The open sea beckoned us toward it, as I stared at the ever greater rise and fall of the bow. It seemed to be whispering “come my pretties,” as if somehow tied right into the wicked witch’s delivery from the Wizard of Oz.
Gularte made it up from the main cabin, just as we made our way forward, diving into one ever-growing swell after another. He bolstered himself into the seat that was between Richard and I but set back a few feet in the center.
“Are we out of our minds?” he asked, not really as a question.
The vessel’s design and its progress through the waves was quiet enough to allow conversation at near normal levels.
“We’re playing with forces so hugely out of our league that I can’t imagine just how deep in trouble we might be when we get to the island.”
“Won’t have to wait,” Richard replied, pointing forward just a bit to the port side from the tip of the rising and falling bow.
I stared intently at the horizon. The sun was high in the sky and the waves, being open ocean swells and not white-capped, gave off no spray at all. Very distantly another vessel was paralleling our course but just ahead of where we were moving. I involuntarily pulled my shoulders back, as a series of small shivers went up and down my spine.
“Get the binoculars from Elwell,” I instructed Gularte, “and take my blouse below.”
I was wearing class “A” greens but with the cotton short-sleeve shirt under the blouse instead of the heavier long sleeve made of wool. I knew I wasn’t equipped at all for the kind of open ocean boating we were doing. I’d decided earlier not to bring along an entire change of wardrobe. I’d handed off the brand new Leica binoculars I’d padded into my last purchase from the uniform shop to Gularte as I came aboard, briefly thinking about whether the over one-thousand dollar invoice price would go unnoticed at the compound. The 10 by 50 lenses gave a clarity that was almost better than the naked eye, and also brought whatever was viewed in the distance ten times closer. I’d also given him one of the Polaroid cameras the compound had ‘gifted’ me.
Gularte unstrapped himself and headed below with my blouse. His own change of attire; jeans, tennis shoes and a heavy sweatshirt was much more suited to being on deck at sea than my own.
“What do you think it is?” I asked Richard, both of us staring out over the waves toward the other vessel.
The boat seemed to be holding itself just ahead of our own moving position but there was no doubt that it was headed on a course parallel to our own.
“It’s red,” Richard replied.
“Red?” I shot back, my voice rising a bit in surprise.
“Red stripe. Coast Guard.”
Gularte came back up into the cabin from below and pressed the new binoculars, in their black leather case, into my right side, my full attention still on the other craft moving over the waves with us.
I pulled up the lenses and worked the focus knob. It was hard to find the boat through the glasses, as our own was bobbing and weaving so much, but I finally caught a closeup. There was no question. It was identical to one of the Coast Guard vessels that had been in near the pier when we’d been forcibly offloaded to the lifeguard boat earlier.
“We can continue to take this nice and easy, as Tina Turner might say, or we can do this nice and rough,” Richard said.
I pulled the Leica’s down to my lap and looked over at him.
We were in for a penny or a pound, I realized. Our speed in getting to the island was immaterial, and it was just as likely that running faster would mean nothing to the forces arrayed either in support of or in opposition to us.
“Nice and rough,” I replied, not truly understanding what Richard was talking about but not liking the slow bobbing and weaving motions the boat was currently putting us through.
“Oh great,” Gularte said, “did you hear anything I said?”
I didn’t reply, as the Palmer Johnson hyper-expensive craft leapt forward and climbed up the next incoming swell as if it was a giant cat articulating its way up the trunk of some African tree. Once into the upper branches of that ‘tree’ it didn’t stop or go down. It seemed to jump to the top of the next swell, as our speed dramatically increased.
“She’ll do forty-six knots flat out, which is probably about twenty, or so, more than that Coast Guard 83-footer out there. We’re going to run from here on out across the top of the swells instead of quartering up and down their moving surfaces.”
I held on to the dash in front of me as I was expecting it to get a whole lot rougher. I was surprised when just the opposite happened. The scene in front of me was wild, as water was thrown to each side of the now fast-moving craft in great high sheets. But the water thrown up was quickly behind us before entering the cabin or hitting any of the boat’s exposed deck. I realized that we were ‘bouncing’ from swell top to swell top but in such a cushioned way that it was much more comfortable than it had been before. I looked across toward where the Coast Guard cutter had been. It was gone, so far back in the distance I couldn’t see it through the spray thrown up and the distance we were putting between us.
