In the summer and fall of 1972 President Nixon was desperately looking for a withdrawel with dignity from Vietnam. In order to get the North Vietnamese to cooperate with us at the Paris peace talks the call went out to Navy tin cans (among others) to shell the beach and make it rough for charley. About the time Henry Kissinger was making that decision I was on an oiler outta Subic headed for the Gulf of Tonkin and the USS Ozbourn (DD-846) having just deros-ed out of incountry Vietnam and the relative security of Saigon. The first thing they told me on the Oz was that I would be PO in charge of the Handling rooms during Condition 2 and GQ. Having served earlier on a Gearing Destroyer I knew what I was in for, I thought. Let me tell you about Unrep/Vertrep on a goddamn tincan in the Tonkin Gulf in 1972 (Taking on stores, refueling and re-arming) all at the same time. Taking on ammo was an all hands evolution and E-5 and below (I was an SK2) carried projectles and powder canisters from the fantail to the magazines, For the refueling evolution I was the ship to ship telephone talker on the refueling station, As an SK2 I received stores on the focsle. All at the same time. One time I delegated my Stores job to an SKSN when they passed the word for SK2 Stanford report to your refueling station on the double . I was headed up to my refueling station while the ammo detail was in full swing. The XO stopped me and demanded to know why I wasnt hauling projectiles. I wouldnt have missed it for the world. Oh boy, its a hell of a life on a Destroyer. (Nixon got the treaty signed, after we got back)
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 21:16:29 +0000
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