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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