Pawcatuck (AO 108) - Naval Cruise Book

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Donald Weaver was caught by the Master-at4Arms fishing off the fantail one morning when he should have been attending to the cleanliness of the mess hall, but the MA said that's all right, he could do it that afternoon while the other mess cooks were at their leisure. Then there was Lawrence Voelk who shares the honors with the Executive Officer, Mr. McCarthy, and with Gene Hambly, another Seaman on the deck force, of being from the fine state of Minnesota, town of Duluth. The tallest man of the deck force was Big Jim Walsh. Big Jim was quite handy with the paint brush. One day he became so enthusiastic with the brush he painted his shoes. The shortest man was Tony Izquierdo from Brooklyn, who jumped off the bridge during swim call Sunday July 13th, a notable feat regardless of stature. Speaking of Izquierdo, there were a few more names of men on the deck force of the USS Pawcatuck far removed from Smith or Jones. Haataja heads the list because that name is a little more difficult than it appears at first glance. In fact, his name wasn't pronounced right by anybody at any time during the entire cruise. Haataja was an ex-merchant marine. From Union, New Jersey, and known as the New Joisey Nugget was that great baseball fan and holder of another easily mispronounced moniker, Carl Livecchia. Called Ski by their shipmates, and also from New Jersey were Joe Wisnewski and Stanley Falkowski. ' Nicknames are always interesting when a large group get to know each other well enough to recognize each other by them. When someone called for Wild Bill, it was Wild Bill Burridge from Alabama, a fellow with a real southern drawl and he really did look wild once when he got rust in his eye and had to wear a black patch, pirate style. All he needed was a wooden leg. Pop Hurd got his nickname because he was slightly older than most of the other fellows, older in military experience as well as age. An ex-Army man, he intends to make the Navy a lifetime job. An individual who should have been nicknamed shutter bug but no one started the ball rolling, was camera- conscious, tour-happy Joe Mulvey. Just the opposite of what his nickname implys, Speedy Wilson from Bloomfield, New Jersey, was mess cooking during most of the trip and was always on the go, slowly but surely replenishing cups in the chow line at every meal. Colonel was Thomas Utley who was from Alabama, not Kentucky, but nonetheless a gentleman of the Old South and therefore deserving of that prefix. From Kentucky but not a colonel was Tom Boothe who unfortunately was in sick bay and hospital a good deal of the time, but at the conclusion of the trip was hale and hearty despite the shaking up he got one night when he lost his teeth. The choppers were found the next day, however, so no serious consequencesevolved. There were three Reds on the deck force, Wayne Fisher from Wisconsin, Red Denton, who was transferred to Supply Division to become a barber, and Russ Berglund. There were also a number of men tagged Russ by their shipmates: Russ Berglund just mentioned, Russ Dowd of the New Jersey Dowds, Speedy Russ Wilson, and Jim Russell, the First Lieuten- ant's yeoman, a radio announcer in North Carolina before entering the service. David Wise Guy Wofford was also from the Carolinas. David says he's from Gastonia, North Carolina, but he attended the University of South Carolina E211 v

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and has also lived 1n Columbia the capital of the Palmetto state Being fond of his own Jokes, he was addlcted to laughing at each one When a friend made a remark concerning th1s Wise Guys 1mmed1ate retort was I l1ke my Jokes Of part1cular lnterest to his shlpmates was his Wonderful capacity of wr1t1ng love letters, especially the one composed entirely of song t1tlGS There always has to be one of those guys who IS fond of misleading new arrivals on board with errands and advice of the left handed monkey wrench type Bob Wheeler from El Paso Colorado was the new Seaman s headache 1n tlus field with utterances such We need two volunteers to clean barnacles off the screws or go get me a bushel of square knots Ensign McHugh was the victim of goings on of this k1nd one mght not long after his arrival on board when the Executive Oiiicer sent him out to find the water l1ne which was lying loose on deck The officers and men of the Pawcatuck are to be con- gratulated on the wonderful safety record during. the Med cruise especially tlre deck force because of the more hazard- ous work that has to be performed by that department The only accident of any consequence to prove 1nJur1ous to a deck force person was when D1ck Empson broke hi nose a few weeks before sailing for the Med which neces- s1tated his being 1n the hospltal a few weeks This however was not caused by hazardous work but resulted when Empy and part of the shlp met during a little basketball practice on the well deck Another unfortunate occurance as a result of basketball was when Will Woolard lost a one hundred dollar watch over the Slde, which made him very sa The ambitions and desires heard expressed by navy men out at sea are endless and believe 1t or not do not always concern the distaif side Of course the ladies always seem to keep themselves foremost in the minds of the men but once 1n a while the conversatlon wanders to other thlngs the fellows have left behind or hope for when they get back Gene Vail was a great exponent of the sport of stock car racing Chud Fosher from Coopersv1lle New York was desirous of becomlng a state policeman when he gets out of the Navy Bruce Phelps from Florence Alabama was a pressman from his dads newspaper the Florence Times Wlthout exception everyone was looking forward to being home back with the folks to tell them of their experiences and the places that were seen during the trip Frank Boyer who was having a big church wedding upon return to the United States probably didn t have time to do much of that but the others with nothing quite as time consuming during leave could be expected to relate to their loved ones gathered about them the high spots of the voyage Wlnfield Rau took the fastest vehicle headed in the directlon of Baltlmore Maryland to be with h1s wife and son Hewey Thornsbury made a beehne for North Spring West Virginia and so l1ke an open fan busses trains cars and planes scattered Pawcatuckers north east south and west for a few days each to his respective home town After traveling more than 20,000 mll6S on the good ship Pawcatuck, what's a few hundred miles? Sallors are noted for fondness of travel, but the traveling they like best is when it's 1n the dlrection of home.' . ' I20. . . . . 1 I a I ' . , . . . . . , - - u ' , 1 ' 11 ' ' ' ' . Q n a 0 , . . . . . - , ' I 0 7 7 , . . - u ZS, 77 cr 77 ' . . . . . . . 0 s ' 1 , . H . . 11 . . . . ,1 1 . . . . . L. . S 1 . . . . . . ' 1 1 as 11 . . . . . . , I u I I d. ., . . . . . 1 1 . . . . . . . . . . . ' ' 1 1 . . . ' 1 1 ' 1 Q 0 . . 1 1 . . . , ' 1 . . , . . . ' Q 4 I 1 1 , 7 1 . 1 1 1 1 1 1 . ' u . . . ' - . . I I

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