<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=3><B>'Sittin' in on the U.S.S. Valley Forge<BR>
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By Jim Beebe<BR>
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Aircraft carriers have very much been in the news in recent times. It seems that every night there is something on various news shows about our Aircraft carriers that are serving in the Gulf. Sorties against Iraq are taking off day and night. All of this brought back to me a trifling and amusing incident that took place many years ago.<BR>
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In 1952 the Korean War was in full swing, though a recent Truce had been signed. Everyone involved fully expected hostilities to break out again and so even dubious warriors such as myself found ourselves in one of the U.S. military services. My luck of the draw was the U.S. Marines. In truth I was dropping out of Beloit College and so I went down and signed up, rather than be drafted.<BR>
My mother thought the Marines were a hot deal and I guess I thought that I could save some face with this maneuver. Perhaps, though, I had in the back of my mind, the first recording that I acquired as a child. It was a 78 recording of the U.S. Marine Band playing Reeves 22nd. Connecticut Regiment March. I still have that recording somewhere and it still sounds great. This is still one of my favorite marches and Ron Hockett, who played in the Marine Band for 25 years, told me a few years back that this classic march is still very popular on the East Coast and almost has a hit tune status there.<BR>
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After a harrowing trip through boot camp in San Deigo and a weird audition for the Band ( the Drill Instructors hated the band) I was sent to the Dept. of Pacific Marine Corps Band, that was stationed at Treasure Island, a Navy base off of San Francisco. I was stationed here for a year before going overseas to the Far East and this year was a remarkable one for me. The Marine Corps band was a good one and I was getting lots of playing in on all kinds of music. Almost every worthwhile jazz group or artist in the country came through Frisco in that year and I caught most of them. Frisco was loaded with service men returning from Korea and Japan through Treasure Island and the Presidio. The Jazz Clubs such as the Hangover and the Blackhawk were not fussy about checking IDs…many of the service men including myself were underage.<BR>
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One day, out of the blue, I got a call from a high school buddy of mine, Harley Rooker. Rooker was a fine drummer and he and I were in the high school band together along with the dance band and my Dixie combo. I knew that Rooker had gone in the Navy but I didn't know where he was. He now informed me that he was a musician on the aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Valley Forge. Large ships like carriers usually had a small band compliment of 19 musicians or so. They also had other duties<BR>
and usually served in damage control.<BR>
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My old friend, Rooker, told me that the Valley Forge had just returned from duty off of Korea and would be in port for a few weeks. We talked and agreed to meet later in the city. We met in a Jazz Club in Frisco and went out on the town. Later Rooker suggested that I stay aboard ship with him that night. I resisted but I didn't have to be in the next morning and he assured me that it would be alright. The next thing I knew we were aboard this gigantic floating city. Talk about 'shock and awe.' You can view pictures and movies of these ships but you will never appreciate how awesome they truly are until you are actually in one. Rooker got me a bunk and said that he would show me around in the morning.<BR>
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All of a sudden…it's morning… very early in the morning and there is a tremendous hubbub with everyone getting up and dressed. Rooker came and shook me awake and said, " Come on and get dressed, the Band is going to play a Colors ceremony on the Hangar deck and we want you to join us." I said, " I can't do that." At that point the Petty Officer in charge of the Band came and said, " Come on, we'll get you a trombone, we want you to join us and then we'll have breakfast." I managed to get dressed in the ongoing pandemonium and I found myself with a King 2B trombone, heading for the Hangar Deck.<BR>
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The Hangar deck is where the planes are stored and refueled. This day they were pushed aside and there are 3000 sailors lined up in formation. Right in the middle is a Marine Company with a nasty looking Captain standing out in front of them. I am starting to feel uneasy as here I am in my Marine uniform with this Navy band. The Marines are part of the Navy but there is no crossover except for outfits such as the medical corps. I originally intended to go into the medical corps but I didn't know until I got in the Marines that they use Navy medical corps and you can't get into this from the Marine end.<BR>
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All of a sudden I froze in my tracks. There are huge signs hanging all over the Hangar deck that say, in large red letters, "Absolutely no heel clips, by penalty of Court Martial." Of course…the Hangar deck is highly flammable and a heel clip could kick off a spark on the metallic deck. I've got heel clips on, as per Marine Corps orders. The Band is at one end and is going to walk in formation to their position on the other end. I am now in a state of high panic as I realize that the band is not going to play while marching to the other end. This would have disguised my situation. I don't know what in hell to do and the band takes off…here we go…click click click. The band is not playing and you can hear 'click, click, click' this all over this Hangar deck. Every eye in the formation is now on me…thinking collectively, "What the f…is this Marine doing in the ships band and with heel clips." I try to stoic it out as we approach the Marine Company and the Darth Vader captain. He gives me a look that makes me instantly aware that he is going to lock me up in the Brig as soon as this ceremony is over. (I had to take a prisoner to the brig once at Camp Pendleton and that was not a pleasant experience)<BR>
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I played as best I could under the circumstances and finally the Colors Ceremony was over. I grabbed Rooker and the band officer and said, " That captain is coming to lock my ass up, you guys talked me into this and now you must get me off of this ship ASAP. They did and I was able sneak in a brief tour of the ship. Sparks were flying as I made my way from the Valley Forge.<BR>
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The U.S.S. Valley Forge was retired some years ago after many years of service. There is a USS Valley Forge on line now but it is not a carrier.<BR>
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My friend, Harley Rooker, went into radio work and became a well known and popular radio announcer in Iowa.<BR>
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