I am a new member to the Corry Association, member 335, was a BTFA/FN while aboard the USS CORRY, DD-817 1972-1973 I have a keen memory of those days, and the best crew ever, so all the names come straight out of sheer memory, as I never got a cruise book much to my regret. Shipmates, feel free to e-mail me rzbylut2@outlook.com

Lt Brown Chief Engineer
Lt Jg RAINEY B Division
Lt Jg MOSS A DIVISION

Fwd Fireroom:

BT1 Silvia
BT2 Weatherwax
BT3 Shupp
BT3 Pritchard
BT3 Cole
BT3 Joe LeMay
BTFN Reiber
BTFN Leman
BTFN Reid Sharding
BTFN Barnes
BT3 Don Cole After Fireroom

Aft Fireroom:

BT1 Brown
BT2 Calvin U. Coward
BT3 James Saul
BT3 Richy Smith
BT3 Chuck Young
BT3 James Bollinger
BTFN Chuck Day
BTFN Michael Dwain Kirby
BTFN Eldridge Gross
BTFN Raymond Zbylut
BTFN Robert Shaeffer
BTFN Pleasants
BTFN Gruber
BTFA Milton
OIL KINGS

BT1 Sweat
BT2 Fortney

Lt. Jg Gunther Deck Division

Note: Lt Jg Rainey, Lt Jg Moss, and Lt Jg Gunther were all Ensigns while in Vietnam, and were promoted to Lt.Jg shortly thereafter, same with many of the Enlisted Men who were BTFA's, BTFN's, and Petty Officers of various pay grades were later promoted a grade higher after fleet-wide testing and promotion boards met.

Honorary BT-Snipe: HM2 Bettis

Honorary BT-Snipe: FN John Bohmart
Although he was assigned to A-Gang, whenever we had all Four Boilers lit off, (two FWD, and two AFT,) Bohmart would be temporarily assigned to B-3 (After Fireroom,) to stand the Burner Watch with us. ( See Memories #5.)

Ships Barber: Ships Serviceman Tapia

Clearest Memory: We were sitting topside on the dash Deck, one fine clear evening enroute to Singapore, about 15 minutes into the evening movie; (Either: “Count Yoga, Vampire,” or “Blackula,” when we heard a 'shoosh' sound under us, and a gentle slowing down, finally we stopped and listed about 20 degrees to Port. We hit a Sea-Mound. BT-2 Underwood, and BT-1 Stretch were Scuba Divers, and donned their gear to inspect same. We lit off all four boilers, and had the power to break free after several hours. SUBIC BAY DRY-DOCK 30 Days! You bet we were a happy crew!!!

Other Memories; 1: The Corry had a Soda Machine located between the After Fireroom and After Engine Room, Price 5 CENTS. It was of the type in which a 5 or 6 ounce paper cup was dispensed, and filled with flavored soda syrup, such as Coca Cola, mixed with water. The most used term regarding the purchase of soda: “I buy, you fly.” Remember, an E-1's paycheck BEFORE taxes was $269.00/month at the time.

2: The second port we steamed into after departing Norfolk, (the first being Colon, Panama,) enroute to Vietnam, was Manzinillo, Mexico, our Evaporators for distilling Potable Water were on high priority to distill feed water for the boilers, and we became quite low on potable water to take showers, then it was; 'NO SHOWERS,' the Destroyer we were tied next to allowed our crew to take showers, however, soon they too started getting low and secured the water to their showers as well. BT3 James Saul being intelligent, simply went down to B-3, (After Fireroom,) and drew a couple pails of feed water from our tanks, and went from Fireroom “Black Gang” grungy, to the cleanest Snipe aboard! “WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT??? Luckily, however, I was amongst the last to get a shower in on the other ship...BUT....since we all took “Navy Showers,” when aboard ship, I only got as far as soaping up, before the fresh water was secured, then they switched over to “salt water showers.”

3: Okay, we gotta speak of Colon, Panama, although I was young, none the less I did enjoy a beer just as most Sailors do, and that evening I walked to the Zone/Base Club/Bar, and what do you know; they actually ran out of Beer! Mixed Drinks and Shots soon became very popular for those who missed out on what little beer they had I never had a mixed drink in my life, and knew nothing about the contents of ANY mixed drink, and all I could think of was a Martini, after watching James Bond, 007, (Shaken, Not Stirred.) First Sip, 'THIS SUCKS!' I worked as a busboy& dishwasher at a Bar&Grill when I was 13-14 years of age, and recall someone ordering a Whiskey Sour,, and quickly ordered a second drink, I do recall it was a lot better than the Martini, yet definitely could not compare to a cold beer, especially in the Hot & Humid Canal Zone. As a side note, as we transited the Panama Canal, the Fireroom Temperature was 160 Degrees, and of course we worked four and eight on Watch, and then eight hours daywork, (if you had the 0400-0800 watch, so a 16 hour workday in 160 degrees, made one question if being a BT was a SANE decision!

