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1979

Gonzo = hendersoncrh@windstream.net

Citizenship = USA; Service = USMC; Outfit = LST Fredrick or Tuscaloosa AAV Company "Amtracs"

My_Quest = Find old friends

My_Warstory = I remember we offloded from the LST Frederick for an LTI inspection and we were on the beach for a couple of days. We were the AAV "Amtrac" company with 12 tracs on the beach. The guys I remember that were in on this quest were C.J., Yates, Deuteau, Gonzo and Dream Weaver. We partied with the Seabees one night in their BEQ's and drinking JWR and other beverages. We were all drunk as hell and ended up stealing a Navy work van and took it for a joy ride on the only road on the island. We ran out of road and ended up putting a tool box on the accelerator and driving it into the ocean. We then commandoed back to our place on the beach to pretend we were asleep the whole time. We could see the van in the surf down the beach while it was still dark with the lights still burning. What a night.

1979 to 1980  one great year
stephen mcwilliams = retirednavy69to90@yahoo.com
Citizenship = USA; service = USN; Outfit = Supervisor of day maintenance main powerplant
My_Quest = I wish I could go back and visit the place.

VT_of_a_Swallow = as fast as his ass can fly.

My_Warstory = At first very scared about taking orders to D.G. but that was the best thing for me and my career. Made up to senior chief engineman. (was a certified Diesel Inspector) which I feel helped me make senior chief. Any of you get a chance to get orders there for one year take them but before taking the orders ask your specific detailer to see what he can do for you. I got a "C" school out of it prior to going there and I got another "C" when I left and any ship I wanted to go to. (had to do my sea time) The Navy was good to me. A beautiful Island to be on. Wish the Navy would let me go back for awhile. Love eating the lobster and fresh fish. And getting to know all those who are there now.

Nov '79 - July '80 Also Jul '77-Mar'78.
Chris Dains = mcdains4464@yahoo.com
Citizenship = USA; Service = U. S. Navy Seabees NMCB 133
My_Quest = Truth, Honesty, and the American Way
VT_of_a_Swallow = hmmmm

1979

Name = Melvin Herzing

submit_by = mherz238@aol.com

Citizenship = USA

Service = USN

Outfit = NMCB Five Det Diego

My_Quest = Touch Base

VT_of_a_Swallow = Brown or English?

My_Warstory = How bout the queens chickens, coconut crabs, donkey burgers, other side of the island.

1979

Hello Ted,

Recently discovered your site and enjoy it very much. Don’t know if you are still maintaining it, but if so this tidbit may be of interest, given the touch of humor your site contains.

     My name is James Bond and I was on Diego Garcia from March through July 1979.  (I left the island five days after you arrived.) At the time I was a civilian DOD employee working for Defense Mapping Agency. This agency was a descendant of US Coast and Geodetic Survey which you mention in a 1968-1970 item on your site. Indeed, Kirby Crawford was my supervisor in 1979.

      After the initial survey of 1968-1970 was done, Diego Garcia became a satellite tracking station for a special annual mission that lasted anywhere from four to six months. I was part of the two man tracking team in 1979.

      That’s how I found my way to Diego. However, the incident I relate concerns the USS Constellation. From a letter I wrote home in late April, there is the following excerpt:  "the aircraft carrier Constellation almost ran aground on an uncharted shoal east of the island several miles. It would be very humiliating to have a ship sink in the middle of the ocean because it hit a rock."

      Very quickly a survey ship was dispatched to the island, together with a survey team from NAVOCEANO. The team arrived two weeks after the shoal was reported. After two weeks of their work, I wrote the following: "The NAVOCEANO people here surveying the area where the Constellation reported a shoal have found nothing. Something’s wrong somewhere."

      Nevertheless, the Navy wanted to be perfectly sure nothing was hiding in the waters off the east side of the island, so they kept the NAVOCEANO crew busy – which certainly wore on the nerves of their surveyors who had been prepared for a short mission. Finally on July 9th, "The final NAVOCEANO people left today. Their three week mission lasted nine." No shoal was ever found. It was eventually concluded that someone on the Constellation made a very expensive error.

      Please rework the story as you see fit. I would prefer not to be mentioned.

      I was actually lucky enough to get a photo of the wild horses while there. It isn’t a great picture, but it shows the three horses which were still alive at the time. It is attached and I don't mind being credited for it.

 Best wishes,

 Bond, James Bond

79/80

Dennis McMaines = mcmainesd@charter.net

Citizenship = USA; Service = USN ; Outfit = USS Dixie AD 14

My_Warstory = My war story, We arrived with no idea of what lay ahead. No pier to tie up to, no beach landing spot for our liberty boats. So first thing was to build a dock to pull up to in the boats we took to shore once every 6 days for 5 hrs of liberty. It was called the Dixie pier. We were the first destroyer tender to be stationed at the rock. Performed a lot of first's durning our 5 months anchored in the bay. Loved the Mars raido connection to the states, when it worked. Cell phones were a bit in the future then. Donkey burgers, baseball, beach combing, crabs!!, swimming, best tee-shirt, "Every week is chicken choking week in Diego Garcia". The Sea bees were a fantastic group of guys. We worked together on alot of projects on the beach. Did lots of welding projects for them. They always had the coldest beer at the end of the day. If there was such a thing as a cold beer. Got to go on a refueling missiom on a KC-135 somewhere over afganistan. Filled up 2 B-52 bombers. Watched from the belly viewing place on the aircraft. Will never forget looking into the eyes of the bomber pilot. Your that close when hooked up. Enjoyed the fishing off the half sunken barge in the harbor. Coconuts,yumm. My only regret about the whole visit was, I was to young to really of appreciated the beauty, and experiance of being on such a isolated island in an area of the world that I would no doubt never be in again in my life time.

1974-1975, 1979-1980, & 1981.

Project Manager on the 1st P.O.L. facility in 74-75, Engineering Chief for PW 79-80 and Minor projects for MCB-62 in 81

Robert Reagan reaganre@hotmail.com

Citizenship = USA; Service = US Navy Seabees; Outfit = MCB10, NavSta Diego Garcia (PW), and MCB62

My_Quest = Quest?  To live as long as I can

VT_of_a_Swallow = as fast as you can drink a beer!

My_Warstory = First let me say that I have two years and one month of my life on that Island. I am one of the few people who has driven all 31 miles from tip to tip.  In 1979-1980 I put 27,000+/- miles on a Dodge Ram pickup in a year and most of my job during that consisted of finding places for people to sleep. 

     Myself and a Brit Chief that I cannot remember his name sort of established the Diego Garcia Yacht Club as a way for his and my troops to have something to do besides drink, read books, fish or watch porno movies from the library.  Lot of hard work and a lot stories that I don't have enough time to write my stories now but would like to post this and write more later if that's possible.  Some are strange and some are sad but I saw PT. Marianne before the dredge fill, runway extension and buildings wiped it out  I was there in the formative years 74-75 as it really was still getting started and then when I went down in 1979 it was a sleepy little backwater with total island population of approx. 1300 with 650 of that the resident Seabee Battalion for about three months until the Iranians took the hostages and life as we knew it changed overnight.  Within two weeks the PCS personnel had grown to almost 5000 people and had another 5000 or so in transient to and from ships.  It was a nightmare.  My last 3 months in 1981 with MCB 62 was interrupted by an old knee injury that got reinjured and I got medevacked to Subic and the on to FT Gordon, GA for an operation and then went to Fleet Reserve in November, 1982.  I had never seen your site until I stumbled on it the other day and was very pleasantly surprised as it brought back memories.  When I left in 1975 the P.O.L. facility that I was building was on a 1/2 mile long, 100 foot wide causeway out into the lagoon and Pt. Marianne was still a pristine with the cemetery, church and a few cottages and the largest mango tree on the island.  When I got back in 1979 it was all under the dredge fill from the anchorage expansion project. The causeway was pretty much gone and the new fuel pier at the end of it was under construction.  It was a total shock.

1979

Bill Halley = bilhalley@hotmail.com

Hi,

I just found your site & it brings back many good memories.

I was one of the 26 Brits on the island in 1979 & these are a few pics of our (unsuccessful) attempt to catch Hector.

Regards

Bill Halley

1979 - 1980

Victor A. Cayabyab = victor.cayabyab@sbcglobal.net

Citizenship = USA; Service = USN; Outfit = 30th NCR Det.

My_Quest = Fishing , Crabing, drying fish and going to the plantation

My_Warstory = Live in the trailer, work with NCMB 4 at the parts warehouse supplying parts for the heavy equipments, trucks and jeeps. At night work as bartender at the officer's club. Weekends, I spent my time at the PWC Subic Det. BBQ's, preserving coconut crabs and drying fish called daeng.. I have a plaque with map of diego garcia painted on it and real preserved coconut crab. It was a 12 months tour. Took my first class advancement exam and I was frock to E-6 at my next command USS San Jose (AFS-7) homeported then at NAS Alameda, Ca. My chief was SKCS Ferrer then.

 

 

"79-80"

Russ Nichols = rnick1957@gmail.com

Citizenship = USA; Service = USN SEABEE; Outfit = NMCB 40

My_Quest = To find old freinds

My_Warstory = I have already shared one of my stories in here,, been awhile ago,, but I am hoping there's old friends that will run across here, and hopefully get my "updated" Email, and get in touch! There's a bunch of people on Facebook that a bunch of groups are getting together. Come find us! Finding old friends all the time!

Russ Nichols

 

 

1979-1980

JOHN DAEHLIN = FYHMF@YAHOO.COM

Citizenship = USA; Service = USN; Outfit = RADIOMAN. "R" SITE//"T" SITE//ASW COMMUNICATIONS AT AIR FIELD

My_Quest = WIN THE LOTTO; VT_of_a_Swallow = WHO THE FK CARES

My_Warstory = FIRST BERTHING THE MODULE LUX. DONKEY BURGERS, CHEESY USO SHOWS. (NOT DEMEANING THEIR JOB, GLAD OF IT) WAS ONE OF THE FIRST TO GET HOUSING IN THE NEW CREW QUARTERS (2 STORY) WAS THERE WHEN THEY BUILT THE FIRST WOMAN'S BARRACKS, NO SLIDING SOFT BALL..HAD A GREAT TIME..GOOD FRIENDS....POTG FROM AFRICA. P.I. HASH...WOULD BUY 50 60 CASES OF BEER AT A TIME..SUPPLY SHIP DIDNT COME ON TIME MOST OF THE TIME. MANY TIMES DRINKING GIN AND GRAPE POP...THE ONLY BOOZE AND POP..TILL RE STOCKED...WAPATOOEY//GARBAGE CAN PARTIES. YOU COULD NOT BEAT THE WHITE SAND BEACHES...DIVING FOR LANGASTINO LOBSTERS BOILING THEM UP IN A NEW MOP BUCKET ON THE BEACH....I SEE A LOT OF PEOPLE BITCH AND MOAN ABOUT THE THE OLE DOGE/ROCK....I LOVED IT....HAD A BLAST....AND GOT WHAT EVER DUTY STATION I WANTED WHEN I LEFT.....

 

 

79 - 80, 81?

Michael Jones , aka Michael P. = diegodrifter@hotmail.com

Citizenship = USA; Service = USN; Outfit = NMCB5, main body , det diego

My_Quest = Memory lane

VT_of_a_Swallow = the beer bong, 1 sec!

My_Warstory = War story, I am 52 years old now, why does Diego Garcia keep coming into my thoughts?

I spent two full deployments there, arrived when I was 18, left when I was 20. It was cool it was crazy.

I read others notes here I understand.

The fleet boys are full of shit though. Us Seabees do not tell shit.

Ok besides the hammerhead, the reef that will tear you apart, the guys eaten or disappeared.

My second time there, Yes the fleet moved in, a young [expletive deleted] was wanting my cock at the edge of camp, I have only been there 2 weeks, still thoughts of a woman in CA.

I declined, Yes how many guys get pussy on Diego? I should have ,just for the sake of it!

Most people now do not understand what we went through. That one crazy steel worker told me he went swimming on the ocean side, got all tore up on the coral, almost drowned.

Shit I swam so much there, enjoying all the fish, the manta rays, When we have had the best, its hard to enjoy lessor!! I been to the Black Sea 2 weeks ago, my Russian lady was all excited...me?

We are Seabees, During wartime we know, on Diego we become, The marines I respect, the sailors are full of shit! Lets not forget the Brits, Jeb I worked with in the galley my first deployment, them guys have no choice. I respect them too!!! They are very Honorable!

30 years ago we were there living on the beach, what a wonder and joy, even in my 18-20 year old mind I did not totally understand, the lifers knew, I could not understand their calmness.

Diego Garcia I respect, I feel so honored to have been there before all hell broke loose in the world.

 

 

1979-1980

Mike Lines = melines133@gmail.com

Citizenship = USA; Service = USN; Outfit = NMCB 133 Bravo Co

My_Warstory = What do I remember about Diego. Hot.  Good fishing.  Bad Christmas.  Running so much that I lost so much weight that I looked like a walking dead man must to keep my sanity.  Took a month to correspond with family members back home.  No telephones.  Worst sunburn I'd ever had. Doing ship off load on a mike boat.  Snorkeling, seen some sharks, gave that up-bad habit.  Runny my first marathon and almost dying.  Some of the best sunsets I ever seen in my life.  Getting up in the morning to do my laundry and a chicken shit on me-the clean laundry on the way back.  Crammed in like sardines in our little trailers. 

 

 

1979-1980

Name = Charles Strickland

submit_by = cwstrickland@bellsouth.net

Citizenship = USA

Service = USN

Outfit = NMCB 133 A.CO.

My_Warstory = Worked Rock Crusher and Concrete Batch plant Mechanic

 

 

1979-80

Name = Bill Serra = info@caps1971.com

Citizenship = USA

Service = USN

Outfit = TAD/Supply Support/USS Halsey

My_Quest = T-Shirt

My_Warstory = I had an official BIOT DG "Where the Elite Meet" t-shirt & I lost it many years ago.

I want another one.

How can I get one?

I unloaded C-130's for the task forces in the Straits of Hormuz during the Iranian hostage crises, I played a lot of basketball, got a real good tan & went back to my ship after 30 days.  Nice place but woulda been better if there were girls...of which there were none.

 

 

From: Ted Morris [mailto:easy501@zianet.com]

Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 2010 4:02 PM

To: info@caps1971.com

Subject: RE: Diego Garcia Warstory

Hey Bill,  Sorry, but I don't know where you can get a t-shirt from DG itself.  The Ships Store and the T-Shirt Shop (yep, they've got one now) don't have mail order catalogs.  You can try writing to the Golf Course or the Yacht Club (there's addresses on the pages for them on the website).  There are also some of us who have set up e-stores and that sort of thing and you can see all of the ones I know of at http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/forsale.html.  Tom Lawson was there when you were, and his stuff might be what you're looking for.  However, none of them come directly from the island.  Sorry about that, Ted.

Hey Ted,

Pretty damn impressive site & thanks for getting back to me.

Is it true that they actually have women there?

That could be dangerous.

It looks like they've really built the place up in the last 30 years. I guess I didn't realize it at the time but apparently I was there during a very busy time (hell, what'd I know) but I do remember working on the tarmac and watching big bombers taking off with regularity.

Heck, we thought we were going to war.

I remember going through a bottle of Coppertone every day, being told to not swim in the bay (sharks), the ocean (again sharks) and that a couple of new guys decided to walk out to the "toes" during low tide and never made it back.

All in all the memories aren't bad, then again I was only there for a month but I did work hard while there.

When I got back to my ship in Subic all my shipmates thought I'd just laid on the beach.

Recollections?

Big freakin' crabs, good ice cream, great sunsets, beautiful beaches, the diverse colors/shades of the ocean, good guys but some pretty serious drinkers and some who were obviously hiding from people.

And there was a room between the two wings of our barracks where they showed porn movies 24/7.

I didn't know it existed until a couple of days after getting to DG. I'd popped my head in when I was brushing my teeth early one morning, I heard a bunch of guys laughing, looked into the room & saw about 10 guys sitting there, looked at the guy on the TV who I thought was Steve Martin. I commented "hey, he's great" & those guys looked at me like I was an idiot.

When I got back I looked in again and now there's more guys watching and that ain't Steve Martin on TV.

