Remember many of the crazy things we did, including fishing for sharks off the end of the island. Certainly remember a cook tying his line around his waist as he sat down to read, as the bobber (cardboard box) with the bait hanging from it drifted out with the prevailing wind. Suddenly a shark hit the bait, started out with hook in mouth and pulled the cook into the water. Bunch of us had to drop everything, run, grab him and pull him while trying to get the line off his waist. Close call but funny as hell afterwards.
I was in the control tower for the tsunami (6" surge) that we followed by teletype, from the Aleutians to us. Weird to watch. The Gooney bird was tied down on the tarmac along with other equipment. My buddy in crypto was on standby to be evacuated, should the need arise.
Remember the water plant going down and it becoming a court martial offense to shower or shave. Didn't affect the toilets, they were salt water, and to that end, I remember having to scrape coral growth off the commodes regularly.
I can take up pages writing here with all the stuff I remember from those good ole days,including my relationship with the skipper of the PC boat that was there regularly. One of his crew was a high school buddy with a name similar to mine. The crew knew I love to play with the 3 inch cannon on the foredeck and set me up one time. I was playing with the big gun and asking how to raise and lower the barrel, fire it, etc. The took turns showing me how and then I asked, "if I want to blow the tower off the island, what do I have to do?" "Pull that cord" was the reply. "This one"? "Yep". So I pulled the cord and a deafening "ka-boom" came out the end of the barrel. I remember freezing, watching the tower to see if it fell and seeing myself being hanged by the military. No firing...they set me up with a blank and some powder. ****...scared the crap outta me.!!
And the beat goes on. Don't remember the name of the airman stationed on Sand Isle, cept that he swam the channel regularly and actually had sharks trained to come up to him and take food. Saw or wouldn't have believed it.
Use to love going up in the Gooney bird; nice views of the island and the reef., etc.
Enough for now.
Jim Faggiano
jfaggiano@aol.com

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