seajaycecil@yahoo.com

AROUND THE WORLD IN 1.8 SECONDS....... I was aboard the Uss Northampton from 1959 to 1961. I was in the communications gang and at sea I mostly served on the afternoon and mid watch. Sometimes on the ''mid'' especially on the weekends it would get really slow. Nothing much happening. We would do ''field day'' and mostly goof off. One mid watch I was working the Multiplex and a RATT. (rapid automatic teletype) circuit. we were in the north Atlantic heading for England. On the RAtt circuit I asked the guy in Londonderry if he could patch me thru to Port LAYOTEE in Moroco so I could chat with a friend that had been transfered there earlier. he said yes and he plugged me into Port Layotee and I chatted with this friend for about 10 minutes. This was all done by teletype key board just like a typewriter .... The watch supervisor was a second class named Schmitt. ''Smittie'' was a good guy ...... When he seen what I was doing he suggested that because it was kinda slow ......... why didnt we see how far we could ''push a signal''............. I will not pretend to remember all the relays we went thru and all the places that ''pushed us thru'' because everyone seemed to get on board to just see what we could do with a radio signal from a ship in the north Atlantic. The long and the short of the story is that on a mid watch on a Saturday night ''Smittie and me'' pushed a two meg. signal around the world ......... YEP..... AROUND THE WORLD IN 1.8 SECONDS.... Everyone on the ''relay'' was in on the happening and it was amazing that it worked in the first place. We found out later that this was the first time that it had ever happened from a ship at sea. We would put in a special test tape in a ''tape distributor'' .. and in one point eight seconds the exact test tape would come back to us from cheltenham md. on the east coast of the USA. The circuit held for maybe twenty minutes and then it started falling apart......... Me and Smittie were all proud of ourselves and kinda forgot the matter till the Chief of the Watch called us into his office the next morning about ten oclock. He wanted to know who the ''fudge'' we thought we were using NAVY EQUIPMENT for personal reasons and what the ''fudging heck'' we meant by sending a signal around the ''fudging'' world and not telling him about it. He also implied that we could be brought up on charges for this ''fudging stunt''...... He said we had two choices. One. We could claim exclusive credit for sending a radio signal around the world in one point eight seconds and be brought up on charges for same.......... Two. The entire communications gang would be credited with the outstanding feat of this great accomplishment with his name as Chief of the Watch in charge of the entire project. Guess which one we picked ........... The entire comm gang got the credit and the Chief of the Watch got his name assigned to the project and me and Smittie got a letter of commendation and recognition in our ''jacket'' as being part of this accomplishment just like everyone else in the communications gang. Some time later after we came back to Norfolk we took a bunch of ''dignitaries'' out to the vacapes op area and they tried to repeat the event. they could never get past morocco.............. Me and Smittie would just smile knowing we did it and we were the first....... So it was aboard the Norton on the way to England....... Seajay the sailor man .......

Wayne, you remind me of ME. I would have given a dollar to have seen their faces on that one. Since you were in Communications did you ever ask a ''new guy'' to ''Cut you half a bag of R/Y's........ We had a ''circuit test tape'' that was made out of paper tape with the following on it ........T. E. S. T. I. N. G. R Y R Y R Y ....etc. The purpose of it was to test the tape perforates we had attached to the teletype machines. the R and the Y punched all five holes in the tape .... The R punched the two top holes and the Y punched the bottom three holes as I remember. We would tell a ''new guy'' to ''PUNCH US UP A TEST TAPE AND PUT IN A HALF A BAG OF R/Y's'' The ''bag'' we referred to was a 'burn bag'' we used to haul the messages to the trash burner on the ship... These guys would stand at a tape cutter and type in T E S T I N G R Y R Y etc and let the tape feed into a burn bag until it was half full or there about. They never seemed to realize that a ''test tape'' was a simple loop that ran around and around. Another good one was to send a ''new guy'' out for a ''SQUARE HOLE PAPER PUNCHER'' . We would call ahead to the outlieing spaces and tell the guys we had a ''new guy'' looking for the square hole paper puncher and we would walk this poor guy all over the ship. The Norton had eight outlieing communications spaces scattered all over the ship and the ship was almost 700 feet long. Sometimes we would keep him out for hours ............ Seajay the sailor man GOD BLESS OUR VETS GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS AND BRING THEM HOME SAFE GOD BLESS THIS GREAT NATION ..................

http://www.rvmobile.com/ I found this sight while I was searching for info to try to fix my refrigerator. I worked fine on 110 volts but it would not cool on gas. I found this out the hard way when we parked the Pace in front of the house to hook it up to the trailer with Willas car on it. Willa put steaks (100.00 worth) in the freezer and they started getting soft. Among other things that has prevented us from leaving was the fact that the refrigerator would not run on gas. I took the coach down to Bumgarners RV and tanning salon of Hudson NC for repairs . I called ahead and they said they had a ''tech'' that could fix the problem. They said he was ''real good'' with stuff like this. I took the coach down and left it. I explained that it worked fine on 110 but it would not work on ''gas''. I went back that evening when they called and said it was ''ready''...... Goober had it pluged into the wall and the refrigerator was cold as ice. It was running on 110 volts. I told Goober that the problem was that it would not run on gas. He gave me a blank look. ''Well if it runs on 110 volts it should run on ''gas''. '' We switched it over to gas and waited. The temp in the crisper started rising. Goober said ''You probably got some insulation that has fell down over the cooling coil and you may need to put a fan inside the cooling chamber and he would have to take the refrigerator our of the cabinet and look behind it and maybe install one of those ''vent fans'' behind the refrigerator.''' DUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.. ''ITS WORKING ON 110 VOLTS GOOBER....... CHECK OUT THE GAS SYSTEM PLEASE''....''I'll check it tomorrow morning .. He had spent the complete day with it pluged into shore power and assumed that it would work on gas. This guy was smarter than any doorknob I have ever seen. I went down this morning and got the van and paid the attendant 85 dollars for nothing ...... That is their minimum service charge if they drool on your coach. I went to the above link and downloaded info and fixed the thing my self. It took about an hour and now I can do one in about 30 minutes because I know what to reach for. Most of the time if your refrigerator will work on 110 and not work on gas the problem is in the gas burner. The most likely culprit is the gas nozzle ...... Believe it or not they can become partially clogged. Take the nozzle off and soak it in alcohol and swab the inside out with a Qtip. DO NOT USE A WIRE OR ANYTHING IN THE OPENING IN THE END OF THE NOZZLE. Just soak it and swab it out and put it back on and usually this will solve your problem. Go to this link and get all the information you ever need for a refrigerator. If you use this information you will oww me ten cents and you can pay me the next time you see me and if you use it and it dont work for you I NEVER KNEW YOU.......... Seajay the sailor man .... GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS AND BRING THEM HOME SAFE ........