I thought "is that a good idea, watching porn where there's no women?"

I made it a point to stay outta that room, work, eat, sleep & play basketball until I went back to the Halsey.

And the pilots.

They were nuts.

They'd come back from some mission, hit the liquor store for a case of whatever & bust into the barracks ready to drink, any time of the day or night.

I plan to visit your site from time to time, great job.

And thanks for the links.

Bill Serra

Ramona, CA

  

 

Hi,

My Name is Kenny Greco and I served on DG in both '79-80 and '81, some of the best memories of my life. I'm looking for a good friend of mine named Kenny Horn who served '79-80. I would like to get back in touch with him if possible. Please email Pinscher319@gmail.com if anyone has a clue about the other Kenny.

 

 

JUNE 1978-MARCH1979 ,SEPT1979-JUNE1980,1993-1994

Name = David G. Perle  = PERLEHOME@SBCGLOBAL.NET

Citizenship = USA

Service = USN

Outfit = NMCB 4   AND NMCB 3

My_Warstory = I have many stories to share about life on the Rock, they cover the 3 deployments as a Navy Seabee in 1978-1979 then back again

1979 -1980 and finally 1993-1994. I will get pictures together and share them.   Talk to you soon.    

1979-1980

Name = paul thomas

submit_by = looknfor1@yahoo.com

Citizenship = USA

Service = USN

Outfit = i think 5 sent to 31 ncr detach

My_Quest = talk to some guys from the past

VT_of_a_Swallow = 

My_Warstory = wow i think i remember some names. gonna try to email all 3 that i know or i am sure i know. 

that would be wild man pavey, mr mulloy and ted gourd. do any of u remember me? hope we get to talk soon. 

1979-1980

Name = kevin koralewski

submit_by = kevinkoralewski@yahoo.com

Citizenship = USA

Service = USN 

Outfit = uss dixie ad-14

My_Quest = jog some memories

VT_of_a_Swallow = african or european?

My_Warstory = Does anyone remember our captain suspending all activities because somebody stole his sea shells?  

Another suspension of activities was someone stole Tiger beer while loading up.  

As an ET we actually ordered grain alcohol from the navy stock system to "clean the circuit boards". 

It came in a gallon gas can painted olive drab. Mixed it with Tab soda from the vending machines. 

Why do a lot of these memories include alcohol? Maybe 'cause thats all we had. 

Mauritius??  Karachi?? Somalia?? Sydney- YES! - Dial a sailor.

 Dec. 29, 1979-roughly june12, 1980

Name = Phil Wilborn

submit_by = philwilborn@yahoo.com

Citizenship = USA

Service = USN

Outfit = VS-28 Diego shore Det.  off the U.S.S. Independance.

My_Warstory =    Wilborn's Diego chronicles Part-1  Had fuck books in sea bag on helo ride to the rock. Brits confiscated them. 

Went downtown after checking in to tent city bought newer and better fuck books. My first clue to my next 6 month's oddysey. 

" Get a suntan mate "---- took 6 weeks no shit to peel off  my hide that was as close to being Afro- American as a white Ga. boy will ever get.

That was working the flight line on S-3A's and Miss Piggy. Had to do a windscreen change on the Pig with NO Pubs or T.O's. 

No one had a clue the torque or pattern on the bolts install. Plane tryed to launch to the boat-- moved 6 inches and the 

windscreen spider webbed so fuckin pretty. I laughed all day. More later, it only gets better from here ship mates.

1979 

79=80

Name = John Barto barto.j@sbcglobal.net

Citizenship = USA

Service = USN

Outfit = nmcb-40

My_Warstory = Where the fuck is everybody...been thirty years since the Rock...Run a truck fleet in Sacramento...

1979 on board USS JASON

Jennifer S Kalaitsides <Jskbsp@yahoo.com>

Greek/Italian

Service = USN

Outfit = USS JASON-AR-8  Supply dept

My_Quest = Reunite and share Historical moments in time and find friends

My_Warstory = Still to this day,the best time of my life!  Hooked up with a chef, who would only cook for the AF Pilots and 

was treated with the utmost respect for the entire time, there. Got some awesome recipes too! My time there incredible! 

The Jason Crew took great care of us females also. I have never learned more life lessons in the three months we were there,

than in my entire life! We were one of the first ships, to be in a war zone on red alert! I never felt alone, the boys always 

made me feel safe and secure on our ship or in port, and I never felt like an experiment or mistake. I was and am VERY 

PROUD to have served during a time I believe that has brought us to our current issues with the same People. It was just 

the beginning then. I'm lucky to have come away from there in one piece.  I am PROUD TO BE A LADY OF THE JOLLY JASON! 

Thanks Guys!

1979

bdstrangle@roadrunner.co.  March  31 while operating a bulldozer on the runway ext I was struck by a falling tree my head still hirts 

I worked at nsf Diego Garcia

1979-1980, as best I can remember.

NAME = Steve Yager

MY QUEST = Be the best darn mechanic I can be.

VT of a SWALLOW = Depends if the beer is warm or cold.

E-MAIL = eandsyager@msn.com

NATIONALITY = American

SERVICE = USN SeaBees

UNIT = NMCB 40, Construction Mechanic

RANK/RATE/JOB = CM5, but I didn't stay in.  I wanted to come home and marry my Eighth Grade Sweetheart!

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = My Time There is Lost in an Alcoholic Haze, Help Me Remember!

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = I'd Like to Share Precious Memories of Drinking/Fishing/Snorkeling/Sailing on Diego Garcia MY WARSTORY = My all time favorite memory of the precious time I spent on dear old Diego Garcia was drinking, smoking, and keeping one step ahead of the barracks inspections!  Anyone remember those?  Oh, yeah.  Where can we hide our stash THIS time????!!!!

     I remember one party in particular.  We had drawn "party rations" from the Chow Hall.  Everything was gone, except for the GALLON CAN OF JALEPENO PEPPERS!!!!  After consuming many alcoholic beverages - what the heck else WAS there to do on Diego - we had a jalapeno pepper eating contest!  The first memory came that night in the latrine during "aim and shoot" practice, and the second was the next day during the morning "sit down" on the porcelain throne!!!!

     I's like to say "Hello" to John Barto and Mike Bowles, and everyone else from that deployment that I can't remember!  Remind me of your names,

guys!  Contact me at my above e-mail address.  NMCB 40:  We Build, We Fight . . . . WE PARTY!!!!

 

1979

NAME:  big bob dabov

MY QUEST:  to stay clean enjoy retirement

VT of a SWALLOW:  very deep

E-MAIL:  robertdabov@bellsouth.net

NATIONALITY:  american

SERVICE:  NMCB5

UNIT:  POL FIRE PROTECTION

RANK/RATE/JOB:  UTCN

MY INTEREST IN DG IS:  My Time There is Lost in an Alcoholic Haze, Help Me Remember!

MY WARSTORY:  WHERE AR MY OLD FREINDS DENISE ALBO RAY RANGUSA JOHN TAYLOR JOHN WINKLER RAY LAWSON STUART BURHEN

JAMIE PEREZ RON ENGLEBERG THESE ARE GUYS I HAVENT HEARD FROM IN YEARS WHERE ARE YOU AT.

 

79-80

NAME = Greg Riley

MY QUEST = where the hell did Mcguiness go?

VT of a SWALLOW = good question

E-MAIL = rileyadks@yahoo.com

NATIONALITY = irish american

SERVICE = nmcb-40

UNIT = EO

RANK/RATE/JOB = E-4  discharged 1981

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = My Time There is Lost in an Alcoholic Haze, Help Me Remember!

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = There I Was, Passed Out in My Room

MY WARSTORY = holy shit, been a long time, my hut was right behind the 40 club, quite the partying in there,I remember partying all night, cooking chickens at like 3 am or maybe joe hartwig bringing in some fresh sting ray or eal we wood cook up and yeah when we couldn't find anybody else to fight with we would fight each other, I remember the hosher-blake hut fights, we'd be sitting somewhere partying and all the sudden hear crashing, hollering, we'd all look at eachother and just say ah its just Dsn and Terry going at it again, it was like their third time together in DG so anything set them off. Anyone know where pete mcguinness ended up? Tried to track him down on here but no luck. Some of the people I remember hanging out with were jay oldenburg, pete mcguinness, crazy mike excellor, tom sawyer, I saw rick baptistas write up here and jerry fillion, definately some wild times and crazy mfs, I remember the night we stole the jar heads flags, partying in the club and knocking down the fleettweets beer can pyrmids, all good times.

 

1979-1980

Stephen McWilliams <smcwill516@yahoo.com>

I was there on the rock in 1979 to 1980. I worked at the Main Power Plant as day maintenance supervisor. I worked for a Brit Master Chief. The Brits are great people to work for and with. Thought that I would send some pictures of some of the people and places at the most beautiful place on earth(not while I was there,but now since I'm home in the States HA! Ha!).  ENCS (Retired) Stephen McWilliams

 

Here's Steve's Photo:


Here are his friends.  Recognize anyone? Let me know.
From estatemanager@grosvenorwaterside.net:  "The three on the right are Robbie Burns (Red Shorts) Ken Barber (Master Chief)
Salty Saltonstall (blue shorts) all brits from the Power Plant."



Here's where they lived.  The Enlisted Dorms when they were BRAND NEW!

nov 79 - jul80

NAME = bu2 r. dewitt (bobby d)

MY QUEST = say hello to all my brother rats

VT of a SWALLOW = is it a african swallow or are there coconuts crabs attached to it

E-MAIL = redrat bobby d

NATIONALITY = american

SERVICE = usn

UNIT = nmcb133,nmcb14

RANK/RATE/JOB = bu2

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = This is a No-Shit Drinking Story

MY WARSTORY = man dg seems like a lifetime away

what a life but somebody had to do it

remember running just so we could sleep,how about the fishing thoose last couple of weeks how about the brawl at the smokers when the dixie came to town how about turning the cannons on the point at the c company party and dont forget christmas morn

to all the boys miss you guys hope your doing great and that the time we shred was some of the best. muster at the memorial in dc in 08 at thunder rolls some of us well be there

From:  Alan Saltonstall <saltyfbc@hotmail.com>

Date:  7 Sep 2007

I was facinated to visit the site and find and old shipmate of mine Tony Pallace reciting the adventure of our days fishing.  I can confirm and authentictate Tonys tale as I am the one in the red shorts on the boat.  The other lads were Jim Laden, Ray Bateman, Pusser Hill, Vince and me, Salty Saltonstall.  I am sorry if I missed anyone out.  The times in 79 - 80 were fantastic and we had a rather eccentric Brit xo called Bernie "the beast" Bruen.  He was an excellent boxer and never lost a golden gloves contest during his time.  I did enter the golden gloves and my first three fights were TKOs then I won one.  We had a great time working at the power plant with our US comrades and some of their stories I relate to.  There were some great times at the Ship Inn.  Hello Ginge Howard, Screwy Driver, Fletch, Jed Stone, Bamber Gascoigne and all.  I did return as the Senior Customs and Immigration Officer in 1998-99 and thoroughly enjoyed my tour but this time it was too commercialised and the BIOT and Britrep (big chip on little shoulders)  went out of their way to disrupt the pleasure of making full use of Diego Garcia as a fun place to be. This tour was different but I met some great people Nick Wakem who remains a great friend and Big Murph - came from New York to my wedding in 2001 - a great guy. We were the ones who built and constructed the new Brit club to completion and I hope you all enjoy the beers on the beach.

Any person who relates to this story are more than happy to contact me.   Thanks and bye.

1979-1980

NAME = john  (simmo) simmons

MY QUEST = mates some one owes me 5 bucks

VT of a SWALLOW = dead or alive ?

E-MAIL = cazjon@fsmail.com

NATIONALITY = brit

SERVICE = RN

UNIT = POWER SITE

RANK/RATE/JOB = stoker long time left the service

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = My Time There is Lost in an Alcoholic Haze, Help Me Remember!

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = There I Was, Passed Out on The Beach

MY WARSTORY =  help me save the donkey

Spring of 1979

NAME = John Sattler

MY QUEST = Validate my Parking Ticket

VT of a SWALLOW = When the XO hollars ... .0001 nanosecond; When Drinking ... 5 mph

E-MAIL = john.sattler.1@juno.com

NATIONALITY = USA

SERVICE = USN

UNIT = Warship Waddell DDG-24

RANK/RATE/JOB = Gunnery O

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Want to Return When the First REAL Club Med Opens

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = There I Was, Passed Out on The Beach

MY WARSTORY = Waddell pulled into the lagoon.  We went ashore.  "Ships Party" turned into a brawl.  So, I grabbed a six-pack and went to the beach alone.  Three beers later, I was layin' out with my head on a log ... stars were out and incredible ... thinking about my girlfriend and what a paradise the place was ... drank the rest of the beer and damn near fell asleep!  The rustling noise coming from the brush behind my head startled me into getting up and taking a leak.  Somehow, I ended up back at the ship.  The next day, I walked the main drag and noticed all the nice crabs lined up outside the huts.  So, I asked a guy ... and got an answer that made me realize that my urge to leak probably saved my life (or at least the contents of my cranium)! (:-D

march 1979 nov1979

NAME = Roland Pavey

MY QUEST = Thinking about what was a great life adventure,if only I could remember.

VT of a SWALLOW = depends on the no drip lower lip

E-MAIL = plains98@hotmail.com

NATIONALITY = Colorado,

SERVICE = U.S. NAVY SEABEES

UNIT = NMCB5 worked on the peir team corner pour

RANK/RATE/JOB = BUCN did my 5 years and returned to being a civilian

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Other

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell

MY WARSTORY = There I was 19 years old and I couldn't belive the place ran out of beer other than OLYMPIA!!! So I ran into JACK DANIALS and the rest is a blur,or dont REmEMber. I do remember working on the peir team and the corner pour on the peir, man was that a lot of concret and a lot of drinking after. I even have recently met a retired ed1 from the USS CONSTELLATION that has docked threr several times. pertty cool to here about the peir that was just in the construction faze,back then is still in very much use today.

where in the ---- is deigo Garcia and all of FIVES BEES from 79-83 when I departed NMCB5 C Co.

ROLAND HAIRNT BALL PAVEY

March 79 to March 80

NAME = Bill Thrush

MY QUEST = Hope to catch up with old buddies

VT of a SWALLOW = couldn't tell ya

E-MAIL = billthrush@msn.com

NATIONALITY = American

SERVICE = U.S. Navy Seabees - 13 years

UNIT = Ran Diego Bell...the only phone company in town

RANK/RATE/JOB = CE3 at the time (made CE2 on DG) Got out completely disgusted with the way the Navy was falling apart in 1990. Spent time in California, PWD Sigonella (twice) Little Creek and Antigua W.I.

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell

MY WARSTORY = I found this site by doing a web search for my buddy Dave Ratto.  I read all of the 78, 79 and 80 entries. Man...what great memories. Diego was a great place in 79. I remember when the female legal officer showed up and caused quite a disturbance (see her entry in 1978). I remember when some genious sent a hoochie coochie USO show to the island. That nearly turned into a gang rape!! A wise senior chief from MCB 40 arranged for his DET to get the first two rows reserved for DET 40 by working a deal with the Chief Master-at-Arms to have his guys lock arms and keep the masses back if things

got out of hand. It did...and they did. The (very delicious) young ladies were hauled out of there quickly in a van. I guess the show lasted about 10 minutes.

     I ran Diego Bell....even had a licence plate made for my van that said "Diego Bell". Some of you may remember. I don't know how long it stayed on there after I left. When you have unlimited access to the AUTOVON lines, with no other way to phone home (accept MARS calls).....you were a popular guy!! Any extra benefits that you could get on Diego were highly treasured.....and I had lots of them. Everyone else had to turn in their van at the end of work....not me. I parked it in the jungle behind BEQ 6....my home....shared with all the guys from the Public Works Department. We had some good guys. My roommates were Larry Paul and Mike (can't remember Mike's last name, but he was a UT and ran the swimming pool....another good job to have). The one time they told me I had to turn it in....I did so without saying a word. I passed by the phone exchange on my way back to the barracks and promptly disconnected every phone that the transportation department had (they had just moved it into town....by the bowling alley). I had my van back in an hour or so....and the phones started working again. The same thing happened at the chow hall when they got a new MS1 and he told me that I couldn't have early chow (enter through the back door....no lines). I took my time giving them their phones back.

