Ahoy Matey!
I spent four years in the navy. What fun!29 total reviews
Comment from Karen Cherry Threadgill
You are a very good storyteller. I am reading this from the Fanstory page. This story did not come to my box. You might wanna ask Tom about this. You wrote this really well. "Fart Sack" seems appropo.
Karen
reply by the author on 13-Mar-2024
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You are a very good storyteller. I am reading this from the Fanstory page. This story did not come to my box. You might wanna ask Tom about this. You wrote this really well. "Fart Sack" seems appropo.
Karen
Comment Written 13-Mar-2024
reply by the author on 13-Mar-2024
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Hello Karen,
I'm so glad you enjoyed this. I don't understand the whole technical issues with this site, or any other for that matter. It seems I've had issues before of not seeing posts of people I follow. I'll try to find out something.
Have a blessed day gal.
Tom
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:-)
Comment from LateBloomer
Hi Tom, it sounds like you made the right decision to join the Navy vs. get drafted and end up waltzing around rice paddies and swamps picking leeches off my body. That was the reality of it. Of note:
--The shot, whatever it was, left a lump the size of a fifty cent piece,
(When you belong to Uncle Sam, they own your body. You get no say in anything.)
-- I spent many nights worried that the ropes or grommets would fail or Mac would break through the canvas and I'd be smashed.
(Good visual. Also, I'm sure that those vision of Mac crashing through the canvas and landing on top of you were real, and very possible. You needed a broom stick or something like that to keep him propped up.)
A fun story to tell, but a story that wasn't as much fun in the making. Well done. Margaret
reply by the author on 13-Mar-2024
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Hi Tom, it sounds like you made the right decision to join the Navy vs. get drafted and end up waltzing around rice paddies and swamps picking leeches off my body. That was the reality of it. Of note:
--The shot, whatever it was, left a lump the size of a fifty cent piece,
(When you belong to Uncle Sam, they own your body. You get no say in anything.)
-- I spent many nights worried that the ropes or grommets would fail or Mac would break through the canvas and I'd be smashed.
(Good visual. Also, I'm sure that those vision of Mac crashing through the canvas and landing on top of you were real, and very possible. You needed a broom stick or something like that to keep him propped up.)
A fun story to tell, but a story that wasn't as much fun in the making. Well done. Margaret
Comment Written 12-Mar-2024
reply by the author on 13-Mar-2024
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Hello Margaret,
thanks so much for the wonderful review. Yes, the military had complete control, or almost anyway. One fellow in boot camp had fallen on the ice and twisted his knee. He knew after he had been there for a week or two that he didn't want to continue in the navy, so he took his dress shoe and spent a good part of the day hitting his knee, in hopes of getting a medical discharge. I think he got it, but if he had been found damaging "government property" he might have spent time in the brig.
Have a blessed evening gal.
Tom
Comment from LJbutterfly
I thoroughly enjoyed every word of this story, because I could envision some aspects of it. Prior to retiring from the VA, I flew from Pennsylvania to Iowa to attend a VA conference. The first evening, dinner was served on a decommissioned ship after which we toured the ship. Oh God. All the spaces were so tiny. I saw the bunk beds stacked three high. There was no room for the poor guy on top to sit straight up in bed. Underwear and t-shirts had to be rolled a certain way to fit into tiny drawer spaces. To this day, I fold towels and washcloths and t-shirts and underwear as they did on ship. You can fit so much more in a single space.
Now that I've finished my novel, I appreciated all the details of your story from boot camp, to getting shots, to the flour fiasco. Not only is this an interesting account, it's also humorous. I'm glad you shared.
reply by the author on 12-Mar-2024
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I thoroughly enjoyed every word of this story, because I could envision some aspects of it. Prior to retiring from the VA, I flew from Pennsylvania to Iowa to attend a VA conference. The first evening, dinner was served on a decommissioned ship after which we toured the ship. Oh God. All the spaces were so tiny. I saw the bunk beds stacked three high. There was no room for the poor guy on top to sit straight up in bed. Underwear and t-shirts had to be rolled a certain way to fit into tiny drawer spaces. To this day, I fold towels and washcloths and t-shirts and underwear as they did on ship. You can fit so much more in a single space.
Now that I've finished my novel, I appreciated all the details of your story from boot camp, to getting shots, to the flour fiasco. Not only is this an interesting account, it's also humorous. I'm glad you shared.
Comment Written 12-Mar-2024
reply by the author on 12-Mar-2024
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Hello LJ,
Was the ship in the water somewhere? Yes, space on the ship was limited, and even more so on a submarine, which I would never go on. How interesting that you fold your laundry that way. When we were in boot camp in Great Lakes Illinois, in January, we had a special room we had to hand wash all our clothes with little brushes, then take them outside and tie them on to the clothes line with twelve inch cotton strings we received the first day of boot camp. Our clothes would freeze still over night, then we had to take them down and bring them into a drying room. We used to sneak into there late at night and smoke. Good Lord the memories. Thanks so much for the wonderful review gal.
