Back in high school, a group of us nerdy kids used to crew for a retired Cdr. by the name of Dave Davison (USNA 1952) on his sweet Columbia 40 (Blithe Spirit) in Pensacola...
Of course he would tell us sea stories. His father was Adm. Ralph Davison, who had his flag aboard the Franklin when she was hit by the kamikaze in 1944, and then nailed by two bombs and nearly lost in March 1945...
Anyway, Dave told one tale of being airborne on Christmas Eve 1965 off a carrier in Vietnam (he had been an F-4 driver), and they were waiting for word to knock it off for the expected Christmas truce. At the stroke of midnight the booming voice of Red Crown came up, announcing,
'SILENCE, SILENCE, SILENCE' so everyone got quiet waiting for the word to go home.
The next transmission was, 'THIS IS GOD. IT'S A BOY'
The GW painting always reminds me of that Orwell quote that he apparently never made. but it's fitting among old rough men at Christmas:
"Gentle folk sleep peacefully in their beds at night, because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
Let's take a moment to thank those troopers standing on DMZs or sailors on exposed decks at sea on this cold Winter night...
Back in high school, a group of us nerdy kids used to crew for a retired Cdr. by the name of Dave Davison (USNA 1952) on his sweet Columbia 40 (Blithe Spirit) in Pensacola...
https://i.redd.it/jdt4qnjs02l61.jpg
Of course he would tell us sea stories. His father was Adm. Ralph Davison, who had his flag aboard the Franklin when she was hit by the kamikaze in 1944, and then nailed by two bombs and nearly lost in March 1945...
Anyway, Dave told one tale of being airborne on Christmas Eve 1965 off a carrier in Vietnam (he had been an F-4 driver), and they were waiting for word to knock it off for the expected Christmas truce. At the stroke of midnight the booming voice of Red Crown came up, announcing,
'SILENCE, SILENCE, SILENCE' so everyone got quiet waiting for the word to go home.
The next transmission was, 'THIS IS GOD. IT'S A BOY'
Merry Christmas!