Small Talk Volume 14 Issue 1 February 2008

SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST HOW THE NAVY BENEFITED MY LIFE, CONT. • One more story for Larry Chassels incentive and to get com- receipts for delivery of “How did the Navy CDR, USNR (RET): missioned as an ENS same) to the board. Need- benefit your life?” when I graduated. Vietnam less to say, there was a lot makes up our cover In the 4th grade, I de- was looking bad, and the of embarrassment at the story. Larry Chassels cided I wanted to be a high Draft Board was trying to Draft Board that day. shares his response. school math teacher. I still get all of us. I was classi- I graduated and got my had this goal when I went to fied 1S (Priority 1, Student Commission as an Ensign, • Only two new names for Welcome Mat on the University of Missouri Deferral) at the time, so I USNR on 8 June 1965. It page two. If you know (College of Education), Co- decided to finish my Offi- took 60 days to get to my of a former shipmate lumbia, MO, 9/61—6/65. cer Training. first ship, USS KING (DLG- who is not on the mail- Since my university was a The funny part is that I 10), in the Tonkin Gulf. Get- ing list, let us know. “Land Grant School,” all was ordered to report to ting there I flew from San male attendees were re- the St. Louis, MO Draft Francisco, CA on an old • Responses to another quired to take two years of Board (for duty in the propeller driven plane, stop- question to the readers ROTC. I was looking for Army) 4 months before my ping on every island across is on page three. If you scholarships; a buddy of graduation and commis- the Pacific; landed at Clark would like your re- mine was applying for a sioning. Apparently, the AFB, PI; took a Navy bus to sponse printed next time, just send it in for Navy ROTC Scholarship; I paperwork filed with the Subic Bay, PI; departed on the next issue. used to get engrossed in Draft Board by the Navy USS TOLOVANA (AO-64); old “Victory at Sea” TV se- got lost. So I received was highlined to the USS • A “Blast from the Past” ries; I applied for a Navy Navy Orders from the Uni- BON HOMME RICHARD is on page four. Ex- ROTC Scholarship. I didn’t versity of Missouri NROTC (CVA-31); was jet cod cerpts from a 23 June get the scholarship, but I Unit to report to the St. flighted to the USS ORIS- 1946 Small Talk News- chose NROTC for my first Louis, MO Draft Board, in KANY (CVA-34), then taken letter is featured. two years. I elected to take my 1st Class Midshipman by helicopter and lowered in two more years of NROTC Uniform to deliver copies a “horse collar” onto the to get the $50.00 per month of the documents (and (Continued on page 2) VOLUME 14 ISSUE 1 SMALL TALK PAGE 2

(Continued from page 1) stern of the USS KING (DLG-10). FROM YOUR TAPS I then spent a total of 10 years active duty in the U.S. Navy, serving COORDINATOR on USS KING (DLG-10), USS SAM- PLE (DE-1048) PRE-COMM DETAIL, Hi all Ernest G. Small Ship- USS FOX (DLG-33), U.S. NAVY DE- mates of all eras, especially those from ‘67—’70. This is the old STROYER SCHOOL, USS SAMUEL Small Talk was notified of the B. ROBERTS (DD-823), USS Postal Clerk from that era. It is now 2008, and our next reunion is go- death of the following shipmate. The ERNEST G. SMALL (DD-838), COM- entire crew extends our sympathy to DESFLOT 5, and COM- ing to be this September in Our Nation’s Capital, Washington, DC. family and friends. If anyone knows NAVSURFGRU MIDPAC. During my of a deceased shipmate please in- shipboard duty I did tutor 12 sailors The exact dates are soon to be determined, but it is going to be a form the Small Talk so he can be and helped them complete their GED recognized in TAPS and also be Testing to get high school degrees. fun packed 4 days, so I invite all of you old shipmates to make plans listed on the honor roll at the reun- After my active duty, I became a ion memorial service. Navy Contractor for 18 months, then I and attend. See old faces that we joined Navy Civil Service for 19 have not seen in 40 plus years and years. During this time, I also actively reminisce about the camaraderie