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Comments: The crew of 1966 should be ashamed. LT Hardy and LT Generous
should both have been court martialed. Scumbags in the wardroom. All because he
tried to clean the roaches out. Should have started with the wardroom. Was Marcus
the best? No, probably below average. But he was the CO. Generous, you are a ...
The following are follow up emails about this entry. Some word editing has been done.
From: Joseph Betters To: Bill Sent: Sat, February 2, 2013 8:17:41 PM Subject: RE: Vance Logbook Bill, I was on the ship at that time. All I can say is you had to be there. I will not speak for any other shipmate. I will tell you I did see and speak with the Captain every day. I was not an officer but was privy to much of what was he was doing. From: William Curnow Sent: Friday, February 15, 2013 8:53 PM To: Joseph Betters Subject: Re: Vance Logbook Joe, I was not on the Vance, but I did serve 10 years, 5 at sea in a DDG. I know I don't have the whole story. But it did sound like Generous was a POS. Some of the CO's actions might seem strange. Sounds like he was hot to engage the enemy. It also sounds like he wanted to clean up the Vance. It really sounds like a below average officer trying to "save" his career. When I served, the Persian Gulf was just heating up. Ship's from my battle group (Echo 1987) entered the gulf and shot the .... out of Iranian oil platforms. I can tell you to a man we were hot that we didn't go. Instead, we went on a "Show the Flag" mission. Of course, we were all volunteers. But I think steaming in the Gulf of Tonkin was a lot safer than the La Drang Valley on the ground. And the XO didn't like having the CO's toilet seat changed from black to white? I guess he did it himself. And Generous didn't like the speeches on the fantail? Because he was Catholic? So am I, but I never took offense at a protestant service I attended on ship... when we could get a Chaplin. And cockroaches on the ship? How could the "leadership" let it get that bad? And it was Marcus who found it unacceptable? Using ships funds to purchase a speedboat to help interdict VC boats? Sounds like a good idea to me. Getting closer to the enemy to engage? Aggressive leadership. Falsifying the log? Bad idea. Why do it? Explain it as aggressively going after the enemy. Expecting his officers to act like officers? Dress the part? Clean wardroom? Reville with fife and drums instead of an annoying whistle? Sounds like Marcus inherited a wardroom and chiefs mess full of .... E-6 and below are usually pretty good in my experience. After all, WE ran the ship. So XO Hardy is guilty of UCMJ art 81 Conspiracy, 89 Disrespect to Superior Officer, and 133 Conduct Unbecoming. And so is Generous. All the other officers and chief should have been charged with 134 Dereliction of Duty. Failure to maintain good order and discipline. And I do have experience with a bad CO. This POS I had was a micro-manager, screamer, you name it. Ruined morale. People could not wait to get off the ship. And worst of all, he was a .... Ran us soft aground when he had the conn at Seal Beach because "he" wanted to stay on schedule. Screamed so much at the harbor pilot he lost his voice. Blamed it on the pilot, falsified the deck log, bulled the Navigator into covering it up. And then lied to NAVSEA about our sonar dome being punctured. When this .... left, we cheered. Of course, he held the change of command on a Saturday just to ruin every ones weekend. And would any of it been necessary if LT Hardy and LT Generous, and the rest of the officers and chiefs had done there jobs? Anyway, if you respond, give me 5 or more things Arnheiter did to warrant his relief. I read the article by William Scheck, so I need inside information. Bill From: Joseph Betters To: Bill Sent: Sun 2/17/2013 5:53 PM Subject: RE: Vance Logbook Bill, your first paragraph sums up the whole 99 day episode; I think. Later your description of one CO is about the same as MAA was. I was on board when Arnheiter came aboard. Vance was my first and only ship and thought we were going to "do battle" with the VC that is. I was 17 at the time. His first speech sounded like it anyway. I also believe sailing off the coast of Vietnam was a lot safer than being inland. That was fine with me. I rode a couple of patrol craft as radio relief. They handed me a AR15 as we went up river and into sampan heaven. The XO was chewed out because of the mistake the shipfitter made. As they say stuff falls downhill. Generous was not the only one upset with "all hands aft". Just so happened one of his letters home found its way to a chaplain. And so it began! Not many of the crew wanted to be on the fantail for "all hands aft", myself included. Everyone handles religion differently and the crew had no choice. The speedboat was used to entice VC along with the MWB. Which by the way was once left behind. Because we had to steam off to investagate. Many hours later the MWB was retrieved. This falls under false position reports. Although the speedboat was used at least once to run "shark" patrol during swimcall. With fife and drums instead of an annoying whistle? I would say it just the reverse. I did not have problems with the CO as others did. I just said yes sir and went on with my duty. Matter of fact, I am still in touch with members of his family. Along with officers and crew who were there. Sorry if this does not answer your remarks or questions. I don't like to answer for others. I also don't think I should be trying to answer. I'm sure there were things which went on that I am not aware of. I had not posted your log entry because I was not sure where it came from. Now that I know it is from a "real" person who can be reached I will post it. Of course I will reread it and possibly edit a word or two. My nephew was on the Burke which fired some of the first Tomahawks in the Gulf. Got some nice video of that. Bill, thanks for your thoughts. Can I incorporate any of your message into the log entry when I make it? Of course with a edit here and there. Just to clean it up. We do have kids reading the logs. Joe |