My father, Charles H. Cecil, was also WW2. He was stationed aboard the USS Gunston Hall, LSD6. He was in the South Pacific and he saw a lot of action. He was mechanic/driver/gunner on a Higgins boat that hauled the Marines ashore. At night he hauled in food, gas, ammo, and all the ''needed things'' for the Marines on those little islands. His battle station on the ship was a 50-cal anti aircraft machine gun. Back in the '50s we would watch CRUSADE IN THE PACIFIC on TV. Poppa would watch intently when they showed war footage of warships. He would watch for the ''Hall'' but he said he had never seen it on there. One night we were watching the show and they were showing air combat between us and the zeros. Poppa sat there and watched and said he had never seen combat between our planes and the zero but he SAW A LOT OF ZEROS. When I get the time I will be glad to relate some of the war stories he shared with me when he came home. My father was a good man and I think about him and miss him every day. He served this country with pride and dignity and helped win the freedom we so take for granted today. We are losing our WW2 vets at a thousand per day now, so if you know someone who served in that great war, give them my thanks for their service. They don't make guys like them anymore. GOD BLESS OUR VETS. Seajay the sailor man ...

MAIL BUOY WATCH...... I am second generation Navy. My father was in the south Pacific in WW2 aboard the Uss Gunston Hall. He saw a lot of action and he told me about all the ''tricks'' they would pull on a ''new guy'' aboard the ship. You know. ''HAY NEW GUY,,,, WANNA GO SEE THE GOLDEN RIVET'' ???? ''Whats the GOLDEN RIVET''. It's the last rivet they put in the ship. "" Its way down in the bilge and it is really made of gold''............. The amazing part was that NAVY ships were welded together but no one seemed to notice ...........or............. ''HAY GUY, ITS YOUR TURN TO GO ON ''MAIL BUOY WATCH''......... ''WHATS MAIL BUOY WATCH????''........ ''YOU STAND ON THE BOW OF THE SHIP AND WHEN YOU SEE THE ''MAIL BUOY'' YOU HOOK IT WITH A BOAT HOOK AND THEY STOP THE SHIP AND TAKE THE MAIL ABOARD. ITS KINDA LIKE A MAIL BOX AT SEA''..... you tried not to giggle ...... This was easy to pull on a new guy from Kansas that had probably never seen the ocean, much less a Navy ship. The Boat-son locker was at the bow of the ship and we would call them and tell them that we had sent a ''mail buoy'' watch guy down and he needed to be ''outfitted'' .... they would say OK and they would put a foul weather suit on him, a full safety harness, a 100 foot roll of 3/4 hemp rope with a ''safety snap'', gloves, a helmet, and over shoes. Then they would give him a ten foot ''boat hook'' and tell him to go forward to the bow of the ship and tie himself to the rail and watch for a ''MAIL BUOY''....... Mind you they would put this on him while we were in the Caribbean Sea in the summer time. The guy would slowly melt..... What this guy didnt consider was that the bow of the Norton was about 40 feet off the water and he is standing there with a ten foot boat hook .... We would usually let him stand his ''watch'' until we figured he had melted and ran down in his shoes and someone would go up and tell him to ''secure'' because we had missed the mail buoy area. It was amazing how long it would take some of the ''new guys'' to figure out that our mail came in and went out by helo off the fan tail. So it was on the Norton.... a thousand miles from nothing .... steaming in a circle..... Seajay the sailor man...

After reading the reply from Cookie I have had a change of heart. I have decided to go with the ''AIR HORNS'' for personal defense in a dangerous situation. I have purchased a triple set of air horns that are loud enough to peal the paint off a Volkswagen. I have purchased a five horse power air compressor with a 50 gallon tank with iron wheels for transportation of same. I have fifty feet of ''curlie, yellow'' air hose and two miles of three wire, number 8 coax electric cable to power the whole mess. If an assailant messes with me,,,,,, ''I'LL BLOW (or toot) THEM AWAY''........'' T O O O O O O O O O O O O T''........LOL....... Seajay the sailor man ................ just kidding guys ...... be safe in your travel .........

Willa and I own a 33 foot Pace Arrow built in 2000. It has the V10 Ford engine in it and the engine has 97.000 plus miles on it. I bought the coach in 2000 when it had about 6 thousand miles on the clock. Since then I have changed the oil at each 5000 mile interval. I use 10w 30 Pennzoil and a new filter every time I change the oil or I have it changed. I always carry at least one change of oil (8 quarts with filter) in the basement of the coach when we take a trip. There are occasions I change the oil myself. I have a five gallon ''grease can'' that I liberated from behind a restaurant. It has a good screw on cap and it is just perfect to fit under the coach when I jack it up on the leveling jacks. I take an ice pick and punch a hole in the bottom of the filter and let it drain out into the grease can before I take it off. I put the old oil filter in a plastic baggie and double bag it before I put the whole mess back into the basement. I always recycle the oil at an Advance or Auto Zone store and leave the filter with them when I buy my next change of oil. The old ''Pace'' has gotten to where it will use about a pint of oil between changes now. I hope to keep it running for about another hundred thousand miles. I spoke to a guy out in California who had a coach exactly like mine with a v 10 Ford engine in it. He said he had 220,000 miles on it and it still ran good. He changed his oil every five thousand miles also. And take Wolf's advise in that if you park your coach for several months ... ''change the oil before you park it'' There are many other tips to do before you park you coach for an extended time but I will not go into them here.. Oil is the life of an engine. I also suggest that when you hit 60,000 miles on the clock that you have ALL THE FLUIDS CHANGED IN YOUR COACH. Transmission, Rear end, Break fluid, Radiator fluid, Power steering fluid EVERYTHING... At 60 thousand miles have all the hoses and belts changed out. Keep the old ones for spares. They are a lot better than nothing. I have seen folks on the Alcan with a busted radiator hose and they are a thousand miles from nothing...... (this advise is for a gas engine only.... diesels are different) GOD BLESS OUR GREAT NATION GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS AND BRING THEM HOME SAFE Seajay the sailor man ...

