Fletcher class on her way to Korea.
USS Gregory, DD802. Pop recomissioned this ship. Pop told me some stories about being on the Gregory. Pop was a very good commissaryman and never ran out of fresh cuts and vegtables. The other destroyers in Desron 17 would come along side the Gregory asking for food. Pop told me that one of his commissarymen buddies shouted over "Why do you always have fresh cuts. Pop shouted back "Hell I skin the balony and franks first so I have more room". Pop told me though that he would pack cold cuts between the beef carcasses and stack potatoes, cabbages, onions apples and whatever he could get in all the passage ways. Pop fed his crew well.
Pop would reprovision the Gregory in Japan and once had about 12,000 pounds of potatoes, onions etc stacked up on the radar platform. When they got to the south China seas the Gregory starting rolling but would not come back. The problem was worrying the XO and he had all the tanks checked to make sure that they were loaded correctly. They still couldn't find the problem and the Gregory kept laying down and returning too slow. It was day two and XO Willy Deventer was on the bridge and saw all the boxes on the radar deck. He pulled the canvas back and then went to the PA "Get that GD Steward to the bridge immediately" The problem was the 12,000 pounds of extra weight too high on the ship. Pop had all the boxes taken below and stored in passage ways.
Pop often spoke about the XO, Willy Deventer. Pop told me that everyone on the crew liked Willy and Willy treated everyone as friends and family. Willy used to hang around the goat locker talking with the Chiefs all the time. I guess the XO knew who really ran the Navy.
Not too many years ago Pop had a call from a snipe who served with him on the Gregory. He asked Pop if he ever knew where the bread and potatoes were dissapearing to. Pop didn't and the snipe told Pop that during third watch they would go up to the galley deck where there was one large porthole. The snipe was the little guy and the other snipes would pass him through the porthole where he would load up on bread, potatoes and things so that they could make potato soup during their watch. I remember Pop laughing and then telling me the story when he hung up.
