Monday, November 13, 2017

Old Friends and Friends I've never met

Well, it's a cool, rainy, kinda gloomy day down in Texas.  You'd think winter was approaching or something.  I'm sitting here pondering, while enjoying the smell of the Carnitas slow roasting in the oven. 

It's hunting season and Mrs Juvat bagged herself a buck last Thursday evening.  

Course, she did it with the front end of her car.  She's fine. Thank you, Lord!  

The car?  Still in the decision process with USAA.  Spoke with the body shop, he hadn't finished inspecting it yet, but it was already north of four grand and that's before I mentioned the radiator leaking coolant and the engine overtemp.  

I think she's a goner. 12 years and 250K behind her... Been a good ride.

Friday, however was a great day.  Earlier in the week I'd gotten a text from a friend I've never met.  He was going to be in town and wondered if I'd like to visit the museum with him.

Having not had a day off in quite a while, I told my boss I was going to be unavailable Friday.  

He said OK.  I guess I've been getting grumpy lately.

So. Friday morning arrives and after a bit of miscommunication about which entrance to the museum we were going to use, I finally get to meet OldNFO face to face.




Well, turns out that he'd coordinated with somebody who'd worked at the Museum and had finagled a VIP tour.  (Given that he's known as OLD NFO, I think he might have mentioned that he's actually taught Admiral Nimitz about submarines.....Or something)

Anyhow, I walked in the door and there he is talking to somebody I'd met when I first moved to town, been friends with he and his wife since.

I think he's pretty loaded, so let's just call him Rich.

Rich is retired Army.  Field Artillery if you must know. 

Cue my second most favorite Army video after "ARRRRMMMMEEE Training Sir!"



I had known that Rich had taken a job at the Museum, but hadn't really known what he did there.  Turns out that he'd been the guy responsible for all the supporting information in the displays.  The Factoids and Pictures, games and such that make the Museum so much more than a store room for old stuff.  

As Sarge will say, when he finally makes it down here, "brings it to life".  For example, in one of the galleries, there's a wall sized picture of an LST.  Folks are disembarking, and there's a group of the ship's company manning the forward AAA battery.  (Kamikazes, doncha know)

Turns out that Rich's Father-in-Law had served on that ship, so he'd printed out a copy of the photo, had it framed and matted and gave it to him for Christmas.  The Father-in-Law is looking at the picture hands it back to Rich and tells him that he's the officer in the picture by the AAA.  That was his Battle Station.  

Cool details like that.

He did mention that visitors to the museum were categorized into two groups, Streakers and Strollers.  Tuna and I when we visited were definitely in the first category.  This visit was the latter.  
Tuna, I told you there was a seaplane there.  We should have turned left at Tarawa, not right.
So, I'm touring this incredible museum with the guy who did the nuts and bolts research on the exhibits, and someone who's got a lot of experience doing a lot of things in the Pacific.  While I give OldNFO a boatload of good natured grief, the guy knows a lot about lot of things. 

Lots of things I didn't know, that I do now.  

Four hours passed in about 15 minutes, and it was time for lunch, so we head for Hilda's, a little Mexican restaurant in town.  A nice relaxing meal (I had the enchilada plate, chicken, thanks for asking.  Excellent as always!) with the inevitable war story exchanges.

Then it's back to the Museum. (One of the nice things about the Nimitz is your ticket is good for two days and it's $10 with a military ID.  Free if you're a WWII vet.  So out and back in is authorized, even expected.) 

This time, however, we're going to the "Pacific Combat Zone", a separate facility about a block away from the Main Building.  This is a living history exhibit and conducts several reenactments a year, with explosions, landing craft, an occasional airplane flyover and finally a flamethrower.  One of these reenactments was scheduled for this past weekend, but not on Friday.

Rich, however, took us on a behind the scenes tour of the facility, which included a look at the maintenance bay.   While there, we rounded out or entourage of military veterans when we made acquaintence with a young Marine.  He'd served on Okinawa recently, then gotten out and was working fixing, when we met him, a Sheridan tank.  He also was a reenactor, so was going to be suiting up for the festivities the next day.  Interesting guy, and fun to talk with.

There are two "hardware" displays in that section of the Museum. 

A TBM.  What a Beast! Thing is Huge!  (or is it "Yuge!" now?)  While ogling this display, we met up with a DD crewman from the Korean War and chatted with him for a while.  

Left this display and went to the other exhibit.



An actual PT boat, and one of very few (three I think) surviving.  Again, something I didn't know, this one had fought in the Mediterranean.  Didn't know PT's had done that, PT-109 and "McHale's Navy" being the source of most all my PT Boat knowledge, prior.  This boat had 3 German ships to her credit.  

