Remember those Hong Kong Gaberdines? We called them Tailor Mades. I ordered my gaberdines in Saigon (from the Cholon PX). They were made in Hong Kong with dragon overseas cuffs and a black silk lining.
Every picture tells a story they say. I never had an official Navy portrait, so I make do with those snapshots that I have. In this one I was back from my tour in Viet-Nam, as seen by the two rows of ribbons, and had just finished IC-A school. I was on leave. I'm standing at the aft end of the SS Badger, a C&O owned ship which carried train cars and automobiles across Lake Michigan. Half my family were still in Michigan and half in Wisconsin. It was January 1972, that's snow in the background and I'm wearing my tailor-mades and that issue blue wool sweater. Below me you can see train cars being loaded onto the ship. The ships have ice breaking hulls so they cross no matter what the weather is like. Maybe you've ridden on one. It takes 7 hours to cross from Milwaukee to Ludington, about 5 and a half from Manitowoc to Ludington. As a kid I would make the trip twice a year so I was right at home
