From JACK’S JOINT

SAND TALES

Updated Friday, April 21, 2000

  

 

·        1964 Alaska Earthquake Radio Traffic - Contributed by John Smith – [8,993 words]

·        A Beer Urge And A 9mm Nudge by Joe Rush - [1577 words] - Some people live and learn, some just live, and some are just inordinately lucky.

·        A Coast Guard Loran Station by Ken Smith - [855 words] - A Coast Guard without 40 footers, foghorns and dramatic rescues.   

·        A Day Away from the Paperwork by Jeff Lindstrom - [541 words] - It was a beautiful day for a boat ride .............

·        A Nickname is Born by Joe Morales - [140 words] - Minor goofs that follow you throughout your career.

·        A Surfman's Lament - Author Unknown - Contributed by CBM(L) Mawood Boole USCG (ret) and Richard L. Chenery III - [932 words] A distant echo from WWII.

 

 

·        A Surfman's Short Story by William L. Andres - [ 379 words] - A short story consisting of two letters, probably handwritten.

·        A Surprise Meeting by Jack Eckert - [597 words] - One surprise leads to another.

·        A Trip In Time - Revisiting Your Military Experience ©by Jim Ure - [2824 words] - A reporter goes back to his Alameda Boot Camp days and other Coast Guard experiences in the Bay Area.

·        And Yet They Went - by Dennis L. Noble - [714 words] - A Tribute To The men and Women of the Quillayute River Station.

·        Arrividerci by John R. Smith - [1065 words] - Memories of the sunken Andrea Doria influence the author to join the CG.

·        Camel Adrift by Donald Gardner - [255 words] - Nautical terminology befuddles a boot radioman.