CAPTAIN OF THE ''HEAD''..... I mentioned in a previous post that during my mess cook duty for three months I was ''captain of the head'' ..... Now what this meant was that I was in charge of the bathroom that was primarily use by the ''cooks and bakers'' the ''stewards in the officers mess'' and the ''room stewards'' for the officers. I had a guy that worked with me named Litman. Frankie Litman. he was 17 years in the navy and still an E3 and he had never been busted. Remember this guys. On a navy ship when you are at sea, money dont mean nothing. There is nothing to buy except cigarettes and pogie bait (candy). Everything else was free or un-available. At sea you live or die on FAVORS. ....... Favors owed to you and Favors you owe someone else. Three things are paramount on a ship at sea. A good mattress, available food, and , believe it or not, a place to go to the bathroom when you need to go. You should understand that the ''heads'' were closed during the day for cleaning and inspection. They had a lock on the inside of the door and you could ''secure the head'' with a sign and by locking the door. At night they were all open but during the day sometimes it was rough to find a ''open head''. I made it a particular point to always get ''EXCELLENT'' on my inspections to impress the chief I worked for and I made it a particular point to let the ''right people'' in to use the head when ever they tapped on the door. There was the L.P.O. (Leading petty officer) that was in charge of the stewards that cooked and served for the officers mess. I would always get him the Delsey toilet paper, not that ''sand paper stuff'' the crew used. I kept his ''skin book'' in the toilet paper locker and when he would come in for his ''morning constitutional'' I saw that he was not disturbed. This small favor to him reaped many rewards for me. All the stewards lived in one compartment on the ship and he took me down there and told them that ''Anything Ceas wants out of the ward room locker ...... GIVE IT TO HIM. or settle with me''.......... I got the same thing from the L.P.O. of the cooks and bakers...... I granted many ''favors'' while I was captain of the head and they paid off handsomely for me at a later time. The guy that had the duty before me was a real hard case to everyone. It was his first position of authority and he thought he was captain of the ship instead of captain of the head. While I was captain of the head I worked a six hour day, I had every night off, I went to every movie, I could get virtually anything I wanted to eat. and when we were in port I got every weekend off and all the holidays off. Those poor slugs down in the communications gang got three section watches in port and two section watches at sea. At sea they worked 16 to 18 hour days and had it pretty rough. When my time was up on Mess Cook Duty I told the chief in charge of me that I would like to just stay Captain of the Head for the rest of my time on the Norton....... He thought I was crazy..... This is how I got a lot of my ''connections'' on the Norton. One thing is for sure ........ If you are the Captain of the ship or the lowest seaman apprentice on the ship,,,,,,,, when you gotta ''go'' you need a place to ''go'' and you will grant a ''favor'' to the guy in charge of the ''place to GO''.. So it went aboard the Norton a thousand miles from nothing ...... Seajay the sailor man

NAVY CHOW.....''It will keep you alive but not get you fat'' Here was one of the great things about the Navy. Most of the time we had decent chow. Sometimes really good and sometimes just adequate. The cooks would tell us ......'' WE ARE HERE TO KEEP YOU ALIVE........ NOT GET YOU FAT SAILOR''....... We would pull out on a two week + exercise and when we ''left the dock'' we had a good ration of ''fresh everything''. Eggs, fruits, lettuce, potatoes and milk. Believe it or not the sailors drink gallons of milk and will fight for a fresh pint of milk... After about seven days at sea most of the ''fresh stuff'' starts running out. Milk is about the first thing to ''GO SOUTH''.. It becomes ''hit and miss'' .... They would ration you one half pint per meal in paper cartons. You could look at the use by date but it you were smart, you would sniff before you sip. When the milk started getting ''iffie'' they would give you all you wanted and it was like walking thru a mine field to get a good carton ..... Eggs simply ''ran out''..... No more fresh eggs. The cooks and baker would hide them for themselves when the supply started getting thin. This was usually about the eighth day at sea. Fresh fruit went next. Oranges and grape fruits were the first to start getting spots on them. When they started getting ''the clap'' they would give us all we wanted. lol .... Thus it went until we were down to powered eggs, canned milk. powdered potatoes, canned ham and lots of other fresh food that simply went away. The food on the Norton was generally good to very good and the cooks did the best they could with what they had. When the ''good stuff'' ran out it was the time you wanted to be good friends with the cooks and bakers and the stewards that worked up in the ward room ..... These guys made ''fresh donuts, cookies, cakes, pies and all the ''yummie things'' that you would kill for. They also horded back orange juice and tomato juice in gallon cans. Cold as ice and a real treat. Even the officers could not get these when the ration started running low. Most of the time we were not out long enough to get re-supplied but just long enough for all the ''good stuff'' to go away. Come to think of it. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A SKINNIE COOK OR BAKER???? When we were eating Spam, they were cooking steaks at midnite.... I was fortunate in that I became friends with the Stewards in the officers mess and a couple of the ''Night hawks'' in the crews mess and I could get about anything I wanted about anytime we were at sea. Mind you, I had to pull in some ''FAVORS'' owed sometimes and promise some ''favors'' sometimes. So it went on the Norton. a thousand miles from nothing Seajay the sailor man ......

