Good Afternoon Cochranites .... This is not the Captain .... but word is that Liberty Call will be going down shortly .... because .... just because. Hmmmm, just what I thought, no complaints ..... except from the X.O. and those that have duty. In late September of 1976, I was flown to the High Humidity Island of Guam to meet up with the Cochrane enroute to Pearl Harbor from a West Pac. That's where I got to really experience "stand by to stand by" as many times the word was that it would be in ... then the word was that they may fly me to the Philippines to meet it or Japan and then the story changed again .... and again ... all the way to ... they're not really sure where it is. Anyways ... I arrived on Guam perhaps 1 month after a typhoon had hit the island. One could still notice some damage to some buildings. They did have a fine dining hall ... great omelettes ... they even offered Lobster. It was 3 weeks before the Cochrane pulled in. Seeing how HUGE my new living space aboard the Cochrane would be ... I volunteered staying in the BEQ on Guam across from the Dining Facility for as long as I could. As you walked through A / S Berthing towards 1st Division, my bunk was all the way forward down the first luxury cabin bunk aisle that was on the other side of that HUGE Stainless Steel partition wall, and on the starboard side of that aisle and all the way down on the very bottom. We had those Canvas Racks strung up with rope with a lush mattress of possibly 3 1/2 inch thickness resting on top of the canvas, until you layed on it ... then the mattress was probably 1 inch thick. I remember maneuvering my body to get into that bottom rack. Once there, I observed the spacious clearance of 18 inches from the sagging rack above mine to my very own. This felt like what I would imagine sleeping in an old ambulance would feel like. I think the first night, I was so tired, I just fell asleep. The 2nd night .... I watched as one of our tropical island friends, a mini cochranite (cockroach) walked his late evening watch along the stainless steel half dividers of our racks that held our shower shoes. After enough of that ... I retired him from active duty ... permanently ... and went to sleep. After that ... all of his other cockroach relatives never bothered me ...... except .... the day we got underway from Guam to head to Midway Island and onto Pearl. I remember a few of us new guys kind of walking around, and we came up to what I believe was the starboard wind break ... where those cargo nets were stored. We saw Thee Senior Salty Dog Grand Dad Cochroach himself .... 5 inches in length. He wouldn't fit under the width of a boon docker, so we ran. Over a year later while on Pearl, I saw one on land that was 3 inches in length .... but that one aboard Cochrane was the largest that I ever saw. As per the 3 inch one on Oahu ... a fellow Sonar Tech went to pick it up to throw it at me .... and it bit him. Now back to Guam and waiting for the Cochrane. It was then when I met up with Charles Stewart who was also waiting for the Cochrane. Being 2 teenagers from the Motor City and Windy City, we took advantage of Guam's nice indoor basketball court. It is because of this Cochrane Website, that I was able to get in touch with Charles for the 1st time since we departed Cochrane in September of 1978. Amazing how we feel young again by just trading pictures and sharing those memories. But now, it is onward with a boon docker stroll down Cochrane memory lane. While still in port in Guam, Sonar Techs Dick Gilliam & Stan "The Man" Hall returned from Liberty with a Coconut. I asked to see it, and then began doing a lot of Harlem Globetrotter tricks with it as if it was a basketball .... until it hit the deck and broke open. The Smell was atrocious. I felt bad for that happening, but I came to find out that they had only found it on a beach. They were happy that it happened that way, verses them cutting into it to eat it and discovering it then. While we were still on Guam, we had a wonderful time at the Ship's Party, as Cochrane hosted a great time at the Beautiful Reef Hotel where I was able to photograph an incredible sunset. After being in port for 2 weeks, the Cochrane got underway. I didn't get sea sick, yet when we stopped at Midway Island for about 4 hours for refueling and we had a chance to walk among some Goony Birds .... I had almost gotten land sick. Not in the stomach, but just to one's entire head and body trying to compensate to the land being so still compared to Cochrane being underway. Well ... this is it for my first entry as I will try to share things in somewhat of a chronological order here in the beginning. The next one will contain words about the tour from Midway to Pearl ... the "channel fever" and arrival into Pearl at Bravo Piers on November 5th, 1976. Now just before I let the X.O. give word about Liberty Call .... I want to say "Thank You" to all of you Cochranites that served before me, as well as those of you that have posted here online before me plus a very Special Thank You to John Freeman for creating and maintaining this Cochrane Family History. Now on the Cochrane ...Liberty Call, Liberty Call! The Roach Coach ... errr, I mean the Mobile Canteen is now on the Pier.