“Like they need to have us under surveillance?” Gularte said, his voice harder to hear as the twin monster MTU diesels no longer seemed to thunder. They roared.
“Forty knots,” Richard yelled, proudly, his smile over toward me bigger than it’d been before.
I realized, in looking over at the man, that all he needed was his cowboy hat, and, along with our rather whacked-out mission, to be riding a nuclear bomb while it was falling from a B-52 over Russia.
The boat was amazing, not just in its speed and comfort while traversing across large ocean swells, but also because the wind inside the cockpit was so low.
“This isn’t going to end well,” Gularte murmured.
“Well, at least, our time over the water to our destination is reduced to the point where we’ll be on station in less than an hour,” Richard said, never letting more than a little of his attention divert from steering the boat carefully from wave crest to wave crest.
I studied the man while he worked. The way in which he’d indicated we’d be arriving early was reminiscent of military special operations language. On station and destination, weren’t words common to civilians in normal conversation although his Navy experience might be on display since we weren’t involved in anything even close to normal civilian activity. I made a mental note to take a much closer look into Richard’s background when I had a chance.
It was quite evident in watching Richard’s moves, operating the wheel with his left hand and the dual throttle levers with his right, that he knew exactly what he was doing. It was much harder to watch the boat’s flying progress from the top of one swell to another, without ever diving down in between, than to simply close my eyes and feel the heavy but smooth flow of the boat through and over the water. Richard never made a bad move. After a while the trip became hypnotic and I grew a bit sleepy in spite of being rocked back and forth in my bolster. I knew some of what was going on was the latent sea sickness trying to make a return, but I could only pray that it remained tamped down.
The time flew by, along with the passing spray and wind. I knew I’d pay a price for the beating the boat’s movement was giving me but I didn’t care. I was as immersed in solving the mystery as much as the others in the group and I could never have turned down an opportunity to go after the yacht.
Richard piloted the boat straight toward the center of the elongated island as it lay spread before us, running from north to south. It was much bigger than I’d expected, as I’d never done any research on it nor really knew it was out so far beyond the small city, I lived in along the coastal shoreline.
The pier’s location became evident, the closer we got. Richard slowed our vessel down to little more than walking speed, and then less than that. The yacht was moored to a lone shore pier, small eddies of mildly swirling waters letting any observer know that just beyond the small ‘nook’ between two protecting outcrops of low land masses, the ocean waves swept by, tall and fast in their passage. There was no one there, no Coast Guard vessels, although Richard’s craft had no doubt left the following federal craft in its wake by a matter of hours. There were no buildings, fences nor anything else nearby. There was a launch ramp for small craft just to the right of the pier, as Richard pulled in his much larger craft to rest just off the side of the pier just behind the other yacht.
“Bumpers out,” Richard said, as if Gularte and I somehow knew what he was talking about.
“The bumpers that protect the hull from the pier are in the big slots located just inside the lip of the hull,” he finally continued.
Gularte unstrapped from his bolster and climbed the short distance down to the main deck and went to work throwing the big bumpers overboard along the starboard side of the hull.
I noted that ‘Small Change’ was written across the stern of the yacht, printed in worn gold paint. Underneath those words were tiny letters indicating that the vessel was out of San Diego, not that it much mattered, as yachts and boats of all kinds were bought and sold with most never changing the original place of origin painted across their sterns.
I unstrapped myself from my bolster as Richard guided the big vessel into the soft absorbing sides of the bumpers, while Gularte ran from bow to stern to secure the lines.
“Richard, you man the helm and have this thing ready to go at an instant’s notice, not that we’re planning to try to outrun a CH-53.”
“Aye, aye, mon capitan,” Richard dryly replied, his wide smile once more spreading across his face.
“Gularte, you’re with me. We have to get our formal blouses on in case of any contact, although it doesn’t look right now as if anybody’s around or even coming. You and Elwell can take up positions at the stem of the pier in case we have company.”
“You need two people there” Gularte complained.
“One to be the guard and one to be the officer in charge, and that’s you, plus somebody’s got to handle the lines fore and aft freeing us quickly from the pier should it come to that.”