Thanks for the input Joe. I really home more guys (or ladies) will come in and ''share''. I took my basic at Great lakes training center outside Chicago in the early winter. I Joined the Navy on 21 September and was ''whisked away'' to beautiful Great Lakes Training Center .... Camp Moffit...... That was the first place I saw ice freeze on the inside of the windows of a barracks...... Our K.P. in boot camp was called ''SERVICE WEEK'' It was one week of fun and entertainment working in the chow hall. We were up at four am and didnt have to work past about ten in the evening. I was on the ''truck crew'' ..... We unloaded the semi trailers and we didnt have a ''fork lift'' ..... Our forklifts were hand trucks.. We unloaded everything from milk to frozen meat. One great advantage we didnt have was a ''loading dock''. Everything that came out of the semi trailers came down a ''roller board'' and some of this ''stuff'' weighed a ton. One morning we were unloading pork chops. The were frozen solid and in giant stainless steel tubs. They were not frozen in a ''lump'' but they were all like bricks. They did let us have a hemp rope to tie in the handles of things that handles to lower them slowly. Some things we would just wrap the rope around and let them down to the ground. These stainless steel ''tubs'' were big enough to hold probably 100 gallons of water. They were big. The guys up on the truck tied the rope in the handle of the tub but they did a poor job of tieing the knot. The tub came over the edge of the roller board and the rope came lose.... the tub hit the street doing about seventy miles per hour, skidded sideways, turned completely up side down and pork chops scattered out like leaves in the wind. ''HOLLY SHUX'''........ ''WHO WAS THE FLAMIN' IDIOT THAT TIED THAT FLAMIN' GOSH DARN KNOT''???? ''SHUX AND DOUBLE SHUX''. this was our chief in charge talking to us. ''GET YOUR SORRY BODIES OUT OF THAT FLAMIN TRUCK AND PICK UP THESE FLAMIN PORK CHOPS RIGHT NOW''..... (he was such a sweet and understanding guy.) You have to remember that this was in early winter and there had been a light snow and the road was covered in black slime made up of dirt, engine grease, diesel fuel, mud, melted snow and other personal items that I will not put in this text, and the pork chops were in various stages of floating and submurged in this slime. When we got them all picked up they looked like frozen horse apples. We took them inside and I noticed that for supper chow the ''featured meat'' was PORK CHOPS..... I passed on the meat..... One great advantage of our ''service week'' was that we had no inspections of any kind and we got all we could eat of most anything we wanted. So it went at Great Lakes Training Center ...... Camp Moffette ......... Seajay the sailor man.......

STRAWBERRY SHORT CAKE FOR THE CREW.... On the ''Norton'' we had a detachment of Marines. They guarded the captain, the admiral, the chief of staff and a few other officers. They followed these officers around like puppy dogs. I guess it was tradition to protect the officers from the regular crew. They also guarded gang planks and chow lines and they were in charge of the brig. For the ''civies'' the Brig is the jail on a navy ship...... On the Norton if you were E3 or below you would get called for ''Mess Cook Duty'' for three months. You served food, cleaned up the mess hall and generally worked with the ''cooks and bakers'' preparing and serving food to your fellow crew members. When I was chosen for ''MESS COOK DUTY'' I was Captain of the Head for my duty. (dont laugh, it was the best duty on the Norton) Anyhow, we were at sea in the V.C.O.A. (Virgina cape operational area) doing drills and exercises. They ''piped'' supper chow and desert was fresh strawberry shortcake which was a real treat for the crew. The number two mess hall was about full when I sat down to supper. Just then the sounded ''MAN OVERBOARD'' ''MAN OVERBOARD'' ''PORT SIDE'' ''CREW TO YOUR MUSTERING STATIONS''...... ''Well Shux'', I said.... This meant that everyone had to go muster in so they could determine who the ''man overboard'' was. The helmsman slammed the Norton into a port turn and a lot of un-attended trays slid off the tables. I mustered in with my PPO and went topside to see what was going on. It should be understood that a cruiser dont stop on a dime and dont turn a corner like a fish in a barrel it takes space and time to do both. Topside there was a very worried Marine with two prisoners. They had launched the utility boat to go out and pick up the guy that was overboard. He was hanging on to a life ring with a flair attached to it. The Marine was very worried. I asked him what the heck was going on. ''Thats my prisoner out there''..... '' so what''....... '' If that Sweet Old Boy should happen to drown, I WILL HAVE TO FINISH SERVING HIS TIME IN THE BRIG''............... ''Are you yankin' my chain Marine?'' ''Nope, If you lose a prisoner, You serve his time''............ Holly shux man......... The Marine said he had called the prisoners to attention to take them to supper chow and this one guy stood up, looked at him and smiled and took the ''deep six'' over the side of the Norton. I hung around for a couple more minutes and then I remembered the ''strawberry short cake'' on my tray. I went back below and discovered that a lot of the guys had not come back from mustering in and their ''strawberry short cakes'' were getting soggy so I decided to help my shipmates out by eating their desert. I ate so many strawberry short cakes it made me sick. That was all I had for supper chow and for a long time I could not look a strawberry short cake in the eye without getting ''nauseous''.............. The prisoner was recovered successfully, helo'ed over to the Forestall and flown to Bethesda Naval hospital for evaluation. They eventually kicked him out of the Navy........ So it went on the Norton, Steaming in a circle in the VCOA Seajay the sailor man ......