     This was a good time to be on Diego. The new BEQs were getting finished, but it was a long way from paradice. I could write for hours about the times and people. Most of the guys I never saw again. There was an EA3 there named Tom.....great guy. We partied together and snorkeled a lot. If you had to be on Diego, PWD was THE place to be. Some of you may recall a toga party in October or November of 79. That was put on by my roommates and myself. It was a great party. The battalion guys had it rough, so we did our best to look out for them. You made friends quickly and easily on Diego. It was changing rapidly by the time I was leaving in March of 1980. It was still all guys, but some women were visiting and some of the ships had female officers. By the way.....there were NO ships visiting Diego until the Iranian Hostage Crisis started up. We went from the nearly forgotten "sleepy hollow" to a real military base virtually overnight. To say that the 1,300 Seabees on the island resisted this change would be a huge under-statement.

     It was a great time. I learned a lot about how the Navy works. I learned that I made the right choice by joining the Seabees instead of the fleet. I learned

that life without women is peaceful, but a year without them is too long!! I wouldn't trade it for anything. My thanks to Ted Morris for hosting this site.

Greetings to all my fellow Seabees...past, present and future!!!

1979-1980

NAME = B.U.3 F.C.Dugan "Chet"

MY QUEST = To find news of Batt.5 Seabees during that time

VT of a SWALLOW = Kiss my ass

E-MAIL = wahinewarrior8@yahoo.com

NATIONALITY = Irish American

SERVICE = United States Navay, Seabees

UNIT = NMCB 5-Det. Diego

RANK/RATE/JOB = BU-3,retired

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell

MY WARSTORY = I do rember the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders U.S.O. show , it sure was great to see WOMEN after so many months with out them.In particular,I had the good luck to have lunch with one of the girls. I had to take a late lunch due to a concrete pour at the hobby shop project.The galley was closing and I was the last Seabee in for chow. As I sat down and started to grub in walked this cheerleader in full uniform and sat down right next to me.I'd been on the "Rock" for several months by then and could barely speak to this girl, I was totally in shock.I akwardly tried to explain that I was very flustered by having such a beautiful woman share my lunch with me after not even seeing one for so long.Finally I calmed down and was able to chew my food, and speak in cohearent sentances.I forget everything we talked about that lunch,mostly small talk, but I'll never forget that afternoon on the shitty little island of Diego Garcia.   BU-3 F.C. Dugan "Chet"  USMNCB-5 "79-85"

1979

NAME = Jim Anderson

MY QUEST = old friends

VT of a SWALLOW = 8.2 gigahertz

E-MAIL = jla22757@netscape.net

NATIONALITY = white

SERVICE = Seabees

UNIT = Oficers living quarters

RANK/RATE/JOB = BU3 Charlie Co

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Other

MY WARSTORY = Looking For Ken Clevenger....Remember the sprouts??? never forget that place,what a trip....If it wasn't for the care packeges, I to may have ended up as crab food on the beach.....

1979

NAME = Don Gatchalian

MY QUEST = To get a chance to visit the island again

VT of a SWALLOW = Mach2

E-MAIL = Not this time - only have one e-mail address

NATIONALITY = US

SERVICE = Seabees

UNIT = Pier Team Volunteer (NMCB 40)

RANK/RATE/JOB = LCDR, CEC, USN Retired - was EA3 in 1979.

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell

MY WARSTORY = I only did one 6-month tour on the island from Jan79-July79 and I consider it to be one of the best tours I had in my 21 years in the Navy. I learned a lot in the construction trade which I use now as a public works manager as a civilian. I left the Pier Team early because I was selected for officer commission as ships driver but came to my senses and declined the commission once I reached mainland. I always wanted to be a Seabee and an engineer.

     While on the island, I remember staying in the ocean front sea huts, naturally controlled air conditioners (nope - just screen windows and you let the sea breeze in) and pearl white beach, just 10 feet away from my sea hut. I did not really get into drinking but since the Pier Team worked 6 days a week and at least 12 hour-days, I was too tired to do anything during the week.  Sleeped in on Sundays and got into collecting vinyl LP record and cassette tapes.

     The best friends to have on the Pier Team were UCT divers because I got my fair share of the crawless lobsters (langusta), cods, octopus and turtle soup (before they were considered endangered).  I also had my share of the coconut crab before the Brits banned them.  I remember running the tip to tip but after a 15-month tour on Midway Islands before I joined NMCB 40 in Rota, Spain in 1978, I was ready to go back to the mainland after DG.

     My Pier Team OIC - LCDR Jack Wong, AOIC - LT Liedke, LCPO - CUCM Meeks, and my LPO - EA1 Lee Ellsworth. Hey. if the pier is out of line, I did it!

1979-80

NAME = Paul Michael  aka Slinky

MY QUEST = contact old friends

VT of a SWALLOW = dead or alive

E-MAIL = paulmbuckeye@msn.com

NATIONALITY =  American

SERVICE = usn

UNIT = USS Dixie AD-14

RANK/RATE/JOB = BM-2

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell

MY WARSTORY = Sailed in to Deigo in December the towel heads screwed our west-pac only got to spend a week in Subic. Standing at sea&anchor the island looked ok at first then it sunk-in this place is going to suck and it did. The island or dodge city was to small for our crew we got liberty 1 half day a week ( 6 duty sections ) if you made the first liberty boat you had time to get your booze at the canteen if it was open. We had three woman officers on board they must of looked great to the sea-bea's and Brit's.All we did was work I was lucky I drove one of the UTB's on liberty runs some times our modified fishing boat. At times we had 3 to 4 ships tied up on one side and 2 or 3 sub's on the other. Vert-rep's and our crane's working almost non-stop supplys going hand to hand to the other ships the daily trash run with our mike-boat out side the lagoon and if you were lucky you got to go to the plantation for the day. When you had liberty you got drunk at the bar waiting for a lane to bowl or you went to the softball field got drunk and chased coconut crabs if they did'nt chase you first. You could swim and snorkle on the lagoon side ( with the sharks ) ocean side was off limits but we still went any ways. We got a break and went to Maritiuse for a week to stock-up on weed and hash our ship and the island needed it we were go'ing crazy. As bad as we had it the CB's were stuck there some of us made friend some of us just got in fights. we had a UTB sink we had one catch fire on a night time liberty run we used mike boat's to push us along side the fuel barge. our ship and crew did alot of good work in deigo and I feel we paved the way for our relief the LY Spear. I will never forget my time at deigo or some of the friends I made. If you were there when I was contact me at my e-mail and if your one of the guy's I got into fights with sorry for the blackeye's

1979-1980

NAME = Ed Rouse

VT of a SWALLOW = E=MC2

E-MAIL = stratsurfer2000@yahoo.com

SERVICE = U.S. Navy Seabees

UNIT = MCB-62

RANK/RATE/JOB = BU3 then, Got out in 82'

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = My Time There is Lost in an Alcoholic Haze, Help Me Remember!

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = There I Was, Passed Out on The Beach

MY WARSTORY = Hey there Dave Grady, it's been many years. Saw your name posted and had too respond. This site has been in my favorites for a couple of years now, great site! I think your the only other MCB-62'er Ive seen posting on this website. I dont know if you'll remember me but I was one of the four dudes who lived in the seahut instaed of the trailor circle. I still have my Battalion year book of that year with our Diego detachment personnel photos. Have some memorabilia as well.

I will truly never forget being there.

Projects worked on:

I worked on the POL building at the end of the pier along side the pier team, started the arresting gear pads at the runway, and helped the prefab team for prefabricated L blocks for the pier team. I still cant get rid of the KA-CHING in my head from the pier team driving all them steel piles!

Things I remember:

The long plane flight!

The stay over in the Phillipines.

5:30 am

BU3 Gene Weatherholtz.

Sr. Chief Cummins (loved to watch him get RED!).

(Formaldehyde laden) Budwieser & Olympia, and Donkey Burgers!

Outdoor Movies.

Ships off loading party.

Fights with MCB 5.

Mojo parties with supplies from chow hall for BBQ's.

Taking the Duece-1/2 to the donkey gate and getting the donkey's drunk.

Starting of the tilt up wall buildings for the new barracks down by the MTO yard.

The Iran conflict, Burned up Helicopter pieces on the taxi way.

Clearing of the jungle for the Marines advanced base.

and Oh Yeah, the P-3 inbound flights from Phillipines if you catch my drift.

and lastly boarding that C-5 going home to the states, but eventually being brought back to that tiolet of the world: GULFPORT (Fuck'in) MISSISSIPPI! (But next deployment Puerto Rico was excellent, Remember the band RAMPAGE? Know you should remember me).

Take care Dave and all my other devoted Diego Garcia & MCB-62 friends.

79-80; 81-82

Grady, Dave [Dave.Grady@city.pittsburgh.pa.us].

I was in nmcb 62 and did a couple of tours in 79-80 & 81-82, Great website

79-80

NAME = Eo Kim Brown

MY QUEST = Looking for barbara weaver,  radioman crossrated to UT

VT of a SWALLOW = never tell

E-MAIL = kimmidkiff2002@yahoo.com

NATIONALITY = real american

SERVICE = usn SEABEE

UNIT = none

RANK/RATE/JOB = EOCN Made E2 3 times in 6 yrs :(

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Other

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell

MY WARSTORY = i was am an EO, stationed in Pearl Harbor with staff Civil Enginneers, Met barbara, became best buds, lost contact. I know she left dg and tranfered to pearl, then she went to adak, last saw in 1985 she was on her way to Port who needs me as a UT instructor. Anyone who knows where she is or how to contact her PLEASE E-Mail ME Thanks from one cb to another.

Sep 1979 - Sep 1980

NAME = Joseph Nahorodny

MY QUEST = Find the fools I knew there

VT of a SWALLOW = very fast

E-MAIL = nahorodny@comcast.net

NATIONALITY = Russian - can you believe that?

SERVICE = USN

UNIT = CTO

RANK/RATE/JOB = E-4

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = I'd Like to Share Precious Memories of Drinking/Fishing/Snorkeling/Sailing on Diego Garcia MY WARSTORY = Riding the bike to the secret "seashell spot." Thousands washed up on shore, could sit there for hours just picking through them. Starting out by the beach side (the side where it started just past the cannon) walking along like Charlton F'ing Heston at the end of planet of the apes (- the woman of course because of the barbaric conditions the Navy set forth that no female persuasion would be present). Running the 6 man tip to tip 36.4 miles and about to win it until the fool anchor man who went home on leave the 30 days prior and did not run while home on leave, we lost it in the last mile I tell you !! 2nd place after we all ran our asses off. wherever you are you still an idiot. Hanging out with the "brothers" coooking up fried chicken in the room, drinking beer, smoking and having a great time. Sneaking out of the super top secret cryptological cypher box building with a couple of friends and getting higher than a friggin kite. Here we are with Top Secret Clearances................ yikes, to be 20 years old again. Watching storms three days out at sea.

Where are you guys? Not a one of you I knew is out on this site, what a shame.

1979-1982

NAME = ed crays

MY QUEST = find other NMCB3 seabees

VT of a SWALLOW = Dimples from Subic

E-MAIL = crayzys@aol.com

NATIONALITY = Italian

SERVICE = US Navy Seabee's

UNIT = Naval Mobil construction battalion 3 gold team

RANK/RATE/JOB = EM3 equipment mechanic

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Want a Job as Far Away from My Wife as Possible

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell

MY WARSTORY = Jolo's pics wanted, wheres the pic of dimples Dave? Who remembers Florida club and the brown derby?

1979

NAME = ROBERT N DABOV UTCN

MY QUEST = LIVE AND LET LIVE

VT of a SWALLOW = NONE IF ITS TERMINAL ITS DEAD

E-MAIL = BOB@SUPERIOR POWER WASH.COM

NATIONALITY = SOUTHERN GOOD OLD BOY

SERVICE = UNITED STATES NAVY

UNIT = FIRE PROTECTION FOR AIRPORT NMCB 5

RANK/RATE/JOB = UTCN NMCB5 NOW RETIRED FROM FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = My Time There is Lost in an Alcoholic Haze, Help Me Remember!

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = This is a No-Shit Fishing Story

MY WARSTORY = I was assigned nmcb 5 bravo company.Went through rehab once on diego.Iremember winning a batalion fishing tournament with a 40 pound Grouper i cought on the ships off load. I cought him on a piece of chicken out of my box lunch.Put the fried chicken leg on a hook atached to piece of heavy rope and dropped it over the side of the barge next to the ship, they were loading us up with exsplosives.What a cluster fuck that was.those ships off loads were dangerous.I DONT MISS THEM ONE BIT BUT THE WEED ALWAYS WAS BETTER AFTER A SHIPS OFF LOAD.1

july 1979

NAME = mike caldwell was enfn

MY QUEST = stop the nightmares of returning to dg

VT of a SWALLOW = depends on if shes standing on her head or not

E-MAIL = skyspy2112@yahoo.com

NATIONALITY = usa

SERVICE = usn

UNIT = main power plant

RANK/RATE/JOB = got to d.g. as enfn got out in1987 as en1,had enuff by then....

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = My Time There is Lost in an Alcoholic Haze, Help Me Remember!

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell

MY WARSTORY = Arrived on d.g. in july 1979,my luggage went to japan and by the time it caught up with me i was friggin hungry as the chow hall wouldnt let me enter in my week old civies!  I was assigned to a barracks room with a cb,cant remember his name, and a EN named stan,(stan the man)from oregon.Thanks to the unnamed cb our little room supplied the whole island with recreational goodies for about a year.  You see, this guy pumped out the shitter tanks on c-141s and man did they hold a shitload of film canisters.  He also stole a nice rug from underneath the drumset of one of the uso shows,dont know how he got away with it but it really tied our room together.  Remeber a bartender at the club named Johnny walker, no shit,used to get us hammered for nothin,best bartender in the I.O.  Had another friend named Dave from New Jersy,he was a C.B. also, we took a dumpster truck on a joyride out to the plantation and stuck it in the surf up to the axels, we hitched a ride back to town and escaped without a scratch.  Drove a diesel fuel truck for awhile to fill the main power plant tanks,  overfilled a tank one day and put 300 gallons of diesel on the ground, didnt know you wearnt supposed to put a stick in the suicide handle so your hand wouldnt get tire of holding the damn thing!  All in all my stay at dg sucked but it was one of the best partys ive ever been to!  Thanks to all the guys I partyd with and ill never forget ya,but i vagely remember,to bad they waited untill we were gone to bring chicks to the god forsaken place.  Left d.g. in july of 1980,stopped at clark for 3 days, tits clits and san migel beer! work for ford building f-150s,buy one would ya,my two ex wives are waitn for their checks!   later....

1979-1980

NAME = Ned Daniels

MY QUEST = Sharing Diego stories

VT of a SWALLOW = Its only terminal if you swollow the can!

E-MAIL = neddlydan1@aol.com

NATIONALITY = Been here before the indians

SERVICE = USN

UNIT = USS Dixie AD-14    First ship on station after iranian hostage crisis

RANK/RATE/JOB = I was an OM2 at the time. Did my four and bolted for the pier as soon as I got my release papers.

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = There I Was, Passed Out in the Club

MY WARSTORY = What a beautiful atoll! The natives (Seabees) were mostly cordial and for the lack of women, it would have been heaven. I did hear that a few enterprising Seabees were hooking out a inflatable doll. (GAG) As Dixie had a 6 day duty rotation, we could only visit every sixth day, being anchored in the lagoon as no pier was built in 79. Days were spent wandering the beach, Diego burgers and waiting for the EM club to open. I can still smell and taste the formaldhyde in the beer! What a hangover! I remember the Dixie's boxing team challenging the Seabees team to a smoker on the beach one day. I think there were four of five divisions represented and Dixie was kickin ass on the Seabees, until the final bout. The big boys!  Well, this Seabee was winning his match when out of the blue, in the final round, someone chucked a full beer can into the ring and dropped the Seabee like a dirty shirt! It got deathly silent for what seemed like an hour. Then the scene erupted into a melee of flying bodies, fists and bottles. I hastily beat a retreat to the pier. Remember "Hector the Hammerhead," shark? As I remember, he had taken up residence in the lagoon for some years and had taken a few divers lives over a ten year period. We were urged to swim on the outer beaches instead of the lagoon because of this 15' killer. Saw him up close by the port pier one evening. He was chasing food up close to shore and his thrashing drenched all of up on the pier! I also recall a $1,000. reward for anyone who could slay the beast. The only taker I remember was a somewhat scrawny Seabee with a look of too much hooch and sun named, "Luther." One day, Luther secured himself a fine chunk of meat, some nylon line about an inch thick, some milk jugs for bobbers and what looked like a baling hook. Luther tied one end of the line to a cocoanut tree and swam into the lagoon with the other end with hook bated and the jugs to mark the location and suspend the meal. The next week I saw Luther not looking anymore prosperous for his endeavours. He told me old Hector took the bait and stripped the hook clean. Even bent the hook straight! He showed me the tree that he had anchored to and there was a groove cut into its base a half inch deep from the struggle. I always did wonder what happened to Hector, and Luther.

