SAILORS HAVE MORE FUN....for sure!

DO YOU REMEMBER THIS GUY...

1958, a bar in downtown Norfolk, VA two young Sailors, J.C. and our RAY HOLLOWAY hugging up with a young Lady...SAILORS HAVE MORE FUN!!

Here is a short remembrance of Ray's Navy days...a great sea story:

Our senior PO in our division was a hard-ass if there ever was one. No one liked this guy and most had good reason. Well, one day when my buddy from De Paul Academy, Chicago, and I were down in the compartment on our carrier sorting our laundry, we heard our favorite 1st Class on the other side of a set of lockers having a bad day! He was swearing up a storm over something or other. I opted to ignore him feeling any bad day for him was a good one for us! But, my Chicago buddy, being a kindly sort, said he was going to ask him what was the matter? I immediately voted against it, but my buddy went ahead anyway. He stepped around the lockers and calmly asked, "Gee, what seems to be the problem?" The reply caused me to double up in laughter and to place my head on my bunk and cover it with my pillow! He said, "Some dirty son-of-bitch blew his nose in my towel!".... He had just come from his shower.... I was doubled over in laughter when my buddy said, "Aw gee, who would do something like that?". I had to find a way to quiet my laughter but was having a lot of trouble controlling myself... Could not have happened to a nicer guy, I thought..! We also had a phantom in our division and he made life miserable for idiot 1st Class PO's. It was years later that I learned who he was. He stopped by to see me on his way from Mount Clare, (smile when you say it), West Virginia en-route to Wisconsin. He was a truck driver and his name was "Billy Jack". He and I were good friends and he now resides in a VA home in Wheeling as he has Altzimers... So you see, I still keep up with my old Navy friends and they with me. Billy Jack blew his nose in that man's towel, cut the tracings on another's bunk so he fell through when he jumped in, pissed in one guys bunk and threatened to leave another souvenir if this 1st Class idiot continued to play hard ass in our compartment. No one ever knew who the phantom was until some 20 years later when he stopped by to visit me. We shared a bottle of Jack Daniels before he went on his way. My wife still cannot understand why several of my shipmates still stop by to visit me in Chicago. She loved the tatooed hillbilly with the long hair and the checkered shirt the most (Billy Jack). I told her he had my back and he were good friends way back when... He was the phantom! Ray

Great sea stories never grow older, only better with time....here is another one of Ray Holloway's memories of the good old days...enjoy:

Bob: In the summer of 1958 I was playing softball for COMOPDEVFOR (Commander in Chief - Operations Development Forces) under Admiral Mendenhal in Norfolk, VA. It was fast pitch, windmill windup, 12" softball, something we never played in Chicago. But, they needed a catcher, something I did a little of in hardball. We were playing the Marines one day and everyone warned me that they are a dirty team and like to spike catchers. Okay, I said, thanks for the warning! The first jarhead came in spikes high and I moved up the line to catch him before he could spike me. I tagged him where his mother never kissed him and left him groaning in the dirt! The Marine cheering section did not like that very much and I heard several threats aimed at me... The next jarhead rounded third and was going to be out by a mile but he was hell-bent on spiking me in retaliation. I waited until the last moment and dropped to my knees putting my tag again into his groin and lifting him up over my head hard into the backstop! As he lay on the ground I went over and tagged him again in the throat to make sure the umpire saw he was out! Again, a roar from the Marine cheering section and more threats. I finally had enough of one loud mouth and walked over to their section of the bleachers inviting him to come down and make one more crack like he was doing all game! He shut his mouth and I never heard from him again.

Later, my pitcher was asked where he got that catcher from? He said I was from Chicago and we play softball without gloves! He said that we also believe that if you block a base you take your chances to get hit. We call that Chicago softball... But, if you come in spikes high, you also take your chances! That Marine team never liked me after that first game but they were very careful the next time we played them. We beat them 3 out of 4 games. I never cared much for Marines after that. Later, I got transferred to the Sixth Fleet and spent Christmas and New Years 1958-1959 in Barcelona, Spain. Best liberty port in the Med...! Ray

Photo compliments of Ray Holloway, St. Mel HS Class of 1957