Email From The Crew

These are Emails I have received from past crew members.  There is a lot of  history and good information in them to warrant reprinting.  In some instances, I have edited out personal information.

61 WesPac Cruise-UDT SEAL Team rescue-Typhoon-Ships crew 61-62 

From:  OCSM Chuck Stephenson USN (Ret.)  Cook 61-62   Date:  10/03/01

Hi Jim, I was of course surprised to see your e-mail. I served on the Cook from Sept. 61 till Aug 62 when I was given orders to Class B school. I was a First Class at the time and it was my introduction to Destroyer types.  I looked over your site and noticed that it was involved in several typhoons. Must be the luck of the ship as my only deployment on her  included riding the edge of one in convoy between San Diego and pearl harbor. I remember having to strap myself in my bunk to stay in and was the only time in twenty years in the Navy that I got seasick. Part way to Japan we got orders to pick up some charts and a Marine recon outfit and some Navy SEALs and head for Viet Nam, which most of us had never heard of. We conducted beach recon work around Hue till we got pulled off to assist a civilian Tanker that had broken in half in a storm southwest of us. We successfully rescued all hands off the two ! halves which were about twenty miles apart. Heavy seas but the UDT team did a great job ferrying people in rubber rafts. We then proceeded to Manilla to offload the survivors. Enroute the officers were billeted with us first class and we later joined them in Manilla for a company financed party at their Hotel. The Officers were British and the crew were Indian. All in all an interesting cruise.
      Wish I could help you with pictures but unfortunately I have none. I'm not sure which web page you found me on. If you get time, let me know. And thanks for listing me on the ships crew roster, it may lead to someone I served with. For now,  Chuck Stephenson

RE: 61 WesPac Cruise-UDT SEAL Team rescue-Typhoon-Ships crew 61-62 

From: Chuck Stephenson USN (Ret) Cook 61-62  Date: 10/03/01

Hi Jim, I'll help you out with what names I can of the crew when I was aboard. I think the Fryday you mentioned was a BTFN when I was aboard. Our Skipper's name was LCDR Allen Jones and the Exec was LCDR Polatty. I was in the Ops Dept and the Ops Officer was LT. Bartlett and the CIC Officer was LTjg Comas. The First Lieutenant was LTjg Wadsworth and the Boat Officer was Ens Risk. The Deck Division CPO was BMC Kraft. The Radarmen besides myself were RD3 Crawford, RD3 De La Rosa, and RD3 Duncan. De La Rosa, by the way, was made king of a Philippine/American celebration on one of the Central Islands during our cruise.
      As to my last e-mail, after thinking about the rescue of the tanker personnel, we only took the people off the stern half. It still had power up and was burning lights when we arrived even though it was bow down in the water. Or I should say, mid section down. We took a number of 40 degree plus rolls while effecting the rescue and several SEAL members suffered Portuguese man-of-war stings. The name of the ship was the S.S. Stanvac Sumatra. This all took place in the South China sea.
      Wish I could help you out more Jim, but this was a long long time ago and I'm afraid the old memory fades over the years. Good luck in gathering more data for your site from other past crewmen.
      I enjoyed visiting your site and will try to look in occasionally to watch your progress. For now, Chuck Stephenson

From: ST1 Fred Long  Date: 8/12/01

Ships crew 1965

Andy,
The Old Mans name was  Lt. Commander Jack Hayes. The XO was named Rodor,
don't know if is spelled correctly. 
Everyone else you said now I remember.  If I'm not mistaken, the 3rd class
Quartermaster Newman used to help the Doc. One Saturday morning he sewed up
my thigh after I cut myself (still have the scar).  I think his Dad was a
mortician.  I remember a GM or FT named Denny.  I was the Sonarman in Sonar
that night of the roll.  The leading PO of Sonar was Larry Nelson.  I was
also phone talker Midships when we collided with the McKinley. 
I used to be the passageway cleaner in the Mid ships passageway.  And I
remember being in Drydock in Pearl because of a split hull from bad weather.
Things are coming back to me.
I remember every one of the deck guys you said.
Write back, Where do you live now?
Fred

(Note: The person who helped Doc was a GM3 named Neusome.  A really nice guy who owned all the slush funds on the ship.  Andy)

Ships crew 64-65

From:  Don Tetley USN (Ret.)  Cook 65  Date: 8/15/01

Oh, did you know my old buddy David Youtz????  I last saw him in Hong Kong in 1965 (I think??) and just a few minutes before he got killed. He was from Reading PA, smoked Pall Mall's.

