be damned, Do they still have that suit coat for the lower rates?

WHile I was in the Navy changed from the traditional dress blues to the ice cream selling uniform. THen before I got out the changed back, unfortunately they changed, they changed it from wool (which was easy to maintain, wipe it with a damp cloth, fold it to get the correct creases and place it under your rack for the night) to some leisure suit like material. Dry clean only.

Not only did we put liberty wings in our white hat but we had the inside of the cuffs and the underside of the flap embroidered with various decorations. If you couldn't afford the cost of the embroidery you bought patches and had them sewn on. Once of the ship you could roll you cuffs up and have your liberty cuffs showing while steaming in town.

[rmmpe]

Yep. 'Tailor-made' Gabardine. I had the dragons embroidered on the inside of the cuffs, underside of the jumper flap and 13 button 'fly'. Wide bell-bottoms, Wellington boots, double-rolled neckerchief and dark blue turtleneck under.

But then I was in Sub Service and those things were viewed with a blind eye.

Until the Skimmers came to port.

[sdennislee]

Originally Posted by rmmpe

Yep. 'Tailor-made' Gabardine. I had the dragons embroidered on the inside of the cuffs, underside of the jumper flap and 13 button 'fly'. Wide bell-bottoms, Wellington boots, double-rolled neckerchief and dark blue turtleneck under.

But then I was in Sub Service and those things were viewed with a blind eye.

Until the Skimmers came to port.

I was a skimmer, had my neckerchief double-rolled as well then steamed. Only downside to double rolled couldn't keep a roll of dimes in it anymore.

[w6pea]

Originally Posted by Wayne M

Bob,
Looks like you were gearing up for a bar fight.

Don't try and confuse the seamen out there. There are 21 piles of "stuff" with a marshmallow on top in that picture.

One good Marine.

I think my class had 3 marines in it at the same institution.

Top
That's well put .

"Don't you forget that you're Marines! Not all the communists in H-ll can overrun you!"
--Col. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, USMC; rallying his First Marine Regiment near Chosin Reservoir, Korea, December 1950

No I was not old enough to hear that quote. I had an Uncle that was a Mustang Marine retired as a Lt.Col. It was his favorite quote.

If We Can't Haul It....You Don't Need It ! Motor-T
U.S. Marines Don't Suffer from Insanity ! We enjoy Every Minute of it!
"Semper Fi"

[mick]

Thinking back......................I used to hitchhike every weekend somewhere. Most times long distance. Most times it seemed in cold or wet weather ( I did a lot of sleeping in the bar ditches back then). Ill give credit due where credit is due.

The Navy had the warmest , dryest overcoats , I could find back then. Imagine, a Marine in uniform, wearing a Navy coat.

[rmmpe]

Oh, we had no trouble with the Skimmer Sailors. It was the SOPA crap that caused us problems. Things like Cinderella Liberty, chicken-shoot SPs, "Out of bounds" establishments, etc.

When we were the only ships in port we enjoyed overnight Liberty, etc.

[Seajay]

Even though our Navy uniform was ''Government Issue'' we made them personal to our selves. We would take the jumper to the tailor shop and have it ''form fitted'' to our chest and waist so there was still room to get into it in a hurry and easy to get out of it as necessary. We usually fitted it over the Navy blue wool sweater for the perfect fit.
The Liberty trousers were 13 button of course and were also ''form fitted'' to my cute little hiney with the ''draw string'' pulled up just so to accentuate the positive. More than once I was pinched on the bumm by some lady that admired a good lookin' man in uniform and I am not talkin' about the B-girls either. The legs of the pants were fitted and sewn to match the top of your legs with a natural ''bell'' on the bottom that just touched the mirrored spit shined shoes. After I got ''saltie'' I wore those ''dress boots'' that look like shoes. The CPO's loved to wear them and so did I. It was a good place to strap your wallet to your leg and to carry an extra pack of smokes sometimes. By doing this you had that ''un-lumpie'' look that the ladies loved.
The ever present Dixie Cup was our trade mark. My ''dress hat'' was dipped in sea water and dried on a hat stretcher after I hand scrubbed it in the shower. I used Ivory soap and never but never put a brush against it. The ''Seamans rake'' was creased into the hat while it was still damp and it was worn low and forward over my right eye brow with just enough ''Forward tilt'' into the wind to look really sharp.
Like you guys the neckerchief was double rolled and tied in a square knot.
The other great thing Sailors have that no one else has is that we walked with a ''Swagger''. Our Marines ''marched, in formation if there was two of them together but the Sailors kinda' ambled with a certain Swagger and you had to be a ''salt sailor'' with a lot of sea miles under your feet to develop that certain Swagger and get it right. The advantage to the ''Swagger'' was that it could evolve into a ''drunk stagger'' after a few hours on shore. lol.... (been there and done that) When our Marines talked to a lady on shore they stood at strict attention, Sailors hooked their right thumb in the waist band of their pants and leaned on their left foot holding our beer in the left hand and sipping occasionally showing we were totally at ease and that we ''Knew that we were doing and we were very capable of doing same more than once if necessary'' (but that is another story)

