RECOLLECTIONS

Bruce Broussard 1988

“To err is human!”

It was during one of the north Atlantic crossing while the Swanson was doing convoy duty running from Argentia, New Foundland to Hvalfjord, Iceland. The sea was almost always very rough, the weather was cold and blackout was the standing order after sundown.

The port and starboard doors at the forward end of the open portion of the main deck were fitted with heavy blackout curtains and door interlocks which turned off regular internal lighting and turned on dim blue lights while a door was open. Inside that area was the galley on the port side, officer’s pantry on the starboard side, and a ladder leading down to the mess hall. A watch was kept in the area, part of whose duties was to maintain the blackout.

This tale is about the night that Samuel F. Proctor, SF2/c had the watch. He was short, he was thin and wiry, and he was tough. He got the nickname “Two-gun” because of the way he stood, and walked----sort of bow-legged and with a swagger, as though he was totting two,big, heavy six shooters.

Despite the weather, Captain Kingsley was out on the main deck, port side. He came forward and through the door. While still in the doorway, a fearsome, rumbling voice came bellowing out at him from the shadows, something like: “Well, don’t just stand there like an idiot—close the goddam door !”

That voice would have shaken up anybody at a time like that and the Captain faltered a bit, then muttered some kind of a snarl in response:

“Who the hell you talking to like that?”

The door was still open and the area was still in darkness except for two very feeble blue lights which, near the blackout curtains, didn’t furnish enough light to really see anything. The two contestants didn’t know each other by voice at that moment, but the response to “Two-gun’s” order blew the lid off his patience. In the darkness he flew at the perpetrator.

“I’ll show you who the hell I’m talking to , buster-close the goddam door!”

And down they went, locked in deadly combat, arms and legs thrashing furiously in one big tangle of black out curtain. Then one voice was heard to say:

“I’ll have you on report, goddamit !”

And those of us who were standing around suddenly knew it was the Captain. After we pried them apart and closed the door, the lights went back on and the two took stock of each other. The Captain was steaming with a murderous look in his eye. “Two-gun” turned kind of pale, began stuttering, and it was very plain that he didn’t want that dog-gone job in the first place.

Then, one voice was heard to say:

“I’ll have you on report goddamit 1”

And those of us who were standing around suddenly knew it was the Captain. After we pried them apart and closed the door, the lights went back on and the two took stock of each other. The Captain was steaming with a murderous look in his eye. “Two-gun” turned kind of pale, began stuttering, and it was very plain that he didn’t want that doggone job in the first place.

Nothing further came of that encounter, and I don’t know if there were other private words between them, but the Captain’s general remarks did get around.

“What the hell—the man was doing his job.”

“To err is human, to forgive divine.”

-Alexander Pope (1688-1744)