robatsu
10-19-14, 12:11 AM
Back in 1978, I was an 0341 in 81's platoon in 2/2 when we deployed to participate in a NATO Exercises Northern Wedding/Bold Guard.
I'm 99% sure I was on the USS Raleigh, but it was an LPD in any event. Anyhow, at one point, we pulled in to Portsmouth, UK, for liberty.
Portsmouth is a historic British naval base and very nearby where we were tied up was the HMS Victory, which is an ancient and historic warship kept in commission in the Royal Navy, very much the UK analogue of the USS Constitution.
The Victory flew an enormous flag on its stern, you can google this.
One evening, very late, very quiet (we had a lot less liberty restrictions back then), a buddy and I were coming back from town, passed by the Victory. It was closed for the night, manned with some topside watches or other. I suggested to my friend that we sneak on board and look around. He was reluctant for this, but did so. Wandering around the various gundecks (and keeping track of listening to watchstanders footsteps on wooden decks) eventually we stumbled across that giant flag folded up and draped across cannon.
It looked like the mother of all souvenirs to a 19 year old Marine, so I proposed we swipe it. My buddy, who was less of a troublemaker than me, was reluctant, but I talked him into it.
How we got the flag off the ship (it was really, really, big) and onto our ship is a bit technical, but we pulled it off ok.
Since we were tied up right next to the Victory, I figured we'd be hearing about this, some repercussions/queries ("alright, who stole the flag...") coming down the ranks, a few already had during this deployment.
But nothing ever did and, a little to my surprise, the Victory had *another* giant flag at colors (I specifically went topside to watch/check).
Anyhow, this flag took up a lot of space, more or less filled up a sea bag. That is a lot of bulk for an E-3 to manage on a troopship. Plus, I couldn't imagine what I would ever do with it even after I got out of the Corps. It was far, far too large to hang on a wall or anything.
So I gave (not sold, incidentally) the flag to another guy in platoon, figured I would let him worry about it. He was pretty bowled over by me generosity, this exploit had become pretty famous in my platoon, but really, I was happy to have the thing off of my hands.
Over the years, I've wondered what ever happened to that flag. And more recently, I've thought that if I could track him down and he still had this flag, it might be a nice gesture to return it home.
So I'd like to find this guy. His name was Rice, I don't remember his first name - he was an E-3 0341 like me, so probably served around the same time frame (1976 to 1980). For at least part of that time, and specifically 1978 during this exercise, he was at Camp Lejeune, 2/2, in 81's platoon in H&S Company (that is where they used to stash 81's).
He and I were friendly, obviously, but he wasn't one of my best pals. He was very, very blond (nearly the hairless variant... hey, we had communal showers and no dividers between commodes...). He was about 5'9", kind of medium build (for a Marine/grunt), wore glasses. He was a little on the smart/intellectual level side of the curve, read more than average grunt, but certainly wasn't a nerd. Was very interested in living in Colorado post-Corps.
He would be mid to late 50's now. I was on the younger side in my platoon and I'm 55 now. Rice would probably be 56 to 58 years old.
Any help on this would be much appreciated.
I'm 99% sure I was on the USS Raleigh, but it was an LPD in any event. Anyhow, at one point, we pulled in to Portsmouth, UK, for liberty.
Portsmouth is a historic British naval base and very nearby where we were tied up was the HMS Victory, which is an ancient and historic warship kept in commission in the Royal Navy, very much the UK analogue of the USS Constitution.
The Victory flew an enormous flag on its stern, you can google this.
One evening, very late, very quiet (we had a lot less liberty restrictions back then), a buddy and I were coming back from town, passed by the Victory. It was closed for the night, manned with some topside watches or other. I suggested to my friend that we sneak on board and look around. He was reluctant for this, but did so. Wandering around the various gundecks (and keeping track of listening to watchstanders footsteps on wooden decks) eventually we stumbled across that giant flag folded up and draped across cannon.
It looked like the mother of all souvenirs to a 19 year old Marine, so I proposed we swipe it. My buddy, who was less of a troublemaker than me, was reluctant, but I talked him into it.
How we got the flag off the ship (it was really, really, big) and onto our ship is a bit technical, but we pulled it off ok.
Since we were tied up right next to the Victory, I figured we'd be hearing about this, some repercussions/queries ("alright, who stole the flag...") coming down the ranks, a few already had during this deployment.
But nothing ever did and, a little to my surprise, the Victory had *another* giant flag at colors (I specifically went topside to watch/check).
Anyhow, this flag took up a lot of space, more or less filled up a sea bag. That is a lot of bulk for an E-3 to manage on a troopship. Plus, I couldn't imagine what I would ever do with it even after I got out of the Corps. It was far, far too large to hang on a wall or anything.
So I gave (not sold, incidentally) the flag to another guy in platoon, figured I would let him worry about it. He was pretty bowled over by me generosity, this exploit had become pretty famous in my platoon, but really, I was happy to have the thing off of my hands.
Over the years, I've wondered what ever happened to that flag. And more recently, I've thought that if I could track him down and he still had this flag, it might be a nice gesture to return it home.
So I'd like to find this guy. His name was Rice, I don't remember his first name - he was an E-3 0341 like me, so probably served around the same time frame (1976 to 1980). For at least part of that time, and specifically 1978 during this exercise, he was at Camp Lejeune, 2/2, in 81's platoon in H&S Company (that is where they used to stash 81's).
He and I were friendly, obviously, but he wasn't one of my best pals. He was very, very blond (nearly the hairless variant... hey, we had communal showers and no dividers between commodes...). He was about 5'9", kind of medium build (for a Marine/grunt), wore glasses. He was a little on the smart/intellectual level side of the curve, read more than average grunt, but certainly wasn't a nerd. Was very interested in living in Colorado post-Corps.
He would be mid to late 50's now. I was on the younger side in my platoon and I'm 55 now. Rice would probably be 56 to 58 years old.
Any help on this would be much appreciated.