Was there a '65 Cochrane Cruise Book? I came aboard at near the end of the '65 cruise. There were many plankholders counting the days and departing.

Am I the only one who is once again on board or coming on board in my nightly dreams? Not every night. Hey, I still dream about the sweethearts from time to time. But the Cochrane/Navy experiences come back frequently enough to wonder how and why such dreams occur? My local pal of the past 35+ years was a clerk in the Army in Viet Nam. Nothing very exciting. But, he says he has similar dreams.

Now I have a son in the Army Airborne in Iraq. Sometimes I dream he and I are coming on board together and I am wonder what in the hell someone as old as I am, almost 65, is doing in the military?

Last night I dreamt of an OE shipmate whose name I can't even recall who probably got off the ship in late '65 or very early '66. He was no one I hung out with, feuded with or had a wild adventure with-just someone I spent a short time with on the ship. No particular distinguishing characteristics. Hadn't thought of him in 40+ years. Why did he appear now?

Somewhere I have a list of all the OE shipmates I served with. Maybe his name is there, but I still don't understand how/why he appeared. If there were a 65 Cruisebook, maybe I could get the name and see how accurately I dreamt the face.

It's not as if the Viet Nam-era Cochrane sailors had any terrible experiences as a whole such as some of the ground troops did have. I can understand their dreaming experiences.

Maybe it was my youth? Maybe it was all the chlorine Corpsman Cooper put in the water a time or two?

Anyone else have similar dreams?

Paul,

Sometimes when I am really exhausted and dreaming, I am back on board!

I am usually my age at the time of the dream, which like yourself, makes me much older than anyone there.

The one thing that I remember most about you is that one repeater in the back of CIC that drove you crazy.

Doty and his switchboard come up frequently along with Denman and the IF strip in the IFF receiver, Leathers and the TWT tubes in the active ECM or Witter and the TACAN

(Shipbuilder....we have range and no bearing (or was it azimuth)....Youngstrom and the range pots on the bridge SPA-4...how about that weather fax in radio...or Koblinski and

the TEDs and Reds....or Doty again and the GRC-27....

My albatross was the thyratrons in the SPS-40 modulator cabinet and that damn MTI circuit that just never seemed to want to stay adjusted.

But you know....I really believe that it was Coop's chlorine that has affected us....Wonder if that qualifies us for some sort of disability...

This could go on forever....

I think that the dream thing occasionally haunts (entertains) most of us. It was a very important part of our lives.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Horace Premeaux</i>



My albatross was <b><font color="red">the thyratrons in the SPS-40 modulator cabinet and that damn MTI circuit </font id="red"></b>that just never seemed to want to stay adjusted.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

What really amazes me are the names of all of that equipment, or are these things just byproducts of some twisted twidget dream[?]

(Horace, you got more mail than any of the rest of us, as I recall. I'll always assume because of that mail and your positive attitude you weren't fleeing into the Navy from some serious neglect at home. Did you extend to stay aboard for '68?)

So, Anyone, was there a '65 Cruisebook? I'll assume not if I don't hear.

No there wasn't a 65 cruise book. I was on Cochrane from commissioning until I got off in August of 67 and the 66 book is the only one I ever saw.
As for dreams, It's been many years since I last dreamed I was aboard. There were numerous dreams for probably 20 years or more and they usually ended up with me waking up feeling very relieved to realize it was only a dream and I really hadn't re-enlisted again.
I was only 17 when I first set foot on the ship and now I'm 61. Where in the hell did all those years go?

OK JOHN:

How about some Snipe terms for those of us who did not get below decks?

PAUL:

Wonderful home life, great family!
Had an alternate nomination to the Naval Academy which did not come thru.
Coming from a community of 600, I still wanted to "see the world" and had a blast doing it. My grandfather and two uncles were in the Navy so it was a natural choice. I was very lucky to have been on the Cochrane and not one of the Fletcher class.

It took many years before I met anyone out of Pearl. After thinking about it, I came up with this scenario...There were say 10 or less men of war out of Pearl with an average crew of say 250 with a turnover of maybe 50 a year...so that comes out to about 3000 sailors a year..

When a carrier came in, the crew was in the 5000 range... To me that means that we part of a very elite group.

WES:

You are right about being relieved upon waking up, altho I am not sure that there is not a bit of disappoint there too.