In 1951, as tensions escalate on the Korean Peninsula, a Stanford freshman who prefers a dry ship to a wet foxhole, and who has a ferocious fear of flying, joins the Stanford NROTC on the promise of a Marine Colonel that he never has to fly in the Navy. The Colonel of course meant fly like at the controls of an airplane. Our young hero thought he meant fly like in an airplane. And thus began the hysterical adventures of he who didn't want to fly but ended up in the air. Four years later, he is commissioned an ensign after graduating from Stanford and completing two years of law school. He then receives orders for Japan and nervously boards a cargo plane, beginning an unforgettable adventure to keep America safe for democracy with a laugh a minute. When Dick finally arrives on his assigned ship, the USS Oriskany, he is appointed temporary legal officer and even more temporarily, a lieutenant commander. In the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, he handles legal cases, makes new friends, and learns how to survive life on an aircraft carrier. His adventures eventually lead him to the girl of his dreams, literally, and onto the deck of the USS Lake Champlain where more hysterical and some very moving events await. Carrier Daze shares tales of a naïve naval officer's entertaining adventures on the water and beyond as he serves his country and becomes a man. Carrier Daze Tales from the USS Oriskany and USS Lake Champlain By Dick Maltzman iUniverse LLC Copyright © 2014 Dick Maltzman All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4917-3438-4 Contents Part I—Getting There, Chapter 1 TAKING WING, 3, Chapter 2 DISCOVERING YOU'RE NAVAL, 19, Part II—The USS Oriskany (CVA-34), Chapter 3 THE LANDING OF THE LEGAL EAGLE, 35, Chapter 4 FAST FRIENDS, 46, Chapter 5 THE WRECKER GOES TO SEA, 51, Chapter 6 GETTING IN THE HABIT, 55, Chapter 7 ENSIGN BENSEN BAGS A BIRD, 59, Chapter 8 THE RING KNOCKER, 64, Chapter 9 HARRY "THE HOSS", 75, Chapter 10 TRYING TIMES, 79, Chapter 11 ENSIGN CHERRY, 88, Chapter 12 PASS THE ICE CREAM & CRACKERS, 96, Chapter 13 HARRY THE HUCK HUNTER, 101, Chapter 14 HOMEWARD BOUND, 111, Chapter 15 DREAMGIRL, 115, Chapter 16 LOVE AND THE ORDER OF THINGS, 124, Chapter 17 SHIPPED OUT, 128, Part III—The USS Lake Champlain (CVA-39), Chapter 18 A CARRIER'S BRIDGE, 133, Chapter 19 MY COW IS IN VALENCIA, 136, Chapter 20 LOST WAGES NIGHT, 146, Chapter 21 THE BIG GUN, 149, Chapter 22 MUSIC TO SOOTH THE SAVAGE BEAST, 152, Chapter 23 OPEN SESAME, 155, Chapter 24 THE ED WOLF SAGA, 159, Chapter 25 STAR CROSSED, 173, Chapter 26 CROSSING THE CHAPLAINS, 178, Chapter 27 ANNAPOLIS CALLING, 184, Chapter 28 THE COURT-MARTIAL OF MOORE, 187, EPILOGUE, 203, A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR, 207, CHAPTER 1 TAKING WING Let me be perfectly clear, I am no hero. I look both ways before crossing streets. In the time I will be talking about I also had an abysmal fear of heights, and generally didn't take chances in life. I considered myself at that time, and still do today, to be one of those safe and sane people. I would never think of driving if I was drunk, and in the days of which I am speaking religiously stopped at five scotches if I was behind the wheel. And at that time I viewed flying in an airplane as only slightly less dangerous than ski jumping. Now today one might wonder how anyone could fear flying, but the scene is not today—this is the 1950s, not that long after the end of the Second World War, and an age when the only planes that flew with a jet engine were military. Commercial aviation might not have been in its infancy, but it certainly was barely out of short pants, and no one in my family had ever considered flying anyplace if they could help it. My parents traveled incessantly, but went by ship if they couldn't get there by car or train. In the spring of my freshman year at Stanford I heard that I had passed the competitive exam to become a "Regular" midshipman in the NROTC, the initials for the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps. I saw this as a great opportunity, not because I wanted to fight for my country or wear a swash-buckling uniform, but for the simple reason that I really didn't want to fight anyone just then. I much preferred Stanford to a foxhole in Korea. In 1951 there was something called a police action taking place on the Korean Peninsula that looked a lot like a war to my naive view of world geopolitics. And in 1951 there was also something called the draft, which called up young men of military age to fight in that police action. As you have probably surmised by now, I was of military age at the time of which I am writing, and the NROTC came complete with a four-year deferment. Then there was the money. The NROTC at that time had, and they may still have today, something called the Holloway Plan that paid much of a Regular NROTC midshipman's college expenses (tuition, books and $50 a month in the 1950s) in a program designed to augment Annapolis and provide a