An old warrior remembers serving aboard the USS Midway:
San Marcos' Jim Evans made it his business to know where everything was aboard ship. He was a Marine sergeant in charge of ceremonial duties, weapons and, the dreaded brig.
"We had a few people confined to the brig from time-to-time," Evans recalled. "It (the brig) usually was for someone who had over-stayed their liberty ashore."
Evans, who survived the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, said the small Marine detachment aboard the ship while he was assigned to the USS Midway from 1947-49, was a gun instructor aboard ship, and his Marines had a reputation of being very good anti-aircraft gunners.
"The front three turrets on the port side of the Midway were Marine guns," Jim recalled. "One day we shot down five drones, which were pretty expensive in those days. The Navy only had six, so when the last one came around, the Navy gunners told us not to fire, so they'd have a chance to knock one down." |