1979-1980

Date:         Fri, 5 Aug 2005 16:41:59 -0400

From:         "NAHORODNY, JOSEPH \(AAS\)" <jn7823@sbc.com>

Rodell "Rudy" Kearse. Where are you? respond to this sight. Anyone from this year. Especially those of you who were "CT's". Thanks God Bless, Joseph Nahorodny

1979-1980 &1981

NAME = Kenneth P. Greco

MY QUEST = I would really love to go back to D.G. and work in some capacity.

VT of a SWALLOW = 8,999 mph

E-MAIL = kgreco05@yahoo.com

NATIONALITY = Caucasion, but what does that matter !

SERVICE = U.s> Navy  Seabees

UNIT = June 79 to May 80 -steelworker NAVSUPPFAC, 81 NMCB 4 Detachment , February to July.

RANK/RATE/JOB = SW3 (then), I left active duty in July 81 just after we got back from Diego Garcia (our deployment-NMCB 4).In Jan.84 I became a police

officer and remained one until June 96 when I retired. I spent several years in the Reserves after active duty, and have been out of the Reserves since 91.

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = This is a No-Shit Fishing Story

MY WARSTORY = One time I was fishing in the lagoon on one of those 15 ft.  Boston Whaler boats that you could rent out for free at the marina.This had to be early 1980 or late 79.I was fishing with another steelworker- enny Horn.  Usually When you fish in the lagoon you would only wait a couple to a few minutes before you hooked a red snapper, grouper, or one of God's most  beautiful fish on God's most beautiful fishing location!So, me and Kenny were out on the lagoon for about an hour and didn't get any bites.So, I reached my hands into the good old Indian Ocean lagoon to wash them off, leaving my fishing rod alone in the boat, and yep! you guessed it!,I then got a bite and my rod and reel went out of the boat and into the beautiful blue and green waters of the lagoon.I looked down at the lagoon in dismay and anxiety, and Kenny Horn just said "it's gone Greco, it's gone!".I was ticked off to say the least cause we still had almost a whole day left out on the lagoon.So, we stayed out there and Kenny continued to fish, since I no longer had a rod and reel.A little while passed, and we used a little Seabees "Can Do Spirit and ingenuity". We had snorkeling gear with us, so we went over to the other side of D.G. into shallower water, and I put on the snorkel gear,got out of the boat and used Kenny's line from his rod and reel with the bait on it(raw chicken from the chow hall),and went snorkeling for fish in that mode!I saw one of those puffer fish with the spike looking things sticking out from it's body amidst some coral,dropped the bait and line in front of it,it bit and we had a catch.Then Kenny reeled it in and we so continued.There's alot of other great memories fron D.G. that are to numerous to mention(like when me and the same Kenny Horn were snorkeling on the ocean side of D.G. and a 12 ft. Mako shark was near us).Diego Garcia-"truly the best duty location in the Navy", even though you didn't think that when you were sent there back in 79,80,& 81.I like to say hello to all those guys I was stationed with back then like Kenny Horn from the story,Jim Tavenner,Dave Edwards,SW1 Garland Evans,SWSC Reagan,Mark Rickaway,John Beausejour a.k.a. "animal,SW2 Holland,BUC Hass,John Stallings,Perry(don't remenber last name),and a lot of others that I was there with in Public Works(NAVSUPPFAC),and to all of the guys I was ther again with in 81 with NMCB 4,s Det.(J.Miracola,N.Hederman,C.Straney,M.

Formosa,R.Duncan,T.Curran,& others)."Thanks for the memories"! I am currently looking for work and I am sick of waisting my time and efforts with alot of the so called "perfect employers looking for the perfect candidates for employees".I'm not perfect and God knows they ain't either !I can work and am willing to do so.Please E-mail me at kgreco05@yahoo.com.

Thanks for your time in reading this warstory and request for employment-Kenny Greco.

Date:         Thu, 24 Mar 2005 21:03:22 -0500

From:        "Auggie Dog" <auggiedog1005@msn.com>

From the desk of, AuggieDog1005@msn.comPlease help!!!,

If anyone involved in Operation Evening Light/ Eagle Claw 79-80 or attached to Helecopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 16, HM-16 and on the rock for that breif duration please contact me and lets catch up on some things!

1979-1980

NAME = MICHAEL WYNN

MY QUEST = STILL DO NOT KNOW

VT of a SWALLOW =

E-MAIL = TWYNN62@AOL.COM

NATIONALITY = AMERICAN

SERVICE = NAVY

UNIT = USNMCB 133 HCOMPANY/CHARLIE COMPANY

RANK/RATE/JOB = MADE IT TO E-6, COULDN'T STAND THE SHIT ANY LONGER AND DIVED OUT

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Want to Return When the First REAL Club Med Opens

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Other

MY WARSTORY = WENT THROUGH THE STORIES FROM FELLOW PALS FROM GOOD OLE DIEGO. SOME HAVE LEFT A LIFLONG IMPRESSION ON ME, WITH MANY MEMORIES. MIKE MCCARTHY ONE CRAZY GUY. NEAL FOBAR EX MARINE THAUGHT ME HOW TO FIRE THE M-16, BY THE WAY WHICH I LATER USED AS A PRISON GUARD. UT3 MALLOY AND E03 BRUCE COTTON WHOM I PARTIED WITH IN GULFPORT. BRUCE KNEW HOW TO UNLOAD A DUMP TRUCK FULL OF BED RACKS, HIS TIMING WAS OFF AS A YOUNG OFFICER CHEWED HIS BUT OFF AFTER HE DUMPED THEM IN FRONT OF THE WAREHOUSE. SENIOR CHIEF COZART WHOM RODE A BIKE WAY TOO BIG FOR HIM. SENIOR CHIEF HATCHER WHO SPOKE OF "FUCKY SUCKY MAMA SON". BEST OF LUCK TO YOU GUYS AND YOUR FAMILIES.  MIKE

1979-1980

NAME = Bruce B. Geibel, Capt. CEC, USN, Retired

E-MAIL = seabee_mcb11@tds.net

NATIONALITY = American

SERVICE = U.S. Navy

UNIT = Naval Mobile Construction Battalion One-Thirty-Three (NMCB-133)

RANK/RATE/JOB = LCDR then, retired Captain (06) now...February 2005.

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Please Select The Category That Best Discribes Your Interest in Diego Garcia

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = I'd Like to Share Precious Memories of Drinking/Fishing/Snorkeling/Sailing on Diego Garcia

MY WARSTORY = To all who read these presents, greetings!  I was the proud executive officer of NMCB-133 from 1978 to 1980. I made the Camp Silver City, Rota, Spain deployment in 1978, Camp Moscrip, Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, deployment in 1978-79, and Diego Garcia, BIOT, deployment from November 1979 to January 1980. The battalion was there until July 1980.

     We left our homeport of Gulfport, Mississippi, after an exciting period of rest and recuperation, military training, marching in a dozen change of command and pass-in-review ceremonies (Ugg!), a full mount-out exercise, and responded to local military and community needs after the disasterous Hurricane Frederic hit the Gulf Coast from Gulfport, MS. to Mobile, AL, on September 12, 1979. The Battalion worked many long days and nights helping clear the streets of debris, and restoring essental utilities, including water and power. Congressman Trent Lott visited Gulfport and commended the battalion for their service to the community as did Missippi Power Company. Many of the battalion's Seabees were awarded the "Humanitarian Service Medal" for their humanitarian response. The Battalion arrived on Diego Garcia and relieved NMCB5 on November 14, 1979. The Battalion was deployed to Diego Garcia for eight months until mid-July 1980.

     The Commanding Officer on Diego Garcia was Commander Herbert H. Lewis, Jr., CEC, USN. I was the executive officer until relieved by LCDR Frederick J. Jones, CEC, USN. The Operations Officer was LCDR J. E. "Gene" Jones, CEC, USN. The Supply Officer was LT. O. Lee Fortier, SC, USN. The Command Master Chief was CUCM Charles Guse, USN. The USMC Advisor was GSGT David Sardo, USMC. The Navy Careet Counselor was NC1 Sam Williams, USN. The rest of the crew were CEC and staff officers, the Seabees and fleet rates who made up the battalion. We were a Happy Crew and turned to and burned up the construction schedule on Diego Garcia. For eight months, from o-dark thirty (6:30 am) until 5:30 pm the Battalion literally "...worked their asses off," not to be confused with the donkeys on the other side of the Island belonging to the Brit Rep.

     The Battalion deployed to Diego Garcia during some very interesting and trying times. U.S. Marines and USAF aircraft arrived in the Indian Ocean to be ready for challenges facing us in Iran. The U.S. Fleet was enhanced. Khomeini was doing his wild-thing in Iran. U.S. Embassy was overrun and hostages were taken. The U.S. was at the brink of war in the Middle East and Persian Gulf. The Beehive of NMCB-133 was active...they had stirred up the Bees for sure.

     The Seabee battalion was expanding the facilities on Diego Garcia to handle a rapid build up of U.S. forces being rushed to the Indian Ocean to handle the Iranian crisis. Everyone in the World was watching everything that went on at Diego Garcia. It was said that the official visitors read like a stack of alphabet letters. Visitors from CBPAC, CINCLANTFLT, NAVFACENGCOM and CBLANT all stopped by for a look around. Even a few congressmen stopped by for a look see. A few stewardi from commercial aircraft flying in reinforcements enjoyed the sandy clean white beaches on the Indian Ocean. The Seabees enjoyed the Stewardi (er, sights), as well.

     The Bees built BEQ's 9 and 11 and BOQs 4 and 5 from the coral reef to buildings fully occupied.  Several other BEQs and BOQs were also constructed. Enough steel rebar was cut to stretch from one end of the island to the other. An ammunition storage facility was constructed.  The concrete batch plant was a lifesaver for the many projects on the Island. The Bees blasted coral in the Indian Ocean and dragged it to the beach to haul away for concrete, runway, pier and road works. The Island Power Plant was increased in capacity and size. The "Kangroo" battalion became better known as the "Can Do" battalion during their stay.

     Details from CBMU 302 and NMCB's 1, 3, 4, 5, 40, 62 and 74 joined the resident battalion from NMCB-133 to complete many joint projects reinforcing the "One Naval Construction Force (NCF)" concept of operations. The supply department and galley were burning the mid-night oil during much of the deployment as the Bees worked in shifts around the clock to complete high priority naval facilities.

     But, it was not all work and no play. The Bees snorkled and boated in the sheltered harbor, snorkled and went Longusta hunting in the shallows around Diego Garcia, played tennis, racketball and softball, held weekend steak cookouts, and toured the old Plantation on the other side of the Island with its scenery and donkeys. They put a significant dent in the supply of hot dogs and hamburgers and definately drained a few kegs of cold beer during their stay at the tropical paradise in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The Ops Officer went on a long overnight cruise in the Harbor and was missing in action. That is another story. The Bees awaited the incoming C-141's bringing in the mail, and used the MARS station to call their friends and loved ones back in the States. They took some R&R off island and enjoyed the USO shows on the island...from rock and roll to top 40. They enjoyed Diego Garcia every day and in every way (well, some of them did, really). All in all, it was a good, hardworking tour for the Seabees. They worked hard, and they played hard.

     Then in July 1980 it was wheels up and the Seabees of the 133rd Battalion headed back to Gulfport, MS, to start preparing for their next overseas deployment. For their tour on Diego Garcia, the Battalion won the first of many Navy "E" awards for excellence. The Can Do boys got their stripes and their awards the old fashioned way...they worked hard and earned it.

     This is one of the annual stories of NMCB-133 that took place during World War II (1943-45) and has taken place every year from the Vietnam War to the present time in 2005. They came, they went, they constructed, they started over again, and again, and again. Seabees "Can Do!" The Kangroos of the 133rd Battalion have "Been There, Done That!" Long live the Kangroos.

Bruce B. Geibel

Capt., CEC, USN, Retired

XO, NMCB-133,1978-1980

November 79--May'80

NAME = William D. Miller(BILL)

MY QUEST = Hotel company

VT of a SWALLOW = Depends on her throat  depth!!!

E-MAIL = exastro54@aol.com

NATIONALITY = Red Blooded American

SERVICE = US NAVY

UNIT = NMCB- 133 H CO.

RANK/RATE/JOB = SK2-then Got out November '80

Noe President of a Recruiting firm from Erie, Pa

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = My Time There is Lost in an Alcoholic Haze, Help Me Remember!

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Please Select a Title For Your Story, or Select 'Other'

MY WARSTORY = Kevin Eddy, Chris Leber, SN freddy Giest What a crew we had on resupply day. 12 hour shift. Broads off the ship giving blow jobs and then getting caught. learning how to drive a Semi in Gulfport.The shitty ass shows the put on in the out door theater.The fucking jet lag we had the next day. Some asshole geting busted on the plane flight over nad us drinking all the beer onboard, GO FLYING TIGERS>

christmas eve party in the hooch, Some asshole puked in the beer cooler. Donkey burgers, room mates drinking all the beer out of the hooch refrig and not buying anymore. Painting the sand crab with the Can do Motto. out of 8 years of active service, this was the best year of my two tours. My wife sending me after shave on a island with all dudes, go figure, plus that shit was awful smelling so i gave it ti SN Giest, He loved it. But i got into a fight and broke my ankle and had to leave DG for the PI, and never saw you dudes again. Let's get in touch NOW!!!!!!

For you Kevin------GO STEELERS. You fuck heads better email me. Need to get together and throw down a few.

79,MCB5, 80-81 det Diego MCB5

NAME = Michael P. Jones

MY QUEST = Relate stories, find others

VT of a SWALLOW = Constant

E-MAIL = diegodrifter@msn.com

NATIONALITY = American

SERVICE = USN Seabees

UNIT = MCB 5 First deployment, BOQ's, second Hanger, Com station add, and generator bldg add.

RANK/RATE/JOB = BUCN, BU3, BU2. Diego, Diego, Sigonella, Adak.  Lets see after my alchoholic binge and failure at school, just had to resort back to what the navy taught me, Ya still pouring concrete.

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = My Time There is Lost in an Alcoholic Haze, Help Me Remember!

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = There I Was, Passed Out on The Beach

MY WARSTORY =  Got to admit, Diego has  special place in me. First time there I just turned 18, Tropical Paridise. The most enjoyable activity would be snorkeling. All the colors and tropical fish, manta rays, giant sea turtles, then the mory eal at low tide on the reef, couldn't see him but he sure would tear up the stick we stuck in his hole. Now what would we have done if he decided to come out and do that to our legs? Always wanted to see a shark out in the water. Those damn crabs. I would crash out 0n the beach now and then or maybe it was pass out. One time the waves coming in woke me up, glad it was dark sure hate to see what else was eyeing me. Two guys down the first deployment. Did they ever find Mcbride? Then the Eo found on the beach getting eaten by the crabs, This happend within two Months of going home and I decided to take it easy in the water, cause i wanted to go home! First time was good , drunk and crazy.

