by David W. Asche
I want to say TAHNK YOU to someone I knew on the USS Hector for giving of himself and not just doing his job.
It was August 1973, and Hector was in dry dock at Richmond, California. I had taken a week of leave and went home. During that time, I suffered a very severe ankle sprain in a canoeing accident to my left leg and The doctor I saw put my lower leg in a cast, nearly to the knee. The cast needed a few days to really cure, and I still had leave on the books, but I was due back at the ship in two days.
I called the ship and tried to get my leave extended so I could let the cast cure more, and maybe recuperate a bit more and be a bit healthier upon my return. The Duty Officer was, I believe a LTCDR, and said to get my butt back to the ship as-per my orders. So I was trying to get back on crutches with a suitcase through the airports and terminals and taxi cabs, and had to walk through the shipyard in Richmond in the dark because the taxi wasn't allowed in there. I arrived late Friday night, and sat around all weekend waiting for sick bay to open up Monday morning. The cast was ruined and my ankle hurt very badly.
When HMC Oscar Willis heard what I had to say about this, he found the ship's Duty Officer and let him know the problem, and how it would not have been so important for me to get back to the ship, and that it would have been better if I had stayed off my foot for a few more days before coming back.
For his efforts on my behalf, I want to say "THANK YOU" to Oscar Willis, HMC, and let him know his care and good humor have NOT been wasted or forgotten by this sailor.
Comments