Thursday, December 22, 2016

Corpsman Chronicles XIII: Christmas at sea





I spent well over half of my military Christmases underway on the big grey bird boat. Well, not always underway, because the boat was occasionally in port on the blessed day. Regardless, Christmas on the boat was very little different than any other day on the boat. If you were in port and were in the duty section, you had a pretty normal work day. If you were not in the duty section you could go ashore, provided, of course, that you had not run afoul of some rule or regulation and had your liberty "modified." In my early navy days it was not unusual for my liberty to have been modified in some fashion.

I do remember going ashore in Naples on Christmas Day. Pretty sure that was in '83. It was nice to get off the boat and walk around but there wasn't anything Christmasy to do other than get drunk in a sailor bar. There was a lot of that going on, as I recall, but I really wasn't in the mood. I returned to the boat early and a bit dejected and missed the big Christmas meal. Now that was a real bummer.

It was a bummer because on every ship I deployed on the cooks went out of their minds insane to produce a remarkable meal. Now in general navy chow, at least in my experience, was very, very good. The food was well and correctly prepared and served. It was tasty and nourishing. There was plenty of variety. Some of it was a bit strange, like the extruded "french fries," but only rarely did I see a really bad meal, and those were limited to midrat leftovers. And box lunches, of course. But that's a different post.

The only downside to navy chow, especially on the boat, was the chow line. I really didn't like standing in those lines. To this day, if there's a line at a fast food place -- or any other place come to think of it -- I take my business elsewhere.

So anyway, chow was always pretty good on the boat, at least in my experience. But on Thanksgiving and Christmas it was astonishingly good. Perhaps the festive decorations helped, and perhaps the crew's knowledge that it was a special day and special meal eased deployment grumpiness and lifted spirits. In fact I'm sure that was part of it. But believe it or not, the quality, flavor and satisfaction of holiday meals on the boats I served on absolutely rivaled the best holiday meals I ever had at home.

Most of those deployed holiday meals have long since run together in my mind. The abiding memory is one of very good food and a certain kind of holiday cheer that you'll only ever find on a deployed warship. It's holiday cheer spiked with a strong sense of giving. I don't remember anyone ever talking about it, but I think we all felt that serving at the pointy end on Christmas was a gift to our fellow Americans. The following menus are from well before my time, but they ring true to the spirit and the food I experienced underway at Christmas.












Foot update: Today is the 14th day post-surgery. The infection seems to be coming under control, though it also seems to have a ways to go. In general the foot feels "better." I did have a fall on the ice yesterday, and during that fall I whacked my heel pretty good, so I'm having a bit more pain than I had pre-fall. I don't think it's any big deal, just one of those things. I'm still getting IV antibiotics. I'll be seeing the surgeon today and see what he has to say about where I am and where I'm headed. I'd like to get the sutures out, and I'd like to lose the picc line and perhaps go on a course of oral antibiotics to finish this off, but what I'd like and what makes sense medically may be at odds. We'll see.

20 comments:

  1. Had the honor and privilege to dine aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, courtesy of The Nuke, some years back. It was excellent indeed. My daughter pointed out that they didn't eat like that every day. She was a bit spoiled as to Navy chow. The senior chef on her previous ship, USS McFaul, had been stationed at Camp David before that. I guess you have to up your game when cooking for the President!

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    1. Oh yeah, take care of that heel!

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    2. That would be quite an asset for a command -- a presidential chef! I think a lot of sailors get a bit spoiled over their chow. We all like to bitch about stuff and we've all bitched about chow, but having sampled a good bit of non-navy military chow I've grown to suspect that the navy might be superior in this regard.

      I'm doing my best to be a good patient, and I think the heel is healing. Or the heal is heeling. Something like that.

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  2. What no Aspic! Granny would be turning in her grave.

    Report on the heel requested, and more gory pics.

    Merry Christmas!!!

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    1. Ha! I'll bet granny would have enjoyed watching navy cooks do their thing. :)

      Had a good checkup today, I'll get a report out tomorrow with updated pics. I'm afraid they're becoming less and less gory though...

      Merry Christmas to you too, and best wishes in the new year.

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  3. The menus correspond exactly to what we had throughout my career--well, with the exception of Barry's--though that's pretty tempting too. Tradition lives!! Glad the heel id healing (groan), Have a great Christmas!

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    1. Looking at those menus really makes me feel connected to those sailors who came before and those that came after my time. Makes me feel really good to think of all the thousands and thousands of superb men and women with whom I've got this unique experiential connection. Thanks and Merry Christmas to you too, Captain!

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  4. And when the meal was over the Smoking Lamp was lit. Pass the cigars and cigarettes. I don't think the menu ever changed, thank you, except toward the very end when the butts went away. No amputation, that's a good sign, get well soon. Merry Christmas (nice to hear that again in the stores/on the streets)!

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    1. Thanks! I was just remarking today how many people are saying Merry Christmas. Best wishes to you and yours.

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  5. You forgot the most important ship! Badgers eat well! http://navsource.org/archives/01/pdf/016423b.pdf

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    1. I love the Lincoln Birthday menu -- Georgia Crackers! That's the kind of navy humor I remember!

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  6. I don't know why this is a silent film. http://navsource.org/archives/01/pdf/016423b.pdf

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  7. Note the sailor on the Christmas Menu

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    1. He's leading the turkey on the thangksgiving menu too. Thanks for sharing that! :)

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    2. I was thinking the one standing on Santa's mitten, on the cover of the menu

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    3. I thought it was a badger leading the turkey too, but when I zoomed in I saw it wasn't.

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  8. I agree that, for the most part, we ate well. I've had folks who've tried both tell me that USAF chow was better, but then some have told me it isn't.
    As an E-3, I spent some time TAD to the Chiefs' Mess on the JFK. As long as we wore the Chiefs' Mess T-shirt we were allowed to eat there, whether on duty or not (and only after most all the khaki-clad diners were done, so as to ensure plenty for them--they bought it, they got to eat it). I'd never had crabs' legs or lobster before then, besides some other dishes. Navy E-7-through-E-9s eat damned well.
    --Tennessee Budd

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    1. Yes they do! I suppose there are exceptions but the meals I've had at Army and Air Force facilities weren't ever anything to write home about. I do remember eating well with the mud ducks down at E-City.

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  9. Those shipboard holiday meals were pretty good.
    The best ashore meals that I had were at the Naval Station Guam, where they had recently won a couple of Ney Awards.
    Did not matter if it was a holiday or not, the food and service there was way up there.
    For the other end of the spectrum, there were the meals for pollywogs when Crossing the Line.

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    1. Oh yeah. Truth serum. Great stuff.

      No doubt about it, in my experience we ate well in the navy.

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