Dad served in World War II as an
officer. He loved to box and would frequently have boxing matches with the enlisted men. One day some of the "higher-ups" cornered him and questioned the way he would associate with the enlisted men. They couldn't believe he would "lower" himself to box with them. One guy said he would never put on gloves with the enlisted men. Dad said, "Well, if you don't know how to box, you better not." He then commented that his men would follow him
anywhere. The other officers just shook their heads. Just what was his leadership style?
While serving as chief engineer on ship he was working on an engine down below. Somehow a tool got dropped and Dad bent down to pick it up. The enlisted man with him said, "I could have gotten that for you, Chief." Dad just laughed and said, "Well, I was down there anyway." It was not uncommon for officers to make sure enlisted men knew the respect they were to give the officers. Dad often told the enlisted men to forget "all that saluting crap, there
was just too much work to be done to mess with all that."
One day there was a boxing match going on and there was a rather large enlisted man that seemed to dominate everyone. Someone suggested that he put on the gloves with Dad. The man was a little reluctant at first to go "full bore" with an officer but all too soon the officer-enlisted man wall went down and the fight was on. After some time there was no clear winner,
but the larger man said to Dad with great respect, "I'll ship out with anywhere, anytime."
Everyone seemed to smoke but Dad, who kept his ration of
cigarettes stashed away. As time went on, a good smoke was hard to come by. Dad ran a rather lucrative business, stashing the money away to either send home or to use in some of the many all-night poker games with the enlisted men.
One day a group was talking about Mormons and one enlisted man seemed to know all about them and was telling the rest things that weren't true. Dad laughed and said, "You wouldn't know a
Mormon if he were standing right here talking to you." There was an awkward silence. The man said, "You mean to tell me you are a Mormon? I thought you were a regular guy!" He went away shaking his head in disbelief.
Dad mentioned to me that up until that moment he wondered if he had a testimony. He said he thought to himself, "I guess I do have a testimony."
Dad served in World War II as an officer. He loved to box and would frequently have boxing matches with the enlisted men. One day some of the "higher-ups" cornered him and questioned the way he would associate with the enlisted men. They couldn't believe he would "lower" himself to box with them. One guy said he would never put on gloves with the enlisted men. Dad said, "Well, if you don't know how to box, you better not." He then commented that his men would follow him anywhere. The other officers just shook their heads. Just what was his leadership style?
While serving as chief engineer on ship he was working on an engine down below. Somehow a tool got dropped and Dad bent down to pick it up. The enlisted man with him said, "I could have gotten that for you, Chief." Dad just laughed and said, "Well, I was down there anyway." It was not uncommon for officers to make sure enlisted men knew the respect they were to give the officers. Dad often told the enlisted men to forget "all that saluting crap, there 
was just too much work to be done to mess with all that."
One day there was a boxing match going on and there was a rather large enlisted man that seemed to dominate everyone. Someone suggested that he put on the gloves with Dad. The man was a little reluctant at first to go "full bore" with an officer but all too soon the officer-enlisted man wall went down and the fight was on. After some time there was no clear winner, 
but the larger man said to Dad with great respect, "I'll ship out with anywhere, anytime."
Everyone seemed to smoke but Dad, who kept his ration of cigarettes stashed away. As time went on, a good smoke was hard to come by. Dad ran a rather lucrative business, stashing the money away to either send home or to use in some of the many all-night poker games with the enlisted men.
One day a group was talking about Mormons and one enlisted man seemed to know all about them and was telling the rest things that weren't true. Dad laughed and said, "You wouldn't know a 
Mormon if he were standing right here talking to you." There was an awkward silence. The man said, "You mean to tell me you are a Mormon? I thought you were a regular guy!" He went away shaking his head in disbelief.
Dad mentioned to me that up until that moment he wondered if he had a testimony. He said he thought to himself, "I guess I do have a testimony."
1 comment:
I know this comment is buried under the other posts, but I love the pictures. Where did you get them?
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