we once shared many, many years Fred C Funderbuck participated in the U.S. Naval Re- (1947-52) BT2 Eng serve for 16 years. After “Catch 62”, ago. Died January 2007 “WEP”, etc. I am now receiving a re- ______duced Navy Civil Service Retirement Ron Palinkas (GS-12 Computer Specialist), full ______Navy Reserve Retirement (CDR, USNR) and reduced Social Security Retirement. FINANCIAL STATEMENT But the thing I value most is the Balance after 11/07 $1137.25 time I spent aboard ship with my crew Funds received since 11/07$20.00 onboard my destroyers. We were Funds available for 02/08 truly a “team” and a “family” because $1157.25 we all depended on each other to WELCOME MAT Funds expended for 02/08 survive and return home together. I $129.25 was always a “canon cocker” or The Ernest G. Small family wel- Ending Balance $1028.00 weapons man. I always considered comes the most recently located this as the primary mission of the members of the former crew. We This newsletter is being mailed ship- to get in position to fire my hope to see you at the next reun- only to those who returned the cou- weapons, but you can’t get there ion and ask you to take an active pon for a paper copy. All others can without the Engineers providing the part in our Association. view the newsletter on the website- propulsion, the Operations and Navi- www.mlrsinc.com/egsmall. Send contributions to ML&RS, Inc. as gation people getting you to the tar- Terrie Little shown below. get area, etc. When you went to GQ, STGSN Fox Div you knew you depended on each 209 S Lapham Peak Rd other. This also held true for normal Delafield, WI 53018 steaming, picking up downed pilots, 414-617-1819 Published By: men overboard, etc. Your whole life [email protected] Military Locator & Reunion Service, Inc depended on keeping “your lady” PO Drawer 11399 afloat and operational so you could Joe McKissick Hickory, NC 28603 get to the next liberty port, and more (1963-66) IC2 828-256-6008 (voice) importantly, back home to all of your 1802 Rolling Ct individual families. I still miss my time 828-256-6559 (fax) Piedmont, OK 73078 at sea, including riding out three ty- 405-373-4444 [email protected] phoons, etc. Right now, there has [email protected] [email protected] been nothing too tough to handle on ______dry land, because I have handled www.mlrsinc.com/egsmall destroyers at sea in almost any situa- tion you can name. “Our Reunions Work, So You Don’t ______Have To” ______VOLUME 13 ISSUE 4 SMALL TALK Page 3 me another pair of glasses. When We sail the open seas, my ship got back to Yokosuka about Earning our measly pay, a month later, I went to the base eye Guarding our land with billions, doctor and was fitted with a new pair For two and a half a day. of glasses. The next day I got the pair of glasses I ordered from home. We sweat, We freeze, We shiver,

MAIL CALL After that, I always had a back-up It’s more than man can stand, Editor’s Note: When asked if any- pair of glasses. We’re not here to be punished, one had an idea for a question to ______We’re here to defend our land. ask all the shipmates, we got this one from a reader: Tell about a Walt Smith, FTG3: We sail to protect our people time when you were frustrated or In May of 1964, we were chang- And our beloved Uncle Sam, irritated while in the Navy. Here are ing our home port from Long Beach, But few know we are living, the responses we received: CA to Yokosuka, Japan. After leav- And few even give a damn. ing Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the USS Bill Britton: Ernest G. Small and the USS Joseph When we reach the gates of heaven, It’s too bad all these chiefs are Strauss changed course, heading for We’ll hear St. Peter yell, nice now. How come many of their Viet Nam. We relieved the USS “Enter sailors of the Small, kind weren’t so nice while on active Maddox and the USS Turner Joy in You’ve served your time in hell!” duty? Maybe more re-enlistments the Tonkin Gulf after some kind of ______would have taken place. I person- incident there. Since we had ex- ally know an old command master pected to bring our crew