Where's Harries?

This little tale happened on a cruise to Bermuda which took place in 1957.  If we had been drinking prior to our episode, everyone would have expected the results, but we were stone cold sober! There were five of us who decided to go on liberty together, renting motor bikes to tour the countryside. Shortly after we started our bike tour, whoever had the lead bike saw a pub just off the road and decided at the last moment to swing left and pull in. The second bike cut the corner a little wider; I was on the third bike and did the same. The fourth bike really cut a wide swat before negotiating the left, then the last bike followed with John Harries (Electrician's Mate 3rd) in the saddle.

Once in the pub we ordered our drinks, started to tell tales when suddenly someone said, "Hey, where's Harries?" Nobody knew, so two of us went out to find him. There he was lying in the bushes just off the road, in a daze and rather ragged looking from a soiled uniform and quite a few bruises from his fall. His bike wasn't in pristine condition either! Like a good sport he came back to the pub to hoist a few with us before one good soul volunteered to take him in for emergency sprucing-up. Well, John Harries survived the episode and this tale got lots of laughs for quite a while following the incident.

The number of dives should always equal surfacing

In April or May, 1958, we were operating in Long Island Sound one day and had just received a floral wreath to celebrate our 5,000th dive!!

As we were preparing to dive, the quartermaster asked the skipper, Commander Elmer Kiehl, if we wanted to throw the wreath overboard prior to diving. He quickly responded that we should hold it until we surfaced and celebrate that event instead. Surface we did, all happy to have come back up to enjoy the beautiful day we were having and to appreciate the skipper's wisdom.

The last commander was Ted Kiehl. I bumped into Ted Kiehl years later in the restaurant of the Sheraton lobby in Suffolk, Va. (somewhere around 1973-74) He was in uniform as a full captain and having dinner with his wife. He couldn't remember who I was and that was understandable. I guess too many years and events had gone by. I believe he was passed over for admiral and retired shortly thereafter. I was told in the 1980's by a couple of retired admirals at a cocktail party in Bryn Mawr, Pa, that Chuck Raugh had made admiral!

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