DINNER WITH CAPTAIN SLAUGHTER........ We had occasion to pull into Bermuda for R&R and they posted a notice that anyone wanting to go deep sea fishing should sign up. It is amazing how few sailors actually want to go ''deep sea fishing''. I signed up and was soon informed that I had a seat on boat number two when we got to Bermuda. All went well the morning we were to pull out. a Midshipman and myself were the first two people aboard the boat. My division officer. Lt Johnson and a nother Ltjg came aboard next then Commander ''something or other'' and the last one on board was our good captain John Slaughter. (oh lovely,,, me and the middie would be baiting hooks and fetching beer I supposed) Everyone on board was dressed in ''undress whites'' except Captain Slaughter. He looked like a clown. He had on a Hawian flowerdy shirt, faded Bermuda shorts, sandals and a floppie straw hat...... He immediatly ''took command'' and advised that there was no ''rank'' aboard this boat and we were all just ''fishing buddies''.. (yeah sure) Everyone introduced themselves and we all shook hands. (no saluting) Capt. Slaughter looked at me and asked if we had met on the ship. I said yes sir, once briefly and let it drop at that ..... We went under the worlds smallest draw bridge and headed out the channel. Capt Salughter said that since we only had four ''fishing spots'' and there were six of us that we should ''draw straws'' to see who gets to ''fish first''. He held the straws and we all drew. Guess who got a short straw. Yep, Capt Slaughter and the full commander. The rule was that if you caught a fish you gave up your spot so we could all 'fish in turn''. We put out the lines and started trolling. I was on the left out rigger and my line snapped out of the clothes pen and the reel started singing. ''SET THE HOOK SAILOR''' ''' SET IT HARD'' .... I laid into the rod and the tuna took off like a torpedo. ''HOLLY SHUX''!!!!!!! Captain Slaughter leaped over to me. He grabbed the rod with his left hand and my belt with his right hand and flopped me into a ''fighting chair'' and rammed the rod butt into the holder. '' NOW SAILOR,, GIVE HIM 'HECK'...... i will tell you that Captain Slaughter was a very large man. Probably six four, about two eighty and he looked like a linebacker for the Greenbay Packers. I had a nice size tuna on and the captain of the boat said from the way he was running and fighting that there were probably barracuda after him. He said I would be luckey to get the head of the fish to the boat. I finally got the tuna to the boat with one piece of his side missing. They gaffed him and dropped him in the cooler. ''What you gonna do with that tuna Cecil?'' Capt Slaughter asked me. ''' UHHHHHHHH..... I dont know Capt. would you like to have him?'' '' I sure would love that. Nothing better than fresh caught tuna...... I will have my steward cook him up for dinner and if you would like, you can come and have dinner with me. If it is ok with you, I will invite everyone on board to dinner''. (lets be serious here...... I was not about to say NAAAAAAAH......) This was the only tuna caught on the trip. It seems that the barracuda ran the rest of. We did some bottom fishing and caught a couple red snappers and came back to the dock. Captain Salughter borrowed a food cart and went off pushing the cart with the fish in it back to the Norton. He looked like a ''fish monger'' selling his wears........ That evening about six oclock I met my division officer outside the captains quarters and told him that me and the '''middie'' would probably be eating with the stewards in the kitchen. Oh no he said. We will all eat at the conference table in the captains quarters. Everyone assembled in the passage way and we all went inside promptly at six thirty. The captain sat at the head of the table and my seat was on his right hand side. Wine was poured and Capt. Slaughter proposed a ''toast'' to Seaman first class Cecil for providing this evenings delicious tuna dinner. (I wanted to go thru the deck and just disappear) Everyone took a sip of wine and dinner was served. If you have never eaten fresh caught tuna you have missed out on a real treat. The meat is light and dark colored and it melts in your mouth. After dinner the captain passed around a box of cubans and poured everyone a ''snifter of brandy''.... We all sat around and shot the bull for a while, sipping and smoking. The stewards came in to clean the table and I asked if I might keep the ''place tag'' and the menu for a souvenir. Captain Slaughter looked me in the eye and said he was sure he had met me somewhere but he couldnt remember where. I told him that I was in communications and he may have seen me up in radio 6 sometime. (there were over 1300 enlisted men on the Norton and thats a lot to remember faces and names)He passed around a book and asked us all to sign it so he would have a ''diary'' to look back at when he retired. I believe this was the best meal I ever had aboard the Norton. I remember it to this day. From then on when I would see Captain Salughter he would call me by name and say that we should go fishing again sometime. I would say I was ready anytime he could get the time to go. We never went again. So it was on the Norton in Bermuda one sunny day....... Seajay the sailor man.............

Welcome aboard my brother vets. Its good to have you aboard. Number 2 mess hall is open and serving ''brunch'' and the movie for tonight is ''FIGHT, KISS, OR GO FOR YOUR GUN'' staring Joe Lewis, Marilyn Monroe, and Hopalong Casady. ENJOY........ LOL ...... I will ask each of you to go to ''ARE YOU A VETERAN'' and register there also. I am trying to compile a ''list'' of as many vets in FMCA as possible. I would love to organize some sort of VETS RE-UNION for the vets here on FMCA. I am working toward that to maybe happen in the late spring or early summer next year. I will e mail you guys a ''cover letter'' concerning this in the near future. I am already getting some feed back on letters I have already sent out. I remind you that VETS CORNER is open to everyone and it is my hope that the vets will gather here and swap stories about their memories of their service to this great nation. It is my hope that if you know of a vet that gave the ultimate sacrifice for this great nation that you would enter his or her name in THE HONOR ROLL OF FALLEN HERO'S. Read the instructions and feel free to place a name there. Also feel free to post anything legal here. This is our corner and it is primarily for vets but all are welcome. Just keep your post within the rules of FMCA and everything will be fine. I have worked hard with the powers to be to get us this corner and we dont want to ''mess it up''.......... Again ...... WELCOME ABOARD MY BROTHERS .... It is an honor to have been a very small part of such a great force as our military.... GOD BLESS THIS NATION... GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS AND BRING THEM HOME SAFE ..... Seaay the sailor man ....... PS. spread the ''word'' about our corner and invite other vets here ....

