The Itchi Itchi Go Ku Story In Japan, in many of the bars that the 1159 crew visited on a regular basis the Sailors heard the bar girls frequently repeating a ryme in a sing song manner that went like this.

Itchy Itchy Go Ku, you eat canned caribou.

For almost 50 years I thought it was just a silly ryme without any foundation in fact. One day I had lunch with Ralph Hackbarth, one of the cooks from the first cruise. Much to my surprise he informed me that we did eat canned caribou. Had lots of it on board. So much for being aware. I had confidence in our cooks, I believed the Navy provided the best chow of all the services, and the thought of eating canned caribou and not knowing it never entered my mind. It just shows you how good those cooks were

I am reminded of a group of female aviators that would ask another female aviator if she was a turtle. If this lady answered "you bet your sweet ass" it showed she was also a member of this elite group of ladies.

Now how about this? An ex-Sailor come up to you and asks itchy itchy go ku, you eat canned caribou? If you respond, "you bet your sweet ass" that sailor and you will both know you served aboard the same Navy ship.

I found out from a Sailor on the second cruise that this little ryme carried over to that cruise. How about that? If this carried over to all the cruises I would sure like to know that.

Ed Lange

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