Thanks for getting in touch,

Don Tetley

Re: crew 64-65

From:  Don Tetley USN (Ret.)  Cook 65  Date: 8/15/01

Don

From Don Tetley USN (Ret.)  Date: 8/18/01

Andy,
  Maybe Helen's piece of paper was something like the attached. I used to go to Paulines club back in those days and whenever you'd pay a 'bar fine' the girls would have to carry one of those crazy pieces of paper authorizing them to go out and whore around instead of staying in the bar and whoring around. Loved that liberty in Subic but then I loved that liberty everywhere!
  I was in Subic a couple of years ago and there is very little sign that the city we knew in the 60's & 70's even existed. Damn few bars left on Magsaysay drive and of course there are no sailors left.
 Angeles City outside of Clark Airbase is a bit more alive than Subic even though Clark is long closed. The main drag in that town can still provide some great liberty but instead of a simple dose of the clap you can now get a once-in-a-lifetime dose of AIDS..............so they tell me. (I haven't got it yet. Maybe I'm not going in deep enough?)
   I never played cards on any ship in my twenty in the Navy because I lost my first Navy paycheck gambling in boot camp. I believe it was $6 after the Navy took out for the ditty bag and some other deductable...
  That boatswain named Roth was supposed to be Toth. 
  I used to frap lines too, because I was young and skinny and could climb around on the lines like a friggin' monkey. I was never afraid to fall in the water and so that little bit of height didn't dissuade me. I once had to return to the another of my ships by climbing up the sternline after the ship had already singled up as I returned from liberty late, while in Naha. Half of deck force saw me but somehow I did not get in trouble on that one.
       I look back on think of the Cook as the most decrepit ship I served on even though all of the others were gators too. I seem to remember that the berthing compartment was not air conditioned, but maybe my memory is getting rusty like the Cook. I remember we just had footlockers under the bottom bunks. We didn't have sheets but yellow 'fartsacks'. The only thing the cook was better at than most other gator freighters was that since she was really a DE, she was a lot faster than LST's and D's. I remember one time we cranked out 25.8 knots downhill with a good tailwind after coming out of the yards in Valley-Joe. Those old diesels were straining!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I remember a 3rd class cook named Hartig and saw him later at Camp Tien Sha in Danang.
I remember a skinny 3rd class snipe who always wore cowboy boots with his dungaree uniform

I remember eating in the XXXX XXX  too and I also remember that I thought at the time it was pretty damn good eating! (I learned that there were cheaper places to go than the XXXX XXX  and went to them often with another deckape named Tucker)

Up in the Bos'n locker forward of deck berthing I used to forage through the busted open C- ration cases looking for khaki colored cigarettes. Used to love to eat that chocolate covered piece of asphalt they put into C-rations too!
   Sometimes it makes me want to puke remembering some of the things I used to love to do. Of course being that I work on Saudi and other garden spots around the world I still get lots of opportunities to go on liberty in places like Bangkok and I'm going to do it again in just two weeks. Probably won't get into trouble or do anything really memorable as I am going to Istanbul and will take my wife. She's a Thai and has not been to Istanbul yet. She's a good partner to go on liberty with and I won't have to look for women as she sunk a hook real deep on one of my earlier Thailand trips.
I'll think of something else later.........

Don

Asbestos aboard the USS Cook.

From: Cindy Fryday  (wife of BT Fryday Cook 61-65)  Date:  8/27/01

(Note: The reference to "frapper" was  my memory failing.  I meant "lagger", people who re-wrapped steam pipes.  These folks are facing a tough battle to get documentation of the use of Asbestos on the Cook.  I understand the engine room bulkheads and deck plating were insulated with the stuff.  Please send any information to  them at  cbrkb@ev1.net  Andy)

Ships Crew 62-68

FROM:  BT2 Victor Moshier   (Brother of BT1 James Moshier)
Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 03:24:19 -0500 


Andy My name is Victor Lee Moshier.   I served on the Cook from the time she returned from the 62 cruise, to 1968.  Yes we did lose three men from the Cook, but they were not advisors;  they were sailors from the crew of the Cook. We were ambushed while deploying Marine Recon  in Chu Lai. While some of my memories are faded, about the crewmen of the Cook, some of those listed, I do remember. My brother James Moshier was on the cruise in 62, he was a BT1.   We spent some time together,  but he was later transferred. The UDT team we carried was team 12, from Coronado California. The hole we had in the hull was not on the port side, nor caused by a collision;  it was on the starboard side on the midwatch, along the seam in the hull above the feed water tanks, in number two fireroom.   I was top watch, when it happened. You do not know how happy I was to see something on the Cook.  I have been looking for years,  but it was like we never existed. Also it seems like the Navy Covered up when ENS. Charles Sanborn jumped ship in the South China sea, after we were followed by a Russian trawler for a few days. Maybe you can find something on this. Thanks for your effort in information for one of the best ships in the fleet.     V.L. Moshier BT.2.

>>There may have been another incident where the Cook developed a leak.  The one I have referred to was caused by the collision with the Mount McKinley during a day time refueling on the way to Pearl Harbor.  Maybe we can get some more information on this mid watch event. 

