Hey Jude

[pokerfan]

[UTUSN]

1. That song

After my first 7 months aboard my ship in Vietnam we got 3 weeks R&R in Subic Bay, the Philippines. We (the U.S.) had a humongous Navy base there. This started the pattern for us new sailors for when we would get into each new port for Liberty: Grab a steak and a beer, then head out "on the town" for the day/days/week(s) of ... (for some: ) boozing and


So the Enlisted Men's Club at Subic was very nice, modern, gleaming, and there was a juke box. So there was a rush to see what the latest songs were. (Note: No t.v., radio, internet, nothing on board the ship up and down the rivers in Vietnam.)

So there was this new song from the Beatles...




Three weeks later, on the way from Subic to Guam, we went through a terrific storm at sea, two days of scary Hades---sea sickness, having to work sick, the stupendous pull of gravity as the ship "fell" repeatedly... When it was over the water was smooth as glass and the captain magnanimously gave us a day off (Holiday Routine) and let us have ice cold oranges that had been "hidden" in the Officers' freezer. What can you do in the middle of the ocean. We laid on the top deck, sort of like sunbathing at a beach. Somebody had what would be now an "antique" cassette player and we were suspended between sky and sea and the song that wafted over us was "The Crystal Ship" by The Doors.

[pokerfan]

2. cool story...