So, it's now about 4PM as we exit the Museum.  We're saying our goodbyes as OldNFO has a ways to travel before he retires for the evening.  He leaves us with a bit of good news.  He said he's going to Alpine to do some research for another episode in the Grey Man series.  

Man! I hope that comes to be.

One final observation.  We spoke with quite a few people while in the Museum.  Most of whom were veterans.  There was an organized group (they had nametags) from a Vietnam supply ship association.  There was a young guy with his dad, both vets, he had been a USAF medic, Dad was with the Group.  The Marine we met at the Pacific Combat Zone, another Army guy (Infantry, I'd bet my bottom dollar.)  Every one of them I felt comfortable around, felt I could trust them, could let my guard down a bit. Just Friends I hadn't met yet. That doesn't happen with most people I meet.  Positively refreshing.

So, it was a great weekend, hope your's was also.


32 comments:

  1. Great post.

    PT boats. High on the list of those people I have a huge respect for are those who went to war in wooden boats loaded with high explosives and aviation gasoline.

    Totally agree on the Grey Man series.

    "Just Friends I hadn't met yet." Well stated. I wouldn't read and comment here if I didn't feel that same way. And I also feel that way about the regular commenters here!

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    1. Yeah, it wouldn't take much to make it go boom, would it?
      Agreed about the commenters. Sarge runs a good ship.

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  2. Love Old NFO's license plate. Texas does it right.

    Yup, I feel the need to go to Texas. I plan on making that happen next year, Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise.

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    1. We're doing a face to face next year one way or another. Cruise is booked.

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    2. Which doesn't let you off the hook on visiting Texas.

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  3. Old NFO said "fired over 100 torpedoes in combat, and was credited with sinking five enemy ships." You gave "Oh Frankie" only 3. You guys need to get your stories straight or is it a USN/USAF thing? LOL. It is great when we met or run into friends we've never seen before. Happens all the time in our Lexican Clan.

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    1. I don't know...It only had 3 swastikas above the spray shield. The 100 and 5 might have been OldNFO's PERSONAL record from WWI. Just sayin'.

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    2. World War I? I have it on good authority that Old NFO was with Farragut at Mobile Bay.

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    3. I also have it on good authority that he was at the Battle of Salamis using a pseudonym of Themistocles. As I said, very knowledgeable with a lot of experience.

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    4. Ahem... According to the 'history' of the boat, she is credited with 5, including the capture of an Italian PT boat... Other than that, I know nozzink... :-)

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    5. I remember Rich talking about the Italian PT boat, and how broken up the crew was to have been taken prisoner. (hint: Not!)

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  4. Well, OLDNFO did conveniently not post the pic of the spray shield on his blog. Sarge, I guess you'll confirm the kills when you go down.

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    1. Guess I'll just have to have a return visit. Shucky Darn! Sarge? You got some free time?

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  5. A few years ago I was kayaking on the Hudson near Cold Spring, NY. Shopping for a kayak more specifically. I heard a loud engine across the river and low and behold! A real live PT boat. It had been restored and was a "living museum" type thing from up in Kingston, NY. Way cool.

    Finicky Fat Guy

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    1. Oh man! That would have been cool to see. Opened up or just putting along?

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  6. Thanks for meeting us, it was great to finally meet y'all face to face! Hopefully you can replace the truck without too much problem!

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    1. I had a blast! Thanks for stopping by.

      As for Mrs J's ride....Just got informed that USAA is going to repair it. Not sure if that's a good thing or not. No car payments though.

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    2. That's good news! Sorry I didn't get a chance to meet her.

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    3. There's always next time. She's, by far, the better part of the package.

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  7. Thanks for the post. The first adult book I read was " They Were Expendable ". If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.

    Paul L. Quandt

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    1. I think I may have read that way back in the day. Gonna go to 1-800-Kindle and see what I can see.

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  8. Hey Juvat;
    Yep, Old NFO is a class act, we just don't tell him that, we just throw him under the galleon(I have respect for my elders so I am using a reference that he can relate to.) I will check out that museum, I heard that it is pretty good. Perhaps after NRAAM in DFW in May.

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    1. Drop me an email when you get close and we'll set up another Friends I've Never Met Face to Face (FINMFTF?). I'm always up for a museum visit.

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  9. Well, that mistaken post on my part sure worked out. You still got top billing on a Monday, and it flowed well into my post further down the scroll!

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  10. Juvat, your Air Force is showing, it is an M3A1 Stuart tank the guy was working on, not a Sheridan. That would be like me calling a P-47 an F4 Phantom.
    Rich

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    1. I'm sure your right. My apologies. Target recognition is especially difficult when the turret is still attached. At that point, it whether the bullets are coming at you or away from you that determines friend from foe.
      Now, P47 vs F-4. There's about a 300K difference in closing velocity that makes the first distinction.
      Just sayin'.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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