There were two kinds of sailors serving aboard the Yorktown, us and them. Us being regular Navy and them being Reserve Navy. I was an us.I have no idea how it was in other divisions but in OI we had a number of reserves during each Vietnam tour during the 60s. Some were college students, some were older then most of us, some were married with kids, some couldn't hack it in CIC and were flown off the ship heavily medicated or in restraints. I didn't ask nor did I care, if you can't cut it in CIC, you're in my way so shove off. Some of the reserves were good guys and fit in just fine. All of them knew they were only aboard for that one tour then their active duty time was up and they're out. Good by and good luck, I like the fact I'm here for four years. It's what I wanted to do, I'm doing it, I'm regular Navy.
I can remember some of those guys, see their faces, recall some odd or funny thing that happened, but most have faded from memory. I'll relate what I remember about three of them.
During the Pueblo action I was a senior E-4 in CIC and supervised a number of stations. During one long blizzard that lasted weeks I went up to the 010 level where the lookouts were stationed. That was a small enclosed steel space right under the radars. It had several small egg shaped openings where we could look outside and get plastered in the face by snow. Often you could see as far as the flight deck but that didn't matter. If you're on lookout duty by God you're going to look out.
We had fowl weather gear of course but being the Navy, it was designed for rain, not a blizzard. 1 inch steel bulkheads does not insolate when there's no heat source. We froze our asses off up there. Some nice Chief sent me up there to relive lookouts one at a time so they could come down for coffee and warm up for a hour. Now I'm wondering if he was just screwing with me? Anyway, back to the reserve up there.
All I remember about this guy is he looked like a wide eyed owl sitting in a pile of clothes on the deck. This guy never said a word. He looked like a deer in headlights all the time. I had been told he was an introvert so during my few hours on the 010 I tried to bring him out of his shell by telling him true war stories about some of my liberty in Westpac. This was his first month aboard, first tour and first combat action. Well I'm not a psychiatrist, I didn't know. I thought by telling him about things he could look forward to he would be happy, I was. After a short while he started melting into the deck and teared up. Maybe it was something I said, or maybe he just didn't like adventure, who knows. I wrote him off as fish food if we started shooting and left him alone after that. I far as I know the Chief kept him up on the 010 level the rest of my time aboard.
Another reserve was a guy from Minot in one of those Dakotas in the Midwest. He didn't have a name, he was just known as the rack rat. I've never seen anyone before or since who could spend every moment off watch just lying in his rack in skivvies. He would pay guys to go get him something to eat with "I'll buy if you'll fly". Nice guy but a little weird.
The other reserve was a challenge to me in so many ways. Erick Kelsow was not a born again Christian. He was born once at birth and just got holy-er by the day. He came aboard in 1966 in time for our second tour and the period when I became more sailor by the day. As he really tried to stand a good watch in CIC, as best as a nerd could, we hit it off pretty good while underway. When the Yorktown hit port Erick would go ashore to find a Christian church and spend all his time there singing and stuff like that. We parted company on the dock as I would seek out goodwill amongst the heathen class of natives found in less formal houses of worship, so to speak. Erick and I each did his duty as we saw it and would discuss the merits of each other's field of missionary work. Erick had a hard time grasping the concept there was more then the basic "missionary position" and I couldn't quite understand the notion of "saving" when ya got 'em in your grasp. We were friends none the less.
Once while at sea we decided to see who had the most righteous liberty the next time we hit a port. He would go with me the first day and I would go with him the next. Deal. When the time came, we went ashore and hit a bar nearby. After several drinks I noticed the cheater would only sip at the drink when I forced him too by reminding him he gave his word. Many drinks later we left to "go sin" as he put it. By then his glass still had all the booze in it but a half inch and he probably had spit that out when I wasn't looking, the cheater.
Somehow we shortly found a skivvy house and entered. Well I entered and saw I was alone. Erick was frozen in his tracks outside. I went back out to remind him of our deal but to no avail, he wouldn't budge. At that point I was in no mood to argue so I got even by making him wait outside a "long time". Later that night we returned to the ship each confident we upheld our honor as sailors but I knew he cheated.The next day it was my turn to go with Erick and do those Christian things I've heard about. I was old enough and experienced enough not to be too worried ( but ya never know). He found a small church somehow and boy was I surprised. I didn't know there was any in Westpac. We entered, him boldly, me like the preverbal "ho in church". There wasn't a lot of action going on and I'm not sure just how long we were in there or what he did. I just stood quietly waiting to be struck down by lightning. After a hour or so I left and got laid. What the hell, he cheated the night before so I can too. Besides, I'm not going to waste a liberty, they're too rare. That and the fact I'm REGULAR NAVY and he was just a reserve.
Erick's time on active duty ended after that tour and he resumed college studies in southern California where he lived with his parents. We spoke a few times over the phone during the next couple years because we were friends but eventually lost touch. I'd like to contact him again someday. Maybe he'll come to this Yorktown site and read this and respond. That would be great. I have one burning question I'd like to ask him after all these years. And that is "Hey Erick, did ya ever get laid? HUH? HUH?" You would've had you been Regular Navy like us.
I can and do grind cheaters til The End.
But one strange duck, a "white crow" as the Germans would call him, searched all over Kiel Germany and came back with his prize...A COO COO CLOCK! He was a PH3 from one of the squadrons. He was the type who could never take a joke, had a very brittle personality and felt deeply insulted with the usual male bonding/insulting that took place on a US Navy ship around the clock. You could put a wig on him and a dress and he would be the perfect, most extreme bitch. He thought his new purchase was splendid. He hung it up in the photo lab on the bulkhead and pulled down the weights and and sat there and marveled at this fine German craftsmanship. We all thought he was crazy.
As a PH2 I had a key and swiftly opened the door only to see the very quiet, very large muscular sailor E3 Bauer admiring himself in the mirror, wearing a Nazi German Army uniform, with a tiny little mustache drawn under his nose, his hair was combed at an angle across his forehead and he was holding a big stick that we used to stir our 20 gallon tank of developer.