I had this burning excitement to escape the routine of Naples, Italy.  My first tour with the Ambassadors was to be full of firsts.  During a morning lineup, the boss told us I was going with them and sent me to their space to work out the details.  They were already packing up for the trip and eager to get some time at home, so we didn’t even rehearse.  We delivered all the equipment to Capodichino and built a cargo pallet for the military flight that left the next day.

We flew to some small island that served as a staging area for the Navy and Marine operations bound for Beirut.  We arrived after nightfall and camped out under the awning of a makeshift tool shed made from a CONEX box.  Leaning against the metal side of the box shielded us from the dust and the wind from other flights.  We waited through the night for a helicopter out to the USS Guam (LPH-9).  During the night someone gave us a boxed meal of fried chicken and light bread from one of the other crews coming from a ship.

Later the next afternoon we loaded the helicopter.  One of the crew went through a safety brief on ditching the aircraft and handed us our float coats and cranial helmets.  We dozed and slept most of the flight, but at one point I noticed hydraulic fluid leaking.  Counting 8-10 seconds between the drips that were plopping in front of me, I was getting nervous.

I motioned to the loadmaster, a Gunnery Sergeant, and pointed to the overhead where I thought the leak was.  When he couldn’t figure out what I was worried about, I shouted into his ear above the noise.  His face went blank, terror in his eyes.  He jumped wildly about and mouthed “holy shit.”  Just as suddenly he froze, slowly smiled and reached into his mouth to pull out a sloppy wad of bubblegum.  He carefully wound it around the leaking line.  I felt like an idiot, but he grinned and gave me a thumbs-up.

Cold air kept us huddled down with our collars up.  I noticed the helicopter was also missing most of the round Plexiglas windows and my naïve mind wondered why.  Was it the heat?  Were they lost over the water?  Shot out?  I didn’t feel like asking after the leak repair incident.  Later the Gunny let me lie on the loading ramp and pointed down below us.  Through the clouds, I could make out a shape that grew as we approached just before nightfall in the rain.

Part II:  The ship

Photo: USMC Helicopter over Huntington Beach Pier (public domain) by Andrew Schmidt