 Second time The Det , back to back was with the Groggers in Tyroliaville. I got stuck in that crowd late in homeport, but I think they accepted me. Was going to Guam then 2 weeks before deployment "THEY" decided to have me go back to Diego. For a week I just said to hell with you, then had to put in a "CHIT" to fight it, Ya they just laughed at me, The Co of MCB 5 said they needed me, I new what was going on, and of course the Det CO was turning others down. So off i went this time was fun riding back wards in a c-141 with about 3 windows half way around the world. Well I sure proceeded to get drunk when I got there, wouldn't you know it I was first for watch, so I went to react hut to sleep it off, Then had to do on island counseling, for awhile then Got in some more trouble and spent the last 2 months of deployment sober. Back to states and drunk again till I was 27, been sober since I'm 44 now. The opportunities I missed from drinking.

 The Iran crises started just as we left the first time, 6 months later we went back, All hell was breaking loose on Diego, has been ever since. I liked it better when it was just a Seabee island 2 flights in a week if your lucky, Peaceful it was. The second time there 2 flights in a day, ships subs marines. I envy the first Seabees in the early 70's.

 Hell of a lot of crazy shit happened there, mojo, toga parties, fighting, just too much to talk about. Second time there I about just didn't want to leave, guess you can call it "institutionlized". I found peace there with all the fight I had in me when i got there the second time, Good friend of mine Don Miller BU mcb 40 came over two months into my second time and he got me out of my fighting shit. I lost contact with him when I got out, I was stationed with him up in Adak. Don Dudek an Electrician I befriended there, I found him several years ago and with these damn Pc we keep in good contact

Miles Simmenou? I beleive it was Ted Gourd Cal surfer used to say, Cowabunga or was it knarley? I asked him one day what it meant, Hell he didn't know, just a surfer term for cool waves i beleive. We lost 2 guys each time there.

 I kind of grew up there, spent 16 months in my late teens. Hell 5 years active duty I spent close to 3 years in isolation. I don't regret any of the navy time, just wish I had more life under my belt and wasn't a drunkard.

1979

NAME = Ned Daniels OM2

MY QUEST = To remember the good old days!

VT of a SWALLOW = 57mph at full dive

E-MAIL = neddlydan1@netzero.com

NATIONALITY = American

SERVICE = USN

UNIT = USS Dixie (AD14)

RANK/RATE/JOB =

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell

MY WARSTORY = The Dixie was the first foreward deployed support ship sent to the rock after the Iranian hostage crisis started. Notable events include we were the first Naval ship to have women aboard in the form of three officers, one ens. and two ljg's. I see that most of the stories relate to seabee's who were stationed there but I couldn't help to throw my two-cents worth in. I came to know many of you guys while there and was shown a very good time indeed. I remember a particular hut on the westward side of the island on the beach that sported a long dock extending out into the ocean, terminating in a T with a bench and built in cooler for that rank beer we used to swill. Had many a drunken night out there with you guys. Anyone remember a guy named Luther who had a grudge against Hector the Hammerhead? I remember him stealing a beaf roast and baiting a baling type hook on the end of a nylon rope and anchoring it out in the lagoon to a cocoanut tree to catch the shark. Hector took the bait that night and bent the hook straight and the rope cut a groove an inch deep into the tree! I also remember the Dixie's boxing team taking on the Seabee's team at a group party. Dixie was fairly well waxing your asses until the heavyweights. A seabee was winning the bout til out of the blue, someone chucked a beercan into the arena and dropped the Seabee. It got real quiet for about 3 secs. then all hell broke loose. I for one made tracks for the beach to avoid the blood bath that ensued. Those were the days!

1979

NAME = Mark Ahern

MY QUEST = To be among some of my fellow early settlers of D.G.

VT of a SWALLOW = Yes

E-MAIL = markahern@earthlink.net

NATIONALITY = U.S.

SERVICE = Navy

UNIT = R.P. Chapel

RANK/RATE/JOB = E-3

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Other

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell

MY WARSTORY = My real problems surfaced while at Diego Garcia, apparently I am an Alcoholic. And with drinks being 60 cents for singles and 80 cents for doubles, my drinking took on a whole new life since there were no women to chase and Men don,t interest me , sexually. 24 years latre after nearly ruining my life and all of my relationships, including God, I finally found A.A. and life has never been better.

1979

"Hixson" <camg@theofficenet.com>

I was on DG with NMCB-5 in 1979, and at that time there was a story about a 21ft hammerhead shark romming the waters of DG. Do you have any info about this shark has name was Hecktor the Hammerhead.

79 and 80

DENNIS MULLOY,  NMCB-5 1979 and DET Diego 1980

<dennis.mulloy@navy.mil>

     Hi, I would like to contact some of my old buddies from NMCB-5 Det Diego Garcia. In 3 years I did two tours of duty there. 4 months

with the main body in 79 and a full 8 month deployment in 80-81.

     Looking for some of the old 'Groggers'. Shackelford, Jensen, Gourd, Brewer and anyone else who spent that special time in our

young lives.

      We were on the fire station block crew, and worked also at the airfield laying the tarmac..

Thanks!

79 and 80

NAME = bill hedy

MY QUEST = old friends

VT of a SWALLOW = i'll get back to you on that

E-MAIL = bhedy@msn.com

NATIONALITY = american

SERVICE = navy,sea bees

UNIT = mcb40

RANK/RATE/JOB =

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Want to Return When the First REAL Club Med Opens

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Other

MY WARSTORY = all i remember was staying pretty fucken wasted all the time, running down the brits fence, painting chickens, mojo partys,good friends. I  get a hangover thinking of it. it was fucken great lets do it again. kurt weber, rick baptista, pete mc guiness i'll never forget you guys

1979 to 1980

NAME = Stephen McWilliams

MY QUEST = To not forget the Britts and their witt and the days on the rock

VT of a SWALLOW = What ever it wants to be

E-MAIL = smcwill516@excite.com

NATIONALITY = American and proud to be.

SERVICE = United States Navy (Retired)

UNIT = Power Plant (Day maintenance)

RANK/RATE/JOB = At the time I was a EN-1 and now I am retired. I retired as a ENCS.

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell

MY WARSTORY = Spent 365 days on the Island. Worked at the Diego burger part time, then got promoted to work at the bakery making buns and bread for the Diego burger and the galley. Drank a lot with the brits, got used to warm beer spiked with booze. (Man can they drink.) Did a lot of sailing, racket ball, salty dogs and the out door theater. Sure would like to return to remember good times. Would like to know the wereabouts of a then first class construction mechanic by the name of Andy Anderson. Loved to fish and catch the Jacks and the lobsters. If not for the service and lack of female companionship it was a paradise.By the way, I did make time to work at the power plant maintaining the fairbanks diesel generators. Working for the brits was great. Their work ethic was if there is work to do then do it if nothing is going on then I'll meet you at the brit club. Lot of good memories and friends made. Thanks for the opportunity to let me express a part of my life in writing.

Thanks

Stephen L. McWilliams ENCS (RETIRED)

Nov. 79 to July 80

NAME = Randy Lloyd

MY QUEST = To find others from Diego to cure my insanity

VT of a SWALLOW = 'till it reaches her stomach

E-MAIL = trandy107@msn.com

NATIONALITY = American

SERVICE = USNMCB133

UNIT = "b" co. FUBAR PLUMBING Co.

RANK/RATE/JOB = UT-3 I was also called Perkins because I found some greens to wear that had someone else's name on them.

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = I'd Like to Share Precious Memories of Drinking/Fishing/Snorkeling/Sailing on Diego Garcia

MY WARSTORY =  Before we left Gulf Port we watch movies to pass the time. One of the movies was Apocalips Now. That scared the hell out of me.I remember that one of the stuwardess that was on board one of the planes we took to Diego was in Play Boy that year. Before they let us off the plane, they told us of the things that weren't alowed on the island (like that was the perfect time to tell us). I sill remember that catipults weren't allowed. I remember swimming in the lagoon with the turtles untill I saw Hector the hammerhead swim through the pier. I remember the christmas eve that the blacks hooches went up in flames and we all spent the next day in major deep shit. Some people got busted with things they shouldn't have had. Being a UT, I was on duty that night. I remember the donky (I thought she was named "Missi") who would let you do anything to her as long as someone was feeding her beer. I remember bying a couple of hits of microdot for thirty five dollars a hit and getting lost in the jungle with my friends and having to stand quarters the next day frying my ass off. Amazingly I have found two other people hear in Las Vegas were I now live who were there when I was. One was in 40 and the other was on the ship were Penny Candy came from. Penny found two friends of mine and me when she first came on the island. It didn't take fifteen minutes before our hooch was filled with horny dick. My friend from the ship tells me Penny got busted a week later with over twelve hunderd dollars cash in her locker. I wonder where she got that kind of money? I remember catching the 19 foot white tip with the hook my friends and I made from rebar and using a chicken as bate. I still make "Diego beans" from pork'n beans like we did back then when we could get our food from the chow hall and cook it our selves on the beach. I remember ship off load when we worked twelve on and twelve off and the day we off loaded all the creosote poles and came back to the hooch to find the power off line and no showers working. I remember dreaming of being crushed by a boat at the dock and trying to puch it away from me and ultimately pushing my hooch momma's locker over on top of him. I remember waking up most every day with sand in my bed and having to walk out to the showers in the middle of the hooches to do anything personal. I rememb we wrote FTQ on the road and found out the Brit's didn't think as funny as we did. I remember the morning the bulk haller was found flooting it the lagoon. Ah, Diego. I remember well. Don't forget to throw a rock on the roof for me too.

July 1977- March 1978 and November 1979- July 1980

NAME = Kevin "Samurai" Eddy

MY QUEST = To find a Red Roo patch for my riding vest.........oh yeah living free and ridin' free as well

VT of a SWALLOW = I'm not sure but it ain't near as fast as those chickens were!

E-MAIL = thejuggernautone@hotmail.com

NATIONALITY = Texan of course.

SERVICE = US Navy

UNIT = NMCB 133   "Kangaroo Can Do"

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = My Time There is Lost in an Alcoholic Haze, Help Me Remember!

MY WARSTORY = I found this site looking for patches for my riding vest......................

     I have perused it the last 2 days and realize now how much I miss those I served with and those I still call friends even though I have not seen or spoken to them since.......... to those on the 79-80 tour (that I remember anyway): CE3 T.J. Avallone,  ET3 J. Bellgraph, EA3 R. Brown, EACN S.B. Coats, BU2 R.D. Crissey, CM2 L.J. Cruz, BU3 C. Dains,  Bu3 R. DeWitt, BMC J.M. Ezell, EO2 C. Green, SW3 R. Gustad,   EA3 J.E. Messenger, CMCA W. Mitchell, CM2 R. Moeller, BU1 R.A. Moody, CMCN K. Overstreet,  BU1 D. Pullen, BU3 T. Pullman, EO2 D. Rath,  CM3 L. Sullivan......  oh hell the list goes on and on .................these were good guys one and all. I personally am proud to have been a Seabee with them.

     Of course I have to separate these guys from those guys though I am no less proud of how I fell about them. But lets face it without Hotel Co. who would have gotten paid? Ate? Got supplies or those rare R&R leaves we heard about....  SK3 G. Pasley, SK3 T. Holian, SK3 C. Leber, DK3 D. Barnett, SK3 J.A. Koenig, SK2 W. Miller, YN3 M.G. Bland,PC3 P.V. Bradley, MS1 R.S. Collins, MSSN D. Collins, MS2 E.E. Crane, SK2 T. Dale, DK1 M.R. Felker, YNSN M.D. McCarthy, HM3 D.J. Henry, PNSN M. Scott, MS3 D.R. Patitz, MSSN F.X. Porter, SK1 K. Payne, PN3 W. Payne, JO3 J.R. Powers, SK3 A.V. Filyaw, SK3 N.F. Fobar, YN2 R.F. Gray.

Come on.. Freddy (SN F. Geist), Drac (SKSN M. Griffin) or Squirrel (SK3 D. Swoope) would I forget you three....

     To the guys from 77-78 133 Diego Detachment that started that POL pipeline namely: Jerry, Billy, Mule, Drew, Chris, Browny, Martinez, Chief Cortez, Mask, and the rest of you guys on page 140 of the cruisebook that (I can't remember your names) in typical fashion the names were left off of......

     Anyway to all of you and all of the others before and since.

     Well done gentlemen. well done. Kangaroo Can Do. ......and did!

     Oh yeah by the way the 77-78 detachment built what we called a Bar-B-Que Cart..... has any body seen it?  the Kangaroo was on the tongue and it even had a grill and cooler......   I have pictures

oh yeah I've got pictures............

ON OR ABOUT SUMMER OF 1979

     NAME = Michael Tacovelli

     MY QUEST = TO FIND SAILORS WHO WERE ONBOARD THE USS RACINE

     VT of a SWALLOW = LAIDEN OR UNLAIDEN......

     E-MAIL = grnbear@bellsouth.net

     NATIONALITY = UNKNOWN

     SERVICE = NAVY

     UNIT = VARIOUS

     RANK/RATE/JOB = BM1retired

     MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Other

     SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell

     MY WARSTORY = I was the boat coxswain of the capt's gig transporting the capt of the uss racine to the beach during the above year.  after myself and the boat off loaded the capt a dn officers at the pier close to the post office in diego garcia , myself the bowhook and the boat eng decide to go for a swim.  of course we had to undress(totally) to go swimming.  we all enerted the water naked, then we returned to the shore seeing that our uniforms were stolen.  all 3 of us placed our rain coats on(looking like exibitiists)transporting the CO and other officers back to ship..they never knew what happened...and they never asked...thats my story..

79-80

     NAME = Derek Knight

     E-MAIL = derek3112@yahoo.com

     NATIONALITY = American

     SERVICE = USN SEABEES-

     UNIT = MNCB133

     RANK/RATE/JOB = E-4 to E1 depending on what month

     MY INTEREST IN DG IS = My Time There is Lost in an Alcoholic Haze, Help Me Remember!

     SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = This is a No-Shit Drinking Story

     MY WARSTORY = So many stories.First night on the rock after getting off watch we had a mojo party and a guy said lets steal a duce i'll give you a tour of the island. Long night shortened, went to the other side of the island knocked over many coconut trees and the Brit. gate, wrecked the truck had to walk back.  OR

     The time they showed the new movie Warriors one night and we had such a big riot they cancled the rest of the shows.

     OR

     The racial riot on Christmas Eve, complete with fire bombings and a congressional investigation.

     OR

     The time the Marines came during the Iranian crisis and we got them so stoned and then tried to steal a tank.

     Probably the best time on the Rock was after they started letting girls on ships we met a girl named Penny? We called her Penny Candy.Well one night made 9 monthes feel not so bad.

     Never forget my time with the red rats,

     Derek Knight

1979-1980

Lopez, Ignacio (CBCHUE)" <LopezI@cbchue.navfac.navy.mil>

     To fellow members of the Diego Garcia history,

             I deployed to the Diego Garcia atoll in the Spring of 1979 and left January 1980.  Our NMCB 40 Det was mainly tasked with the welding of the 16-inch fuel line that connected to eight fuel tanks,  the construction of 12-inch concrete walls to surround the tanks and the construction of a fuel/water separator pit. We had our full, complete deployment work schedule cut for us but we made time to jog/run in the afternoons or drink our "mojo" in the weekends and throw rocks or dried coconuts at the tin roofs of our Seahuts.

             We lived in Seahuts that had only some sort of screen to prevent insects from getting in.  When the wind blew hard (during high tides), we get sprayed and wet with salt water from the lagoon.  We normally had Sundays off and most of us tried to get as much sleep as possible only to be woken up by crowing noises made by chickens running around the Seahuts areas.  Seabees sleepily throw rocks at the chickens to drive them away. Mind you, that's where the "Every week is a Chicken Choking Week" sign on T-Shirts came from.

             One of the memorable events that I have joined was running the island "Tip to Tip Marathon Relay"on July 4, 1978.  The whole distance was 38 miles with six runners per relay team.  First and last leg runners took seven miles each and the rest ran six miles each.  That must have been the only excitement at the time because there was high rate of participation.  A total of 19 teams registered and ran the race.  I still remember running along a narrow path where I've seen land crabs scurrying to their holes as the runners went by.

             Having parties at the plantation side was equally fun.  I have experienced a young coconut fruit fell and grazed my head as I stooped down to stir the coal in our barbecue pit.  Lucky for me because the fruit did not land squarely on top of my head.  The donkeys always had their share of the beer that we brought.  Once someone puts down an open can of beer, one of the donkeys would lick or bite the top of the can.  No one would want to drink from that can then, but the donkey.

