Macomb (DD 458 DMS 23) - Naval Cruise Book

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consisted of almost anything he could find lying around the ship in addition to what the men gave him. On the foc'sle, when the men were scrub- bing bulkheads with salt water soap, Mek was gf the definite opinion that this soap was for the express purpose of assisting his digestion. and he gobbled it up at every opportunity. r astronomical s lurffes consisted of Ot e g P ca grease, burnt matches, gum, tinfoil, and orange peels. On these the Arab thrived and grew. As he grew, Mek acquired habits as salty as the sea on which he sailed. He had his morning coffee with the first division tblond with one sugart. His rate was still AS., assigned to the first division, but he was learning fast. One duty. for which a man was appointed each night. was to hold Mek during the movies. If the movie was a good one, he would remain perfectly still. If it was a stinker, however, he would show his disapproval by yanking the electric cord from the movie machine. He had excellent taste, loo. Like all seamen, Nlek had to start at the bot- tom aml work up. He reached the rate of cox- swain, but not easily was this rate gained. More thau once he had to start all over again. as. for instance, when one day he took his duty too seriously and did it all over the quarterdeck. This was a big mistake. as he was told later by proper authority. lint later on he committed an even bigger mistake in the captain's cabin. .lus- tice must be appeascd. so Melt was called up before the mast and found guiltx of the above charges. lle was given a deck court. and as Liberty hound Mek U result N U5 llrllktwl ln xiii Unfp again. In addition he was In lose one month's liberty. flowex er. the charge being a minor one. the cap- tain decided lu let him go with a warning. lint in Saipan he again pushed his luck. Hating exerx day liberty there. he would go ashore with the recreation party. time one hilarious time. and return to the ship for the same thing the next dai. Xlhile in Saipan. and while the bccr lasted. cu-ix man rated lttai cans of beer on his liberty dai. .Xltei sntltt' experience with Nh-lt. the crew came lu the conclusion that two t'ZlIlS ttt'It' lou Itlllt'll ful' lltis Ht'tl-tltlltltl tlug. began lu get in the habit ul getting drunk and tlltsslttg the boat. flue dai. as eierxone was about to return lu the ship. Xlek. was nowhere to be found. After luulxltltl about for some time. it was decided that lit' wottltl ln' lttttgltl it les'-ull. so llta' luiztl 2-lluvctl ull. without him. lime par-sed. and. figuring he had learned his lesson. a boat was sent back to the beach for him. Sure enough. there he was on the tloclx and glad enough to return to the ship. Xlek. as a member uf the erew. had his own lxapolx lift-jm'lu't. dog lags. and iflclilificalioll card. which ul course he must have to get out nf ani Navy yard. One experience with the women our tough sea dog will never forget. It happened while the Nlightv Mac was tied up in Charleston. S. C. The pup was missing for several days. A search was made high and low' for him, but he was 61

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, KISMET A conflagration not so disastrous as Pearl Harbor, yet occurring at the same place, oc- curred on the Mac in February, 194-5. It had been only a few weeks since the Mac and her crew had seen the States fand the natives who reside therej, but that incessant longing that every sailor knows had already become ap- parent. So the movie audience that night waited impatiently between the stacks, crowded into every vantage point around the screen. For the movie was HKismet,w starring that sinuous siren, La Dietrich. Finally the opening scenes, lush and sexy, flashed upon the screen, a few sizzling situations had developed, and the kindling point of the screen, the film, and the audience. became immi- nent. Which would break hrst? linfortunately it was the film itself that couldnit hold out. and lurid orange flame suddenly engulfed the pro- jector. All hands beat a hasty and somewhat dis- orderly retreat. with no casualties. Ah. well. there will be other KlSIllt'fS in other places. but House that fag. Mac-li' 'MOYE TIIAT ENGINE ROOM Once again the Niue was at fl.Q. An un- identified plane had been picked up by our radar not ten miles away. Now it was in sight. It was a .lapl ln the after engine room. Howard. CMM, nursed his throttle up to thirty knots. and won- dered if he would eyer again see his ranch full of beef critters in California. ln the forward engine room. liiayer. CMM. looked longingly up the ladder and thought of the days when he had wanted lu become 3 4-om- but sailor. Suddenly the bark of 5 battery jarred through the ship! Then the rattle of the machine guns told them that the foe was close aboard! liabooml :X terrific blast on the port side lifted the Mac halt out of the water. ln the after engine room a fuse blew from its clips and shot across the desk like a bullet. The bulkheads bulged and roared like thunder. 60 Howard rose from his knees where he had been thrown by the blast. Dashing to the throt- tle, with one terrific twist he ran it against the limits. Grabbing his phones, he yelled, iiBayer?i' uSpeaking,i' said a shaking voice. ulsisten, you: -move that goddam engine room over, eaugg lim comin' through! MEK Mers El Kabir is the complete name of the Macombis mascot, a brown and white fox terrier picked up in a town in North Africa. He was named for the town in which he was found. but it proved too much of a mouthful, so the first letter of each word was taken to provide the name of Mek. Some of the men try to pin a nationality on the pooch and call him Arab. but he answers only to his ofhcial name of Mek tif he answers at alli. The story of how Mek came to board the Mae is a tale in itself. lt was one bright African after- noon when several lVfacomb men were out scout- ing around for something to buy with their newly acquired francs. Suddenly, Williams. Coxswain, spied a small pup sitting on a door- step. looking extremely sad and forlorn. Wil- liams, with his pals Booth, Kazlowski and liois. all lN121iSWZ1llliS mates, decided to adopt the little mutt. Now the problem was to get him back Ull board without detection by the eagle-eyed UD. Fortunately the dog was so small that he could be snugly htted into a jumper without a notice- able bulge. Williams was elected to carry thc male. as it were. But he reckoned without tht! alert OD., Mr. Lawrence taffectionately known as Larry the Lump t. Mr. Lawrence immediately detected the animal. and forthwith sent them to the captain for permission to bring the pup aboard. Captain Hutchison gave his approval provided he be logged in at the gangway, df?- loused. and adequate quarters provided for him. Nlek immediately showed his appreciation by shifting into gear and wetting the captainis shoe. So time passed and the Mighty Mac steamed out into the blue Mediterranean, and we find OUT mascot slowly gaining weight and his sea legs' He became salty enough to overcome the motion of the ship and to climb out of his box and wan- der about the ship. During this time his diet Q

