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  • Jim Decota April 29, 2011 at 5:49pm
    So, Mr Paul! How do we get you to sign on as a veteran crew member on the USS Slater in Albany?
  • Tom Brayman September 17, 2008 at 9:12pm
    Dave,

    Been a long time. Noticed that you are intending to attend the reunion in Dan Diego. We are considering it. Have a son (retired E-9) living in San Diego and a daughter in the Air Force at Monterey DLI learning Arabic. Maybe we'll see you at the reunion.
  • Dave Paul September 16, 2008 at 12:21pm
    I looked around the site for an hour or two yesterday, and have to admit to getting kind of lost a couple of times...watched a Victory At Sea video, read a few BIOs, went of a couple of the linked ship sites. I went aboard USS FORRESTAL (CVA-59) in '73 or '74 as part of an ORI team. This was just after the FORRESTAL yard period to repair a lot of fire damage from what I think was ship's company sabbatgo in their main computer room if memory serves correctly. Anyway, I have three very specific memories of that inspection aboard FORRESTAL:
    1. Pulled a 3M/PMS card from the board, gave it to the PO3 who signed it off, and asked him to walk me through the maintenance procedure. The guy could not even take me to the location of the required test equipment storage. This was not an isolated case...unfortunately. Kind of a sick feeling...gun-decking maintenance was the rule...not the exception...at least in OPS.
    2. I remember being the JOOD on a bridge mid-watch as FORRESTAL made a 3-hour, high-speed run directly east out of Norfolk. Was very surprised by the rolling...the way the ship bounced around as we did some high speed turns. Kind of reminded me of horizontal "angles and dangles".
    3. As I was leaving the ship one night via the hanger deck ladder, noted a large brass plaque mounted about midships. It displayed the names of 134 guys killed during the October 1967 accident and fire off VietNam (the one where John McCain's A4 was hit by an faulty F4 missile firing). Anyway...stood there and read the names...only to discover that Alan Metz, a kid I went to grade school, cub scouts, etc. with...was amoung the dead. What a shock. Didn't know about his death till that moment...we must have been on patrol at the time...I never got word.
  • John Olsson September 16, 2008 at 7:39am
    Dave,
    Have you ever been to this site? It has a lot of the sub school class photos. Mine is missing and I keep "meanin' to" scan it and send it in, but haven't got around to it. http://www.bessphotos.com/
    http://www.bessphotos.com/
  • John Olsson September 15, 2008 at 8:55pm
    Welcome aboard Dave. Did you notice that Tom Brayman is also a member?
  • Douglas Karr September 15, 2008 at 8:04pm
    Welcome Aboard, Mr. Paul!
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