Bill Arnold Veteran of the Month, February 2003

Born in Northwest Kansas, 22 Jan 1947 and raised in Northwest Nevada. I?m a turbo- equipment control systems engineer these days. I have three daughters, one forever young. I am a United Stated Navy Veteran and my Name is Bill Arnold.

Going Navy

I was a skip kid/co-op student and had finished high school and technical school at the same time. The Navy offered continuity of education and the other branches had a ?we?ll see? posture so it wasn?t much of a choice actually. As well the draft was on so it wasn?t a matter of if but of what.

Assignments

I put in for 1st and 7th Fleet Cruisers and Destroyers and that is exactly what I got after doing some ?C? school things. So the larger term was CRUDESPAC or Cruisers- Destroyers-Pacific and was principally involved with operation Market Time.

While waiting for a C school billet I was actually assigned to the USMC at the proving grounds in Fontana, Ca. This was A DOD deal and I was assigned to a group that was testing and buying off Marine mobile Ground Control Approach radar systems. So my brief stint with the Marines went OK. They had high expectations and so long as those were met I could be on the team and encounter no problems. I had to take a lot of kidding and Dutch rubs, etc., but it was fun. After C school I helped put a brand new Cruiser into commission (USS Chicago). About the time we finished up sea trials, the VN war went into high gear and being single and in a critical rating, I was promptly re assigned to the WWII re tread cruisers that bristled with guns and had thick hides. These were far more suitable to VN service than the high-tech missile cruisers so that is where the immediate effort went. So after the Chicago, it was off the Cruiser Canberra and TAD assignments to other Cruisers that included the Newport News, Oklahoma City and St. Paul and one assignment in the Navy yards in Da Nang.

Interesting Highlight

My favorite ship was the USS Canberra and was named after the lost Australian Cruiser Canberra. As a gift from Canberra, Australia, there was an Australian train steam whistle fitted way up on the main mast. So at times of interest or salute we?d light off the train whistle in a specific pattern. That was always an eye opener for more hide-bound traditionalist USN Ships and for others as well. Like ?where?s the train?? Or we?d blow the whistle after a fire mission as kind of a calling card. Another memory is forming up with a Carrier Battle Group for an air strike launch. It was impressive to be part of that. Underway replenishments were always well done and usually, being on a Cruiser, we had a band of sorts and they?d strike up the tunes. ?Hold that tiger? was always played somewhere along the way. We operated in the Gulf of Siam a bit and we?d come along a Thai landing ship full of Thai troops and invariably the Sailors began throwing pack of cigarettes, and candy goodies across to the Troops about to land. That was always a worthwhile episode and the Troops were grateful for the gesture of good will. That was not a sponsored event just tradition I suppose. The saluting battery on a cruiser fires black powder charges and we?d all muster under the saluting battery in our tropical whites and the battery would boom and crack away. At the end of that we?d find our way out of the clouds of white smoke, ears ringing, covered with stink and soot and all but felt good about it. Then there was being initiated into Neptune?s Kingdom and becoming a Shellback. That?s all very secret stuff, ya know, but kissing the Royal Baby?s belly is an, er? unforgettable experience, for sure. The best for the last, on crossing the after brow for the last time with papers in hand, someone had organized a Detachment Marine Sergeant in full dress blues to provide a salute. I actually looked to see if there was an Officer behind me, but just got a bit of a nod from the Duty CPO and returned the salute in snappy Sailor style. What a good gesture for sure and a great way to start a new day and a new life.

Combat

Surrealistic is the word that comes to mind. Getting in a duel once with a NVA coastal battery, I recall the waterspouts bracketing the ship and thinking, ?those guys are really crummy shots?. Other times it was firing star shells so our airborne spotter could tell us where to shot and watching the green ?fireflies? sort of spiraling toward the ship and thinking ?their barrels are worn out?. Then it was keeping track of the clang and thump sounds. A clang sound was a small arms or frag hitting the 3/16 armor plate in the super structure. A thunk was something hitting thicker armor further below. I thought it important to keep track of that and make notations in my little notebook, I don?t know why. And another time I found it interesting that two liberty launches got totally shredded by a recoilless rifle fire and lay in shambles on the deck and thinking ?those guys know to hit where it hurts, for sure?. Then the reality of picking up a pilot that didn?t survive a bail out, or having a destroyer right in front of us blow up a 5 inch 54 Cal gun mount and take out the whole gun crew and most of the bridge crew. Then it was having someone get hurt, WIA or other cause. Or it was picking up a YAK fighter-bomber with their bombsight radar locked on us and thinking ?holy s*** here it comes?. Stopping and boarding a vessel for contraband inspection was something that was real risky but inevitably all the inhabitants would show up on deck, hands held high and hollering ?No VC, No VC?. Even women and kids got into the chorus. Of course I?d think, ?Ya sure, you bet Nguyen, tell me about it?. I had a bad attitude, most certainly.

It?s a multi sensory thing and for reasons that are unclear to me, everything is amplified greatly. The sounds of the turrets and mounts servoing into position, breach mechanisms cycling and a strange silence is what I remember the most. Then there was the smell of cordite fumes, stack gas, hot oil and the deck mounts sounding off with a crack-snap as they fired and the turret guns going whoooooom.

One of the most widely converted USN vessels was the venerable WWII LCM landing craft; called a ?Mike boat?. This was converted to all kinds of configurations that included the ?Zippo? and the ?Iron Clad?. The have twin diesels, twin-screws and a shallow draft. When they move along they sound exactly like a diesel tour bus, exactly. So to this day, when I hear a bus and smell diesel exhaust I do an instant flash back, I can?t stop it if I tried.

I have no clue as to how to stitch all these images together into one cohesive thought. Maybe that?s impossible.

Homecoming

That can be best described as a stranger in a strange land. No one gave me any particular grief but after two years in the 7th fleet/Western Pacific I was amazed how polarized our society had become or maybe I had false expectations, I don?t know. At any rate, I took a job in oil exploration and left the US for North Africa and other places and returned a few years later just in time for ?Disco Duck? and all that. I felt I had finally come home and I still don?t know who changed. But heck, I had grown the longish hair, side lamb chop whiskers and wore the bell bottoms and all that so maybe it was me who had at least changed in appearance, again I don?t know.

Achievements

I would have to place raising beautiful daughters that are doing well as an attorney and Masters level engineer as number one. Number two would be that their Mom has done equally well and I was there for her as well. Number three is that I?ve picked up a couple of degrees in this and that but for the reasons of adding tools to the tool chest and no ego kinds of things.

Friends and Vet organizations

I was in contact with a few pals but over time and distance we?ve lost contact. My good pal Pep passed away in 1996 and that was hard, very hard. I gave the VFW a shot once but they needed to grow up and stop breathing their own air. So it was not my time to belong I figure. Maybe at another time, we?ll see.

To Veterans

The veterans of today can help our serving people by keeping the faith in our military institutions and finding ways to look after our returning Vets. This new war is going to be a long one and we need to do a better job of recognizing our brothers and sisters around the world that may stand under a different flag but share the same values, visions and aspirations. We are all going to need each other if this war is to be won.

Seascamp