Tin Can Rally

Thank you for the excellent article in the October 2005 issue on our Navy’s destroyers (“Greyhounds of the Sea”). As I gazed at the lead photo covering pages 48 and 49 of water crashing over the bow of the destroyer, I remarked to my wife, “That sure brings back memories!” Imagine my surprise (and delight) when I then saw printed in the lower right corner “USS Stormes (DD-780)” — my first ship!

… I spent the next several minutes recalling events and shipmates, in particular my “greatest generation” CO, Cmdr. W.J. Millar. During one of our many challenging assignments, the Cuban missile blockade, I can tell you that it was a great comfort to the entire crew to know we were at sea with a skipper who had “been there and done that” during both World War II and [the Korean War].

Capt. Ed Fava, USN-Ret.
Charleston, S.C.

As a former tin can sailor on board the USS Shea (DM-30) (commissioned on DD-750), I found a bond aboard that’s unique to smaller ships (subs, too), especially ships of the line. The DDs of any era were often tasked to do a variety of assignments from guns, torpedos, minesweeping, and mine-laying on the offensive side. There’s one sound a submarine doesn’t want to hear on its sonar — the prop wash of a destroyer such as ours. ... Those pictures on pages 48, 49, 52, and 53 say it all.

Lt. Edwin C. Oyer, USN-Ret.
Williamsburg, Va.

I am 80 years of age [and] joined the Navy on my 17th birthday in 1942. My first ship was an old World War II destroyer — [it] had been the USS Turner, which had been pulled out of the mothball fleet. … From there I was sent to a new, Fletcher-class USS Rooks (DP-804). We survived Iwo and 83 days at Okinawa. Two of our divisions were sunk by kamikaze.
 
… Throughout my 30-year career I was aboard several different destroyer types. The … USS Noa (DD-841) [pictured on page 53] was my first duty as a commissioned officer. …

I had the good luck to be part of the commissioning crew of the world’s first nuclear frigate, USS Bainbridge (DLGN-25). [I had a] tour in Vietnam as operations officer, USS Standley (DLG-34). I was XO of USS Soley (DD-707) and finished my career as CO of USS Dainard (DD-706).

Lt. Cmdr. E.G. Trayer, USN-Ret.
Lexington, S.C.

The picture of the USS Remey (DD-688) refueling in heavy seas [page 52] brought back a lot of memories. I was the main propulsion assistant of the Remey at the time, and my sea refueling station was at the After Gun Director.

I vividly remember [the pictured] refueling. We, as a unit of DesRon 12 out of Newport, R.I., had been on antisubmarine exercises off the Virginia Capes (VaCapes) in the spring of 1958 when we got orders to proceed at best speed toward Venezuela, where Vice President Nixon had come under violent attack from a mob during a welcome parade in Caracas.

Normal speed for refueling at sea was 12 knots. Given the circumstances, we were refueling at 20 knots, a dramatic increase in speed. The picture shows [Remey] alongside the USS Lake Champlain, out of Quonset Point, R.I. As we pitched, fully two-thirds of our hull was out of the water.

Although we got our fuel, the operation was not a total success. Toward the end of the operation the hose in the forward fuel trunk, just under the bridge, pulled out and spewed black oil down the entire port side of the ship from bridge to fantail. It was a “holy mess” to clean up, and our CO was not the happiest of commanders that day. No personal injuries, though, and for that we were all thankful.

Cmdr. Paul S. Frommer, USN-Ret.
Alexandria, Va.

Although not the military officer of our family, I very much enjoyed October’s feature article, “Greyhounds of the Sea.” In 1943 my dad, Paul “Pablo” High, commissioned one of them, the Fletcher-class destroyer USS Bryant. The Navy Cross he was awarded from Surigao Strait is evidence of the distinguished service of all aboard that brave ship.

Dad died in 1986, at which time I intercepted his invitation to a Bryant reunion. This has put me in touch with men who, from 1980 till the present, have yearly celebrated a brotherhood forged in the fires of a kamikaze attack off Okinawa.

The ship’s bell appeared, more than 40 years after the war, in the lobby of our older son’s naval reserve center [in Mobile, Ala.]. My mentioning this small miracle led crew member Dan DeRoch to fight for possession of this special symbol. He and his shipmates now annually reunite in the presence of the bell from their own USS Bryant (DD-665).

Judith High Boyer
Valparaiso, Fla.

If It’s Such a Good Deal …

With respect to [“No Accounting for GAO View,” “Washington Scene,” October 2005]: Do you have any figures on the number of GAO employees who have left the GAO and joined the military so as to take advantage of all the benefits [servicemembers] enjoy or, more to the point, have encouraged their sons and daughters to sign on and profit from the great compensation package DoD offers to those in uniform?

Col. David D. Brown, USA-Ret.
Stone Mountain, Ga.

Back to Bataan

[I] was very impressed with … “Marching to Remember” [October 2005]. As I read it, my mind (and thinking) went back to those hectic days when I as a private served there as a rifleman with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, Manila, Philippines, from Aug. 15, 1941, until the surrender of Bataan April 9, 1942. ... Incidentally, after I was released from being a Japanese POW for three years, three months, and six days (on Sept. 9, 1945), I decided to reenlist in the Army and served for 30 years!

CWO4 Michael J. Campbell, USA-Ret.
North Las Vegas, Nev.

Much Appreciated

Bravo to Rear Adm. Joyce Johnson on her [October 2005] “Ask the Doctor” [column] on albinism. My father is a retired Air Force officer and called me immediately when he read the article. My brother and I both have the Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome type of albinism. We grew up in the military health care system. It was a very accurate, easy-to-read summary of albinism. We were especially excited to see a mention of Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome, which is very rare and unknown by many, many doctors. We really appreciate the mention as it is so commonly overlooked in discussions of albinism, even though its implications can be so very serious.

Heather Kirkwood,
Director of Outreach,
Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome Network