US Barb and Capn Lucky Flucky

[BigWalleye]

Robbins, if Ned Beach is to be believed (and Heaven knows he was not an emotionally detached historian in 1946), Morton ws suffering from some pretty serious stress-related issues by the time of Wahoo's seventh war patrol. He had just gone in and out of the Sea of Japan and come back with nothing to show for it, largely (again, from Beach) due to the chronically defective torpedoes. He set out to prove a point, not the best mental attitude for the challenges he was facing. Before that, he was bold, and his successes helped break the Submarine Service out of the prewar mind-set. But nothing I've read suggests he was suicidal. On what are you basing your judgement?

[merc4ulfate]

"Audaces fortuna iuvat"
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[Tempest555]

Strip the saccharine and flowery language away and you have to have a leader with some of what's displayed here-and willing men. Now you have to ask yourself-and be honest with yourself-do you want to be that willing?
Because there more followers then leaders in this life. And if you are a leader-how far are you willing to go?





I'm 59. Had peaks and valleys. There is no Tooth Fairy.

Can't say you weren't warned.

FWIW.

[BigWalleye]

Tempest555, you seem to want to add to this discussion, and you seem to have a point you'd like to make. Now, maybe I'm just a bit thick, but for me, that point gets lost in the subtlety. Robbins has said clearly where he stands. I think I have done the same. Where do you stand?

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by BigWalleye

Robbins, if Ned Beach is to be believed (and Heaven knows he was not an emotionally detached historian in 1946), Morton ws suffering from some pretty serious stress-related issues by the time of Wahoo's seventh war patrol. He had just gone in and out of the Sea of Japan and come back with nothing to show for it, largely (again, from Beach) due to the chronically defective torpedoes. He set out to prove a point, not the best mental attitude for the challenges he was facing. Before that, he was bold, and his successes helped break the Submarine Service out of the prewar mind-set. But nothing I've read suggests he was suicidal. On what are you basing your judgement?

I don't think he considered himself suicidal. He just considered himself and his boat expendable in the prosecution of the war. Through all his cruises crewmembers requested transfers because they thought Morton took too many chances.

Maybe he did and maybe he didn't. Fighting the war means making the choice to put yourself in harms way. Who's to say that when Morton and Wahoo were bombed on the surface and sunk that they were doing anything unroutine and considered unsafe? But Beach's and Lockwood's opinion was that Morton's judgement was impaired and that he should not have been sent on that last cruise. Had Morton returned with a bag of merchies it would all have been different.

We'll never know what Morton's true state of mind was when he took that last cruise. But we have to give some weight to Lockwood and Beach's statements.

[BigWalleye]

Amen to all that.

[merc4ulfate]

I read the declassified Transcript of the incident with the train on another post here on the forums. good god I couldn't stop laughing at Lt. Walker and his double face plant against the ditch of horrors LOL

Such a cool story

[merc4ulfate]

@ Rockin robbin

"He just considered himself and his boat expendable in the prosecution of the war."

Funny thing about a fight ... once you say to yourself ... I'm dead already ... it's much easier to stand up with bullets flying and piss on their heads.

[merc4ulfate]

Lt Walker has me rolling on the floor laughing. Two face plants in two different ditches on the same path ... god that was funny. Should have sent the cook first.