Have a blessed day.
Tom
Comment from barbara.wilkey
Thank you for sharing your Navy experience with us. I hope you do that more often. I know I've mentioned my husband did 23 years in the Army, so I'm familiar with that. Not so much with the Navy side of the house. Thank you for your service
reply by the author on 12-Mar-2024
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Thank you for sharing your Navy experience with us. I hope you do that more often. I know I've mentioned my husband did 23 years in the Army, so I'm familiar with that. Not so much with the Navy side of the house. Thank you for your service
Comment Written 12-Mar-2024
reply by the author on 12-Mar-2024
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Hello Barbara,
thanks so much for the great review. Twenty three years is a long time to be in the military. I'm sure you saw a lot of places and met a lot of people. The nice thing about the navy, with the exception of a few places, we were always around water, which was a big plus for me.
Have a blessed day gal.
Tom
Comment from Dolly'sPoems
I enjoyed learning about a snippet of your youth here Tom and I have been to Mallorca many times and I love Palma, city the Cathedral, and the antique Soller train down to the coast. I expect this is a place you would not have visited within being in the Navy. I enjoyed your experiences here and how you felt Tom, a fine post, love Dolly x
reply by the author on 12-Mar-2024
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I enjoyed learning about a snippet of your youth here Tom and I have been to Mallorca many times and I love Palma, city the Cathedral, and the antique Soller train down to the coast. I expect this is a place you would not have visited within being in the Navy. I enjoyed your experiences here and how you felt Tom, a fine post, love Dolly x
Comment Written 12-Mar-2024
reply by the author on 12-Mar-2024
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Hello Dolly,
thanks so much for your wonderful review. I imagined you had been there. It was my favorite place to visit of all the places I traveled. I even saw a windmill there, which really surprised me. We rode in a horse drawn carriage, which was a first and did see the cathedral. Unfortunately money was very tight on a sailor's salary, but I still was able to get out and around. You're right, had I not been in the navy, I never would have been there.
Have a blessed day gal.
Tom
Comment from Ric Myworld
I don't know if you're just a natural born comedian or if your sense of humor just sort of meshing with my own to the point that you always leave me in stitches laughing my butt off. And this time, with something as simple as your friend tearing the last pages out of Fat's books. I got so tickled that every time I think about it, I start laughing again. Thanks for sharing.
reply by the author on 12-Mar-2024
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I don't know if you're just a natural born comedian or if your sense of humor just sort of meshing with my own to the point that you always leave me in stitches laughing my butt off. And this time, with something as simple as your friend tearing the last pages out of Fat's books. I got so tickled that every time I think about it, I start laughing again. Thanks for sharing.
Comment Written 12-Mar-2024
reply by the author on 12-Mar-2024
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Hi Ric,
I'm so glad you're enjoying my sense of humor. I had a friend when I was a teen who was so funny, he could have made millions as a comedian. We would get together and spend the entire day laughing about something. I never knew anyone with an imagination like his. Eventually the ship went into drydock and they installed new bunks, which were solid, which solved my problem, but Fat Mac still had to go buy another book if he wanted to know the ending. Have a blessed day my friend.
Tom
Comment from Begin Again
Congratulations for being Recognized as Writer of the Month and making the front page. A well deserved honor! And thank for serving in the Navy. I believe all servicemen should be honored and treated better than they are. And thank you for sharing your story and your humor. It's been my pleasure.
Smiles, Carol
reply by the author on 12-Mar-2024
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Congratulations for being Recognized as Writer of the Month and making the front page. A well deserved honor! And thank for serving in the Navy. I believe all servicemen should be honored and treated better than they are. And thank you for sharing your story and your humor. It's been my pleasure.
Smiles, Carol
Comment Written 12-Mar-2024
reply by the author on 12-Mar-2024
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Hello Carol,
thank you for the glowing review, I'm honored by it. Our military members have to sacrifice a lot, as do their families. It's hard for spouses to have to raise the family by themselves for long periods of time while at the same time worrying about their loved ones on deployment somewhere. Fortunately they're being paid better than when I was in the navy.
Have a blessed day gal.
Tom
Comment from Sally Law
That's right, you're a Navy man. I have three in my family. A brother; Robbie; brother-in-law, Chuck; and brother-in-law, Ed. Ed's draft number was 11. Poor guy. He was on a nuclear submarine for ten years.
Thank you for your service, Tom, and for gutting it out on the destroyer. That had to be unnerving. Simple pleasures like hamburgers and a Coca-cola were missed and coveted, I'm sure. My Green Beret brother missed Christmas cookies. I have this memory of him with a plate piled high when he was home one Christmas.