4: We had Shipmates with a few “colorful names:” Lt. Brown, SN Green, SN Blue, SN Black, and SN White. I picked up on this right away, and I kid you not, I recall this at least 10 times a year, starting with the very day I went aboard the Corry. In fact, SN White still owes me $5.00!

5: “WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT???? Number 2; FN John Bohmart, Although he was assigned to A-Gang, whenever we had all Four Boilers lit off, (two FWD, and two AFT,) Bohmart would temporarily be assigned to B-3 (After Fireroom,) to stand the Burner Watch with us, and always on my watch. Of course the Fireroom temperatures are well over 120 Degrees, and at times much higher, such as while in Panama, 160 Degrees. When Bohmart stood watch with us, I would be on one set of Burners, and he on the opposite boiler on burners, literally back to back, using his head, he came well prepared for the heat by filling 2, two quart cans with ICE TEA, and plenty of ICE! We passed those cans back & forth for the entire 4 hour watch, and remained a heck of a lot cooler than we would otherwise be with both boilers lit off bringing the Fireroom temperatures nearly to 130-140 Degrees.

6: Failure to Communicate: At the Beginning of the Voyage, I was a BTFA, and for my permanent day-work duties, BTFA Kirby and I were charged with maintaining the cleanliness of “Pump Row,” which included the daily washing down of ALL equipment and machinery on Pump Row, whether or not it still sparkled from the previous days cleaning, one day BT2 Coward summoned me to come to the Top Watch Platform, there he asked me in a slight Southern Accent; “What do you Like?” I thought to myself, “what kind of question is this?” I asked him to repeat the question as perhaps I misunderstood it due to the noise of the machinery. “What do you Like?” he once again asked. Man, I thought this was one weird question to ask, and I truly didn't know how to respond, and so I said the following: “What do you mean what do I like, I like a lot of things!” Coward then cracked a small smile, and shook his head in disbelief. “No, I don't care what you like, I want to know what you LACK, what work have you left to do over in Pump Row!” I, still not up to speed with his accent, which was quite different than what I was used to being from the Midwest, that I misinterpreted a perfectly clear word, as what I heard was in a slight Southern drawl. I got up to speed quite rapidly with that one and only lesson in accents.

Speaking of Pump Row: Kirby and I were ordered by BT2 Coward to paint all the Pumps and machinery on Pump Row to make “pump row,” shine. We went and picked up the various paints we required, RED, BLUE, WHITE, SILVER, and BLACK, and commenced making our assigned work space “shine as if brand spanking new!” Kirby was quite meticulous, slow, and precise as he painted his equipment, for Kirby's pace in life was a bit laid back, whereas mine was CHARGE! I was excited as the stained insulation, lagging, and cylinders were transformed into seemingly brand new equipment with each stroke of my brush, I was beaming with pride, and just knew our boss, BT2 Coward would be proud. After an hour or so he came over to inspect our progress, when he came to my equipment his face changed into one of intense rage, then a thundering tone of voice that one would expect only to hear emanating from Linda Blair's mouth as she lay in bed in the movie; “THE EXCORSIST,” I heard; “YOU'RE GONNA BE BURNING!” Whoa, what the hell is this all about? I noticed just moments before he became possessed, he was looking straight down into the bilge where the pump I was just painting was bolted to. Kirby came over, and told me that he had never seen Coward display such intense anger, next, Kirby looked at what Coward had seen, I had dripped a small amount of red and silver paint into the bilge. I still didn't 'get it,' I mean those bilges were filled with black stains everywhere, and had copious amounts of NSFO, (Navy Special Fuel Oil,) throughout, and we all know NSFO is akin to Bunker C Fuel, and thick as tar when not heated above 180 degrees, so the paint was easily wiped clear with a rag, as the oil acted as a barrier to anything spilled down in the bilge, but still, this is the Military, and I was a sailor in the United States Navy, and a mere E-2 at that! Days, then weeks, passed without any repercussions from BT2 Coward, the dripped paint of course had been wiped clean off the bilge within moments after discovery, who knows, perhaps Petty Officer Coward felt he overreacted and let it go, perhaps he reconsidered after discovering I had wiped it so clean the Virgin herself could give birth there, or maybe he just plain ass forgot about it and I should thank my lucky stars. Anyway, I had a lot of respect for Coward, and learned quite a bit about boilers and Marine Engineering from him.

