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Doug Faber
E-mail: [email protected]
I arrived on board from Subic via several other ships
in 1972. As an ICFN I would soon learn that keeping the captains phone
working was top priority. The IC shop was a small, smoky, hot little room
that was shared with the guys who targeted the gun mounts. Cruising along
the coast of Viet Nam was an experience I will never forget.
The captain stopped the ship one day and we drifted
closer to shore than I had hoped. I wasn't sure what we were doing, just
drifting, and hoped no one would try and shoot at us. One hot day I asked
someone why we couldn't drop over the side for a swim, figuring that we
could always get back on board if the call came to hit a target. My
question was answered when the person I asked told me to look in the
water and count the sea shakes. We never did get to swim and I never
asked again after viewing all the snakes.
I did get a souvenir though. My appendix ruptured
after leaving Subic from an R&R. One night I was in some pretty bad
pain, and had an ice bag the corpsman gave to put on my side.
I'm not sure why I did not try to switch places with the guy on the lower
rack, since I was on the top, but that night the bag stopper came out and
it woke the two people below me. Hey! you can't hit a guy in pain I
yelled. A helo finally took me off after two days of misery, and I went
to Saigon for surgery. Took some pictures and saw a little of the country
while trying to get back the ship. I took quite a few pictures for the
cruise book which I still have. Discovered I had a twin on board who
everyone thought was me. (George Clemens) He was a quartermaster and one
of his duties was to wind the clocks in various compartments.
I would stop in the engine room to check a sound
powered phone, and someone would ask me to set the clock. Not trying to
be rude, but looking somewhat puzzled, I would let them know my job did
not include clocks. I later learned that George would get dirty looks if
he refused to troubleshoot the phones. So neither of us had ever met
until I was told of this person who looked like me. Funny thing is we
became good friends, but I see his whereabouts are unknown.
The Tucker was a small ship, but being able to meet
and know quite a few of the crew was what I liked about serving aboard
her. I always thought she would sit beside the rest of the ships at the
south end of 32nd ST. Now they are all gone, but the memories.
Best wishes to all who served aboard the Henry W
Tucker.
****
Lee
A. Dunn
E-mail: [email protected]
I came to the Tucker right out of radar school in the
fall of 1958. At that time, the Henry W. was homeported in Long
Beach, CA. After a few training trips up and down the coast of
California, we headed for a WestPac cruise to Japan and the Far
East. It was a great adventure for a young dude from Georgia who
had never been away from home. I still have some great memories of
the places we visited and the people we met. Later, sometime around
1960 when I was an RD3, I got transferred over to the USS Leonard F.
Mason DD852, just before we got homeported to Yokosuka,
Japan.
While on
the Mason, a strange think happened that still has me puzzled.
Sometime in 1961, we were steaming along in company with the USS Rupertus
DD851, somewhere near the Philippines. I have forgotten some
of the details, but I remember that a bunch of Stewards on the
Rupertus got upset about their bad treatment from the
officers, and took over the ship. We got the report that
the ship was taken over on the voice radios in CIC. It was a
mutiny, and it lasted for 3 or 4 days to a week. The Mason
just followed the Rupertus around to see what would
happen. Eventually, the ship's crew regained control,
and the Rupertus and the Mason immediately steamed back to
Yokosuka. On our arrival, Navy Intelligence swarmed over the
Rupertus and swore the crew to secrecy. Later, I asked some of
the Rupertus crewmembers for some details of what happened-- but I
could never get any of them to talk. One radarman I knew said that
he would tell me someday-- but that they had been sworn to secrecy and to
talk would be a court marshal offense.
I
never did get any of the details of this historic mutiny, and I think
that the Navy just hushed this one up. It would make a great story
for a book or a movie-- but I doubt that the real story will ever get out
unless someone in the crew of the Rupertus-- someone who knew the
details-- decides to tell all.
Years
later, I told a friend who had commanded an east
coast destroyer about the Rupertus mutiny. He became very
offended and said that I was mistaken, and that event never
happened. In addition, he said that I shouldn't spread
such stories since it tended to discredit the Navy. I missed
something in that analysis-- but the term "brainwash" came to
mind. It takes all types--
Hope
to see some of you in Charleston, SC at the 2004 reunion. If you
have a chance, drop me a line at
[email protected]
****
Memories – 1 Memories – 2 Memories – 3 Memories - 4
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