December 1963, no we are not talking about the Four Seasons song but the real year. [Hang in there only two more chapters and this series is over.]
December 1963
I had been stationed on Midway for about 4 months now and making fewer mistakes as I learned that there is The Right Way, The Wrong Way, The Navy Way, and then there is Midway.
We were still reeling from the JFK assassination and what could have potentially happened beyond that tragic event. It also was the time of my 22nd birthday and kind of a sign of maturity. (I also continued to avoid being dessert.) Christmas was a time for celebration, but this is the 1st time in my life that I wouldn't be spending Christmas with the family.
But the 1st huge problem is just like in the movie Operation Christmas Drop, here was a remote pacific island, no indigenous Christmas trees and so what do you do? Literally hundreds of plastic Christmas trees were shipped into the Navy Exchange.
Then I looked at the Officer of the Day watch list... I was, the most junior officer on the island, therefore had the watch on Christmas eve. I could have made book on that. Well, it was an eventful watch and a lot happened that evening. I did make my final tour at 11PM and stopped by the General Mess for a final inspection, only this time it was not donuts, but a small bag of Christmas cookies. Nice.
About 2 AM the phone rings and there was a break-in ongoing at the Officers Club. I hustled down to the OOD station picked up the .45 and sped to Officers Club. I arrived just in time to see two male figures in civilian clothes running down the beach with what appeared to be was two cases of beer. I gave chase but they disappeared into the night. The 1st thing I did was contact the O Club Officer to apprise him of the break-in and that he needed to take an inventory of what was missing and we could arrange for some help to secure the facility. Groan, I now had to spend hours creating an after-action report. I didn't get back to bed until after 5 AM for about 1 hour of sleep. Merry Christmas, Pete!
We not only had an OOD but also had a Command Duty Officer and when I returned the next morning to turn over the watch he was waiting for me and was pissed that someone had the balls to break into the O Club. He further questioned me regarding could I identify them, did I try to have them stop as they were running away, was I armed and did I try shooting at them.
I answered as follows: It was pitch black and I couldn't provide detailed info like clothing, ethnicity plus they were fairly far away when I arrived on scene. Yes, I did yell for them to stop at least four times and yes, I was armed. But I did not discharge my weapon as I would be shooting blind in the dark and there was a high risk of collateral damage. True it was a robbery, but the value of the goods taken would likely not justify discharging my weapon in a situation where there was no visibility. He simply grunted.
Our Departmental XO invited several of us over for Christmas Dinner at 4PM. He was an interesting guy as he was in his early 40's and was on his second marriage to a cutesy blond who was my age. They had a young baby about 2 years old. He must have had a great pickup line and just scratched my head but did think he was a sly fox. What a great December 1963, yeah right.
Them that know can make things go.
73's
Pete N6QW
BTW I was KM6DD on Midway.
