Damato (DDE 871) - Naval Cruise Book

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Puerto Rico s A N J U A N ■ ' i. jj JP i vcs FORTRESS OF San FELIPE del MORRO

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p nam eci p m QMm ' L . . On Friday, 6 February 1953 at Meritorious Mast held on board the U.S.S. DAMATO a score of members of the ship ' s crew were re- cipients of Specific Commendations for excel- lence in performance of their respective duties during the time that the ship was host to Rear Admiral Chester C. Wood, Comman- der Destroyer Flotilla FOUR, United States Navy. The Commendations and awards of the Admiral were typical expressions of his appreciation of a job well done . In commending the Communications per- sonnel, he said in part, This general per- formance of duty speaks well for the Com- munications organization of your ship . In- cluded for special credit were the Operations Officer, Lieutenant Ralph K. Strawn, United States Naval Reserve, the Communications Officer and his assistant. Ensigns Fred J. Barto and Robert A. Costigan and the enlisted men of the Radio Gang: G. T. Stephanos, RMl; F. A. Fleishman, RM3; and the following RMSN ' s: E. D. Brown, M. Busto, E. J. Decker, P. B. Martin, J. C. OToole, D. J. Prince, A. C. Shepard, D. P. Taylor and N. K. Watson. In a citation mentioning Alfred R. Chi- coine, SN; Anthony J. Shoot, BM3; Ralph W. Preo, Jr., SA, and James Marchese, EN3, who were mutually responsible for the prepara- tion and operation of the ship ' s boat as the Admiral ' s Barge, the Admiral stated that, The boat was beautifully prepared from a material point of view and at the time of my embarkation was in ideal shape . Admiral Wood in appreciation of the serv- ices of his orderlies stated that Elmo Young, SA; Bobby J. Watson, SN; Richard F. Ander- son, SN; Ronald L. Wise, SA, and Ernest C. Spinney did Without exception, and at all times, perform their duties in the most exem- plary fashion. They were alert; they acted with a high degree of intelligence; they dis- played initiative; they were outstanding in the appearance of their uniforms and in their personal bearing; they were courteous and helpful. They did much, as a group, to make my stay in DAMATO as pleasant as it was . And to the Commanding Officer, a letter was addressed reading in part, U. S. S. DAMATO (DDE871) commended by Com- mander Destroyer Flotilla FOUR for excellent service as his flagship during the month of January 1953 while engaged in Operation SPRINGBOARD . At the same ceremonies, two Chief Petty Officers, Roscoe M. Hunley, MMC, and Frank R. Baptist, MMC, were com- mended for outstanding performance of duty and devotion to ship and service. This com- mendation was in recognition of a speedy repair of equipment under pressure and strain in order to successfully complete a required competitive exercise. Their success in this arduous task was attributed to their leadership and ' know-how ' by Commander Victor F. Wadsworth, Commanding Officer of the ship.

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A DAY ON A CAN By GEORGE R. MOOERS Whut ' s a day on a can like? Wal, I ain ' t one fer describin thaings, but it seems ter me thet I should sorter try ter tell yer thet much, sence yer askin. I don ' t rightly know how ter go bout it, but here goes: Right away, the fust thing thet comes inter my haid is reveille. Thet ' s when we gotta git up. Fust off, they blows a tin whistle with a gosh-awful screechin sound thet ' s calc ' lated ter wake up any self-respectin dead man from his grave, then a guy they call a MAA comes round and sorta skeers the tar out ' n them thet was jest too durn tired to hear the whistle-thing. (Them MAA ' s, they seem ter be either big an burly, else theys small an scrawny, usu ' ly the fust one, never any in between.) Then you mosey on up to the head an kinda stand aroun whilst bout leventeen guys who ' re ahed of yer warsh up an brush their teeth an such. After you fine ' ly git aroun ter it yer- self, thet there whistlin thing starts a ' screechin fit ter bust, ter let yer know chow ' s bein ' served up. Chow, wal, thet ' s a mess o ' somethin calc ' lated ter look like food. After chow, you kinda mosey down the deck sorta takin it easy digestin yer food and yer bout ter lite up a fag when a guy called a leadin seaman shoves a broom ' er a swab in yer mitt an says let ' s hit it er some- thin ter thet effect. Them there leadin sea- men, they ' re right on the ball. They alius seem ter wake up jist at the right time ter give yer somethin else ter do. After you gits the deck all nice an clean somethin alius happens ter mess it up agin an before you gits ter straighten ' er out agin that there screechin comes agin an a guy bellers quarters fer muster. Quarters, thet there ' s when yer division officer tells yer everthin bout nothin and nothin bout whut ' s cookin fer the day an such. Right after quarters them leadin seamen gits hot agin an you either clean the deck agin or else they give you a job fer the morn- in sich as scrapin paint off an puttin new paint on or some other durn fool thing which only a leadin seaman kin think up. Purty soon thet there screechin tells yer thet yer kin stop workin (thets fer the guys whut ain ' t fluffin off al- ready) but yer don ' t stop workin, they gives yer back yer broom ' er swab an the deck gits another goin over. Thet screecher yowls out chow agin an you sudden- like gits caught in a hooman traffic jam thet makes Times Square on New Year ' s Eve look like a tea party. Thet there ' s called a chow line. After dinner (some call it thet) you saunter out ' n the mess hall feelin purty rite with the world when all of a sudden-like the screech- thing yowls turn to, com- mence ship ' s work an them leadin seaman fellers comes out ' n their holes long nuff ter put yer to work agin. Thet screechin announces knock off an the same stuff thet happened at dinner tim e starts all over agin and after supper yer free by yer- self if yer got no watch. Watch, thet ' s four hours when yer wishin yer never heard of the Navy. Durin the evenin you gits ter see a movie yer seen five years ago when you was a civilian and then the ol ' screecher wakes up half o ' the guys an tells ' em ter go ter sleep. Thet there ' s taps. Thet ' s jist about it, 1 reckon, but don ' t git me wrong. I guess 1 like the Navy OK, in fact, I like it fine. Hope yer understand v hut 1 tried ter git acrost. Thankye fer listcnin. Thet ' s A wl !