I was a Gunner's Mate in the Navy in World War II ,serving aboard the attack transport USS Laurens APA 153 in the South Pacific. .
Once we sailed into a typhoon ,
Early one morning we herard the boatswain's whistle and" Now hear this ,all Gunner's Mates lay up to the Armory"
The Chief Gunner's Mate informed us that he was concerned about the forward ammunition hold where the shells for the 40 MM anti aircraft guns were stored. Some of these shells were HIE high incendiary explosives and would explode on contact. If one of these shells broke loose and exploded it would blow up all the rest of the ammunition and possibly blow the bow off the ship .
I was assigned to go up and check hold. As I unlatched the water tight door on the starboard side of the ship . The waves were twice as high as the ship ,the rigging was banging and clattering.
To put it mildly,it was downright scary. I made my way up the starboard side of the ship to the forward well deck and then crossed over to the port side of the ship and climbed the ladder to the forward deck which held the quad 40MM gun mount.
I had just started to go under the gun mount deck when the ship took a violent surge and nose dived into a huge wave. As I looked up toward the ship's bow ,my heart almost stopped. Coming down the deck toward me was a huge almost six foot tall wave. There was no time to run,no place to hide or even time to pray. At that very moment a voice said to me,"Look up and jump." Directly above me about 2 feet or so was a steel horizontal reinforcing bar about 3 feet long 2 in diameter. I jumped up and grabbed that bar and pulled my legs up as far as they would go as the wave thundered down the deck under me. I quickly dropped to the deck and went up and checked the ammunition and it was all OK. I almost ran back down the deck and to the armory, Reporting to the Chief all the ammo. was secure.
I could have ended up in a watery grave ,but a miracle saved me. Where did that voice come from?

You are skipping my whole generation - the 50's and 60's How about Engelbert Humperdinck singing Release Me. He is the best showman and singer ever










You know, you are forgetting about my generation the 40's 50's and 60's. the best song of that time was Release me by Engelber Humperdinck - it went 54 weeks on the charts. How much better than that can you get? In fact, why doesn't AARP do a feature article abut Engelbert. He has been an entertainer for 40 yars, and still going strng. He has he largest fan club in he world with 80 million registered members. He is a very good interview and the ladies still adore him!!

After 4 years in the Coast Guard, I couldn't WAIT to get out. I was in Monterey for Monterey Pop, Seattle for Seattle Pop, and Vancouver BC for a similar rock festival. My great fortune was to be stuck on a reserve training ship for my last duty station and every where we went that year there was a rock festival.
The other guys who were getting out were looking forward to taking over the family hardware store, or going to college. They just didn't get it when I explained that all I wanted was a panel truck with a stovepipe thru the roof. First thing I did when I got out was ditch my dress blues and buy a 49 Dodge panel truck. I cut a hole in the roof for the tin stovepipe, built a bed and storage bins, and hit the road...
These days I am retired (15 years West coast/Alaska tugboats) and doing my art. Looking forward to spending this last phase of my life in New Zealand if this place at the beach will sell for a reasonable price.
PEACE.
Joe