I so enjoyed your true story. Thank you for sharing.
Sending you my best today mas always.
Sal :))
reply by the author on 12-Mar-2024
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That's right, you're a Navy man. I have three in my family. A brother; Robbie; brother-in-law, Chuck; and brother-in-law, Ed. Ed's draft number was 11. Poor guy. He was on a nuclear submarine for ten years.
Thank you for your service, Tom, and for gutting it out on the destroyer. That had to be unnerving. Simple pleasures like hamburgers and a Coca-cola were missed and coveted, I'm sure. My Green Beret brother missed Christmas cookies. I have this memory of him with a plate piled high when he was home one Christmas.
I so enjoyed your true story. Thank you for sharing.
Sending you my best today mas always.
Sal :))
Comment Written 12-Mar-2024
reply by the author on 12-Mar-2024
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Hi Sally,
thanks so much for the delightful review. It takes a special person to be able to live on a sub. I could never do it, and only a small percentage of the population can. The confinement would drive many of us crazy. One of my sons was a green beret. They were the cream of the crop, but politics being what they are, the country is losing a lot of them, to our detriment.
Yes, there were some pretty unpleasant times on the ship. Being in the North Atlantic in the winter was quite a trial. Some day I'll write some more of the more humorous side of things. Of course now I can look back and laugh, but at the time there wasn't much that was too funny.
Have a blessed day gal.
Tom
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Thanks for sharing, Tom. Again, congratulations on your recognized writer award! That's so wonderful!
Sal :))
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Thanks so much Sally!
Blessings,
Tom
Comment from SimianSavant
Great story! I enjoyed the little details you put into this piece, which I found highly readable and engaging.
I saw no distracting typos and my only edit suggestion is for your picture alignment. If you scroll down to the bottom of the editing window, you will see advanced options available. If you change the display option to show one of the other sizes for the images, it should take care of the text alignment problem where the initial text of your work shows up on the right side of the image. Let me know if you need a screenshot, showing you how to do this.
Best regards,
Harambe (for President)
reply by the author on 12-Mar-2024
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Great story! I enjoyed the little details you put into this piece, which I found highly readable and engaging.
I saw no distracting typos and my only edit suggestion is for your picture alignment. If you scroll down to the bottom of the editing window, you will see advanced options available. If you change the display option to show one of the other sizes for the images, it should take care of the text alignment problem where the initial text of your work shows up on the right side of the image. Let me know if you need a screenshot, showing you how to do this.
Best regards,
Harambe (for President)
Comment Written 12-Mar-2024
reply by the author on 12-Mar-2024
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Hello Harambe,
thanks so much for the wonderful review and the suggestion. I did attempt to correct the alignment, but it ended up putting the picture i in the middle of the story, which I didn't want. I tried all the options, and couldn't get the desired result. Nonetheless, I really appreciate the kind offer of help.
Have a blessed day.
Tom
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The site templates are different for poetry vs prose and I think it's an error with the prose editor. I've encountered it before and the only straightforward workaround is to not upload a primary picture, and to include another picture manually at the top. But then your piece will be missing a thumbnail, so this is not an optimum solution. The other thing to try would be to crop your pic into a square.
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Thanks!
Comment from Tom Horonzy
This - "You know, when you tell enough stories, you're bound to repeat yourself now and then" - is very true. Additionally though, the initial rendering rendered better be true or you'll be the person whose hand was caught in the cookie jar.
Is there a marble in a paint can or a ball bearing?
13 button wool paints - a dinosaur that I suspect had passed away were cumbersome but cool to me. Might have been the last time I had a flat tummy.
And now, in summary, I loved the story. Reminiscing things of the past, we shared. Shot lines, fart sacks, and canvas-based mattress holders. You show a comedic side of being a tar many will remember.
Extremely well done.
reply by the author on 12-Mar-2024
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This - "You know, when you tell enough stories, you're bound to repeat yourself now and then" - is very true. Additionally though, the initial rendering rendered better be true or you'll be the person whose hand was caught in the cookie jar.
Is there a marble in a paint can or a ball bearing?
13 button wool paints - a dinosaur that I suspect had passed away were cumbersome but cool to me. Might have been the last time I had a flat tummy.
And now, in summary, I loved the story. Reminiscing things of the past, we shared. Shot lines, fart sacks, and canvas-based mattress holders. You show a comedic side of being a tar many will remember.
Extremely well done.
Comment Written 12-Mar-2024
reply by the author on 12-Mar-2024
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Thanks so much Tom,
I knew you were a navy man, so I suspected you might enjoy this offering. There wasn't all that much that was fun that I recall from my navy days. I do recall being out doing war games for thirty days on the USS Sellers DDG11. We were coming in to Genoa Italy, and from about two miles away, we could smell perfume. It was heavenly. Thanks so much for the glowing review.
Have a blessed day.
Tom
