I served aboard the Sperry from June 1970 to Jan. 1974. She was ported in San Diego at that time at Ballast Point. I came there straight from Storekeeper school at 32nd street. I was from Redondo Beach about 100 miles north in L.A. so I spent almost every weekend at home. But there was this one weekend that I could not wiggle out of my watch or get a stand-by. Storekeepers stand very few watches but the Quarterdeck watch was one of them. It was a lazy, balmy day in San Diego and there I was on the Quarterdeck as the messenger,(E-3) and I noticed two old men slowly walking down the pier towards the gang plank. As they came up the stairs, I could see wonderment and anticipation in their eyes. It turned out that they were plankowners and had not seen the ship since WWII. they asked permission to look at the ship from the Ensign who had the deck. Seeing that the 90 day wonder had no Idea if this was permisable, I assured him that It happened all the time. (I had no Idea either) I was bored and talked the Ensign to let me be the guide for them. For the next hour I was treated to the most wonderful "sea-stories" I had ever heard. these men had been with the Sperry from her sea-trials to actual battles condition off the Borneo coast. As they were leaving one of them actually shed tears as he dreaded the day that she would finally be de-commisioned. They made such an impression on this 19 year old kid, I wrote a poem about what they talked about that day. |