I’d made the decision on the way to the island about how to handle the Dwarfs. Hoodoo, Steed and Herberich would search the yacht from top to bottom, as quickly and efficiently as possible. I’d stand by in my dress uniform, keeping careful watch from the base of the pier over our own craft and the Dwarfs searching the boat. In the relatively small space inside the yacht, because the empty and full fifty-gallon barrels of diesel occupied so much space, three men searching was more than enough, and any soiling of my uniform would not look good if I was forced to confront anyone attempting to interdict our effort.
When I’d been at home, I’d prepared one of the two Polaroid cameras I’d been ‘gifted’ by the Western White House. I wanted pictures, not stuff, from the inside of the yacht’s cabin and bedroom interiors. Getting aboard and examining what was left there was vital to trying to figure out its place in the continuing mystery, if for no other reason than to mark it off as having nothing to do with anything back at the beach. Taking anything that might be known by other authorities to be there would be a whole other matter of procedure and potential liability, however. Breaking any chain of evidence wasn’t taken lightly or kindly by any investigative police, military or civilian police agency.
I opened the hatch to the passenger cabin, noting with some satisfaction that the men inside had made no attempt to exit the quarters when the boat was first docked.
I moved toward where I’d stashed my uniform blouse and the heavy case holding the camera. Before I put the coat on, I opened the Polaroid box and pulled out the large camera. It took only seconds to have the three men gather and watch while I described the total simplicity of its use. The light inside the yacht’s cabin would probably be plenty to avoid using the flash, but even that was automatically and brilliantly built into the nearly ‘point and shoot’ device. The hardest part was taking the developing film that whizzed out of the camera’s front slot, placing it somewhere dry and safe for a full minute, and then rubbing the accompanying stick of permanent developer over its surface. That took another minute. Each shot would take a couple of minutes unless compressed by simply taking many shots one after another, which I didn’t think was likely. There were three large square boxes of film, ten photos each, plus the camera itself inside the box.
“Do as good a job as you can,” I said, holding the closed camera container out to Hoodoo. “You’ll have only a limited time, if any time at all, so make the best of it.”
Hoodoo was already wearing surgeon’s gloves and handed out a set to each of the other men. The man was no doubt a pro, as I’d never thought about gloves, but they made all the sense in the world in such a strange situation. I threw my coat on, laboriously buttoned it up, wishing my wife was there to do the final difficult fasteners.
We climbed out of the hatch and jumped the short distance down to the pier. I could see right away that there was no one else present, other than Gularte and Bob, each stationed right at pier’s base. Both faced outward, looking for threats or any activity at all.
The yacht seemed unchanged as I took the lead in going aboard. The center door was still a tattered hanging wreck from being beaten in by the big wrench. I looked inside but could see little, except there was a lot less light than I’d thought. I hoped the Polaroid’s flash would do the job if any job at all was called for. I didn’t go down but instead motioned for the three to enter through the wreck of the door. Hoodoo took the lead, handing the Polaroid box to Steed behind him and taking out a Key-Lite flashlight from a hidden pocket cut and sewn into the back of his trousers. Another item I’d forgotten to bring or even think about.
Once all three were down inside I lost sight of them. There was no point in standing where I was, so I moved to the opening in the rail and hopped over to the pier. I noticed that the yacht was snugged right against the side of the pier, without bumpers, which would take a toll on every bit of its starboard hull over time. It was blatantly obvious that the authorities that had taken the boat didn’t care in the least about its eventual physical condition. Richard’s bigger and more powerful boat sat only feet away from the yacht’s stern, big cigar-shaped bumpers protecting its hull from any damage caused by the small, but ever present, ripples running across the top of the water’s surface.
There was nothing for me to do back at the yacht, so I turned, gave Richard a thumbs up and headed to join Gularte and Elwell.
“Too quiet,” Elwell said, “It’s too quiet,” he said again, his voice low, as if repeating some words from a movie or television show.
“Where are they?” Gularte asked, all three of us peering intently up the small dirt road that wound into the island’s higher ground. I’d never been to the island before. I was not expecting the size of the mountain I could see far in the distance. It had to be several thousand feet high. My surprise was apparent, as Elwell laughed out loud.
“Never been here before, huh?” he said. “How does the Navy get to take over and keep places like this? Can you imagine the value of the real estate here if subdivided and built on?”
I saw a dust trail far in the distance, far up the road.
“Company coming,” I said, stepping a bit forward of the other two men. “I’ll take the lead,” I instructed. “If they ask you any questions directly then answer them as best as you can.”