A PICNIC WITH CAPTAIN SLAUGHTER...... On a Navy ship you really prize a few things when you are at sea. One is a good mattress on your bunk. Another is access to food when the mess hall is not open. I was fortunate in that I had become friends with the right people in the chow hall and in the officers mess and I had access to a lot of food that most sailors had no access. At sea you live or die on ''favors''. People will do you a ''favor'' and you will owe them a ''favor''. ''Hay man, how bout standing four hours of my watch and I will owe you a ''favor''. ''Four hours............. You will owe me a ''BIG FAVOR'' for four hours..... You kept a mental list of people you owed and people that owed you ''favors''. Mind you, ''favors'' came in all sizes. Small favors, Regular favors, and BIG FAVORS........... Anyhow, I usually tried to stay ahead on favors as to who owed me and whom I owed. At sea I usually stood Mid watches and Afternoon watches and the mid watch was the roughest. Sometimes on the mid watch we would have a picnic. Yep a picnic up behind the captains bridge in radio 6. One night John Lepshin called down to crypto and said we could have a picnic up in radio 6 and could I supply the ''goods'' for the picnic. The ''goods'' needed was three or four loafs of fresh baked bread, a gallon of strawberry jam, a one pound block of butter and all the orange juice I could muster....... I told him that I would have to call in several ''favors'' for this much stuff and he would owe me a BIG FAVOR if I pulled it off and everyone that attended the picnic would owe me a small favor. He agreed and I proceeded up to the officers mess where they were baking bread. (The bakers always cooked at night usually on the mid watch.) I knew the chief baker and he owed me a favor because I got in touch with his wife using the ship to shore phone for him. (thats another story for later) ... Anyhow, he gave me the bread and butter and told me that we were even on the ''favor'' he owed me. I delivered the bread and butter to radio 6 and got a helper to help me haul the juice and jam. I went down to see the night hawk in the mess hall ... His name was Stoner and I had sneaked him down to the radio room and let him call his wife on the ship to shore. She was very pregnant and he just loved to talk to her. He owed me a couple of BIG FAVORS so he gave me the jam and three gallons of orange juice which we promptly deliver to radio 6. all was going well..... Several of us gathered in radio 6 and started the picnic. We would call down to the other radio rooms on the ship and guys would get off watch and come up for bread butter and jam and cold orange juice. We were way into the picnic. The bread was down to about a loaf and the jam and butter was pretty much getting gone and we had maybe a quart of orange juice left. Now you have to remember that radio 6 was behind the captains bridge and usually the captain is asleep around two in the morning when we were having the picnic. Several of us were kicked back and relaxed around the table when the door to radio 6 popped open and guess who walked in ....... Yep, Captain John Slaughter and his Marine orderly....... ''OH SHUX''........... Someone yelled ''ATTENTION ON DECK'' and we leaped to our feet.... (note... it is strictly against navy rules to remove food from the mess hall for any reason) ''What the ''heck'' is going on here? Who the ''heck'' is in charge here'' Captain Slaughter demanded....... John Leibshin was the ranking petty officer third class, (soon to be seaman again) ''I am captain, sir..... uhhhhhhhh..... duuuuuuuuuuuhhh. We are having a picnic celebration for seaman first class Cecil in honor of his first year of sea duty on the proud ship the USS NORTH HAMPTON sir.'' ''Who the ''heck'' is Cecil?'' ''I am captain sir and I am very proud to be a member of the great crew serving aboard the great ship USS NORTH HAMPTON sir''. He stood there for a minute absorbing our lie and looking at the bread butter jam and orange juice. '' THATS THE BIGGEST ''FLAKIN'' BUNCH OF ''BULLSPIT'' I HAVE EVER HEARD,,,,,,,,,,, AREN'T YOU GOING TO OFFER ME A SANDWICH????????'' We quickly got a clean coffee cup and poured him orange juice while he made himself a jam and butter sandwich. He munched on the sandwich and drank the orange juice in silence . He turned to leave and said that he would probably be back in about an hour or so and he would be assured that there would be no evidence of any ''picnic'' in radio 6 if he returned.......He also informed us that he didnt believe the ''bullspit'' about the ''celebration'' for seaman first class Cecil and his one year ''bullspit'' anniversary aboard the Norton and if he had not been ''flakin'' hungry he would have had us all written up for breaking Navy regulations concerning food out of the mess hall ..... Needless to say we all breathed a great sigh of relief when he closed the door and left ..... That was the last ''picnic'' we had in radio 6 So it was aboard the NORTON, one night, a thousand miles from nowhere.... Seajay the sailor man....... GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS AND BRING THEM HOME SAFE ....

For once I agree with you Wayne. Sometimes Willa will go flake out on the sofa and leave the driving to me. I usually put on some music and ride along and sing and look at the pretty girls that pass me. I eat ''sunflower seeds'' and spit the hulls out the window and have a swig of tea and pet Gus or Finnie when they sit in my lap. On more than one occasion I have ''wondered where I was at'' ....... This is especially true on the blue roads that are not ''super slabs''. I will think back and cant remember if we have been thru ''DOOR SLAM'' or ''FLY SWAT'', TEXAS yet........ I just figure its part of getting old and losing your memory and that other thing we cant remember we lost ........ Be safe my Marine friend and best of luck with your knee operation. I am working on you a cane to hobble around on after you get ambulatory (walking) Its got a ugly Marine carved in the top of it that probably looks like you on a good day..... I hope to mail it to you in a couple of weeks, maybe... GOD BLESS OUR VETS Seajay the sailor man .......

If you text while driving anything but a lawn mower YOU ARE JUST PLAIN STUPID...... I do not talk on the cell phone while driving unless it is clipped to the visor and it is on speaker phone. I do not ''hold the phone'' and most of the time I make Willa take all calls and if the party needs to speak to me I usually stop and call them back. In my travels I have seen people in cars, talking on the cell phone, messing with a computer in the seat, shaving with an electric razor, reading the news paper and texting and doing all of this at the same time at 70 mph. I figure if they are dumb enough to do this while driving I have no pity for them when they have to pick them off the bridge abutment with tweezers. The real shame is the innocent folks they take out with them. Another thing,,,,,, I DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE .. I will drink one and only one beer and drive after eating but that is my absolute limit. NO EXCEPTIONS. It is not that I am against alcohol but I am dead set against the possibility of hurting someone else because of my stupidity. Personally I think if you got caught D U I . you should lose your license and your left thumb. This would prevent a lot of repeat offenders I bet. GOD BLESS OUR VETS GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS AND BRING THEM HOME SAFE .... Seajay the sailor man ...