             Keeping the "Donkey Gate" secured/closed was always an issue.  There were times when people who go and visit the plantation side would forget or miss closing the gate and the donkeys from the plantation side would have a free reign to go to the runway.  If a flight happens to come in at the time, you'd hear the plane radio in and require the donkeys be driven out of the runway and fly a little longer in the air until the runway is clear.

             When I returned in the early winter of 1982, I have found out that the land adjacent to the runway has been widened with rocks/corals that was dredged from the lagoon.  I know that it has been continuously improved so I'm not surprised when I get word now that the island has turned out to be a paradise.  It feels great to hear about Diego Garcia, - "The Footprint of Freedom".  I'm CUCM Ignacio P. Lopez, and I have just retired after 30 years in the Naval Service on 01 January 2004.  I'd be glad to hear more news about the island or to get word from folks who've been in the island during the earlier years.  Hurraah!!  Diego Garcia.

           Ignacio P. Lopez

1979 -1980 AND 1981 - 1982

     NAME = Garland D. Evans

     MY QUEST = Work

     VT of a SWALLOW = 8,999 MPH

     E-MAIL = nmseabee74@aol.com

     NATIONALITY = Texas

     SERVICE = USN Seabees

     UNIT = NAF and NMCB 74

     RANK/RATE/JOB = Retired SWC

1979,1980,1984,1985,1986

     NAME = Joseph P Stropole

     MY QUEST = Old Friends, and Enemies....

     VT of a SWALLOW = 60 MPH in a Windshield

     E-MAIL = jstropole@mail.com

     NATIONALITY = USA !

     SERVICE = Merchabt Marine

     UNIT = USNS Rigel, USNS Mercury, USNS Jupiter, USNS Ponchatoula

     RANK/RATE/JOB = 3rd Asst, 2nd Asst

     MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Decided to Join A Monastery, But Couldn't Find One Stateside

     SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = This is a No-Shit Sailing Story

     MY WARSTORY = 1984, Ready to leave the skids, for the rock, civillian merchant marine waiting for the REPAT flight, the animal launch (remember this one ???) Broken Faces (not mine), Broken dreams, and then broken airline tickets, somebody smacked my favorite CHENG, the offender was a jarhead....The rest was BIOT history....

1979-1981

     NAME = Dennis Mulloy

     MY QUEST = To Survive

     VT of a SWALLOW = About that

     E-MAIL = DMulloy@Sprynet.Com

     NATIONALITY = WHITE

     SERVICE = USN

     UNIT = NMCB-5/ NMCB-5 DET DIEGO

     RANK/RATE/JOB = E-4 a couple times.

     MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Want to Drink A Lot, Cheap

     SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell

     MY WARSTORY = After reading fellow grogger Ted Gourd's story it brought back memories. If I recall, Ted was a surfer from So. Cal.  A few of us known as the 'Groggers' were always up to no good. Especially, when NMCB-133 was releiving us. We would go out in the middle of the night and change their monikor, i.e., sign. By morning it would read 'Groggers' or something like that. We changed it for a whole week straight. We would change it at night and NMCB-133 would change it back by day. This went on for 4-5 nights. Finally, the word got out that is was those misfits from NMCB -5. We only had about a 30-40 man DET. So we were fairly close. Best times of my life were on that rock. Pretty sick huh?

     Did I ever tell you the story about the loyal chicken subject that was run up the BRIT flag pole.

     Another time my friend.

79

Chet Kittle <chetnmarsha@integrity.com>

Subject:  The last photo of Dodge I have.

     After leaving Diego in 79’ with Det. 74, (we built the hanger), I had a stack of photos and now just one. And it’s a beaut. Everybody’s favorite place to take a photo of a sunset. I’ve been crusein’ the site for a good year and finally took the time to get this off. War stories, I got a few. I’ll send a couple soon, but this photo says more than I could ever say of way I feel about “that fly speck.” More to come, Chet Kittle EO2, NMCB 74.  76’ to 81’79-80

[here's Chet's sunset photo]

David Stott <dkstott@compuserve.com>
Hi there,
stumbled upon your site..
I spent 1 glorious year on the rock from 1979 - 1980.... I was there during the Iranian Hostage Crisis, Yemen crisis and during the time of no women on the rock....  I ate food from Donkey Burger, drank preserved beer,  and somewhere's around here, I have photo's from the time spent there as well as my "everyday is chicken choking day on Deigo Garcia" t-shirt.
Dave Stott Jan. 79- Sept.79
[here's 2 of Dave's photos - the Donkey Burger, and the theater]

     NAME = Chet Kittle
     MY QUEST = To return.
     VT of a SWALLOW = Anywhere in front of a jet engine.
     E-MAIL = chetnmarsha@integrity.com
     NATIONALITY = I was born in Dodge,KS
     SERVICE = USN
     UNIT = Det. 74, crane operator.
     RANK/RATE/JOB =  Made E4 the fourth day we were there.
     MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Decided to Join A Monastery, But Couldn't Find One Stateside
     SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Other
     MY WARSTORY = Oh dear God, where to start. I'll do some memorables then a bunch at the end. One of the three days that they gave us to recooperate after the flight (36 hrs. from goofport, 6 on the ground)I saw everyone running down to the lagoon. There were about 20 guys pointing at this shark fin that stood about 2.5 ft. (or more) out of the water. I don't know what you call that fin that's in the back, but it was about 16 ft. behind the front one. They said it was a 20' ft. white that got caught in the lagoon at low tide and was circleing until it could get out. That was straight out my hut door, 15' to the water.
        After being there for a couple months, everbody started going a little nuts, woke up one morning to hear that notorious clunk-clunk, clunk-clunk, clunk-clunk. Poor Mittens couldn't even keep up on Air Only.   Watched a friend of mine single a chicken out, and chase that poor bird down (by hand) and then rip it's head off.   I was driving back to the hanger after lunch one day and I was in front of Alfa Co., where you can pretty much look straight down the run way, and I was watching a 131 take off and just wishing I was on that flight, when the outside engine went poof, so he circled and landed. Pieces of engine peppered the body, nobody hurt.  One of the most memorable times was the tip to tip relay. I had the first leg, seven or so miles, (I think there were six of us), got to take the mike boat over early in the morning,got stuck about 100 yards from the beach, so a few jumpin' porpoises, and ran my little ass off.  Came in sixth out of 12 I do believe and we ended up 3rd overall (thanks to that Brit gettin' heat stroke right in front of the hospital.   We used to get 5gal. buckets full of the land crabs and take a jeep down by the donkey gate, head back into town about 35 or 40mph, lean way out the back of the jeep and gently set the crab down on the pavement. Well they skid along pretty good until they hit something or try and move and they just tumble and fly apart.  Ah,good times.   And I don't know how many times the neighbors would be haveing one of those very inertaining parties, when one time it was dark, everybody was trying to sleep, they had a card game goin' or somethin, when the power went out. Well that just sent 'em into a tizzy. Fuck this and fuck that, and then they broke into a rouseing rendetion of FTN, FTN, FTN,FTN,....... while jumping up and down in the hut. No shit, you could hear it all over that end of the island. FTN, FTN, FTN, the floor gave out. All ten hit the sand at the same time. Died silence, except the laughter! Here goes with the bunch of stuff....ea  moray eels(6' or better), barricudas, shellin' (cowreys or anythig that didn't  move), Black tips, whites,400+ lbs of snapper at time, 6' steel leaders with three sets of treble hooks to catch absolutley nothing!!,turtles, seacucumbers, 1" scare on my finger tip from a razor clam, black coral, sailing;sailing;sailing, tree house (split level),softball, outdoor movies, the Steal band from Holland,weights,donkey burgers, coconuts (ate one a day)hated  the way they freaked ya out on the roof at 2am but sounded great on the cheifs hut,The Plug, red white and blue chicks that would turn purple with age, watching the tires burn on my crane after a CM backed the gantry into that 15 thousand volt line at Alpha, working with asbostes and red lead (son, how come you look like that), flash burns from looking at the tig (yea yea I know), the plantation, watchin' and hearin' a C5 scream out on a medavac, a crane that would start by itself, watchin a 131 buzz the hanger with six guys laying sheeting on the roof, church (there's a firsts), sunsets, and the ocean.
And tappin' that fuckin' salt!
Dodge will always be a part of me, 'cause I was a part of Dodge.
 

jan 1979 ___1980
NAME = TED GOURD
MY QUEST = TO FIND SOME OLD DOGS (IMISS YA MAN ! )
VT of a SWALLOW = 1.82 SEC. WITH A BEER BONG &2 BEERS
E-MAIL = TED@RPMS OUTLAWNET.COMW
NATIONALITY = WHITE NATURALLY
SERVICE = U.S.NAVY
UNIT = NMCB-5  DET-NMCB-5
RANK/RATE/JOB = I WENT FROM A HAPPY E-1 TO A HAPPY E-4 ON DIEGO (2-DEPLOYMENTS)       THEN I WENT TO SPAIN!!!!!
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Want to Drink A Lot, Cheap
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = I'd Like to Share Precious Memories of Drinking/Fishing/Snorkeling/Sailing on Diego Garcia
MY WARSTORY = JEE WIZZ THIS IS KIND OF A TRIP :A LOT OF SHiT WENT ON OVER ON THE ROCK!@ FOR CHRIST SAKES

1979
NAME = JAMES CARRIERO
MY QUEST = DIEGO GARCIA
E-MAIL = JJAMCINMATNIC@AOL.COM
NATIONALITY = ITALIAN/IRISH; SERVICE = US NAVY; UNIT = NMCB74 AIRCRAFT HANGER; RANK/RATE/JOB = CE2
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Decided to Join A Monastery, But Couldn't Find One Stateside
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = This is a No-Shit 'How I Put One Over On My Senior Chief' Story
MY WARSTORY = DURING SHIP OFFLOAD, WE STOLE THE OFFICIERS ICE CREAM AND JAR SHRIMP.  WE FEED MILLER LITE BEER TO JENNY THE MULE.  SHE WAS THE SIZE OF TWO MULES.  I GOT ARRESTED FOR SPEEDING IN A DUCE AND A HALF BRINGING THE CREW TO CHOW. THE BRITS WOULDN'T LET ME DRIVE ON THE ISLAND FOR 6 MONTHS.  I LEFT THE ISLAND A WEEK LATER FOR THE STATES.  BROKE MY HEART.   DIDN'T DRINK A SINGLE BEER THE WHOLE 8 MONTHS I WAS THERE.  THE PLACE REALLY BLEW MY MIND.

4 months in 1979 ALSO 4 more months in 1976
NAME = jim sanker
MY QUEST = perhaps getting in touch with ol buds.
VT of a SWALLOW = what the freek......kind of question......is this? Depends on what your eat`n!
E-MAIL = starvinmarvy@charter.net
NATIONALITY = USA; SERVICE = Navy; UNIT = NMCB-5; RANK/RATE/JOB = Was a BU.First time there,I reported to the battalion right out of "A' school with 4 months left on the deployment.Second rotation a BU2 and a SHORT timer.Only 4 months of that rotation.Then back home.I should have stayed with the Seabees and retired at age 37!Anyone else regret this?
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = This is a No-Shit Snorkeling Story
MY WARSTORY =  Well if I gots to chose a catagory....this one may as well start it...one day my buddy Clay Carvalho decided to chance a snorkel session out off the reef (out by the cannon)at low tide.It was just spectacular but only being able to see whats directly in front of you with the mask on (no periphial vision)I was uneasy.We saw the beautiful colored fish,the coral fish(who chewed the shit and you could hear that under water),we got to about 5 feet of a moree eel,and you could see the teeth on this mother but it never really seemed alarmed.But then I get this uneasy feeling and look behind me and there probably,hell ..I`d guess about 30 feet,is a shark swimming by along the ocean floor.It was then that we decided to get the hell out of Dodge....but one of things I`ll never forget!!
    Another time was coming back to the hootch after breakfast and found a little coconut crab passing through.Well I had a couple of apples from the chow hall for later that day but got down in the little guys face.He was a little pissed and I stuck one of those apples in his face and he effortlessly mashed it in half.THATS ENOUGH for me I thought.All the rumors about the crab were true as far as I was concered!!And he was a small one.
 

February 1979 (also Nov. '78)
NAME = Earl B. Taylor
VT of a SWALLOW = European or African?
E-MAIL = microlex@juno.com
NATIONALITY = USA; SERVICE = U.S. Navy JAGC; UNIT = NLSO Subic; RANK/RATE/JOB = LT JAGC USNR while visiting DG. Civilian since 1982
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Irritated World Citizen/Communist/Religious Extremist
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell
MY WARSTORY = In the fall of 1978 I was stationed at NLSO Subic. It was the day before Thanksgiving and I was in courthe middle of a Court Martial. It was one in a series of Speical Courts Martial involving personnel from the USS Kitty Hawk. The Kitty Hawk had been on about a six month deployment in the Indian Ocean and was homeward bound. In the middle of the trial a message was delivered asking how many trials I had left to do. I replied back I had two. Then they asked if I could do the trial without personnel from the Kitty Hawk. No I couldn't. Then I was advised to have my gear ready to go on the Kitty Hawk at 1700 as I was going for a ride. This was the time of the Iranian hostage crisis and President Carter, God bless him!, was sending the Kitty Hawk back to the Indian Ocean, and I was to ride along and have the trials on board the ship. So instead of being stuffed to the gills with fine food with friends on Subic on Thanksgiving we were thrashing past Singapore, and I had access all the bug juice I could drink. Thus got to ride a nice big boat out to Diego, and got to become a shellback.
    I was flown out there in February 1979 to do more Courts martials. One day I was walking around and noticed that the British Flag was at half mast. I asked some enlisted SeeBee what the deal was and he replied that "The IRA wasted some limey". A rather terse summary of the end of Lord Louis Mountbaden, former commander of the British war effort in South East Asia during World War II, and the last Viceroy of India.
 