“Tell them the truth?” Bob asked back, his tone one of surprise.
“There’s no truth here, whatever, so use your own judgment, or defer to me since I’ve got the paper.”
I took the general’s letter out of my breast pocket and unfolded it. There was little doubt that I’d need it, even though the ‘opposition’ was no longer coming at us with the overwhelming force it’d used before.
“Our current objective to accomplish this mission is to stall as long as possible so we can get an adequate search done,” I said, as the Jeep grew ever closer.
It took several minutes for the vehicle to arrive. It pulled up just feet from where I stood, dust flying about, driven by a gentle breeze coming off the water behind us. My barracks cover didn’t want to stay on but there was nothing to be done except keep pushing it down at every opportunity.
The driver remained at the wheel of the Jeep, but the passenger, a Navy lieutenant commander, with gold oak leaves on his shirt collar, stepped out. Gularte and I saluted. The Navy officer saluted back but rather than a real salute it was sort of a hand flip, his loose fingers never reaching his forehead.
“What are you men doing here and who the hell are you, anyway?” he said, his tone one of suppressed anger, as if he’d been pulled away from doing something important to handle some sort of annoying nuisance.
“From the Commanding General of the First Marine Division,” I said, extending the unfolded paper into the wind between us.
The commander took the letter and read it as best he could under the breezy conditions before handing it back.
“Your presence here,” the lieutenant commander said,” is allowable, as this is Navy property, but who’s the civilian?”
“San Clemente Lifeguard,” Bob responded, although not moving from his position just behind me when he spoke.
“What’s your business here? The Navy Officer asked, directing the question at me, “since the Marine Corps base has little say or authority over anything that goes on out here.”
I launched into a long-winded version of what had happened, going back to the three Marines dying along the shore and then into the details of the yacht and how it all seemed to fit together.
“I don’t know anything about the yacht here,” the officer said, nodding toward the boat, but I presume that it’s now in the possession of the United States Navy and therefore off limits to everyone else, which would include you, this San Clemente Lifeguard and anybody else you brought along.”
I’d expected nothing less when we’d arrived, only surprised by the very light response from whoever was behind the taking of the yacht. Either total disorganization was going on, not untypical of joint military/civilian operations, or whomever was behind this was trying to reduce the level of importance and take the temperature down a few degrees.
“I’ve got three men checking out the interior of the yacht,” I volunteered, hoping the three Dwarfs had been given enough time to find anything that might be findable.
“What?” the lieutenant commander yelled, losing his composure for the first time. “Get them the hell out of there. That’s U.S. government property.”
“Gularte, tell them to come out and get aboard our vessel,” I said, turning slightly toward him.
The Naval officer burst past me, catching up with Gularte, his driver running from the Jeep to stay beside him.
Hoodoo emerged from the cockpit of the yacht before they got there, hopping down to the pier surface and turning as if he was heading back to Richard’s vessel.
“Hold on,” the lieutenant commander called out.
Hoodoo stopped, turned, and waited.
“What are you carrying?”
“A Polaroid camera,” Hoodoo offered, putting the plastic container down.
“I’ll take that,” the driver said, grabbing the camera.
“You take any photos in there?”
“Nothing at all to take photos of and the lights too bad, anyway.” Hoodoo said the words while spreading both arms out, as if to show that he had nothing else and nothing to hide.
“You men get the hell off this island right now,” the lieutenant commander said, his anger still evident in each word he spoke.
“What about our camera?” I asked, walking by him.
“You’ll get it back through channels, or not,” the man replied, moving to go aboard the yacht.
I walked slowly but firmly toward Richard’s yacht, knowing the four men behind me were following. I glanced back. The commander’s driver headed back to his Jeep with the camera tucked under his left arm.
The six of us climbed aboard Richard’s yacht. Elwell untied the ropes fore and aft before throwing the big bumpers up over the side. Richard held the yacht close into the pier without rubbing the bare hull against it while Bob got aboard.
I stopped Hoodoo before he went through the hatch into the lower passenger cabin.
“They got the camera and all the film?” I asked, even before inquiring whether they’d found anything.
“Took just one roll of ten,” he said, pulling a pack of ten square photographs from his back pocket. “The thing worked perfectly but that gooey stuff that goes on them is awful and it took forever to dry.”
I took the stack of Polaroid photos in one hand and held them to my chest.
“Thank you,” I breathed out, “hope you got something good.”