up to a full chief that is incredibly nice to talk compliment of personnel when we PUNS to and enjoy. He asked me person- reached Yokosuka, we were stand- My apologies in advance! ally why I hadn’t stayed in the Navy ing Port and Starboard Watches, instead of getting out as an E5 un- except for times spent at General • Two antennas met on a roof, fell der four. My answer: Chiefs were- Quarters. It was a very tense time in love and got married. The cere- n’t so nice in the other Navy. with very little sleep and some tough mony wasn’t much, but the recep- ______duty assignments for all. After sev- tion was excellent. eral weeks, we were finally relieved

Don Abbott, RM3, 1964-66: to proceed to Yokosuka. • A dyslexic man walks into a bra... About the only thing I can think If Scotty was our ship’s artist, I of is when I lost my glasses in may have thought I could be our Subic Bay, Philippines. It hap- ship’s poet, but at the time, I had not • Two cannibals are eating a clown. pened sometime in 1965, I think. I written anything I thought was worth One says to the other, “Does this was drinking with some friends at sharing with anyone. This was writ- taste funny to you?” one of the clubs on the base within ten then, aboard the Small, but I walking distance of the ship. I found it years later among some • I went to buy camouflage trousers stayed until the club closed and things I had sent home. Some of the the other day, but I couldn’t find everybody left at almost the same ideas, of course, were borrowed, but any. time. There was a group of sailors I’m sure it was how I felt at the time. I walking ahead of us and I think titled it simply, • Two fish swim into a concrete someone in our group said some- wall. The one turns to the other thing that offended the other group. “To the Men of the Small” and says, “Dam!” The next thing I knew, we were in a fight. Someone hit me in the face Out in the middle of nowhere • Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, and knocked my glasses off. It was The Small is on the Spot, walked barefoot most of the time, so dark I couldn’t see to find them. Where our best years are spent which produced an impressive set Next morning the ship pulled out at On the ship that God forgot. of calluses on his feet. He also 0800 and I didn’t have a chance to ate very little, which made him go back to look for them. I was Out with the fish and the fowl, rather frail and with his diet, he near-sighted so anything beyond Out in the spray and the foam, suffered from bad breath. This 15 feet was a blur. It was irritating We sail around for nothing, made him: (Oh, man, this is so at times not being able to see well. Thousands of miles from home. bad, it’s good....) A super cal- Since I was a Radioman, I didn’t loused fragile mystic hexed by have to depend on my sight for Waiting, Watching, Wishing, halitosis. long distance. Typing was easy. I Hoping to see our gals, ______wrote a letter home asking my Hoping while in the Navy, folks to have my eye doctor send They haven’t married our pals. VOLUME 14 ISSUE 1 SMALL TALK PAGE 4 “SMALL TALK” FROM 23 JUNE 1946 “TRAVEL LOG” On 15 June at 0751 underway ing officer was finally forced into a Compiled by T.B.D. from Bizerte with the Power enroute Capri bound boat to act as chaper- 22 June 1946 to Naples. At 1515 that afternoon one for the convalescent King of commenced a modified full power Capri. A thorough survey of the is- On May 29th at 1600, after ex- run in accordance with Commander land at midnight however, failed to change of commands and in accor- Destroyers, Atlantic Fleet’s instruc- produce any Bittner, and it wasn’t till dance with orders from Commander tions. Attained a speed of 31.9 knots three in the morning that he was Naval Forces, Mediterranean Thea- (340 RPM). At 1935 completed modi- found with no really satisfactory ex- ter of Operations, the USS SMALL fied full power run, reduced speed to planation of his movements. got underway in company with the fifteen knots and resumed station When “Little Butch” entered a USS Power from Berth 74, Naples, astern of the