Three years later I departed my third, and last Command, NAVSTAKEFLAVIC Iceland, and was being Honorably Discharged from the U.S. Navy after my enlistment was over, was now back in Philadelphia, and the very day I was Honorably Discharged I went to the PX and bought a 12 pack of San Miquel, and went straight to his On Base Home, and there we swapped sea stories and told each other of what we had been up to since the Corry went to the Reserve Fleet three years previously, and I, along with 75% of the Corry Crew were transferred to various ships, and Commands throughout the Atlantic Fleet.

The Twenty Dollar Debt, and the Dangers of Being a bit too Cocky:
The Corry had a long voyage on it's way to Norfolk VA, after our Vietnam Adventure, and only a very small percentage of us had saved any real money to bank, (except John Bohmart, he was the TOP LOAN SHARK of the CORRY, when money was not tight, it was $5.00 for $6.00, when tight, it was $5.00 for $7.00, and at times higher, Bohmart went home a “rich man,) after all we were in Subic Bay, off & on, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and we all know those towns require money!!! I had lent BTFN Kirby $20.00 in Subic many months early on in the voyage in Subic, and although such a sum may not seem like much to those of us living in the 21st Century, it was over 10% of our after tax paycheck for a solid month! I did not need it back right away, so Kirby asked me if I could wait until the voyage ended, to which I agreed. Our ship survived Vietnam, a Hurricane or two, out of sight high/low water levels in the boiler, and now only a few remaining hours before we would see the shoreline of the East Coast as we sailed the clear blue waters of Chesapeake Bay toward our Home Port of Norfolk, Virginia, and many of us gathered on the Fantail to reflect on where we had been, pine over our Olongapo Sweethearts, and stare over the stern anticipating seeing family and friends when we arrive, and it was a Pay-Day too.

Kirby was on the fantail, leaning over the stern lifeline daydreaming about how he would spend his latest paycheck, he was truly in a good mood this day, a sailor with a fat wallet...you bet he was happy. I received my pay, and as all the others, we walk down the port side of the weather deck, and onto the fantail after receiving our cash, (Uncle Sam didn't pay us in checks in those days it was ALL CASH! ) Kirby saw me standing there as I too regarded the sheer blueness of the sea in this geographical area, he then waved me on over to the stern, still leaning over the lifeline. He knew I was cool with waiting until the voyage was over to repay me, and it already had been six months, I of course would never ask a shipmate to re-pay me while overseas, not unless I was totally broke and in a great port, anyway Kirby feeling like a millionaire, and knowing that before this day was up, he would be on an airplane heading to rural Missouri to enjoy some of that Sweet-Ass Ozark Moonshine for the next for 30 days while on leave. Kirby was “FEELING ALL RIGHT!”

Like I said, Kirby had a big grin of satisfaction all over his face, and decided he would pay me back the $20.00, and with that extra fat wallet this payday as we all allowed our earnings to be kept “on the books,” until we arrived, Kirby had an excess of $800.00 in his wallet, so when I say he had a fat wallet, he literally HAD A FAT WALLET! $800.00 Dollars to we sailors is a lot of Cash, and it went a long-long way back in 1973, and now it was Kirby's time to be a bit cocky, to show off a bit flashing his fortune to me. He, still leaning over the life-line, opens his wallet using his right thumb and index finger on one side, and his left thumb and index finger on the other side, so his hands would not block the showing off of his treasure, next. While still using the same Thumb/Finger grip on one side of the wallet, he lets go of the other side and once again using a thumb & finger starts pulling out a twenty for me, and it is quite the show, he was silently conveying the message to me; “here is your paltry twenty dollars you Yankee pot licker, a rich man like me is only touching it with one finger and a thumb as it's so small and unworthy of my full attention.” His grin grew so big as he was withdrawing the twenty, that I was reminded of the 'Joker,' from the Batman series. My eyes were steady on his antics, when, suddenly, the wallet slipped from his fingers, and into the sea, sinking out of sight in a split second. He froze immediately, literally in shock! BTFN Eldrige Gross, who was our pal and who also worked in B3 After Fireroom, came over, and immediately told him to ask the Capt to swing the ship around. He circled the area four, five, maybe six times, however that heavy laden wallet suck like a rock. I gotta say, Eldrige Gross had a bigger heart than I would had ever guessed under that rugged, and often rough demeanor, and immedietly lent Kirby 50 Percent of all he had in his payday wallet, and I knew gross had nearly a thousand, Gross simply knew Kirby had to get home, and both men shared a common bond, Moonshine, fast cars, and a Southern Heritage that held good men help other good men in bad times. RJZ