>>I would sure like to hear more about this ENS. who jumped ship?  Anybody know??   ANDY

Operations Officer LT. Tyrone Miller 63 - 67 04/11/02  Northridge, CA

Now you gone and done it! Tallking about our old ship got me looking back through my file of papers from the COOK. I compiled a list of the officers that served on board from December 1963 when I reported aboard to July 7, 1967 when I left for discharge. I believe the list is about 99% accurate as to full names and actual officers aboard. I don't have their exact dates of service but estimated the minimum dates aboard.

I have not been in contact with any of them since,except the following:
1. James Dowdy was last known to be living in Woodland Hills as of about the late 70s.
2. Marvin Johnson last lived in Goleta, CA, in the early 90s just outside of Santa Barbara. He is a computer engineer.
3. Pete Roder, Exec Officer most of the time was last known to be CO of Treasure Island in the San Francisco bay area in the mid 80s. I believe the govt may have turned the island over to the city by now. I don't know where he is.

I recall the Chu Lai incident fairly well. I have included a summary of it and the list of officers in the attached Word 97 files.

I have a vague recollection of seeing that ashtray in the wardroom on the port side. Since I smoked at that time, I often used it when watching movies in the wardroom. I hope some old fart off the COOK got it from ebay.

Somewhere I have a few photos from my COOK days. Nothing spectacular. I also have a good colorized photo of the Cook sailing out of San Diego past Point Loma. I recall being OOD watching the heliocopter who took the picture and later bought it. It is mounted in my office. I also have a small plaque gift from the wardroom when I was relieved of duty as Ops Officer. I have since misplaced or lost a bronze "E" plaque that was very heavy and cannot recall what it was for except probably a commemorative plaque for the battle efficiency award we earned.

When I was aboard, one of the officers wrote a ship's history. I think it was CO Griffin who suggested it be done. Eventually it will show up and save us all a lot of time on the Cook's history up to about 1967 or 1968.

I remember the QM's very well. I'm glad to hear you were good friends with some of them. I did some amateur boxing in high school and challenged QM Cardoza to a match on the fantail. We went at it for about one minute before he gave me a bloody nose and I quit. I also remember Billie Waymire who was so fast with flags and lights doing morse code. And Newsome also. They were good guys. I knew most of the guys in my operations and deck departments. I knew the engineering people least of all.

I think it is very commendable of you to establish the site. I know many people will be beholden as they locate old friends and attend reunions. I thought about doing it myself but I am not good with chat rooms, or digital photos, or websites. My son was trying to help me set up a COOK site as I looked for information before your site was up. Then he found yours and prompted me to contact you first. I would have had to start from scratch. It looks like you might be the best man for the job. Many of the officers, and probably crew, who spent little time aboard will probably not have much interest, but people like me who spent their entire 4 year service on one ship will surely be.

I'm looking forward to getting your newsletter.

And drop the Mister stuff. That stuff should stay behind with the service.
Your friend Ty Miller

Cook personel/Chu Lai Incident

Cook History

BT1 Jim Moshier 61-62 and 64-67  Brother of BT2 Victor "Droopy" Moshier.  Valencia Spain (from the USS Cook Message Board on Yahoo)

Hi to all of the crew members of the Cook.
My Brother ( DROOPY)just informed about the web site for the Cook
I pulled up the crews list and recognized a lot of the names.I was in
B Div.I got out on a medical discharge in 1973,went to work for civil
service in San Diego for SUPS SHIP.and then went to work for CTF63 in
Naples for 5 years.My job took me all over Europe,Africa and the Mid
east.I went to work to work for the Army in St. Louis Mo,where I
retired in 1988.My wife( she is Spanish)and I now live in
ValenciaSpain.
Hope to hear from some of you.

Jim Moshier
email: jvmoshier@yahoo.com

Chu Lai Incident:  Andy:There were two crew members killed at Chu Lai.Bill Fuhrman was a good friend of mine.I knew Langford,but not well.He was TAD from one of the other ships,and I think he was a EN2.The third man was a member of the Marine Recon Team,and not a crew member.

Steaming on Sea Water: 

 Hello there,This is BT1 Jim Moshier again,and I just remembered
another story.We were in Hong Kong Harbor( dont even ask the year)
and our evaporators broke down and the only evaps we had was the
little Badger evaps in the FWD.fireroom.Of course we only had one
boiler lit off,and we ran out of feed water so we had to steam on
salt water.We had to keep the bottom blow valve cracked so the salt
would not build up too much in the system.Anyway we managed to get a
water barge to give us some fresh water,and when we got the
evaps.fixed we had to flush the hell out of the boiler,and shift to
No.2 boiler and clean watersides on NO. one boiler.Back then the
sailors had to know how to improvise just to stay under way.We may
have been slowed down a few times,but thanks to the best crew on any
ship afloat,we were never out of the Game.I just thought some of you
Cook sailors might remember that.

Cook Sailors get a little pussy   (From BT1 Jim Moshier 61-67)

(You can't buy this kind of information, . . LOL - ANDY)