Howdy there, Paul! Great to hear from ya again! (sorry for not making another paragraph here, but for whatever reason, if I try here on our forum, it knocks me off...reckon thats why Im a gearhead for a living and not an ET! Anyway, I love alot of the old ones, but being a time clock puncher, my huge collection (???) is of but 1. 67 Camaro. I drug this retired dedicated drag racer out of a junk yard in El Paso, tx in '86(still had "Rodriques Bros. Racing Division" in electric blue on the red paintjob. (ie, striped but straight and no rust) Made a street car out of it again, and has been my daily driver (unless it rains...)for a long time now.Transplanted disc brakes onto it from a 72 Nova SS, so now if I do get caught in the rain, it NOW stops in a straight line! Very fond of the first gen Chevelles too, and the first gen Fastback Mustangs are just gorgeous to me also. The 63-67 Vettes I think are quintesential American cars, but as we know, only doctors, lawyers, and unbusted inside stock traders can afford those now!(never in my wildest dreams thought those would be commonly over a hundred grand now...) Anyway, if ya get to come to the proposed re-onion in 2005, dont forget your bicycle!Our White Rock Lake here is such a wonderful ride! (or you can use my older Raleigh if ya like)...Anyway, may you and all our fellow shipmates, have a great one! Marc Tuton

Hey Guys:
To tell you the truth I could be a lot more chatty, too if I thought there was anybody out there! It's no fun telling sea stories to the wall... Well, I know it's hard, life does get in the way sometimes. Admittedly, I only log in every 2 weeks or so.
Marc, I saw your comments regarding Crash's cruise book. I am surprised to hear he sold it on ebay. I would never part with the 2 from Cochrane days and 1 from Edwards. Actually, they came in handy when I had a reunion with Mike Baker last Fall. Do you remember him? He was a Radar ET on both my cruises. Probably best known as one of the many talented guitarists we had at the time.
Getting back to Crash - I have a funny one. He sent an email to Capt. Joe Boland (I got a fwd. copy) that was absolutely hilarious. He waxed poetic about an incident where he came down the vertical ladder right on top of the old man and scurried back up and ran away - only to admit his anonymity these many years later. I was rolling off my chair - I have to get him to post it here.
Take care,
Brad Zlomke, EW1 74-77

Brad, I know exactly how "Crash" must have felt about his little incident with his CO. I was probably the first person on the Cochrane to get my butt reamed out by my CO (Cmdr. Mack Gaston), when he reported onboard. I had no idea who he was when he came onboard. He was taking a tour of the ship when this incident took place. I was a young HTFN at the time and was in the process of taking inventory and cleaning up Repair Locker 5. Well I was just minding my business and going about my duty, when out of nowhere I turned around and there in front of me stood Cmdr. Gaston. Well having no idea who he was, I went
back about my business. Next thing I know, he's standing there hollering at me. Needless to say, I was scared to death! He was all upset because I neglected to shout "Attention on Deck" when I saw him.
He stood there and proceeded to lecture me for a good 1/2 hour on proper military protocol when a Commanding Officer is present. Well if I would have known who in the hell he was, I would have ginen him the proper military courtesy! So I too have had an embarassing moment with my CO.

Mike Gray HTC Ret.
HT3 Cochrane 1977-79

Hey there Brad! Darn good to hear from ya! Thanks for replying- all ye old partiers from the good ship Cochrane! Looking forward to reading the tale from Crash- please convince him to post it.Landing on Smokey Joe... Probably a good thing he did fly back up the ladder. A certain div officer I wont embariss with exposing used to share a few "particularly egregious" incidents from the wardroom and O country in that era...Im still laughing at several! Twas a shame that ya didnt get word of the first re-union down in Brownsville for the last visit to her, we had a great one! Anyway, Please dont hesitate to send more here! Later guys! Oh- and Mike, I believe the term "commode huggin' drunk with power" applies to your mentioned CO! Marc Tuton

Hey Marc,guess I must have missed something because you now have me all confused with the "commode hugging drunk with power" remark. Must be getting old and missed something in the translation.

Mike Gray HTC Ret.
HT3 1977-1979

Gentlemen, (and I use the term loosely, of course)
Just the other day I reminded the ertswhile Crash Boynton of this forum and to post his story. Alas, he is in the act of moving and said it will be a while. Hope his computer doesn't s--t the bed again!
I enjoyed reading Mike Gray's story of how he met the new CO. Good one! Sounds like just the thing the guy needed to set his reputation rolling on his new ship.
OK, so here's my feeble story...
Remember XO Strickland? LCDR Turner was taking him around the ship when unbeknown to Crash and I, he was standing a few decks below when I flicked my butt. The damn thing didn't go into the dark and sinister waters between the ship and the Bravo piers, and the two of us swung our heads around watching the flight of this thing as it took a wide turn in the wind and landed right at the feet of these two men. Holy s--t! Before I could sneeze or grab my balls, LCDR Strickland is screaming at me! I set a new Olympic record by taking 2 ladders from the signal bag to mid-ship's in 3 bounds. Whereupon picking up the offending butt, I then got my butt chewed on for what seemed like an eternity. Again, a great way to set the tone for an incoming XO. Who's going to fool with this guy????
Marc: I was totally unaware of this site, the group and of course the original reunion in Brownsville. Too bad, it would have been fun. Maybe if we can get this next one off the ground and rolling, I can convince my boss and wife (yes, they are 2 different people) to let me come.
Later,
Brad Zlomke