GULP.
Dan: "Yes Captain, this is Bernath."
Captain: "Yeah, Dan, the word is pronounced AIR ub, not aaaaaa-rab. Can you fix that in the future."
Dan, "yes sir, I mean, yes skipper, opps, I mean yes Commanding Officer, I mean yes Captain, sir."
Captain: "click."
Now comes the story from PH2 Steve Freund on how he screwed future Hon. Chief Dan:
Remember old evil Steve setting you up on the news stories with the arabs? Every time I hear some
story about the damn arabs on tv I think of you calling them aaarabs (don't know how to type that with a long sounding a).
anyway, the Capt. called down after the first time telling you about how they were our allies or some shit and that you should learn to pronounce their name a little better.
Next night I did my best to pick every damn story we had that talked about arabs. Sure enough,
either by accident or purpose you called them aaarabs. You hadn't gotten back to the lab before the phone rang, 'tell Bernath to get to my cabin on the double'.
Didn't know if I should laugh or feel sorry for you."
Dan Bernath left the Navy in 1970 and got into radio news casting in Detroit and by 1978 was the Second biggest radio station in all the world, WHN in New York City. But his start was on the 1MC on the USS Yorktown on the bridge.