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Somewhere in the Mediterranian Sea 1958
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Hard at work over the side.
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This is the work that I did for the three years on board. It was hard work and dirty but.... we didn't have to stand watches of anykind either at sea or in port. When our work was done we could leave the ship. Many times we worked from sun up till dark to get the ship presentable for the public to see. It was quite a show boat at times carring a three star Admiral, the highest ranking officer afloat. We only went to the best liberty ports.
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Just loafing.
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Would you look at all that hair...... I stayed in trouble over my hair all the time. I would never have survived as a Marine. I could use some of that extra hair now.
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Off the coast of Viet Nam
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Eight inch guns in action. You can't posably immagine the noise level when one of these things go off. All nine of these guns fired in a broadside at the same time would move the ship sideways in the water.
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In it's day the USS Newport News was one of the most deadly weapons of war in the US arsnal. Only the Battle ships had more fire power. Even the other cruisers of the day couldn't keep up. There were three ships of this class, The USS Des Moines who the class was named after and the USS Salem. All three cruisers were equiped with automatic fire eight inch guns, the first and only ones to be used. Each barrel could fire a projectile weighnig approximately 300 pounds every ten seconds. The top speed was 32 Knots which is around 36 MPH powered by steam boilers. This ship supplied enough electric power to supply a small city.
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This was the Flag ship for the Cuban Blocade in 1962. Carrying a three star Admiral he was the man with the plan at sea. I was a old 19 years old, I don't mind saying that I was scared, we thought that the world might be about to end. As we have found out in later years...... It just damn near did!
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I served with some of the finest young American men of the day. My good friend Larry Esker, we had served together in Washington DC before the ship. We lived close together for years in Southern Illinois. Larry taught me to drive a truck.
To my very good friend Dave Parsons and his wife Lydia from up state New York. Dave and I served together for almost three years, working together and all but sleeping together, we never had one dissagreement between us at that time. They have been married for almost 40 years now........ way to go guys. Dave carried my sea bag ashore for me when I got discharged in 1964. Dave, Lydia and I got together here in the year 2000 after 35 years. It was so good to see them, brought back so many old and fond memories
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