“Don’t know, not likely, not today,’ the normally laconic man said, going through the hatch.
I followed him inside. I rushed to get out of my formal Green alpha blouse and then to display the photos across one of the white coffee tables screwed to the deck with big stainless-steel bolts. I felt the boat move under me as Richard got us underway. I also felt that he didn’t need instructions. We wanted out of there just as quickly as we could get out of there without causing any more fuss than we already had. That the whole thing had gone so smoothly and without much of any kind of hitch was astounding. In truth, I hadn’t expected that we’d be allowed to do anything more than possibly dock and be escorted back out to sea.
I poured over the photos, getting on my hands and knees to bend down over the low table and view them as closely as I could. I scanned through nine and found absolutely nothing. The tenth proved to be more problematic. It was a picture of a desk with a top that was tilted up along the edge of a hinge part way past its center. The picture before had been of the desk’s empty closed surface. The final photo was of the documents inside the desk with the top held open. Some of the documents were visible but it was difficult to make out what the printed letters on the documents read.
Richard accelerated the boat up to speed again, for the return trip. I gathered the photos together and gave them back to Hoodoo to hold onto, minus the tenth one, which I put in my breast pocket. I knew I needed a magnifying glass and there wasn’t likely going to be one of those aboard. Also, the yacht was picking up speed quickly. I remembered what Richard had said about the performance of the craft facing into the waves instead of running with a following sea. We would be running with that following sea all the way to Dana Point Harbor, so I was expecting a faster trip back then we’d made on the way to the island. I needed to get up topside and bolstered in. Hoodoo, Elwell, Herberich, and Steed all lay down and nestled into the deep thick cushions of the couch-like furniture that lined the bulkheads along each side of the hull.
I got to my feet unsteadily and went out the hatch, dogging it behind me, and then climbing the few steps into the cockpit. The movement of the boat seemed much more severe topside than it felt down below. I strapped into my bolster and immediately noticed that, although our speed was even faster than on the way out, the trip was smoother and more entertaining than fearful. I breathed the sea air in deeply, and even while working my torso a bit to share the movements of the boat under me, I felt like I was relaxing for the first time in a long while.
There was only one discomfort I felt, and it wasn’t physical. In the corner of the photo I carried in my pocket was one distinguishable bit of printing. That short line read, ‘stoner 63’ and it bothered me to the point I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I knew the Stoner weapons system and I also knew that the 63 was the number that company used to describe an automatic weapons system it had invented. I didn’t know the weapon system personally as I had long left dealing with my dad’s shooting team competitions.
I knew of it from the Western White House and, being bored waiting around for Mardian one day, listened in on a short conversation I’d overheard between two Secret Service agents. They’d been talking about how the Stoner system, the very same system the government later bought and designated as the Mk23 used by Navy S.E.A.L’s had been provided to the Secret Service at their gun range in Washington D.C. prior to its submission to the Pentagon. They’d been speaking of the year it was submitted when one cut the other off and looked around. The more I thought about what I thought was going to be confirmed, when I examined the photograph closer, the colder my insides became. The year of the system’s submission was 1963.
It finally hit me. I’ve been reading the series since The First Ten Days and tonight I realized that if it were all in one volume, this would be one of those ‘can’t put it down’ books. As it is coming out chapter by chapter as you write, it’s like riding those huge swells in Richard’s yacht, up and down. Just keep them coming, Lt.
Not being critical, but the Maglite that Hoodoo pulled out of his pocket didn’t come out until the late 70s.
I guess you know that at least a few of your readers are old enough to remember Dr Strangelove.
Rich, thanks for the great compliment. On the Maglite issue, you are most correct. Back then we used the first ‘combat’ flashlight called a Key-Lite and I’ve made the edit because
of you. My mind juxtaposed the more common name for the newer version of that old flashlight these days. Thanks for the help and the fact that nobody else but you caught that!
Semper fi,
Jim
In the last chapter you mentioned being a sailor on the Lakes, you have indeed come a long way since your time on the ‘Morrell’.
