another memory of the Bash |
Stoops |
| ||
Master and Commander Posts: 1405 Location: Houston, TX (Best state in the US) | Subject: another memory of the Bash I know that some of you don't read the two main BBS sites that many of us use...so I'm going to be sending out some emails to let you know about some of the things CinCHouse and I have said about the BASH... and if you want to read for yourself, and see the many pictures that have been POST'ed, here are the two URL's: Martini's BBS: http://www.submarinevets.com/~rmartini/subboa rd/ (subboard/) is entered as one word. Don Gentry's BBS: http://www.submarinesailor.com/bbs/ In the mean time, this was my first POST about the BASH: OK, I'm gonna try and see if I can get through this, I tried yesterday but the emotions were simply too much! Please forgive the lengthiness of the POST. Before the BASH, CinCHouse would tell me... NEVER AGAIN!, and I'd say "Sure, Honey, you're right, we'll never do this again." But all the while I'd be thinking, "she'll soften and within a few months I'll be planning the next one." Friday I knew we were having fun, all were really enjoying themselves. But Saturday..... that was something entirely different. In the late morning I started really looking around at my guests and shipmates, I mean really looking at them, and paying attention to their expressions, their demeanor, the open armed greetings and bearhugs, the tears in the eyes, the animation of the conversations. I watched Bob Taylor walk around with his qual book from God know when, and how guys looked at it, Roy Ator had his QB from Diodon, and so it went.......everywhere you looked that kind of thing was happening. Jim Peveler came here from Utah, I hadn't seen him since 1977. We were both on Sterlet, but he was there 10 years ahead of me. In 1976 he became the President of a company I worked for in San Francisco, and in reading my personnel file he saw that I was on submarines, and we discovered not just on submarines, but that we served on the same boat. Then, he saw that Grant Riddle was here, one of the eleven Sterlet alumni here. He and Riddle actually served together, and had not seen each other since 1956! This story repeated itself over and over again this weekend! On Saturday, seventeen (and NTINS) different people came up to me and said...."this is like Woodstock for boat sailors!" And they were telling me that they were getting the same vibes (a Woodstock word, for sure) that I was..... THERE WAS MAGIC IN THE AIR HERE! I bought about 80 cases of beer for the BASH, yesterday afternoon I still had over 20 unopened! I never saw anyone drunk.... never saw anyone get angry about anything...... Several told me that at the conventions (I have never been to one, save the B-Girl Reunion last year), people see each other, say hello, and visit. Here, they said, people were "connecting"! Can you imagine going to a reunion or convention of submariners and having 50 plus people stand out in a horse corral, in the hot afternoon, for over an hour watching a horsehoeing demonstration? It happened here at the BASH! People who had never ridden a horse in their lives, or for many, many years, went on our trial rides. Our house was left wide open during the BASH, and whenever I or CinCHouse would come in, we would find people we didn't know wandering freely through it on self guided tours. After 3 days of, in some cases, complete and total strangers helping themselves in and out of our unattended house, nothing is broken, nothing is disturbed, and nothing is missing! Could that be possible with any other group? There were 3 Army veterans here, who came with Subvets. I made it a point yesterday to talk to each of them yesterday to ask them how they were treated. One of them, a Korean War Veteran, actually broke down when he told me that he felt more welcome here than at some of his own Army Unit reunions! Since yesterday morning, when I stood up and openly made a fool of myself by crying like a baby as I tried to thank everyone for coming, for making the BASH happen, I have continued crying as I try unwind emotionally. I was just a very few minutes ago trying to tell CinCHouse about my feelings, and I couldn't finish a sentence! She watched me blabber again, and simply said, "this BASH really meant a lot to you, didn't it?" Yes, Shipmates, it did. For those of who didn't make it here, you missed something that would forever burn bright in your memories and heart! For those of who did get here, Doug Weston all the way from Cairo, Egypt, for example....from the very bottom of my heart: THANK YOU! | ||
Ric |
| ||
Plankowner Posts: 9165 Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: RE: another memory of the Bash Thanks Dave. Good to see Cowboy's post again. It was a fantastic event and I'm glad I made it there and I have never regretted making a fool of myself as one of the Bash Girls though you sure should be... you hussy and the other one too! Thanks again. | ||
BlackBeard |
| ||
Great Sage of the Sea Posts: 566 Location: Inyokern, Ca. | Subject: RE: another memory of the Bash A flood of emotions just all came back. THank you Dave. BB | ||
Darrin |
| ||
Great Sage of the Sea Posts: 561 Location: Belleview, Fl | Subject: RE: another memory of the Bash Thanks for the memory jog, Gary was a friend whom I never personally met and seeing that post once more made me remember a time when we still thought we were immortal and makes me wish that I could have made it out to his and Sue's ranch for one of the legendary Bash at the Ranch's.. I used to raz him about Zeke the wonder dog getting massages and he would always come back with he has been there for me and he deserves the best.. or something alongs that lines. God bless you Cowboy and Sue for letting a bunch of miscreants into your home and making them think that once more they are submariners whom have shipmates that will do anything for them no matter what. I still have a hard time believing that Gary has passed but I know that he is in a better place and looking down on us and helping us when we need it. Thank you Cowboy and Sue for all that you have done for us and all that you still do Darrin | ||
steamboat |
| ||
Master and Commander Posts: 1814 Location: Boydton, Virginia | Subject: RE: another memory of the Bash Cowboy was a really special person. And I do not say that lightly, or to praise those who have gone before. Gary had a way of relating to everybody in a very personal way. He truely loved people, he seemed to be a student of human behavior. And what can you say to describe his generousity? It defies explanation. The Bash at the Ranch was like a preview of Fiddlers Green!! Steamboat sends | ||
Corabelle |
| ||
COMSUBBBS Posts: 2561 Location: Rapid City, SD | Subject: RE: another memory of the Bash I first connected with Cowboy via telephone shortly after the Bash at the Ranch. He described the event as 'magical.' Someone, I don't remember who, give me his phone number because I was trying to find anyone who served on the Sargo at the time that it sunk the Sterlet. He wasn't still on the Sterlet in January of 1969, but we had a long visit, and he directed me to people that could help me. People, such as Sammy the Sailor. I actually met Cowboy in Nashville at the 2005 Sterlet Reunion. This was about five months before he died. I am so glad I got to meet him. Cora Edited by Corabelle 2009-02-03 2:02 PM | ||