• Chief Roche By Don Gardner - [466 words] - He was a strange character who smoked a corn-cob pipe. 
• Coast Guard Construction Detachments by Van R. Field - [3135 words] - A first person account about constructing loran stations in the Pacific during WWII.
• Coast Guard(s) 2 - Atlantic Ocean 0 by Michael Zapawa - [1249 words] - For one day I was a hero even if it was only to two people I will never meet..  
• Coast Guard’s Doctor Master Chief Calculates Climb To The Top by Rudi Williams, Armed Forces Press Service – Word Count Unknown – An Armed Forces Information Service News Article about MCPOCG Vince Patton. (Link)
•  Combat Pickup Trucks By John Davis –[248 words] - Murphy taught us if there is a way to do something wrong or screw something up there are fools who will find that way… Here it is – It was tough on all concerned – Here it is -- Believe It Or Not!  
• Duty In Chile During World War II by George Hughes - [676 words] - Coasties have been assigned to some strange places but Quintero, Chile?
• False Armistice by Lois Bouton, the Coast Guard Lady - [809 words] - This is a SPAR story that happened on Bethany Beach Delaware in August of 1945.
• False Armistice by Lois Bouton, the Coast Guard Lady - [809 words] - This is a SPAR story that happened on Bethany Beach Delaware in August of 1945.
• GI Issue - [124 words] - Another "grumble poem" from WWII.
• Gone Again By Don Gardner (with apologies to Rudyard Kipling) – [606 words] - After many years of retirement from the Coast Guard there comes a time when it is not the only thing in your thoughts. Other and more pressing matters arise. This is an ode to one of these pressing matters.
• Gone Again By Don Gardner (with apologies to Rudyard Kipling) – [606 words] - After many years of retirement from the Coast Guard there comes a time when it is not the only thing in your thoughts. Other and more pressing matters arise. This is an ode to one of these pressing matters.
• Gooney Birds, Midway and NMO by Bruno Yoka - [1123 words] - And you thought snipes were the only ones capable of scrounging and cannabalizing.
• Goose On The Rocks by Jack Eckert - [1635 words] - Four Coast Guard careers almost ended that fall day in Sitka, Alaska in 1968.
• He Would Be Sixty-Four By Joe Rush – [1443 words] - You have to be hard hearted not to be touched by this article.
• How to Obtain Instant Recognition - [174 words] - A tale of what not to do and the consequences of it.
• If You Build It They Will Come by Vince Patton – [2552 words] - This is a love story. It can not be defined as anything else.
• Incoming Vessel On A Crash Course by Rick Bennett - [1473 words] - A lightship sailor fears two things at sea and on station; a storm that would engulf the small ship, and a collision.
• It's Brasswork by Fred Morong - [522 words] - This poem stresses the bane of the light keepers life. Updated 3/17/00 with a postscript by Seamond Ponsart Roberts.
• Last Active-Duty WW II Vet Retires -[767 words] From the Milwaukee Journal 11/11/99 - Coast Guard Captain Earl Fox, last WWII Veteran scheduled to retire..
• Lending a Helping Hand by Bob Comstock - [326 words] Why Sand Pepe's stay Sand Pepes.
• Lighthouse Keepers - An Old Saw - [177 words]   
• Mad Man Muntz by George Manning - [432 words] - A tale from CG Radio Station NMF.
• Me, A Radioman? By Bill Price - [1047 words] - How and why I learned Morse code.
• Mike Dalton's Trip - by Dorothy Dalton - [285 words] - An old sailor takes a postman's holiday.
• Mr. Mazeika's Retirement by Jim Oss - [195 words] - A gift too late or was it?
• My Coast Guard Life During WW II by James C. Wynens - [2512 words] - A short recollection of the author's life in the Coast Guard at that time.
• Not Quite Straight From The Horse's Mouth By Don Fulcher –[201 words] – A brief “R” rated sand tale. 
• O.C.S. By Jack A. Eckert – [4000 words] - A bit over the halfway point of my projected 20-year career I made a stab at becoming an officer. To become an officer I had to first jump through all of the hoops.
• One Last Message From a Queen by John R. Smith [357 words] A last goodbye from a lovely lady.
• P.I.!! by Barry Fisher - [315 words] - A local politician decides to make a Coast Guard operational decision...
• Phooey on Bluie by J.H. Coon (Deceased) - [423 words] - A bit of doggerel from the big war.
• Radio Beacon Repair - ERS Boston Style by Joe Rush - [537 words] - A newly minted ET3 learns the ropes from a crusty old ET2.
• Radioman School By Don Gardner - [331 words] - Why I don't give advice about Hollywood anymore.
• Remembering A Sea Rescue Gone Awry by Christine Clarridge Seattle Times staff reporter – From The Seattle Times - Seattle Post-Intelligencer - May 30, 1999 - [3600 words] - Generally this site only posts stories written by Coast Guardsmen, Lighthouse Keepers, Dependents, etc. in an effort to show the everyday Coast Guard through the eyes of the people who have lived it. An exception is being made for this story, the story of a young SA who survived a disaster.
• Reveille By Jerold L. Wanek –[212 words] - Only the chief and the parrot can say for sure if this is a true story – What do you think?
• Rotten Groton by the Thames by Don Gardner - [743] words - A memoir of "the Boot Camp with Books."
• Safety Last by W.E. Ehrman - [985 words] - This tale occurred before the Coast Guard got serious about boating safety.
• SOS Relay by John R. Smith [594 words] Suddenly through all the static came the three dreaded letters.
• SS Dorchester's Call Sign Reissued by Bruno Yoka - [582 words] - An incident from World War II days haunts the author.
• Stay Inboard of the Bight by John Russell - [552 words] - Safety First on this Lighthouse Tender of yore.
• Surfmen - Various sources - [313 words]
• Taking on Water by John J. Miller – [229 words] - What was said was not what was meant…….
• Tare Uncle -- Over and Out by Don Gardner - [1240 words] - A retired Radioman shudders over circuit discipline of yore.
• Telephone Men - Author Unknown - [241 words] - At last, the EM(Tel)s are heard from. No Coast Guard anthology would be complete without them.
• The "Bug" by Charles W. Lindenburg - [660 words] - "Scrounging and cumshaw" is not the exclusive realm of the "snipe." .
• The Acts Of A Gold Star Mother By Paul Blayney –[1137 words] -The little known story of one of the World War II SPARs …..
• The Adventures And Misadventures Of A Brass Pounder by Frank M Stinson - [1881 words] - The adventures and misadventures during 35 years of brass pounding for the U.S. government as both military and civilian radio operator.
• The Beach Patrol Blues - [544 words] - Wartime, WWII, Beach Patrol on a Horse.
• The Bender "Blues" by Jack A. Eckert - [1360 words] - A case of uniform madness. 
• The Captain And The Boathouse Fire - By Dalton Burrus - [517 words] - The Captain insisted he had been in dories before I was born.
• The Crew Will Always Find A Way - Author Unknown - [307 words] - This little story is about the pre WWII beach patrol.
• The Day The Coast Guard Hanged A Man -By Robert F. Barber - [1114 words] - Once again the Coast Guard proves it is a CAN Do organization. 
• The Forty Footer by Floyd Stormer - [204 words] - An unofficial response to a noisy problem.
• The Ghoul's of Groton - By John R. Smith - [674 words] - A rite of passage by the Thames.
• The Great Bear Fight by Joe Rush - [3371 words] - Something momentous was about to happen that would, in later years, take on truly historic proportions when recounted by the participants.
• The Job I Really Liked by Jack Eckert -[1307 words] - When I was station engineman on Sturgeon Bay Canal Station.
• The Legend Of John Dobbin - [442 words] - From "We've Been There" by Esther Stormer ©1992 - This preposterous tale is a part of Coast Guard lore.
• The Story of Tony Caliendo by Rolf Bjornsen -[318 words] - Sometimes a man does his job too well ......
• The Usual "Unusual" By Bob Lamb - [846 words] - The author gets a lesson in small boat navigation.
• The West Chop Wild Goose Chase by Seamond (Ponsart) Roberts - [522 words] - Two geese take over the lighthouse grounds.
• To Guard -- To Protect Author Unknown - [393 words] -A rare short story about the COTP and a Commander who made it interesting.
• Ulithi Atoll - A Different World by Ken Smith - [3553 words] - A Coast Guard alternative lifestyle exposed.
• War Games By Shawn Vredenburg –[895 words] - This is a short tale of how war games were once played in the Oakland Estuary.
• What Was a SPAR – Link to a Story Appearing in the September 1999 Edition of the Lighthouse Digest.
• When All Were Heroes by John R. Smith - [701 words] - Reviewing the radio logs of the Alaskan earthquake
• Where Is The Outrage? By Doug Bingham – [539 words] - An Opinion and an Appeal – Save the Nantucket Lightship. Posted 2/14/00
• Where's The Beef by John R. Smith - [505 words] - Or was it bear?
• Women in the Coast Guard by Elizabeth A. Neely [1745 words] - A thumbnail history
• Yachtsman by Eugene F. Doran - [482] - A Coasties poem circa 1950.
• Quick Thinking On Miah Maull By Dave Moyer – [1624 words] --“here I was…wearing my new First Class Quartermaster stripes bouncing along on a forty-four footer approaching my new station, Miah Maull Shoal Lighthouse…….”
• Admiral Waesche by Russell R. Waesche, Jr [542 words] - From "Weve Been There" ©Esther Stormer -- 1992 - No collection of Coast Guard stories would be complete without an article on one of it's most innovative and respected leaders. (Reprinted here by permission.)
• The Most Unforgettable Chief I Ever Knew by Don Gardner - [ 1943 words] - Mischief was his middle name.

 

 

                                                                                                                                           

 

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