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Re: "This D*mn Navy" ...

Tue Jan 02, 2018 12:56 pm

tom roberts wrote:I'm starting to dislike this (drunk) guy no matter how big a hero he was.


Oh my! [clutches pearls] A twenty something in uniform drinking to pass the time! What WILL he do next? Gamble?!?!

I'm sure you'll be able to move on to another topic/read quite easily if you dislike him so.

I think it's a pretty enjoyable read so far.

Re: "This D*mn Navy" ...

Tue Jan 02, 2018 3:25 pm

I think it's a pretty enjoyable read so far.


Totally agree.

I think it is thus far a superb portrayal of the realities of one man's personal view of the war in that theatre.

Re: "This D*mn Navy" ...

Tue Jan 02, 2018 3:40 pm

Maybe this thread should be a sticky. It's going to go on for another three years or so.

Re: "This D*mn Navy" ...

Wed Jan 03, 2018 11:48 am

tom roberts wrote:I'm starting to dislike this (drunk) guy no matter how big a hero he was.


“Show me a hero and I'll show you a bum.”

Gregory Boyington

Re: "This D*mn Navy" ...

Wed Jan 03, 2018 11:50 am

junkman9096 wrote:
tom roberts wrote:I'm starting to dislike this (drunk) guy no matter how big a hero he was.


“Show me a hero and I'll show you a bum.”

Gregory Boyington


Perfect.

Quoted for truth.

Re: "This D*mn Navy" ...

Fri Jan 05, 2018 12:15 pm

Pretty interesting read for 1/4/43. There's always been a tension between the young bucks and the old guard and it's pretty apparent in this entry. I just finished "At Dawn We Slept" and "Target Tokyo" and am in the middle of "Miracle at Midway" which track right along with his earlier entries. It's interesting to see how a fellow with a very limited view (i.e., a pilot flying the line vs. say, a Fleet Admiral) can still hit a major nerve that is echoed through the history books. In later days, one might respond "you go to war with the Navy you have, not the one you wish you had."

Re: "This D*mn Navy" ...

Fri Jan 12, 2018 11:57 am

Quote of the day: "[We’ll be able to tell all ex-bomber pilots in the future — they’ll have well-developed arms and legs, and will have big “pots” and wide asses, from sitting all the time."

:lol:

Re: "This D*mn Navy" ...

Fri Jan 12, 2018 4:58 pm

StangStung wrote:
tom roberts wrote:I'm starting to dislike this (drunk) guy no matter how big a hero he was.


Oh my! [clutches pearls] A twenty something in uniform drinking to pass the time! What WILL he do next? Gamble?!?!

Is that you Blaine? Hello...Helllo?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLB1g33viNM

Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow...If Tom hasn't been reading this diary from the start he might not know that Nolan has been ready for combat since the start. He got a brief taste of it in the south Pacific before he was sent back to Pearl for monotonous patrols and training. On an island full of men and few women and apparently plenty of booze in a time when that was the social life and means of waiting. Looks like by the scuttlebutt he's got his wish and getting ready to head south soon. Hopefully he'll give a better account of the combat situation than he did in the East Indies...tho I'm not sure how much detail he's allowed to put to paper.

Yep...that was a good one today about bomber pilots. He has quite a few good moments...Good reading, the first thing I do every day.

Re: "This D*mn Navy" ...

Mon Jan 15, 2018 7:47 am

airnutz wrote:Hopefully he'll give a better account of the combat situation than he did in the East Indies...tho I'm not sure how much detail he's allowed to put to paper.

Well todays entry answered that detail. He does shift to a new diary and reins back the content when entering combat areas in case of capture. They're drunk as skunks of course in preparation for the big dry out. There is gonna be a bunch o hurt sweating it out on the trip down...sipping oxygen and gulping aspirin. Sure don't miss those days. One thing we know about our boy, he's a pro at finding a way to female company and libation... no matter how remote the possibility. :lol:

Re: "This D*mn Navy" ...

Tue Jan 16, 2018 12:49 pm

airnutz wrote:
airnutz wrote:Hopefully he'll give a better account of the combat situation than he did in the East Indies...tho I'm not sure how much detail he's allowed to put to paper.

Well todays entry answered that detail. He does shift to a new diary and reins back the content when entering combat areas in case of capture. They're drunk as skunks of course in preparation for the big dry out. There is gonna be a bunch o hurt sweating it out on the trip down...sipping oxygen and gulping aspirin. Sure don't miss those days. One thing we know about our boy, he's a pro at finding a way to female company and libation... no matter how remote the possibility. :lol:


Then there's the quote about the afternoon craps games because it's payday. I'm breaking my arm patting myself on the back for seeing that one coming!

Just finished Miracle at Midway and went back to ready the Midway bits in this diary. Really interesting hearing a first hand account. Then I watched John Ford's 39 minutes film "Battle of Midway" to get some visuals. Tied it all nicely together.

Can't wait to see what awaits Down Under!

Re: "This D*mn Navy" ...

Thu Jan 25, 2018 10:20 am

StangStung wrote:Then there's the quote about the afternoon craps games because it's payday. I'm breaking my arm patting myself on the back for seeing that one coming!

No extra points there StangStung...gambling was a given. Luckily, or un-fortune-ately, I never acquired the habit in the Navy. We had guys on the pigboat that were very adept at separating paychecks and owners. One of our boat qualifications involved operating with deploying mines which we fired out of the torpedo tubes. A crew of "minemen" came down from Long Beach to walk us through the handling and deploying of mines. After the exercise as we were steaming back to Dago, a poker game broke out and one of the minemen lost big. He didn't have all the cash, so the sharks accepted his marker. After a month or so of putoffs from the deadbeat it was looking like a trip to LB was in the cards. Then suddenly one day the guy gagged up the cash and all was good. We found out later, the scuttlebutt eventually made it up to the wardroom. Our CO called his CO and basically shamed him about his crew not paying their bills...no CO wants that rep especially with gentlemans games of skill. The Navy is very serious about people paying their bills. Deadbeats reflect badly on the service....and the command...regardless of the source.

Sorry to bore you guys with this...BUT IT'S BEEN 6 BLOODY DAYS WITHOUT A DIARY ENTRY!!! The entries have lagged before for a few days and it's fun catching up on the reading but if they don't start again soon I'm gonna think of another boring tale... :lol: (Think Blazing Saddles ultimatum here...)

Re: "This D*mn Navy" ...

Mon Feb 05, 2018 6:06 pm

The diary has been brought up to date! Dayum..8..9 days since the last entry. That's a record I think. Worth the wait tho! :shock:

Re: "This D*mn Navy" ...

Mon Feb 05, 2018 7:33 pm

The Jan 29 entry made me think of "Tales of the South Pacific" and how it might have been a little sanitised.

Re: "This D*mn Navy" ...

Tue Feb 06, 2018 3:03 pm

Rick65 wrote:The Jan 29 entry made me think of "Tales of the South Pacific" and how it might have been a little sanitised.


Or that a 20 somethings dream of El Dorado being just over that next hill (or on that next island) are pretty much the same as they ever were. Greener pastures, the farmer's daughter in the next town over, but when you get there the fellas say, "oh no, the NEXT town over..."

Yeah, right.

Re: "This D*mn Navy" ...

Wed Feb 21, 2018 12:18 pm

Bump....

If any of you aren't reading the latest, it's pretty eye opening. He's gone from the periphery of the war to the tip of the spear and it's great reading.
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