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not to be found. Then one day the search came to an abrupt end-in the Waves' barracks. There in the middle of the room on a table stood our rugged, tough, salty sea dog, his coat glistening from washing and brushing, bedecked in a rib- bon and smelling of some exotic perfume. Need- less to say, he was immediately rescued from this horrible fate. Shortly after this incident, his belligerent naval disposition almost proved his undoing, when he came out second best in an argument with a truck. He emerged from the hospital eight days later, good as new. but a much wiser dog. The ship's welfare fund was some hundred dollars poorer, but everyone considered it money well spent. Meek has taken part in several engagements. notably the invasion of Southern lfranee. the sinking of a tit-rinan sulnnarine. and the fllilll 1 . - 'st lnaseots awa t.zuupzugn. lle was one ul tht fn to enter 'tokyo liay. We are sad lu relate that Nlek s penehant for wine. women. and sulltl was at last his nndoin i ll . F, lor he failed lu make the ship when we left lilllllllllil on the wax home. .incl ilu- ship sailed without him. Nu doubt he is eompletelx happy now amid fiulnlt-s dusky bt-Iles and flowing bowls. for he was a true sailor in this respeet llut the Nlueomb is a lonesome ship lol' lu . . 5 ubsenee. and it is with real regret that we sax goodbye to Xlek. a real sea do-r Q 1-.- 1 -A -ze ,X .ZCLQX Eg ASP? mffff , A014 llllll '- . 3'-f W :ig 1 is lt- -2:31 X kv l?1'F2:'. ' 21, 5 Qfigg-ft 'I ,. , x, ug, 03,57 fff ' ' K ctw If ,. fig.. Q ' 0 ff, ' sk, X i kikw , X 1 1 kj 62 MEKL9 HEAD MEMORABLE PERSONALITIES Due to the brevity of this publication, and to the hazy memories of the few old Macgmbites left aboard to publish it, a great many charge. ters who tigured prominently in the Macomlfs history are barely mentioned. So in passing we would like to recall some of those who left an indelible impression on our minds. For instance, who could forget Big John taliag Knobby, alias Bones, alias Buttonsit Walsh, that marathon eonversationalist and future mayor of Rochester .... Or Sweeney. that Cargantuan quartermaster. better known as Wllhe Hairy Apef' who never put anything together the way it came apart if he could help it. Old timers will remember Babb. CTM. the Macomlfs Zazu Pitts. who wet-nursed his tin fish for several years before weaning them lo all-oliol .... And. of course. there was always Chief un- mentionable head' Melott. Cl-IM. whose round- robin debates with Alois 112 years a seamant favis. the man who always brought home the baeon. and llncle Adam lsubas. the seourge ol the seamen. kept the chielis quarters in a eon- stant simmer ol excitement. Perhaps no odder eonglomeration of person- alities ever existed than the C S It gang. coul- posed of Walter Berkowitch, the ex-hairdresser from Brooklyn, Pop Austin lsee Austiifs leap to lamet. Paddle-foot Young, and Moron Saltersfs-never a dull moment in those days! Uur Asiatic contingent included Chief 'alittle Foo Angel. who ran Mr. Brock a close second in lots of thingsg Leonard Carside, author of that famous excuse of being overleave, HM! sister got me drunkwg Whang-poo, who paid the rent at Izzy Ort's. Then there was David lFoo-Foot Tflfileff lirooklynis gift to Cafe Society .... Bertram tHallucinationst Lord left us ga-SP' ing many a time by sighting periscopes behind every piece of seaweed. We had two Williams-Willie the coxswain, better known as the Embezzler-at-Large, and it 45 uf ,