From Tim Eberenz -
I remember back when I first got on the Byrd, we went down to Guantanamo Bay in January of
86 for training. We were down there for
3 weeks or so and it sucked for me because I got mono while we were there. Well, after the
training was over, we got to go down to Ocho Rios,
Jamaica for some liberty. As we were pulling in that day, there quite a few happy
Jamaicans on the pier to greet us. The dock where we pulled
up to had a grain elevator and dumper for cargo ships. Somehow, we got to close to the
dumper and our top mast ripped it off its hinges and
it came crashing down to amidships. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but I remember that all
the joy which had been on the faces of these
locals only a few minutes before,now turned to shock and horror. The only thing I remember
thinking was "Oh great, here we are, the great
American Navy, coming to this wonderful island for liberty and we just wiped out
their only source of exporting food".
From Tim Eberenz -
One particular event that I remember was back in the fall of 1987. We were doing
drug ops (helping the Coast Guard) down in the Carribean
and we came upon a small fishing trawler. Well it was cloudy that night and
there was no moon, and of course we were running dark. Well
we lit ourselves up and hit them with a spot light. How these guys didn't know we
were there I'll never know, but you've never seen people jump
like that, guys falling over each other, it was pretty funny. Then they got
the bright idea that they could out run us. Unfortunately, we weren't
allowed to board them and we followed them all the way to the Virgin islands at the
top speed of 8 knots. And, yes, they were eventually
picked up by authorities with about 10 kilos of pot in thier hold.
From Mark Cox -
The Crew of Richard E. in the summer of '81 was as tight as any crew I have ever
served with either before or after my stint on the Richard E..
The Commanding Officer was the nicest Guy you'd ever want to meet. Oft times he'd
call out your name or just stop in your office to chat
about "stuff". But he was the Captain and everyone yelled "Attention
on Deck" when he meandered into a space.
Around that time we had an outstanding night Baker who made the absolutely best loaf bread
ever, period. His name was Billy Ray.
Everyone called him Billy Ray, including the Captain. Billy Ray had one
weakness.....he was too nice of a guy. Very often he would allow me and a couple of other
guys into the galley to help make bread,and as a reward he would let us scarf some
leftovers or make us a pastry. No one was supposed to be in the galley except him or
another qualified MS, heads could roll if anyone was caught in there. One night me and
a buddy were starving as we had missed the evening meal. The yeasty aroma of Billy Rays
Bread would waft over the entire ship, especially into
Supply berthing where we were. We decided to beg for a hand-out. We offered our
services to help making bread. He let us in. To our dismay,
he advised us that he didn't have any leftovers that night, but he said "I'll
turn on the grill and fix you a slider". (He had made some fresh
hamburger buns). Just when the Sliders were getting cooked on one side the door
opened and...you guessed it... in walks the CO.
"Attention on Deck" someone barked out. Billy Ray's face was transformed
into the face of a ghost. We all stood there, petrified, with that
"Deer in the headlights" look that only being cold busted can produce.
The CO looked around the space, and noticed the burgers sizzling on the grill, and once
again sized all of us up. You could have heard a pin drop. "What's going on Billy
Ray" broke the silence. A sheepish "Not very much sir,
just making some bread... getting ready for Mid-Rats". The CO glanced at the
burgers again. "Mid-rats isn't for another hour and a half is it?
Billy Ray glanced at the floor and said "No Sir it isn't" What are you
guys doing? Cooking up a slider? "Yes sir" was the weak reply. "Billy Ray
would you mind doing me a favor?" Fully expecting the CO to say "Tomorrow
you and Chief Madarang come see me in my office", Billy Ray replied
"No sir what is it? With a grin the size of New York he said "Throw me
two sliders on there too." After a brief head-call to shake our drawers
out,
We all enjoyed a burger and talked about the rest of the deployment schedule, and
the CO even bought us all cokes.
From Les Dunaway - (Les just may hold the record for longest continuous service on
the Byrd!!!!! see servicelog)
I think DDG-23 probably always carried and lived up to the nickname of "The
Shootin' Richard" , but for a while we had a couple of other
nicknames........ "The 'Reckin' Richard" ... "The Bump em' Byrd" .....
or "The 'Reckin' E. Byrd". As a member of the aft line detail I saw
more
than my share of collisions with piers, other ships, and snapping of mooring lines.
On one occasion leaving Norfolk, and the tugs had not arrived on time, the Captain decided
to get underway on our own by "springing out" on the bow lines. We cast
off aft, the screws began turning backing us down, but we didn't get the
"springing" action we were supposed to,,,,,, we proceeded to back down
underneath the bow of a DD parked behind us,
the bow of the DD first contacted the aft flag staff and it acted like a large
lever bending the center line chock and putting a permanent wrinkle in the
deck. The flagpole supports had to be shortened for future use, and we probably had the
only perfectly vertical flagpole in the Navy instead of
the standard slightly angled version. So if any of you late 70's and 80's shipmates ever
sat on the fantail on a cool moonlit night at sea and wondered why the aft most deck was
bent and the center eye chock seemed a little out of kilter....... well now you know why.
From Jeff Clark - Having joined the navy two weeks after my seventeenth birthday and going on
to spend three years and eight months
on the Steaming Richard , I have many fond memories . Though the sea stories are a book in themselves , I would
just like to thank a few
people who made it alot of fun along the way . I most likely have forgotten some folks , but here we go SN ( Jimmie)Cates ,
SM3 ( Fat Daddy ) Kolb , SM1 Connoly , SM1 Stewart , SM2 Tanner , SM3 Lindsey , SMSN Dawley , BM3 Johnson, BM3 Boyd ,
BMC Powell ,GMC Eisenbach, BMCS Moses , BM3 Kinnison ,BM3 Kiesgan ,BM3 Welch , BM3 Sexton and MS1
Abrams.
