|
The day on the Yosemite began with reveille, breakfast, then
Morning Muster and an announcement that the Admiral had ordered an
inspection of the Ship’s Company. The Yosemite was the Flagship of Admiral
Arleigh Burke.
Our lead Petty Officer immediately informed us that we would not only be
ready for this inspection, but, we would be the best looking division on
the ship. Why?- Because “The first division will always be first. He
continued, each man will not only have his uniform in tip top shape, but,
each man will wear all the medals that he was awarded.” I said to myself,
“Isn’t that nice? Now, I had to stand next to this 1st class Bos’n, who
looked as though he had every medal that was ever awarded”. I had two, the
Good Conduct and the National Defense Medal. What bothered me was that
standing beside him I felt like the guy that just found out that his fly
was open.
For the next several days everyone spent time preparing for the
forthcoming inspection. Sailors of all rank were busy pressing off their
“Liberty Blues”, replacing worn piping and broken buttons or gathering
with the guys in the sleeping quarters, learning how to “spit shine”
shoes. Almost every day up to the day of the inspection the Division was
subjected to a preliminary dress inspection. Everyone wanted to look their
best and not miss a thing.
The anticipated day finally arrived with much anxiety that started with
reveille an hour earlier than usual because our Captain had scheduled an
inspection an hour before the Admiral’s Inspection. Not to be outdone the
Division Officer scheduled his own inspection an hour before the
Captain’s. It was a hectic morning.
Promptly at the appointed time of Ten Hundred Hours (1000), with the men
neatly aligned in ranks, “Attention On Deck “ was called, as Admiral Burke
made his appearance. He was followed closely by the Captain, the Executive
Officer and a hand full of the Admiral’s aides. The Admiral walked up one
row and down the other. When he came to the end, he turned to the 1st
class Bos’n mate, and said, “ You have a good looking crew here Bos’n.”
The Bos’n replied with enthusiasm, “They are perfect sir”. The Admiral
smiled and said, “No, not perfect". He continued, “Are you a betting man?”
The Bos’n replied, “Yes sir, I am sir.” Burke then said, “I’ll bet you a
buck that there are five men here that are out of uniform. With a twist of
his wrist the Bos’n stuck his fingers down into that little front pocket
of his dress blues and pulled out a dollar. Burke snatched it, and gave
the two bucks to the Exec. He then turned and shouted “Inboard rank, stick
out your right leg, and pull up your pants leg”. There was a mild chuckle
as Burke went down the line. “There, there and there he said”. One guy had
socks that were frayed at the top. Another had socks that were split at
the top. What the hell, your socks really don’t show when your standing at
attention. But the third idiot was wearing a pair of argyle socks. “That’s
three”, said the admiral, with a chuckle. The first class Bos’n was
embarrassed and fuming. Now Burke said, “Outboard rank about face - With
both hands, pull up your blouse.” Now there was outright laughter. One guy
had a couple of holes in his T- shirt, but the neck was perfect. “That’s
four,” said Burke. Another sailor had a T-shirt that looked like Swiss
cheese, but again, the neck was perfect. “Five”, said Burke. He then came
to the lead Petty Officer. He being a portly fellow was laughing so hard
that his big belly was shaking up and down. His T- shirt ended just below
the breast line, but with a perfect neck.
Burke spun around grabbed the two bucks from the Executive Officer’s hand
and sauntered off. The first division was out of control for about a half
hour.
Admiral Arleigh Burke was a great Admiral. He was DesLant. He was Thirty
30 Knot Burke. He was the only Commissioned Officer to have a ship named
after him while he was still alive.
He was one hell of a nice guy.
Nick Lasorsa
Return to top |
|