 

1979-1980
NAME = Mike McCarthy
MY QUEST = to regain the many brain cells lost partying with donkeys, chickens, and crabs
VT of a SWALLOW = depends on how wide her throat is
E-MAIL = swineheart61@yahoo.com
NATIONALITY = friggin american, and you?; SERVICE = USN; UNIT = NMCB-133; RANK/RATE/JOB = E-4 RETIRED
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = My Time There is Lost in an Alcoholic Haze, Help Me Remember!
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell
MY WARSTORY = FRICK, WHERE DO I START? IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES AND THE WORST OF TIMES, WHERE ROSIE AND I REALLY GOT TO KNOW EACH OTHER, AND I FOUND OUT JUST HOW SICK, DRUNK AND SLOVENLY HUMAN BEINGS CAN GET.  I REMEMBER GETTING ROSIE (NOT THE SAME ONE) THE DONKEY DRUNK AT THE PLANTATION.  ON THE SAME WEEKEND, I ALSO REMEMBER (BARELY) WAKING UP SPRAWLED ON THE FRONT PORCH OF THE PLANTATION, NURSING A VICIOUS HANGOVER (BELIEVE IT OR NOT).  TO HELP SHAKE OFF THE COBWEBS, I TOOK A WALK ON THE BEACH.  IT WASN'T TOO LONG BEFORE I NOTICED I WAS BEING FOLLOWED BY A COCONUT CRAB.  THE LITTLE PRICK WAS STALKING ME-I WOULD WALK FASTER, COCO BOY WOULD GO FASTER.  I WOULD SLOW DOWN, HE WOULD SLOW DOWN-YOU GET THE PICTURE.  I'M NOT ASHAMED TO SAY I WAS GETTING A LITTLE FREAKED.  I FOUND A BIG STONE, TURNED AROUND, SIDEARMED IT AT CLAWBOY AND NAILED HIM DIRECTLY IN THE FACE, A ONE IN A MILLION SHOT I COULD NEVER DO AGAIN.  KILLED HIM DEAD ON THE SPOT.  AH, GOOD CLEAN FUN ON DIEGO.  OF COURSE I REMEMBER THE DONKEY BURGERS, SCROUNGING FOR BOOZE A FEW WEEKS BEFORE SHIP OFF-LOAD, PARTYING AT THE CANNONS, NO-SLIDE RULE FOR SOFTBALL BECAUSE OF THE CORAL, SAW THE SR-71 WHEN IT LANDED, GASING OUT MY HUT ONE MORNING AFTER A SERIOUS NIGHT OF PARTYING, MAKING EVERYBODY RUN FOR THE DOORS, WHERE WE WENT TO GET BREAKFAST ONLY TO RETURN AN HOUR LATER TO FIND THE FOG HAD CLUNG TO THE WALLS.  AH YES, FUN TIMES ON DIEGO!!!!!! WELL, THOSE ARE JUST SOME OF MANY SERIOUSLY WRONG TIMES ON FANTASY ISLAND.
P.S.----HEY CHRIS LEBER, I REMEMBER YOU MAN, HOW THEY HANGIN?  LATER BROTHERS OF THE ISLAND

1979-80
NAME =  Merrill D.Lamb
MY QUEST = Find Joe(BUZZ)Sawyer. Buzzsaw [editors note:  Buzz's email is SwyBzz@aol.com]
VT of a SWALLOW = A Windsheild at 65MPH
E-MAIL = KW@KANAB.NET
NATIONALITY = AMERICAN ALL THE WAY BABY AND DONT YOU FORGET IT; SERVICE = USN-Seabees; UNIT = NMCB 40 Charlie Co. BEQ 9 Crew;
RANK/RATE/JOB = 6 years 10 months Active Duty,4years 10 months Charlie Co. NMCB 40!!   2Years Public Works PT.Hueneme Ca. BU-2 upon discharge.
MY WARSTORY = Hey, Its good to see my old buddy(BUZZ Sawyer CE NMCB 40 Bravo Co.) is still alive. Im cruisin around on the net when WHAT DO I FIND?          WARSTORYS FROM PARADISE.So I go to 1980. Then I start to browse through the storys! The first story I read is MY OLD BUDDY BUZZ talking about getting puckin drunk at the FISH TANK while we were listening to Bob Rodgers and the COMMODE HUGGIN MUTHAS(our little MOWJO BAND.Lets take a little stroll down memory lane.                   REMEMBER WHEN-We had coffee cans around our neck with wire so we could carry a gallon of mojo at a time? Remember-The Britts(Notorius members of the ButtWrenching Gang)?.       REMEMBER-Midnight Coconut raids on the officers huts?  REMEMBER-The night we belly-crawled into the 1st Amphibs camp and took their REBEL FLAGS AND THEIR COMPANY COLORS.While Kenny Nunn,Brad Jensen,John Barto etc. caused a little ruckus down on the beach to get the grunts attention,We slitherd in and snagged their flags. BOY HOWDY THE CHEIF WAS PISSED.Next day they were searching huts and lockers,But we had em stashed.I really dont think the cheif was that pissed.He told me LAMB tell your buddys to keep those fucking flags out of site untill those Peckerheaded Marines get off the island.RIGHT ON CHEIF BOTTIGI.ROCK AND ROLL  FTN 40.Remember Kirby Hurst, Steve Latting,Bob(BLASTOFF)Young,Greg Linville,All the wild nights we spent with the boys from MCB 5s det AT THE RALPHMASTER BAR AND GRILL.Thank the govt. for Donkey Burgers,RandR on the plantation with missie the Jack Daniels Guzzeling Donkey.Thanks for the bagio sense,Thanks to all of the one legged crabs,Thanks for the concrete pours in 115 fht. THANKS FOR THE MEMORYS. HEREs to watching a coconut fall out of a tree and nail a whitehat liferdog Square on top of his head. HERE IS TO ALL MY BROS FROM 40-5-4-1-62-3-133 Every day is Chicken Chockin Day On The Rock. YOURS TRULY BU-2 M.D.(MUFF)LAMB.Fighten Forty. I could go on to tell you storys from the ship offloades and the weekly suicidal idiot that would steal a vehicle and try to kill himself because he got a dear john letter,But Ill save the rest for`another time.Rock On Diego

1979
Charles Sheppard <csheppard@bio.warwick.ac.uk>
[Ed. Note:  Charles has spent over a year in the Chagos on scientific expeditions over the last three decades.  He is the author of "Ecology of the Chagos Archipelago" which I heartily recommend you all buy and read.]
     On one trip, I spent 2 weeks in DG in 1979 hanging around for a flight out.  Had some day-long flights in a P3 to kill some time (why do they only put
breakfast meals on them...?) shooting met and radio canisters out of a tube in the floor every hour.  The Seabee batallion / regiment or whatever from
Mississippi where doing the works then.  We had a couple of wives with us (one was mine) who were kept under lock and key in the medical block most of
the time!  The Seabees were hosed down by the fire truck during one X-rated movie, and one night some took a bulldozer to a brick hut which contained
the booze.  My wife was once taken to the ATC tower where she talked down a P3 - relaying the instructions which were pretty meaningless to her - and
that was noted as the worst landing they had seen.  The crew rushed up to the tower, looked stunned and one said 'Damn it really IS a woman!' then
rushed out again.  She was also drafted into reading a lot of the music requests for the Seabees from their families on DG radio - they had no TV then, and was asked to use her best bedroom voice - which she reckoned was difficult at pre-dawn breakfast time!  It was a good couple of weeks.

NMCB-40 1977 and NMCB 40 1979-80 also NMCB-40 1977
NAME = Rick Baptista
MY QUEST = To get that donkey (Missy) and drink some beers with the old gal
VT of a SWALLOW = Depends on who is swallowing
E-MAIL = rbaptista@mediaone.net
NATIONALITY = Human; SERVICE = Seabees; UNIT = POL Pipe Rat, Batch Plant, Crane Hill
RANK/RATE/JOB = EOCA in 77,  EO2 busted down to EO3 in 79 (LOVE DG) Retired 1998 as a EOC
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Professional Adventurer Looking For The Ultimate Get Away
MY WARSTORY = Good site!!Well let me start.My first time on DG was in 79.I was the boot of the DET (NMCB 40). Worked as a pipe rat with the SW's digging the Pipe Line along the runway. (TS 24 scrapers).  The second time there 1979-80 (NMCB 40) things got fun. Well me and a bunch of drunk  Alpha Type decided to swipe a 5 ton and go look from some crabs on the plantation.  Well no sooner then I filled up the Hot truck the Brits were on my ass (Land Rover) heading out of town. Well they were still on my ass when I crashed threw the Donkey gate and was not going to let up.  Well by the time I got to the Plantation I was getting sick of them chasing me, so I did a U turn and statred chasing them. A 5-ton Cargo verus A Land Rover with A blue Bubble. Well those Brits new us Alpha Types were crazy and stared running.  This gave us time to ditch the truck and head back on foot (Long Walk). The brits tried to catch us on foot. One of those drunk CM's (BARTO) got caught by the brits handcuffed and thrown in the back of the Rover. In the mean time we all made our way to T site where a bunch of Twigets were leaving for town.  We hopped in the back of there truck and fell asleep.  Well to our suprise, there was a human blockade at the Donkey gate. They had everybody out there, REACT FORCE, SHORE PATROL ETC.  Well to make a long story short, I went to MASS and the CO gave me restiction but ALPHA COMPANY had there own fucking mass and busted me down to E4. Big shit I had a good time there and I would have done it Again!!!!!!

April (?) 79
NAME = J.L.Hite
MY QUEST = To get back to the tropics(not D.G though)
VT of a SWALLOW = You tell me.
E-MAIL = jeffh@oregon.uoregon.edu
NATIONALITY = USA; SERVICE = USN; UNIT = Beer drinkin'; RANK/RATE/JOB = Had the old man busted me yet? Yep, I guess so. At least I wasn't in the "Grande Island Seven"
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Geo-political Rabble Rousing
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = There I Was, Passed Out on The Beach
MY WARSTORY = First landfall in a hell of along time, Pulled into the lagoon on USS Waddell DDG-24 after being "modloc"ed in the arabian sea. Beer, coconut crabs, and the skinniest land I'd ever seen. Would have rather been in subic city. Rusted gun and implacements on the point wuz kinda cool.   Anybody who had to stay an extended time has my sympathy.

1979 & 1978  MICHAEL R. BABCOCK <mbabcock@pdq.net>  See his 1978 entry!

1979
AZ3 Segen   <LadyluckSweet@aol.com>
deployed in transit for operation (EAGLE CLAW)   Arrived  12/13/79  Departed  12/28/79
I still remember getting drunk at the outdoor movies and getting eaten by those little bugs with big teeth.  AZ3 Segen HM-16 NAS Norfolk

79-80
NAME = TED GOURD
MY QUEST = TRY TO REMEMBER ?
VT of a SWALLOW = 1.82 SECONDS -2 BEERS IN A BONG
E-MAIL = TED@RPMS@OUTLAWNET.COM
NATIONALITY = WHITE-SO.CAL.; SERVICE = NMCB-5 & DET; UNIT = CRANE CREW / R-SITE ADD.; RANK/RATE/JOB = BUILDER E-1 TO E-4 TO E-2RETIRED
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Green Eco-Freak Who Hates How the Brits Have Taken Such Good Care of The Island
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = There I Was, Passed Out on The Beach
MY WARSTORY =    I DONT REMEMBER WHAT DAY IT WAS,BUT I WOKE UP ON THE BEACH AGAIN  WELL I WAS STILL NOT FULLY AWAKE. ANYHOW THERE MUST HAVE BEEN A THOUSAND FRICKEN CRABS SURROUNDING ME LICKING THEIR LIPS!! SO I GOT UP AND STARTED CRAB KICK~EN !!!! SICK FUN I GUESS
  I HAD LOTS OF GOOD TIME FUN IN TYROLIAVILLE HOME OF THE WORLD RENOUNED GROGGERS.. ME AND A FEW OTHER GUYS USE TO CHANGE THE BEWARE OF JOGGER SIGNS TO BEWARE OF GROGGERS (DIDN`T GO OVER WELL WITH THE BRASS AT ALL)BUT WE JUST DID NOT CARE THE COMANDO RAIDS WERE FUN!!

  WE AT DET-5 ALLWAYS RAN AROUND LIKE CRAZY PIRATES HALF DRUNK AND READY TO FIGHT, BUT A FREE BEER WOULD MAKE US HAPPY AND OR SICK ASTHE DOGS WE WERE ,SO WE PRETTY MUCH STAYED OUT OF TROUBLE IN THAT DEPT.
  ME AND KEVIN GURTES THROUGH A PARTY WITH BANDS BOOZE AND BEER AND FIVE DUMP TRUCK LOADS OF DUNAGE FROM SHIP OFF-LOAD AND SET IT OFF! BIG FIRE TOSAY THE LEAST AND MORE FUN TO BE HAD FOR ALL ON THE ISLAND AND LAGOON
  HAVE TO MANY THINGS TO REMEMBER IN TWO DEPLOYMENTS  I"M SENILE NOW! AND I'M PRETTY SURE MY MIND WAS LOST ON DIEGO   P/S IS HECTOR STILL ALIVE I SEEN HIS PICTURE WHEN I WAS THERE

1979
ROGER SCHWEITZER "Hawaii Rog" <inopohak@ilhawaii.net>
      Heard you on NPR and it brought back memories.  I went to Diego Garcia in 1979 or 80 with a surveying company called Wes Thomas and Associates.  Our job was to do a topographic survey of both sides of the runway so that it could be widened for B52's.
      I was in the US Navy for seven years (submarines) so this was like old home week for me.  I was familiar with the rules and regs, but some of my fellow draft dodging workers thought they could ignore the rules.
      We were given information about how intolerant the customs people were about illegal drugs and related paraphernalia, so it was somewhat embarrassing for the owner of the company when his son was busted for having some marijuana on him.  They tossed him off the island and he was told never to come back.
      They gave us a brand new barracks, which they trashed at the end of their stay.  The company had to pay for the damage done to the barracks.
      We were given access to the Officer's Club, but that privilege was quickly abused and we were sent packing to the Acey Ducey club, we fit in much better there.  Being an enlisted man, I got a kick out of the "O" club for the short time that I was there.  I enjoyed the stay at DG.
Yours truly,  Roger Schweitzer

79
NAME = Thomas E Lawson <telawson@earthlink.net
MY QUEST = To remember what I didthere.
VT of a SWALLOW = which one
NATIONALITY = U.S.; SERVICE = navy; UNIT = jack of the dust; RANK/RATE/JOB = Ms2
MY WARSTORY = I drove supplies to the galley almost everyday.  I made a pizzia for Skc in the EM club kitchen, but the sauce was too hot.  Then they ordered pizzia crusts for the kitchen to sell.  Met the plane twice a weekfor fresh milk and veggies.  Don't remember too much about the evenings though.
     In 1979 we had a $50,000 BBQ.We had two freezers at i-site and reefers banks the SeaBees ran to store food.Well after the first ship offload I worked, the freezers at i-site were packed like a can of sardines.  We had pallets on the floor so the air could circulate, but we had to remove cases of meat just to climb up over the others cases.  Freezer #1 was having trouble maintaining 0 degrees and was staying at 15-20 degrees.To make along story short most of the meat went bad after about a month.  We used a dump truck to haul the meat to the dump (4 trips) and had to use JP5 fuel to burn it.  The inhabants of the CBI camp were watching us closely for any unburned cases of meat to salvage.  I was found not gulity for ruining all that meat.  I hate the smell pine oil, which we used to clean the inside of that freezer.  Thawed meat juices sure were swept outside and the flies were plentiful, and the smell wasn't appeciated by the people woking there.
     One more thing about the dump.The package store tossed outdated olympia beer and nobody tried to salvage any.  Maybe "Its the Water"?  Tom
[EDITOR'S NOTE:  AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!  I lived in Olympia for 9 years, and LOVE that beer.  Of course, that's probably because when I lived in Montana, it was that or Buckhorn or Lucky....
"Its in the water, that's why its yellow!" - Bear Whiz Beer]
     Did you ever drive by the vichele dump, right in the middle of it was a road.  It went out to the ocean side and there was a "house".  Nobody I asked knew about it or wouldn't tell me what they used it for.
[EDITOR's answer:  Seems to me I remember that 'house'.  I think it was one of the hootches the old seabees built all over the island.  That was where they would go to "get away from the base".  Most of them fell apart over the years,
and in 86 or thereabouts, the NSF CO had them all destroyed (he couldn't stand having people off in the bushes on their own!).  There was one really neat one on the lagoon side just at the south end of the airfield.  Had a dock and everything.]
     This was no hootch, it had a kitchen, living area, bathroom and two bedrooms.  But no furniture or curtains and a big padlock on the door.  Looked like VIP quarters.
O.K. Readers... anybody remember what this building was???
P.S.  I was reading 1987 entries and came upon what they were wearing then.  When I was there the uniform was khaki shorts, white t-shirt, jungle boots and ball cap for enlisted personel.  I even had a SeaBee poncho I wore when it rained and nobody complained.  When I worked in the freezer I wore a DG short sleeve sweat shirt (navy blue of coarse), a green long sleeve SB shirt and gloves.  My mess cooks  were usually from MNCB 4or 5 and they had thier field jackets in there.

[editor's note:  here are some more bits and pieces from Tom]...

 

     We had tv when that scienctist [Charles Sheppard - listed above] was there. They had the Fighting Seabees and the Quit man on every other Sunday. That's how we waited for mail call to be announced.  We aslo watched the Story Lady tell us about our benifits.  Here is  where the requests that lady was reading on the radio came from.

     I saw an old photo of my favorite burger joint on your site.They used to bake the hamburger and hot dog buns in the old SeeBee bake shop which

faced the back of medical.The front was about 15-20 feet kitty corner to Donkey burger.  It had two barn like doors which opened into the main

chow hall.  I used to issue coffee and sugar every Tuesday at 0900 hrs.  We used the chow hall for extra storage space for dry stores, until

November.  We had to move everything to the main warehouse, because they were going to demolish the old chow hall.  I had to put up a sign telling

everyone that the coffee issue has moved to the main warehouse.

     I  had my folks send me a care package.  It contained 6 bottles tobassco sauce, 4 can openers, 4 cans chili, 1 pizza mix, 1 chung king chicken chow

mein, 1 box instant rice, 1 quart water bottle and 1 portable radio.  I shared the can openers and tobassco sauce with friends.  Using p-38 can

openers was hard on the fingers.  You mentioned bug juice for your flight back to Clark.  We used it to clean our grills in the galley, it really made them shine.