COFFEE WITH THE ADMIRAL I was stationed aboard the USS NORTH HAMPTON CLC1 from early 1959 until August 1961. Aboard the ''SNORTIN' NORTON'' we carried a three star admiral in charge of the SECOND FLEET of which we were a part. I was in the communications gang. We had the largest communications gang afloat number in excess of 130 enlisted men. At sea we ran two section watches or War time status. My first duty when they moved me to the secret message center was messenger. I delivered the messages from the crypto center to various officers aboard the ship. Also my duty was to encrypt and decrypt messages.. We were at sea between nothing and nothing and on mid watch about one thirty in the morning my teletype machine gave the alarm that an EMERGENCY MESSAGE was coming thru that required immediate attention and action on our part. LTjg Malaose was the ''watch officer'' and he told me to ''break the message and let him know what it said'." I decrypted the message and he looked at it and determined that the admiral should see this right away. I reminded him that it was one forty in the morning. He ripped off the ''rough copy'' and told me to take this to the admiral for possible reply. The admiral had a Marine orderly stationed outside his door and when I approached the orderly wanted to know what the ''heck'' my business was at the admirals cabin. I informed him that I had emergency traffic for the admirals eyes only. He told me to give the message to him and he would take it in. I said ''not possible'' you dont have the clearance for this. He went inside and woke the admiral. I was ushered inside and handed the message to the admiral. He propped on one elbow and read the message by the light of his bed lamp. He mumbled something and wrote his name on the rough copy and requested a copy in his ''jacket'' in the morning. He handed me the rough copy and turned the bed lamp off. I went back to crypto and informed LTjg Malaose that the admiral just grunted at me and sign the rough copy. About thirty minutes lapsed and my teletype machine jumped off the deck again. More emergency traffic coming through. Same story. I broke the message and the Lt. told me to take it up to the admiral for response. It was now about two thirty am...... We woke the admiral again and he was not his previous ''pleasant self'." He growled at me, signed the message and threw it back at me. About forty minutes lapsed and guess what????? Yep, we got another one for the admiral. It was something after three am and I figured I would be keel hauled but I just came away with a dirty look and another growl. At four oclock it happened again. I told the LT that he could take this one up the the admiral because I was sure I would be shot at dawn if I woke that old man again. I trudged up to the admirals cabin and was let in by his orderly. The admiral leaped from his bed and demanded to know who the ''heck'' I was as he snatched the rough copy from my hand. I sounded off in my best Navy fashion while standing at strict attention. He demanded to know the ''watch officers name'' and the phone number for crypto center. He had some choice words for Ltjg Maliose and then he flopped down in his chair. ''If you got those other rough copies in that folder give them to me and sit down right over there'' I sat down as he looked over the papers. He barked at his orderly to bring two coffee's, one for him and one for me and went back to reading. The orderly sat a cup of coffee in front of the admiral and one in front of me. Navy coffee is hot, black and strong. I sat and sipped as he read over the messages. Twenty minutes later I was rudely dismissed from his presence after he reaffirmed that my name was Cecil, seaman first class. He also told me that I would not have the pleasure of waking him again because he was simply going to ''stay up'' for the rest of the night. We got no more emergency traffic for the admiral that night. Some time later I was showing the new crypto messenger around when we happened to deliver a message to the admiral up on the flag bridge. Strangely enough he recognized me. ''Hello Cecil,,,,,, have you had occasion to destroy anyone's nights sleep lately?'' ''No sir admiral, I believe in letting people sleep in sir''......... Burkett, the guy I was breaking in said ''Holly s---, do you know the admiral personally?''..........'' Naah, but we have had coffee together''...... Seajay the sailor man......

Okay, all you Swab Jockeys, Jar Heads, Ground Ponders, Fly Boys, Shallow Water Sailors, Reservists, Lifers and Weekend Warriors ... SHUT UP AND LISTEN UP ... We have our own spot now. This will be our gathering place to say hello, tell lies, brag, swap stories, get acquainted and otherwise have good fellowship among the vets here on FMCA.com Mind you, this forum is open to everyone, so we will have ''civies'' dropping by from time to time to read the posts. Therefore, we need to keep it decent in here. The permitted military talk shall be limited to the following. SHUX, DARN, HECK, OH FUDGE, DRAD, BY GOLLY, AND DAD BLAME. This is modified ''sailor language'' and I am sure we can all live with this. I am truly happy that FMCA has given us this forum. I believe we will enjoy having our own ''port'' to drop anchor in and be welcomed by our fellow vets. I believe it will give newbies who are vets a place to come to and be with their own kind and feel comfortable asking questions and making comments. Please remember this: EVERYONE IS WELCOME HERE. I ask that your encourage all military vets to "register" here and make postings in Veteran's Corner as they see the need. I also suggest that we start an ''HONOR ROLL of FALLEN WARRIORS." If you have a friend, a son or daughter, or a parent who gave the ultimate sacrifice for this country, please list this person by name, year of service, and branch of service. Feel free to post any comments about this person(s) and encourage others to do the same. God bless our great nation. God bless our troops and bring them home safe. Seajay the sailor man

If my adding is about correct I show that we as a group have served this nation a total of about 161 years of service so far. We run the gambit from butchers, bakers, gunners, communications, warrant officers, grunts, sailors, marines and air force personnel. We have served in peace time, wars, declared and un-declared, police actions, and about every form of defense necessary to help keep this great country safe. I am sure that some of you have shed your blood on some far flung battle field with names most people can not pronounce properly. We have stood proudly as our colors were raised in victory and we have fought back tears at the playing of ''taps''for our fallen comrades that made the ultimate sacrifice. I feel that we are a special group and it gives me great pleasure and great pride to be a small part of such a distinguished group. We are carrying on a heritage that was started at Bunker Hill and on Lexington Green when brave men were willing to put their life on the line for the cause of liberty and for the good of his fellow man. In the closing of most of my posts I always write ''GOD BLESS OUR VETS AND KEEP THEM SAFE'' and I really mean that for if it were not for the ''vets'' that have put it on the line when necessary we would not have this great nation that many people sometimes take for granite. Folks should remember to thank a Veteran for his or her service to this nation for without them WE WOULD NOT HAVE THIS GREAT NATION AND THIS WONDERFUL WAY OF LIFE. "Freedom isn't Free...... It is bought with the blood of our youngest and finest usually for wages not equal to what you can earn flipping burgers at Mickie D's''.............. GOD BLESS OUR VETS AND KEEP THEM SAFE GOD BLESS OUR SERVICE PERSONNEL AND BRING THEM HOME SAFE Seajay the sailor man ...

http://www.snopes.com/crime/prevent/waspspray.asp Looks like the jury is still out on this idea according to Snopes. I guess it would be better to carry an ''air horn'' than to take a chance on this stuff not working as a deterrent for your daughter or wife to be robbed, raped, or your self killed for your watch and wallet in your own home, perhaps dog bit or at least stung on the butt by an angry hornet. I know of many crimes that have been prevented by a loud air horn. Personally I rely on a higher power for personal protection. This was just a thought that I read about and posted it with the hope that it might help a fellow traveler. Of this I can assure you......... THE STUFF WILL KILL A WASP INSTANTLY. been there done that ........... and the next time you park your rig over a ground nest of wasps be sure to ''BLOW YOUR AIR HORN AT THEM ''''........LOL..... Seajay the sailor man ...

