The bow of the ship dips under the water, and it slams into the forward mount. The spray flies higher than the mast and those of us standing on the signal bridge get drenched. The ship shakes like a dog drying itself and it feels like riding a roller coaster. One night I was assigned to empty the shredded 'secret' bags. A trip to the fantail meant waiting for the ship to roll to port and running down the starboard side, hanging on while the next roll washed over my knees, dumping the bag, hanging on again, then running back on the next roll. Three times.
Those are my own memories of returning home from the Orient on our destroyer in 1970. The sky was clear and the seas were heavy.
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“Never do anything you can't take back.”
—Rocky Russo
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