Mike B. USN, ‘69 – ‘72
The loss of one man in particular, when the Morrell sank, hit me hard when I was off at college. The other deckhand was a college kid too but stayed on, and died that night,
to make more money for his tuition. I didn’t know him well. I did come to know and truly love the cook. We read the same series of westerns that would come in regularly
when the bum boat would tie up to us at anchor or after coming into ports. We would argue over the themes and philosophy the writer was attempting to express. It was
wonderful and he made special huge breakfasts for both of us deckhands because we labored so long and hard every day. That I would lose so many more wonderful men in the next few
years was still ahead of me….thanks for mentioning and catching that.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, your writing flows nicely, drawing the reader into the plot of the story – you make us part of your team. I guess “commanding attention” would be a good way to describe it.
You have a great team there with the “Seven Dwarves” – but I was amazed when you took “Snow White” for your moniker. Whatever works, though!
Write faster, doggone it! I’ve swallowed the hook, and you are reeling me in!
Semper Fi – and Anchors Away!
Thanks Craig. I never ‘took’ the nickname or Snow White nor that of ‘The Cherub” later on. So many nicknames in my life and not one of
them really satisfactory…Junior, Beach Boy, Beach Ball and more. You don’t get to pick your own nickname, however, and you certainly can’t get
rid of one either. Thanks for the intelligent and meaningful comment…and the compliment of your writing…
Semper fi,
Jim
Must be something to outrun the Coast Guard getting out there !!!
Good fast read on this Chapter James, keep ’em coming !
Semper Fi
I came to believe that the Coast Guard was more likely just running some other errand than shadowing us…as they certainly had a plethora of helicopters if they wanted to make sure we did not escape notice. I do believe that, at that time anyway, the investigation being conducted by the Dwarfs wasn’t considered particularly threatening or important.
Semper fi, and thanks for the great comment.
Jim
The plot thickens!! 😇😇. Another good one LT, thanks and Semper fi!
Thanks Joe, you short compliment hits where I’m soft. You guys and gals on here sure keep me going
and I’ve been on quite a roll in getting this story out…and some of that is due to a man named Jim Flynn
who sends superbly motivational help. But, the comments on here are sustaining in their own right, so I thank
you most sincerely,
Semper fi,
Jim
Oh yea, starting to see some connections coming thru here! Again you have done a super job Lt. keep going we will follow you to the very end of this, and I sense a call coming in to “see the man” very soon in your future Semper Fi sir!!!
The dreaded ‘see the man’ call always hit right in the stomach, as there was never any telling
what was going to come of it. Like reporting in to the leader of the Empire in movie Dune. Supreme power.
Thanks for the interesting and apropos comment. And the compliment, of course.
Semper fi,
Jim
another piece of very good writing. You capture the reader and you raise his level of expectation until you shut him down with no solution provided until the next episode you’re a cruel man. and recon we spent a lot of time in fast moving boats going over waves, and boy it can shake you around. This is a fascinating tale. What I’m really curious about is did you ever get the Polaroid back? I’ll kidding aside that’s quite a crew that you had and it’s not surprising, knowing you that your leader ship got instant loyalty from your man sky, Richard is a very intriguing man and I really wonder how many of your readers quite the Doctor Strange love reference you are a little cherub no doubt about it. Great work.
Thanks Richard, for the usual depth of comment you always provide.
I’m never sure when I’m writing just what the readers might get or not.
I just lay it down as it comes and try to live back in those moments.
I seemed to have more trouble having men and women like me than follow me! You are correct in that.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
“I poured over the photos, getting on my hands and knees to bend down” – I believe the word for closely examine the photos is “pored” as in – I pored over…..great work, wonderfully engaging story!
Thanks for the editing help and I shall see that is fixed.
Thanks as well for the great compliment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Looked up the Stoner 63. Found one that just sold at auction for $69,000.
If you are interested, here is the website of the auction:
https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/58/564/stoner-model-63a-fully-automatic-nfa-machine-gun
Thanks for the research. I had one once and sold it for about a grand back in the day….
funny how collectable stuff goes in price. Appreciate the care and the work…
Semper fi,
Jim
You have got me on the hook, and have since Thirty Days. I have always got the paperback after I read the story on line. Keep it coming Lt
Thanks Mike, much appreciate the compliment and your request for more, which is what I’m writing now.
Semper fi,
Jim
Woo Hoo!
A successful maritime mission, LT!
Successful from the fact that nobody died or was injured, your new ship survived its first mission, you and your ‘crew’ did not end up in the brig, and you did get some photos (and possibly some additional info during mission debriefing of the dwarfs when you get back on land).
And all it cost you (so far) was a $1,000 camera.