SWINE FLU A friend of mine told me the symptoms for Swine Flu are as follows: You get an imperishable hankoring for PURENA HOG CHOW and you want to ''make love'' in the mud and your tail gets curly...... Thats my story and I'm stickin' to it.... Seajay the sailor man.......

A friend of mine just sent this to me and I want to pass it along to everyone. He said that for personal protection there is nothing better than WASP SPRAY. He said it would ''spray'' about 20 feet in a pretty solid stream and was not that much effected by a light breeze when used. He suggested that it should replace firearms for close range self defense in most situations because it is not ''lethal," it's cheap, it's legal, and it will also kill wasps if necessary. He suggested that a can be carried in your coach, car and on your bicycle in case you are chased by a large dog. The beauty is that its legal to carry and it should be very effective against man or beast where the situation should arise and it also KILLS WASPS. It can also be carried in Canada, unlike pepper spray or hand guns. I have had encounters with wasps while ''rough camping,'' and believe me it was not fun ... Here, again, is some more worthless information for you to decide to use or not use but remember ... IF YOU USE THIS IDEA, YOU WILL OWE ME (Seajay the sailor man) TEN CENTS AND YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY ME THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME. On the other hand, if you try this and it doesn't work for some reason or another, ''I NEVER KNEW YOU'." ...Note to Wayne the Marine...... I have checked with my accounting firm (Catchum Cheatum and Sue) and they inform me that Wayne the Marine is indebted to Seajay the sailor man to the sum of ninety cents (nine dimes) (eighteen nickles) (or a bunch of pennies) for usage and plagiarism on his part (Wayne the Marine) of exceptional ideas put on this forum by myself in the present and the past. It is further understood that when ''said sum'' reaches one dollar and is not forthcoming from Wayne the Marine that a suit will be filed in ''LARGE CLAIMS COURT'' in Doorslam, Texas by the attorneys of Seajay the sailor man (Slam, Dunk and Swindle) for said amount and the judge will be the first cousin of Seajay the sailor man. In my generosity I may consider an out of court settlement if I am in a good mood that day....... GOD BLESS OUR NATION.... GOD BLESS OUR SERVICE PERSONNEL AND BRING THEM HOME SAFE .. GOD BLESS OUR VETS AND KEEP THEM SAFE..... Seajay the sailor man .........

I cant exactly remember where I got this info and I will not bet my lunch money that it is accurate, but it's FREE, so here goes ... We have all been in a situation where our cell phone battery is down to one bar and blinking. The next thing we see is ''LOW BATTERY andnd the next thing we see is a blank screen because the cell phone has run out of power. Here is some worthless info that may or may not work ... I understand that there is still ''power'' in your cell phone battery even when it says ''NO POWER'' and stops working. Here is what you do: Wait a couple minutes and try to power up your cell again. Usually you can get it to come on again. Now, punch in *3370# and you are suppose to access emergency power from the battery in your cell phone. I have never tried this but I got it from a reliable source and it is supposed to work. As I recall, your cell should work for about 10 more minutes before this emergency power is completely drained and you cell quits for good. ALSO, REMEMBER THIS ... 911 will work on your cell when you have no signal from your provider. It is my understanding that 911 will access any provider service if yours is not available. I actually tested this out in Utah. We had the ''BIG BOOM'' on the inside duel on the coach at mile marker 108 between nothing and nowhere. I had no signal and my cell said ''NO SERVICE." In desperation, I dialed 911 and the county sheriff said, "WHAT IS YOUR EMERGENCY, PLEASE?'' I almost fell over. Also, any cell phone with power will reach 911 even if it has no service provider, no contract and no activation on the phone. If you got power, 911 will work and it's free. All this worthless information is free to everyone for your personal safety. Wayne the Marine will have to pay ten cents for this info because I know he is ''rolling in money'' ... lol .... Seajay the sailor man

To Wayne the Marine..... Theoretically speaking, (play like) Wayne the Marines ability (can) of concentration (think hard) on the abstract (not real) concerning (by) the probability (could be) of the possibility (maybe) of his mental (brain) capacity (holding) and his ability (can) to comprehend (follow) complicated (hard) concentration (drooling) concerning (about) his capacity (able) in dealing with intellectual (IQ) capability (lot of) is hardly relevant (dont matter) in this incident (happening). Personally I think he thinks he understands what he is writing but he is not sure what it means. And I will defend to the death his right to not understand himself until someone tells him what he has written and has broken it down into small words for him to read and understand. With this in mind I do hereby state that Wayne the Marine can say anything he wishes and myself or some other sailor will explain what he has said to him at a later date and no one of any other service is allowed to pick on Wayne the Marine because the Marines are a small part of My Navy and only ''blue water'' sailors are allowed to pick on Marines...... THIS IS MY STORY AND I AM STICKING TO IT.... Seajay the sailor man... GOD BLESS THIS GREAT NATION GOD BLESS OUR VETS..... Note to Wayne the Marine. Best of luck on your forth coming operation. It is my prayer that in very short order you will be back to your same old ugly, grouchy, bull headed, cantankerous, hard headed, self centered Marine that you are now. Be safe my friend ........

I would like to thank each and every person that has registered here and I encourage each of you to look for vets on FMCA and encourage them to come and register. It gives me such great pride to be a small part of such a great and distinguished group of people that have served this fine nation. It makes me feel good to know that you men have answered the call of your nation and have put your a-- in the grass and did what Uncle Sam told you to do without hesitation. I believe that we have lady vets on here also. I think that Wayne the Marines wife was also in the Marine Corps and I would be honored if she would register as a vet. Any other ladies that have served is also welcome to join our merry little group. Again, many thanks for the honor of me being a small part of such a fine group of veterans. May God bless you and keep you safe.... GOD BLESS OUR GREAT NATION..... FLY THE FLAG ON 9/11 GOD BLESS OUR VETS GOD BLESS OUR SERVICE PERSONNEL AND BRING THEM HOME SAFE Seajay the sailor man ......