• There is nothing in this Gods world that looks better than a pretty girl all decked out in your uniform. Most had to fold up the bell bottoms under and use a sash for a waist belt to hold up the trousers. The jumper was always too big and the hat was simply ''dumped'' on her head and the neckerchief was simply tossed around her neck but God, she looked good.
• (my mind is going back to Katy in Scotland now. I would give one thousand dollars cash for a picture of her or that lock of hair tied with a ribbon she gave me but that was another time in another place in my past..... nuff said ....)

The Navy uniform was a very functional, easily maintained uniform. It was warm in winter and relatively cool in summer. It was functional in that it served its purpose well and you could roll it up and place it in your sea bag and travel half way around the world and be ready for a captains inspection simply by putting it under your mattress for one nights sleep on it and it comes out sharp as a tack.
All military uniforms are really sharp but you can dump a thousand military personnel of all branches on a pier and I guarantee you that the ladies will simply migrate to the Sailors like magnets...........

God bless our veterans and all who serve ......

[cj5 jeeper]

This thread brings back a lot of memories. I was in from 64 to 68, my first ship was DE 1036, it is hard to believe how many things a ship can do in a short period of time. I was a gunners mate, and stood deck watch with the deck apes, one night on the twelve to four watch I was on after lookout, they normaly rotate the watch so you don't get to tired. That night they did not send anyone back, I was having trouble staying awake and called several times for someone to releave me, or send back some coffee. The next thing I knew the officer of the watch was waking me. When I went to captians mast and explained what happened, and the officer that busted me said he wanted me reduced in rate. The captan gave me three days in the brig on bread and water, and said he saw I had taken the test for 3rd class (E4), that he would not bust me and if I passed my test if there were no more problems I could sew it on. When the ship returned to Pearl as soon as the ship tied up I was escorted to the brig. I was on a cell block with a bunch of marines that were on dimrats (diminishing rations, the minamum to keep you healthy) I would get half a loaf per meal, and would save some for between meal snacks. The morning I was getting out they gave me a whole loaf. I tossed one slice at a time to the man across from me and they passed them down and they all got a couple of slices. They all thought it was a feast. I was worried someone would drop one and I would end up staying with them. When they released me I found I had scored high on my test and I was scheduled to sew on my stripe in two weeks. No one said anything to me, and two weeks later I went into the ships office filled out the paperwork and put on my crow. My last 14 months was on the ammo pier in Subic. We never went to town when a bird farm and all the escorts were in, prices went way up and there was a lot of trouble. The ladies would treat the base sailors very well, as the best that could happen to one was to get married and get to go to the base store, as they could quit working, reselling things from the store. When we had a steady girlfrend we would never have to buy a beer, we would go to the bar she worked hustling drinks, and the fleet sailors bought all of our beer. When I had two days off, all I needed was socks stuffed with Salem smokes and five dollars. How many of you bought monkey meat from the vendors just outside the gate? I can not belive how many drunk sailors fell into s--t river on the way back to base. I was not there very long before I asked for night shift, it was a longer shift, but only one officer who left you to do your job. When things were slow we would go aboard the civilian ships, meet the crew check out the ship. The day I turned 21 there was an Austrailan merchant ship that had finished offoading and was waiting to pull out. Two of us went aboard and got talking to the crew. The next thing we knew we were in the crews mess drinking beer with them. We were on our third beer when they passed the word looking for us. We ran topside, down the gangplank, it went in and the last lines tere thrown. As we walked back to the pier office we looked at each other and knew we were in deep do do. When we walked in the pier officer looked at me and asked me if it was my 21st birthday, YES SIR !, I can see you are in no shape to work tonight. He then looked at one of the other sailors and said you take one of the pickups give him a ride to the barricks, wait for him to change, then give him a ride out to the main gate. He looked at me and said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY". I do not have to tell you how I celebrated that night!

[Shellback1]

How many of you bought monkey meat from the vendors just outside the gate?

Count me in as one.

[Wayne M]

Ah! Never had the monkey meat out side the main gate, but the Club Oro was our hangout and many a night when we walked out to go back to ship the monkey meat vendors were there. Pretty good stuff. Well, around midnight after a round of many drinks.