Destroyer School was coming to a conclusion. It was autumn 1973. i was disappointed to learn i would not be returning to a weapons or operational job on the East Coast, but had received orders to be the Chief Engineer of the USS Hollister (DD 788), home ported in Long Beach. The mitigating factors were i felt i needed to have more experience in engineering, and my old friend Earl Major also would be going to Long Beach. His ship, the USS England (CG 22), was in the Long Beach Naval Shipyard.
My wife and daughter pulled up stakes in Newport and headed home with my parents, who had flown up to help. i went to Norfolk for almost a month of engineering training. As nearly always happened with me, i was not trained on a FRAM destroyer like the one i would be attached. They put me on a 1200-pound steam plant, a Forrest Sherman class destroyer. i learned a bit, but not like the plant i would inherit.
Earl and i returned to Newport and traveled to Tennessee, switching off driving in Earl’s 1967 Porsche 911. Then Kathie, Blythe, and i headed west.
i was entering a new phase of my Navy: West Coast, engineering, and the new split tour program, which meant in about 18 months, i would go to an amphib or service force ship.
Destroyer School was seven months of enjoyment. Our class began in May of 1973.
i learned. Lord, did i learn. i think it might be the most complete and thorough learning experience i’ve ever had over seven months. Every aspect of being a department head on a destroyer, every department was covered. In addition, the group of officers were a rather incredible group of guys. Nearly all were single, and Kathie enjoyed being with them as much as i. We had parties at our Navy housing duplex in Fort Adams. We spent a lot of time in the small officer’s club up from the destroyer piers. WE went out to dine at Salas in Newport and renamed their house wine because Mr. Cribari, we decided looked like Harry Truman.
And i reconnected with LCDR Earl Major. i followed Earl through our childhoods together. He was six months older than me and lived up the hill just over a block from my house. He played third base on the Little League all-star team. i played third the next year. He was the co-captain of the junior high football team, i was the co-captain the next year. We were counselors for Tennessee Boy’s State together. He went to Auburn on an NROTC scholarship. The next year, i went to Vanderbilt on the NROTC scholarship the next year. We had not seen each other since 1961.
And out of destroyer school, we both were assigned ships in Long Beach. We remained close friends when he died of cancer at 56. But boy, did we have fun.
It was a wonderful time, and we all shared our sea stories. i think this one is one of the best i’ve ever heard.
Several officers who had served on the USS Brownson (DD 868).
CHENG (chief engineer for landlubbers) on the Brownson had won the respect of the ship’s officers who were with me in the six-month course was just on the south side of daffy and apparently had done several wild and goofy things while aboard . But he was a superb engineer and somehow the captain tolerated all of his shenanigans.
The Brownson had been operating for about two weeks with exercises in the Atlantic op areas off of Newport but had been independent steaming for several days. There was not much going on, no shipping to speak of, and relatively calm seas. Those watches, especially at night, are boring where you struggle to stay awake. CHENG had the mid-watch on the bridge, nine total bodies on the bridge in the dark. In watches like that when i was OOD, i would query the watch standers about the actual names of the 16 points in the compass, like “one point off the starboard bow” is “nor, nor by nor east.”
But Brownson’s CHENG had a bigger idea. About half-way through his mid-watch, he transferred steering control to after steering. Then he shifted the entire bridge team to the flying bridge on the 04 level directly above the bridge. Finally, he had the Boatswainmate of the watch go to the 1MC (the ship’s loudspeaker system) and pipe attention, followed by the announcement, “Captain to the Bridge!” On old destroyers or for that matter any Navy ship i served during my career, every captain when underway spent his nights in the “sea cabin” immediately aft of the bridge so he could quickly access the bridge in an emergency — apparently, the new age of commanding officers no longer feel required to sleep in the sea cabin but choose the much larger, more comfortable Captain’s Cabin below the bridge for the evening.
So the pipe had called attention and the BMOW had called the captain to the bridge. The captain erupts from his rack, crashes out of the sea cabin in his pajamas with his housecoat dragging behind…and there in the middle of the night on the “darken ship” bridge no one is on the bridge. The bridge was empty.
The officers telling the story did not explain what happened after that except to say, the captain and CHENG had a meaningful conversation in the wardroom the next morning.
i keep trying to imagine what ran through the captain’s mind those first thirty seconds or so when he ran onto the bridge ready for an incredible emergency and the bridge was empty.
This past week, i have been occupied mentally emotionally with my loss of Marty Linville, friend and golfing buddy. The day he passed along that bridge, Friday, July 5, we had two visitors in the late afternoon.
Like Marty, they are heroes. Darryl Gunter and Chris Holtzman are heroes, success stories really.
Our two visitors stopped by because Darryl and i go back a long way. Darryl was a third class boiler technician on the USS Yosemite (AD 19) when i became the executive officer and deployed to the Indian Ocean. Darryl was one of the fireroom geniuses that used oversized burner plates for the boilers to get us to Rota as scheduled.
After twelve years, he left the Navy, graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in mechanical engineering, and established Atlanta Boiler and Mechanical, a successful company. He is semi-retired and one of his sons manages the company.
Darryl and i reconnected on the Yosemite’s Facebook group. The reconnection has been good. i have noted earlier Darryl, out of the blue, sent me coasters with the Castle Heights seal, my graduation year, my rank and my name. They occupy a prominent place in our family room, and i use one every evening.
When Darryl told me he was going to be out here and would like to stop by, i was excited. i began to do a bit of research. In addition to starting and making Atlanta Boiler and Mechanical a success, Darryl has done some other things. He is the Atlanta “Chapter Commander” of the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association. This is not a motorcycle club. This is an association of veterans who saw combat and enjoy motorcycle riding as a hobby.
The association’s focus is not riding bikes. They “support and protect those who have defended our country and our freedoms,” providing assistance and help to individual veterans, veteran care facilities, other veteran organizations and registered charities.
Chris and Darryl on the road.
The stories these two heroes, Darryl and Chris, told of how they saved an old aged disabled vet from having to do a reverse mortgage; how they mowed lawns, repaired homes for other veterans, and others, made me gleam with pride.
These two are also riders for escorting veterans to their final resting places in a motorcycle escort. Darryl is a senior ride captain for the Patriot Guard Riders, who honor their lost fellow veteran.
So these two heroes decided to take a trip. They got on their bikes and took a trip. i keep writing “heroes.” i should explain why:
Darryl was on the USS Sellers (DDG 11) which was one of our ships off of Beirut when our Marines were killed in the bombing. The ship was also in a confrontation with Iran in the Persian Gulf. He has developed spinal stenosis due to a shipboard accident.
Chris was in Iraq. He was the turret gunner in an Army armored vehicle. He received 100 wounds in the conflict and suffers from PTSD.
Heroes.
And they continue being good souls looking after veterans who have had a rough time and need help.
The trip. They took off from Atlanta and in four months, went through 22 states, one Canadian province, covering over 9,200 miles in four months. Their bikes make my Mazda 3 hatchback look small.
As this trip unfolded with my following it from the cloud and when we spent the afternoon with them, it occurred to me that this was the way it should be in our country. These two guys were two of the nicest guys i’ve been with in quite a while. They are patriots but they are loyal to the country and those who served with them. They were courteous, funny, loving life, and living that life to the fullest.
They are good people and folks should not throw them into some preconceived notion about motorcycle riders, veterans, or any other category they might choose to mislabel them.
