Hotel Annapolis

While serving in Vietnam, Frank's duty was not sweeping mines but "Hotel Management" It sound like easy duty, however it wasn't. One of his tasks was to fill out reports of all suicides at his hotels. My mother spoke of a Thanksgiving dinner when Frank was home on leave. He abruptly exited the kitchen during the carving of the Turkey. He had flashed back to a suicide he had to clean up on in one of his hotels. The man had used a knife. Frank also was responsible for going thru the deceased's personal belongings to make sure "nothing inappropriate" went back to the next of kin. Often it was photos from combat, once it was ears.

Frank and the Paperazzi

Note on the back "I was going to work and a kid yelled at me. So I gave him the finger and he snapped it. I knew he had a camera is why I didn't look back."

Frank is easy to pick out of group shots. The skinniest with his hat cocked defiently.

This is minesweeper USS ROBIN AMS 53

In doing this blog I've found myself researching Navy minesweepers. There's a lot of on line groups. I'm learning about the differant classes of ships and how they operate. I did not realize they were wooden vessals, to avoid setting off magnetic mines. The saying "Wodden ships, Iron men" applies to the minemen. Very cool stuff, I'm proud of my father's service. He served on the USS Robin AMS 53 and USS Crossbill AMS 45. Perhaps I'll contact a few groups to make certian of my facts.

Frank's Top Ten List Of Favorite Sayings

1. Why wish for a loaf of bread, when you can wish for the store.

2. Better be nice to me, I might be your father.

3. You can get used to hanging if you hang long enough.

4. (speaking of a heavy woman) If someone told her to haul ass, she'd have to make two trips.

5. (speaking of a small woman) Big woman, small pussy, small woman, ALL pussy.

6. If I hit you, it might not knock you out. But it sure the hell will make you walk funny.

7. We'll both have to go to hospital, me to get my foot out of your ass.


I'll finish the list as I remember them.

Damn the torpedoes

Shortly after joining the Navy, Frank was hanging out in an ordinance room with a buddy bullshitting. Frank discovered one of those generator-plunger thingies that is used in the field to detonate explosives. Having a flash bulb in his pocket, he wondered if it produced enough current to light the flash. It was the old school glass kind with a steel wool looking filament. The resulting pop was so loud it caused an officer to come running into the munitions room. Loud pops and bangs get the military nervous for some reason.
The officer discovered two very surprised looking sailors sitting on a stock of torpedoes. After grilling them as to whose idea it was, Frank confessed. The officer put Frank up for munitions duty that started his career as a MINEMAN. Evidently the officer was impressed by him unwittingly figuring out on his own how to improvise a detonator. Or so the story goes...

Rebel without a lunch

This is the earliest photo I have of Frank. His eyes seem to be filled with rage and pain. Stories from his childhood spoke like a narrative for a Johny Cash song. When he was in his teens (late 1940's) he was a poor farm boy from western North Carolina. He told about how his daily lunch from home was a hard biscut soaked in gravy. It was so greasy it soaked thu the paper bag. Being tired of daily teasing by his classmates he took to hiding it under a bridge on the walk to school. Frank would scoff it down on his return walk in the afternoon.
Evidently one of the school staff noticed he wasn't eating at lunch time. He confided his situation to her, and soon she started bringing him in a small lunch daily. From her own pantry. Frank spoke often of her kind act, perhaps it was one of very few kind acts he ever experianced as a youth. I don't know her name, she's long past I am sure. I want to thank her in this post.