     When I arrived there I was assigned to a seahut.The VP's were in a seahut next door.They were always complaining about palm rats visiting them

at night.The 141 crew had a seahut nearby.We had a picnic table and BBQ on the beach in front.The head was outdoors on a slab of cement surrounded by a partition and roof.I remenber sweeping the sand out every morning before going to work.I stayed there for about a month until they made me move to the open bay barracks.We had an old refriderator in the seahut that would ice up all the time.We also put in a party chit for burgers and had a BBQ on the beach.They gave us a #10 can of pork and beans for 10 people,catsup,mustard and some hamburger buns. I had already bought BBQ tools from the ships store as soon as I arrived on island.I also bought a face mask and snorkle.but only used them once.I couldn't see very well underwater with out my glasses.I had an extra pair of GI glasses ,so I pulled off the earpieces and tried to get them to stay in the face mask,it didn't work.I still have the face mask and snorkle and I don't know why.

      I would call Airops on Wed. and Sat. to find out the ETA of plane.  I would tell the mess cooks what time to meet me at the galley and we would drive out to the apron.  The Seabees supplied a low-boy trailer to haul the milk and veggies (potatoes,lettuce,tomatoes etc.) back to the reefer banks to unload.  The milk and ice cream came in an insulated container with dry ice.  The veggies came in your standard cardboard boxs.  I think we recieved between 20-30 5 gallon boxs of milk.  The milk would run out after 4-5 days and they would use the milk that didn't require refridgeration.  Not many people liked the white milk, but the chocolate milk was OK if it was chilled.  If we were running low on certain meats they would also be sent by plane ( beef patties).  We got apples, oranges and pears by ship every quarter.  We usually got done in the evening delivering the fresh milk and veggies to the galley for the next days use.  We had a problem with the ice cream disappearing between unloading the plane and getting it loaded on the low-boy.  It seems certain Airops crew would borrow some for their own use.  I fixed that problem with some steaks for them.  The ice cream was for the officers mess only.  The galley had a ice cream machine that rarely worked, and if it did the ice cream was runny.  I got a case of San Migel beer from Airops for the steaks.  How did the flight crews get the beer to DG?

 

 

1979

JIM ZEDAN <zedan_james@bah.com>

      I happened across your DG site and was surprised to see a poem by Ralph Blessing.  Did you know him?  I was stationed with him a couple of times while I was in the navy.  When I was on DG in 1979 it was before women were allowed there and most people lived in plywood huts with corrigated tin roofs.  It appears that things have changed a great deal.

 

 

1979-1980, 1985-1986

SCOTT VAN AKEN <SVanaken@aol.com>

     Super site on Dodge. Where were the babes when I was there? Was stupid enough to do two tours there (79-80) and (85-86) and there were definitely no wimmin on the joint during the first tour, just Seabees, which are close, but not

quite the same.

     I do remember the SR-71 flight, the stealthy C-130s and quickly repainted MH-53s (which ended up burning in the desert) as well as the USS Guadalcanal, Conestellation and (I do believe) the Kitty Hawk also showed up during the

later tour.  Also had the opportunity to get a brief tour of the USS Missouri and some of the B-52s that the Air Force kindly sent so that we'd have something to do when not fixing planes!

     Spent time with Customs and the Security force during the first tour. Got to know lots of Brits and that they drink while on duty! Found it odd that they only got ale resupplies every quarter, especially by the way they consumed the stuff on weekends. Must have been a LONG flight in a C-130!

     Enjoyed the place while I was there, was very glad when the tour was over and wouldn't mind going back if the money and job were right.

Keep up the good work,

Cheers,

Scott Van Aken

USN (ret)

 

 

June 1979 - June 1980

NAME = David K. Stott

MY QUEST = Find a Donkey Burger !!

VT of a SWALLOW = 2 miles per hour

E-MAIL = dkstott@compuserve.com

NATIONALITY = US citizen;  SERVICE = U. S. Navy; UNIT = Calibration Tech.; RANK/RATE/JOB = left service after 6 years as an ET-3....

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = My Time There is Lost in an Alcoholic Haze, Help Me Remember!

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = I'd Like to Share Precious Memories of Drinking/Fishing/Snorkeling/Sailing on Diego Garcia

MY WARSTORY = I graduated ET school in Great Lakes, Illinois and actually put D.G. as one of my three choices to be stationed... Somehow my third choice of D.G. was moved to #1..

     I was sent to D.G via Hawaii ( hey that wasn't too bad)... then on to the Phillipines where I met up with a group of Sea-Bee's who taught me how to find every bar in the area...

     We then landed on D.G. and were promptly told to strip all of our clothes off for the Brit strip search...

     I was placed in a barrack with a lump pillow and in the middle of the 1st night, was awoken by a coconut rat staring at me from across the pillow... That was my first night there!!

     Does anyone have the recipe for Donkey Burgers?? or baked beer?? remember all the beverages were stored in metal containers to bake in the sun?

     I was there through the Yemen crisis, the Iranian Hostage crisis and the very first appearance of women on D.G when a supply ship arrived with women on it...!!!

     We had orders to keep our hand off of the women...Yeah right...!!

Dave Stott

 

 

1979-1980

JOSEPH X. NAHORODNY <Joseph.X.Nahorodny@sbcdo.com>

Awesome place. Shell collecting, snorkeling, fitness, introspection........what gripe????!!!

 

 

1978-1980

HARRY CONLON <HWConlon@aol.com>  See his 1978 story.

 

 

1979

KEN CLEVENGER <R0D0G@aol.com>

Hi Ted!

     My name is Ken Clevenger Bu2 NMCB 5 '79  Arp.-Nov. The intenet is so great, I could never imagine that there would be a website about "the Rock".  It makes sense though if you (like me) have had the honor of serving a tour there.  A place everyones dreaded to go to, adapted to and time never forgotten. I made good use of the time I was there, college courses,  swimming everyday, boxing, partying with the Brits and exploring the plantation.  I actually think I found the high point on the island on the other side.  It was a paridise that some people have touched on,( the sunsets, lagoon and the plantation ), that one cannot realize unless they nhave been there.  The hardest thing about coming out of isolation was the phillipines and back in the good 'ol USA looking at REAL LIVE  WOMEN !!   Thanks for this site and being able to reminise with people who have lived it.  It's interesting to read how it has changed in the past 20-some years.

 

 

79-80

NAME = john barto

MY QUEST = loose shoes tight pussy warm place to shit

VT of a SWALLOW = ruby or yellow throated?

E-MAIL = jvembarto@cs.com

NATIONALITY = loser

SERVICE = fucking seabee

UNIT = fighting fortys heavy shop....onthe end of the runway

RANK/RATE/JOB = cm-3 ftn, onehitch

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Want to Drink A Lot, Cheap

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = I am a Born Liar, and Want To Tell About All The Sex I Had on Dodge

MY WARSTORY = what a lousy fucked up pent up mass of youth we were...800 boys in paradise and no pussy... caught a guy beating off to a picture of John Denver (full size, hung on his locker door). best story consists of a fellow loser cutting the top off a seven up can filling it one quarter the way up with lighter fluid putting a baby chick (fucking brits loved the

chickens) in the can and lighting it the sound of baby chick tapdancing in that can is seared in my pickled brain to this day.  Another hobby was spray painting the chickens various colors not found in nature.  As for telling time (hour of day when asked) a casual reply was what the fuck do you really care what time it is you fucking asshole?  You ain't leaving are you?   Alltime favorite beverage? gin and gatorade before the supply ship came used to love canned beer that sat outside so long the color of the can faded.   "Jesus hates me this i know cause I'm on Diego".

 

 

1st Time December 1975 (3 months), Second Time May 1978 (4 months), Third Time January 1979 (3 months), Forth time March 1982 (18 months) August 1983 - December 1985

NAME = Jack Kaltenhauser

E-MAIL = arizseabee@email.msn.com

SEE HIS 1975 & 1983 ENTRIES...

 

 

march79 march 80

NAME = william (bill) tyson

MY QUEST = to find another donkey burger

E-MAIL = wtyson@pamlico.net

NATIONALITY = us (north carolina); SERVICE = us navy; UNIT = base ops crash rescue

RANK/RATE/JOB = abh-1  am now retired (03/30/80)

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = My Time There is Lost in an Alcoholic Haze, Help Me Remember!

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = There I Was, Passed Out in My Room

MY WARSTORY = feeding the donkey beer. never being able to catch a dam crab.

1979-1980    and    1987-1988

NAME = Walt  Bowlby

E-MAIL = wa9neu@shawneelink.com, wa9neu@drivernet.com

NATIONALITY = USA; SERVICE = U.S. Navy; UNIT = C-Site; RANK/RATE/JOB = CTM1   Retired

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Professional Spy

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = I'd Like to Share Precious Memories of Drinking/Fishing/Snorkeling/Sailing on Diego Garcia

MY WARSTORY = It was always easy to find a party on DG  and you were automatically invited. A few beers in hand would be a passport. But even empty handed got you in.

     I remember the bigest event was when the Dallas cowboys Cheerleaders came to the island. That reminded me that there were women back in "the world" and I was anxious to see them. It helped my 1 year tour go faster!

     Diego Garcia was an interesting island and there were lots of things to do. I enjoyed biking  and also ham radio.

     To anyone reading this, if you can you should do a tour of DG you will have some good memories of it later!!!!!

 

 

1979-1980

CHRIS LEBER <lawdog57@earthlink.net>

     Just got done surfing your page. I was NMCB 133 and arrived on the island the day the hostages were taken in Iran. It was tense for a while. You are right about being a tropical paradise although we had no women at that time.  Who could forget the 90 day ship offlaods where we worked 12 hours shifts for 10 days straight to offload supplies. Anybody tell you about the Christamss 1979, where they confiscated weapons and trashed the island. I would love to see current pictures if you have any.

1979 VP-48 Deployment (also '80 & '81 & a year in '78)

DAVE "DJ" JOHNSON <Ejection4@aol.com>

Great site, OLE DG brings back memories, I was there for my year in 78, and went back with VP-48 in 79, 80, 81. I would like to become a member. thanks for the memories Dave "DJ" Johnson

 

 

1979

THOMAS ROYCE <ThomasR@actionio.com>

     Ah...Diego Garcia. I spent only 3 months anchored in the Lagoon back in 1979. (USS L.Y. Spear). We could only go onshore every 3 days, but I made the most of it!!! I spent most of my time skin diving or riding rented beach cruisers through jungle trails. Once, a few of us skinny-dipped with snorkeling gear on the ocean side of the island. I have never seen such underwater tropical beauty, before or since, and I've been to many other "pristine" tropical locations. I'll never forget seeing fish whose colors change like a rainbow as they turn in the water, or the giant clams, eyes reflecting an iridescent blue as I viewed them from the surface 30 feet away...And the sharks! Every night, the waters around our ship were illuminated by PAR lamps, giving us a chance to appreciate the grace and size of the schools of these impressive beasts...I have lots of memories; Coconut crabs, thermoclines, generators rumbling, hot, sticky-then refreshing rain, jungle, beaches so white the sight of them hurt my eyes, crappy bear,coral fingers descending to a sandy bottom, sunken sailboat, garbage barge, solitude, and the realization that I might never again find a place quite this remote, quite this beautiful. I loved Diego Garcia the first time I saw it. Every place I've ever been has changed me in one way or another. Experiencing Diego Garcia brought me peace,and an appreciation of the beauty of untouched places on our planet.  I would love to go back!!!

Thomas Royce

Applications Engineer

800-767-5726 X2261

thomasr@actionio.com

FAX: 858-277-6277

http://www.actionio.com

 

 

76, 79 and 82 CLAUDE BLACKSHER <cab0557????>  See his 1976 entry

 

 

March 1979- November 1979

DANIEL TEGTMEIER <dptegtmeier@worldnet.att.net>

MY QUEST = For all to remember those we left behide

NATIONALITY = American; SERVICE = USN Seabees; UNIT = USNMCB-5

RANK/RATE/JOB = BU-2 when discharged 1982, Rank on DG BU-3.  Mertitorious advancement while on the DG.

MY WARSTORY = One of the sadiest days on the Island....Would like all to remeber SK2 Michael L. McBride, USN September 22, 1979.  Seven (7) of us went lobster hunting out near Alpha Co. on the seaward side of the island.  We were out about half way to the reaf when a wave nocked us off the walkway.  Mike never made it back to shore and the six of us were unable to get to him.  Mike, to this day Buddy, I toast your memory.  YOU WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN MY FRIEND!

 

 

1979-1980 80-81

SEAMAN ROBERT IRWIN, USS DIXIE AD 14 <fortyyrscuz@webtv.net>

T.A.D. from Kami Seya, Japan  Oct 1982-Oct 1983 also Oct 1979-Jan 1980

DANIEL GUAJARDO <wings97-98@att.net>

See his 1979 entry.

SERVICE = U.S Navy; UNIT = Naval Security Group  (C-site); RANK/RATE/JOB = was a CTO2 during my time there.

My Time There is Lost in an Alcoholic Haze, Help Me Remember!

MY WARSTORY = will submit one later, as I have to go to areas of my brain that have been dormat since 1983, still in shock from spending two x-mas's and two new years on the rock.

 

 

1979  7 months , then I went to Japan

KEVIN GLEASON <twoblkdog@hotmail.com>

MY QUEST = Knowing someone else had fun in Paradise!

NATIONALITY = American; SERVICE = Navy; UNIT = NMCB-5; RANK/RATE/JOB = E-3

MY INTEREST IN DG IS = My Time There is Lost in an Alcoholic Haze, Help Me Remember!

SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = This is a No-Shit Drinking Story

     I had worked at the laundry with MCB-5 back then, so we used to have access to the pick-up on most weekends after hours.  A trip to the package store and my friends and I were down the long road to adventure.  A few times we went over to the plantation to look around,be nosey, chase donkeys and chickens, and to check out the history on the island.  Breaking the lock off the gate the Brits had accross the road was a small challenge if you used a big rock!  We didn't have four-wheelers back then!  Drunk as we would get, it didn't stop us.  After a while word was out that the Brits were pissed about having to replace the locks we had broken,but no one ever directly accused us of doing it, however, use of the truck became increasingly limited.  I guess they really didn't like people over there without permission.  There were other places like Turtle Cove that were cool to check out.  The deep history of the Island has always intrigued me.  Trips to the beach and falling asleep certainly happened, and guys getting so drunk that they were willing to swim home are still hazy.  I did lose a camera after a Seabee bash right before I left, probably in the clutches of a mean coconut crab! When I used to pick up laundry in Officers country, I would occasionally steal hots dogs out of the CO's fridge for Breakfast.  Never got caught!

 

 

January 1979 thru January 1980

ROB FLOOD <rrflood@yahoo.com>

USN

UNIT = c site

RANK/RATE/JOB = CTTSN

This is a No-Shit 'How I Put One Over On My Senior Chief' Story

     I was just a young 20 year year old and was a decent athlete.  I use to party with lots of people that were seebees and anybody but the secret spy group....which was really not acceptable.  My C.O.,Commander Davis,was great and he was also the coach of our Softball team,Volleyball team and Basketball team.

    Here's my no bullshit story....I was also known for losing my temper alot and telling our section supervisor to f*** off quite often.  He wrote me up on charges of failure to obey a direct order and for assault (I knocked him to the ground one night).  It goes thru the division and the XO,Commander Davis gets it, laughs, and tells the XO to handle it at division level.  When he was questioned why,Commander Davis laughed and said,"he's my starting left fielder and batting fourth tonite, so don't f*** with him!!!!"

     Otherwise,I would like to visit D.G. again for a week maybe....the recent pictures I see on different web sites make the island almost like a different place than 20 years ago.

 

 

1979

DAVE SUMMERS  <mtnguy@erols.com>

 I visited DG in 1979 while stationed aboard the USS Bluefish SSN 675, a fast attack sub.  I have fond memories of very large hammerhead shark that always greeted us as we came and went from the Submarine tender moored in the lagoon. I know he was just waiting for some drunk submariner to fall overboard. The other thing I remember was the warnings from the Brits not to mess with the donkies and chickens and not to fall asleep on the beach. I guess the crabs would pick your body clean.