Power. jeep the other night by means of his enroute to Trieste, Italy. On the Arrived Naples 16 June and at head rather than his hands and feet, morning of 30 June we passed 0840 moored starboard side to the it was considered entirely in keeping through the Straights of Messina Power at Berth 27A. Distance cov- with the spirit of things—but he and then around the “boot” up to the ered was three hundred miles. gave a horse the final gulp of a bot- Adriatic. Held general drills and tac- During our stay in Naples we took tle of champagne and then became tical exercises enroute. on fresh provisions and supplies. indignant because he wouldn’t join On 1 June we arrived in Trieste On 19 June at 0755, in accor- the party; it was decided that things and at 0840 moored starboard side dance with Commander Task Group had gone a little far. to the USS Power at the “Molo Dei 125.1 dispatch, the SMALL got un- Bersaglieri, Stazione Marittina”. Dis- derway in company with the Power “E” DIVISION tance from Naples to Trieste was for Trieste, Italy. At 0640 on 20 June Ogassian, WT2c, again won eight hundred and fifty-three miles. passed through the Straights of points by giving the fish their regular On 5 June, at 0600, as per in- Messina. That morning held General quota of fuel oil to drink. It was too structions, got underway in com- Quarters drill and in the afternoon much though when he served it in pany with the USS Power, enroute held burst practice firing drill. During the mess hall as well. to Venice, Italy. That afternoon, at the day passed through the Ionian We welcome the following new 1300, moored port side to the Sea, and into the Adriatic that night. men into “E” Division: Deputy, CHM; Power at the Riva Dell Imperio Took a northerly course and ar- Pasqualone, EM3c; Natoli, EH3c; Dock, Venice. Distance covered rived at Trieste, Italy at 0800 on 22 Lawrence, S2c; Laurito, S2c; was seventy miles. June. Whittaker, S2c; Wunsel, F2c; La- At 1600 on 8 June, as per ______monica, S2c. schedule, underway in company It was recently learned that with with the Power enroute to Tunis, “DIVISION NEWS” improper oil pressures the super- Tunisia. 22 June 1946 heaters couldn’t be lit off! Wonder On the afternoon of 9 June a what became of those handy mi- horn-type mine was sighted, and “YOU SPEAK!!” crometer valves we have in the fire upon direction from the Officer in The first word is to welcome the rooms. Tactical Command, the SMALL left two passengers now aboard for The water king and queen really formation to sink same. Opened fire transportation to the States, Colonel make the water these days! It with machine guns and rifles and Raymond Curtice and Colonel John comes through a hose from the upon sinking of the mine regained LaRoche, both of the Army Air dock. position astern of the Power. Corps. Colonel LaRoche has already Mongsene “Ace” MM1c, is finally At 1330 on 10 June, pursuant to applied for and been accepted as a smiling—he got some “special con- Commander Naval Forces, Mediter- fully qualified member of the Prettie’s sideration” last week. Pretty good ranean Theater of Operations dis- Club after a thorough investigation stuff too—eh, Ace? patch, our destination was changed was conducted of his past month’s The question of the week: Why from Tunis to Bizerte. activities. Pretties Club president, Mr. does MM “Humpy” Craig always At 0810 on 11 June anchored in Anderson, welcomes him to the fold. take the watch with the section that the outer harbor of Bizerte. At 1005, The quickening of Lt.(jg) Harold Pugh is in? upon arrival of the harbor pilot, got (Daddy) Bittner’s pulse was easily Chief “Humpy” is getting all nerv- underway and entered the inner noted by all hands when he roared ous these days as that voice keeps harbor. Moored starboard side to out of the pits last Sunday morning coming over the speaker saying, the Power at “Le Channel Wharf.” and spied Capri just a few short “Chief Craig, get on the ball.” Distance covered was one thou- steps away. Immediately there was a ______sand and seventy-five miles. loud roar and the harassed engineer-