Can’t wait for this onion’s layers to be peeled away so answers to key questions are discovered.
Thanks, James.
Walter, it wasn’t really my camera, anyway. It was 180 bucks, or so, back then, which is equivalent to a grand today, most probably.
And I had the other one. The Dwarfs were the strangest collection of people I ever worked with although I thought of them as the mythical platoon
I never get to command in the Corps (and no, being a company commander in combat of hundreds of Marines is not the same at all). Thanks for the penetrating and very cogent comment and your usual deep compliment.
Semper fi,
Jim
You just keep stepping in the shit as the danger gets real and closer. Someone does not want any of this revealed and you’re in their way. Look out.
Seemingly peaceful but in reality perilous times back then. The inuring terror experiences in the Valley sort of insulating me from realizing it back home…so soon after. Thanks for the great comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
“Interesting”, a USN Capt at San Clemente? Good stuff and a well led operation! You took charge, communicated your intent and got out of the way to handle buffer!
Colonel Homan, eagle eye that you are and have always been. Yes, Captain in the Navy have eagles while Commanders have silver oak leaves.
But there it was and so I am leaving it. I was never that good on Navy ranks, particularly when it came and comes to the stripes on sleeves and
enlisted ranks. Thanks for catching that though.
Semper fi,
Jim
Last paragraph, “gun rang” should be gun range
Thank, Sam
Corrected
Great chapter. You probably “pored” over the photos instead of pouring something over them.
Indeed, Chris, I did, and thanks for the help in pointing that mistake out.
Semper fi,
Jim
James, So far, so good. I’m still waiting for all the pieces to come together. Richard’s boat seems like a dream.
Some minor editing suggestions follow:
I stared at the ever higher rise and fall of the bow
Maybe “greater” instead of “higher”
I stared at the ever greater rise and fall of the bow
“Are we out of our mind’s” he asked, not really in question.
Drop apostrophe in “mind’s”
Maybe substitute “as a” for “in”
“Are we out of our minds” he asked, not really as a question.
The vessel’s design and its making way through the waves was quiet
Maybe “progress” rather than “making way”
The vessel’s design and its progress through the waves was quiet
how deeply in trouble we might be when we get to the island
Better “deep” rather than “deeply”
how deep in trouble we might be when we get to the island
pointing forward just a bit off angled toward the port side from the tip of the rising and falling bow.
Maybe simplify to…
pointing forward just a bit to the port side from the tip of the rising and falling bow.
I pulled the Leica’s down to my lap and looked over at him
Add period at end of sentence
I pulled the Leica’s down to my lap and looked over at him.
was thrown to each side of now fast-moving craft in great high sheets
Maybe add “the” before “now”
was thrown to each side of the now fast-moving craft in great high sheets
I
studied the man while he worked
Backspace to join sentence fragments.
Maybe carriage return to start new paragraph.
weren’t words common to civilian’s in normal conversation
“Civilians” rather than “civilian’s”
weren’t words common to civilians in normal conversation
I knew I’d pay a price for the beating the boats movement was giving me
“boat’s” rather than “boats”
I knew I’d pay a price for the beating the boat’s movement was giving me
Richard pulled in his march larger craft to rest
“much” rather than “march”
Richard pulled in his much larger craft to rest
The bumpers protect the hull from the pier are in the big slots
Maybe add “that” after “bumpers”
The bumpers that protect the hull from the pier are in the big slots
Gularte complained, as he freed himself from his own bolster.
Maybe not needed as just above we have
“Gularte unstrapped from his bolster and climbed the short distance down to the main deck”
“Gularte ran from bow to stern to secure the lines.”
So shorten to:
“You need two people there?” Gularte complained.
keeping careful watch from the base of the pier, our own craft and the Dwarf’s searching the boat.
Substitute “over” for comma after “pier”
Drop apostrophe in “Dwarf’s”
keeping careful watch from the base of the pier over our own craft and the Dwarfs searching the boat.
I wanted pictures from the inside of the yacht’s cabin and bedroom interiors not stuff.
Maybe move “not stuff” after “pictures”
I wanted pictures not stuff from the inside of the yacht’s cabin and bedroom interiors.
Taking anything the might be known by other authorities
Substitute “that” for “the”
Taking anything that might be known by other authorities
jumped the sort distance down to the pier.
