Read the comments of Joseph A. Rugg and his Merchant Marine experience while in the Navy. Kind of reminds me of the time on the Michelson while I was a GI Engineer. I spent a lot of time out on deck cooking my epidermis under the sun. I noticed the MSC deck crew constantly repainting the ship and never getting it done; it was a bigger job than they could do during a 28 day trip.

I decided to see if they would like for me to help them paint. Long story short they gave me a bucket of paint, a roller with a long pole and a paint brush. Now I was part of the deck crew.

Well, that lasted about an hour when one of the union stewards raised hell claiming I was taking work away from the deck crew. What a crock, they could never finish painting the ship as there weren't enough crew to paint all that needed painting. So I returned their paint and tools and retired from MSC. It was fun while it lasted.

I wonder if I'm eligible for a Merchant Marine Retirement . . . . .

Best Always
Chris, Phoenix AZ, 2253hrs MST, 16 July 2024

USNS Bowditch
Sperry Tech Rep
1974-1977

Stepson of Steve Gage, General Instruments rep. It was a pleasure reading through your many remembrances, a small tickle seeing Lee Everett's name (he visited us at home many times in Barcelona). Also, the name Ed Gauthier who once babysat me at the Hotel Bompard in Marseilles when my parents went to see "Last Tango In Paris." My step father was a great man. Best regards from a son of the "Dirty D."

30 June 2024

Wishing all a wonderful Fourth of July !!!

Chris

Just checking in. Wondering if any of the Ole shipmates remember me. One of the few USN members who did duty as a Merchant Marine while at sea.

1988...Great experience. Rio , Curacao, Panama Canal, Hawaii. White water rafting, Hang Gliding, interesting ocean geology, working with NAVO. Whale sightings, Flying fish, Bio luminesence! Climbing the A frames. Holiday routine which was just like any other day except there was cake ??? Volleyball madness. Good memories. Hard work.

Hola Shipmates, 28 May 2024

Since we honored the Michelson with a custom license plate we decided to honor the Bowditch with a plate of her own on our Dodge PU Truck. She now proudly wears a Navy Veteran plate with "TAGS21" commemorating her and all that served on her.

I probably wasn't clear when I commented "Only one in AZ". I meant we only have one plate here in Arizona, our vehicles only wear a rear plate. The front of our vehicles are clean. Texas insists on a front and rear plate. I refused to display a front plate on our Mustang and our Police interceptor. I was only stopped once and told the cop to look around, "No one" with a nice looking car puts an ugly plate on the front. He let me go w/o a citation.

Best Always
Chris Headley

Hi Shipmates, 19 May 2024

Got our cop car out of the shop yesterday. She passed the smog test here in Phoenix. Took the paperwork to the local AZ License office, transferred the title from TX to AZ. Ordered a custom Navy Veteran plate (only one in AZ) with a custom Plate ID: TAGS23 Since I spent the most time on the Mike thought her Hull number was most deserving.

If you ever see a black 2000 Ford Police Interceptor tooling down the highway with the Mike's # give us a Honk and wave. Maybe we can stop and have a visit and a snack.

Thank You All For Serving Our Country and God Bless You and Your Families.

Best Always
Chris Headley

I was aboard the USS Denebola AF 56, a converted VC2 Victory class ship (same as the TAGS) from 1967 to 1971. I was a Boilerman second class. I was also the oil king while I was on board ship. Our ship the USS Denebola AF 56 was based out of Norfolk VA. We made7 trips to the Mediterranean during my 4 yrs on board. I visited ports in Africa, Italy, France, Greece, Valletta Malta, Portugal Spain and Rotterdam Holland and 1 trip to Cuba. I also keep in touch with a lot of shipmates to this day . A great experience in my life.

Served as EMO. Picked up the ship in Port Melbourne FL, went thru the ditch, up the West Coast, hit Hawaii, and Japan then transferred out. It was a very enjoyable tour.