Too Weird

[sn-e3]

Guys you ain't going to believe this. Now this is no shit just ask Doc Fred he was there. Well anyway on the ferry from Bremerton to Seattle the Captian of the ferry comes up to me and excuses himself and I'm thinking what did I do this time shoot I'm a civilian I don't have to salute . Well anyway he says I couldn't help seeing your jacket and if you don't mind me asking is that the Black that was in world war 2?. I told him it was one and the same and he say's he is married to the grand daughter of the ships namesake. Argh I says blow me down! Then that would make you Lt Blacks son in law then, "no" he says I'm dennis blacks brothers daughters husband. Now my brain don't work at warp speed so it takes me a minute to put thing into order but I finally do. and he intends to relay a hello from me to my former division head Lt Dennis Black USN maybe i'll get some kind of responce from him if he remembers me . But it sure is a small world after all. by the way Lt. Black was one of the few people who got to serve aboard a ship named after their father and if I remember right he was a ring knocker from the acadamy

[Keith_Hixson]

Its the raw oysters that make strange things happen.

Keith

[sn-e3]

Naw Keith I ate a dozen and they did'nt work, so I'm asking my doctor if Viagra is right for me

[Keith_Hixson]

I remember your post on viagra.

Something about pushing a shopping cart or something.

Keith

[Tamaroa]

sn-e3, your story was pretty interesting. I myself had a small world incident happen to me that today still makes me wonder about fate/destiny and the like. In 1968, I was a deck ape standing towing watch on the Coast Guard Cutter Tamaroa. Between Search and Rescue Patrols, we were towing the decommissioned CGC Mackinac down to Curtis Bay Maryland for disposal. As we were steaming up Chesapeake Bay, I was looking aft checking the tension on the towing cable. I looked back toward the "Mac" and saw about 6 guys standing on the mount 51 gun deck. It was foggy and a white cutter coming out of the fog bank looked rather ghostly, thinking it was a great shot, I pulled out an instamatic camera and snapped a photo of her.

Fast forward 18 years later. I walk in to the Building office of 590 Madison Avenue where I was the Chief Engineer. I overhear the portfolio manager talking to the building manager. He was mentioning that he had served in the Coast Guard.

The remaining conversation went something like this:

Me: You were in the Coast Guard?
Boss: Yes.
Me: What ship were you on?
Boss: The "Mac"
Me: No $hit!, I was on the Tam. We towed the Mac down to be disposed of after decommissioning .
Here's where it gets unsettling!!!!
Boss: I was on the decomm crew!
Me: I was on towing watch of the Tam, I snapped a shot with all you guys on deck.
Boss: Wow, can you show me a copy?
Me: Sure if I can find it.

Well, I went home and dug through decades of debris and found the shot. I had it enlarged and gave him a copy of it. He has it on his desk. That was 16 years ago and we still work for the same company. we have become pretty close now. It was just so odd that we both work for the same Real Estate agent and a chance conversation revealed that 18 years earlier we were just a few hundred yards from each other for the betterpart of a week's towing.

However, it gets a little spookier than that. Recently, he had emailed me asking me a couple of questions about my efforts to help preserve the Tam. He jokingly signed it with his old rate and serial number. I almost choked when I saw his serial number:

5 of the 6 numbers in our service numbers were exactly the same (in the same sequence)except for the 4th digit. His was a 4 and mine was a 5. We were also both Snipes, he was an EN3 and I was a DC3.

I don't know about you all think but to me this whole thing was very spooky.

Bill Doherty

[sn-e3]

thanks bill it is indeed a small world

[Keith_Hixson]

I even heard the music from the "Twilight Zone". I'll be a lot more careful around you guys.

Keith

[Seascamp]

Ages ago, I made a customer call in Galveston, Texas. There on the credenza of this Guy?s office was a model of an A6 Jet with the inscription ?War Cry? on a brass plate. Thinking I?ll be dammed, I know this guy, at least by commo name/voice. So I simply asked if he recalled ?Panama?. Sure enough, he did. Strange experience, to say the least.

Scamp

[Packo]

We will ask Doc Fred but believe me, he won't remember.

Hope you guys are having a great time!


Had a similar occurance. Have a buddy in Burleson, TX who's daddy, God rest his soul, was a P-38 Lightning Pilot around New Guinea during WWII. His father didn't mind talking war stories with me knowing I was also in Combat. He told me of the time his plane had takin' hits and he was alone over the ocean. He had to bail out and figgured he'd never be found. I discussed parachuting into water and he agreed it's a scary thing to do. He was trying to judge the distance to the water so he could release his harness right before and try to avoid drowning. (he didn't know to watch the horizon) He grabbed his canteen when he thought he was close, let it go, and watched it disapear. He never saw it hit. He decided to just ride the chute in and take a chance. He was also pissed cause now he was out of water. Anyway, not long afterward a Destroyer shows up out of nowhere and picks him up. It was a great story.

Well in 1991 I was in Savannah talking with a guy about buying a house in this new golf course community. We get to talkin' and I mention my buddy in Burleson when we were jawin' about Texas. He starts laughing and tells me the story of this "little sawed off " fighter pilot he pulled out of the sea near New Guinea. Says he was the Deck Officer on a Destroyer one day and just before securing he made one more look through the glasses. He catches a glimps of a parachute just at his horizon on the starboard side. He marks the spot and has the Destroyer turn in it's general direction. He was not optimistic in finding whom ever it was. (guess it's a big ocean and one floating pilot ain't easy to see) He states that they found him. I said, "....great story. The pilots name was Bill Rogers". The color left his face and he said "Yes, my God, you know him?" Yep, I said, and hooked them both up right before Mr. Rogers died. They had a great reunion! They hadn't seen each other since Bill got off the ship.....basically 50 years later.

Small world!

Packo

[sn-e3]

I believe God has a hand in this all . Its too much for us mortals to comprehend but it is in his grand plan