“short” rather than “sort”
jumped the short distance down to the pier.
Gularte and Bob, each station right
Maybe “stationed” rather than “station”
Gularte and Bob, each stationed right
I didn’t go down but instead motion for the three
Maybe “motioned” rather than “motion”
I didn’t go down but instead motioned for the three
taking out a Maglite flash
Maybe “flashlight”
taking out a Maglite flashlight
so moved to the opening in the rail
Add “I” before “moved”
so I moved to the opening in the rail
didn’t care in the least about its eventually physical condition.
Maybe “eventual” rather than “eventually”
didn’t care in the least about its eventual physical condition.
words from a movie or televisions how.
Space after “television”
Move “s” to “how” to make “show”
words from a movie or television show.
It pulled up just feet from where I stood, dust fly about,
Maybe “flying” rather than “fly”
It pulled up just feet from where I stood, dust flying about,
but there was nothing to be done of it except keep pushing
Maybe drop “of it”
but there was nothing to be done except keep pushing
Navy Officer ranks and insignia…
the passenger, a Navy Commander,
with eagles on his shirt collar,
Wikipedia is showing a Captain wears eagles
Commander wears silver oak leaves
Then the lieutenant commander said
lieutenant commander wears gold oak leaves
Let’s decide on his rank – then give him the appropriate insignia
Seems Lieutenant commander is used several times later.
the passenger, a Navy lieutenant commander,
with gold oak leaves on his shirt collar,
from whoever was behind the taking of the yacht
Since “from” is a preposition then “whomever”
from whomever was behind the taking of the yacht
Hoodoo said the words while spread both arms out
Maybe “spreading” instead of “spread”
Hoodoo said the words while spreading both arms out
Elwell untied the ropes fore and after
Maybe “aft” rather than “after”
Elwell untied the ropes fore and aft
display the photos across one the white coffee tables
Add “of” after “one”
display the photos across one of the white coffee tables
tilted up along the edge of hinge part way past its center
Maybe add “a” before “hinge”
tilted up along the edge of a hinge part way past its center
Richard had said about the performance craft facing into the waves instead of running with a following sea.
Maybe add “of the” before “craft”
Richard had said about the performance of the craft facing into the waves instead of running with a following sea.
and Steed all laid down
“lay” rather than “laid”
and Steed all lay down
Secret Service at their gun rang in Washington D.C.
“range” rather than “rang”
Secret Service at their gun range in Washington D.C.
“Stoner system, the very same system the government later bought and redesigned as the M-16 had been provided to the Secret Service at their gun range in Washington D.C. prior to its submission to the Pentagon.”
The above needs revision.
Eugene Stoner did design the rifle that became the M16 aka AR-15. It was first manufactured by ArmaLite. The AR-15 design was licensed to Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company (later Colt’s Manufacturing LLC) in 1959, and upon its adoption by the U.S. Air Force in 1962, the AR-15 was designated the M16 by the Department of Defense.
Stoner 63
http://modernfirearms.net/en/assault-rifles/u-s-a-assault-rifles/stoner-63-eng
A newer design by Stoner that was used by Navy SEALs and designated Mk.23 mod.0 LMG (Light Machine Gun). Fired 5.56x45mm M193 ammo.
Overall, some 3,500 to 4,000 Stoner 63 weapon kits were produced between 1962 and 1971. Of those, some 2400 Stoner 63 Light machine guns were purchased by US Navy for issue to special forces in Vietnam, and about 100 more were bought for US Navy S.E.A.L.’s in improved Mk.23 mod.0 version.
Manufacturer was Cadillac Gage Corp.
So…
“I knew the Stoner weapons system and I also knew that the 63 was the number that company used to describe an automatic weapons system it had invented.”
The above can stand even though not completely correct about company name.
Below is accurate plus makes the weapon seem a bit more spooky.
Stoner system, the very same system the government later bought and designated as the Mk23 used by Navy S.E.A.L’s had been provided to the Secret Service at their gun range in Washington D.C. prior to its submission to the Pentagon.”
Blessings & Be Well
As always, I am so honored with your support and abilities helping me on these journeys, Dan,
Thanks again.
I thought the original “Stoner” was 7.62 NATO
Nope, Robert. Stoner did go on to produce the system in NATO 7.62 because it was thought that
the Europeans would never except what they considered a ‘varmint’ round for combat use.
Semper fi,
Jim