Stories From A Life, #1.

                                                   "Blood in the Water"  
Many years ago I spent time in the United State Marine Corps (USMC) ('59-'62).  Following Boot Camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, CA., I was assigned to Fifth Marines at Camp Pendleton, CA. 
  The way it worked was that hafter a year+ of training at Camp Pendleton our entire battalion was transferred to Okinawa relieving another battalion that then went to Camp Pendleton.  In Asia we were 2nd Batalion, 9th Marines. Training continued in Asia including cold weather training in Japan. (More about that training in Japan in another posting.)
   For several months we were at sea as a ready landing battalion should trouble break out any place in east Asia.  We were aboard the USS Princeton which was an aircraft carrier refitted to carry helicopters.  We could deploy by landing craft or by helicopter, or, some of each. It was the second USS Princeton built during World War II to replace the first one which was sunk by the Japanese.  As aircraft carriers go the Princeton was on the smaller side, ca. 900 feet long.
   One of the ports in which we spent some time was Subic Bay, Philippine Islands.  Some of our time there we were living ashore in POW barracks near Olongapo.  However, the incident for which this is all preamble happened while we were aboard ship anchored in Subic Bay.
  It was a calm tropical Sunday afternoon.  Navy ships are equipped with a public address (p.a.) system that is adequate to reach every nook and cranny both fore and aft as well as above and below deck.  The p.a. squawked often and every announcement was preceded by the bosun's whistle, a high pitched whistle that served to get attention for the announcement to follow.
  I was standing on the cat walk just below the flight deck on that beautiful afternoon when the whistle preceded the announcement "Lower the Captain's Gig."  Apparently the captain planned a trip ashore. The captain's gig, i.e., personal motor boat, was near where I was standing.  I watched the sailors detach the boat from the side of the ship, swing it out and away and begin lowering it.  One of the sailors working with the boat lost his balance and fell overboard into the bay.  The ship was anchored, the bay was calm and he was wearing a life preserver so he was in no danger.  His head was up and he was looking up to the other sailors.
   There was piping again on the p.a. system followed by an urgent message "Lower the motor whaleboat, lower the motor whaleboat!"   Motor whaleboats were used for rescue, they were perhaps 20-25 feet long, with upraised bows and sterns they were powered by a diesel engine.  The coxswain (driver) entered the boat, started the motor and gave the signal to lower the boat and the boat was dropped directly on the sailor in the water with the propeller turning.
  Before the boat cleared the sailor so we could see him we could see his blood in the water.  He was alive when they brought him aboard but I never learned the extent of his injuries.  I decided that should I fall over board in port I'd immediately swim a safe distance from the ship and await rescue.