Old Shipmate Hits The Big Time
My old Weps from when I was on USS Topeka (SSN 754) is now the CO of the submarine tender USS Frank Cable (AS 40). It's not being CO of the Cable that means he's hit the big time, though... it's who he recently hosted as part of a USO tour of Guam: Anna Kournikova. Here's the photographic proof:
Miss Kournikova also toured the USS Buffalo (SSN 715) during her visit. During my time on the boats, the only celebrity we ever had on board was Khrystyne Haje, who visited the Topeka on the 4th of July in 1992 -- not such a big deal now, but in the early '90s she was kind of well known.Who's the biggest / most attractive celebrity you've ever had visit your boat?
posted by Bubblehead at 8:23 AM
35 Comments:
Back when I was on the Connecticut we hosted Joe the Plummer, or was it Joe Leiberman? Anyhoo.
11/03/2008 10:08 AM
Dick Cheney. USS Wyoming (SSBN 742) in July of 2002
11/03/2008 10:42 AM
Speaking of Topeka, I stationed there when they filmed that episode of 24. I'm sure that anyone else who also saw it had fun picking apart the continuity issues. Pretty funny, albeit entertaining
11/03/2008 11:12 AM
Anna is one hot little girl!
11/03/2008 11:18 AM
Too many to tell, but non particularly hot...
Joel, gotta tell ya: what's her name you mentioned (and I IMDB'd)-- not sure who she is, although hot in a milf-ish "I was on SVU" sort of way!
11/03/2008 12:25 PM
One Christmas during the "Clinton" years, family members were invited over for a photo op that was shown on CNN on Christmas morning. AThey got a tour of the White House too.
11/03/2008 12:43 PM
Tom Clancy was signing Cardinal of the Kremlin in Groton in '88 - when I got my copy signed we chatted a bit and he told me my boat was one that he had visited while he was researching Red October; so, he visited my boat, but not when it was "my" boat...
QM2/SS
11/03/2008 1:26 PM
Crap! The only (in?)famous person to have toured a boat I was on was Rickover )-:
There has to be an injustice in here somehow!!!!!
Jerry
11/03/2008 1:41 PM
In early 2003, I was a part of the receiving detachment who guarded and provided ground security for Laura Bush's plane when it landed at Barksdale AFB. I don't know why the First Lady was in Louisiana, but I will say that she is a very personable and kind Lady. I was posted about four feet away from the entry control point with the rest our forward detachment and as she walked through the point, she turned and looked at the six of us stationed on the right of the ramp, smiled and said, "Hi, how are you gentlemen today?"
Granted, we could not verbally respond or even contemplate the thought of cracking a smile, but we were left with the thought that she was a kind and thoughtful lady. I think it was her smile that got to me the most. (yeah, I made eye contact, which is also a Big No-No) For a few moments, I forgot how hot it was while sweating it out in dress blues with a 16LB pistol belt and standing on the flightline at a rigid POA. So, that's the closest I've come meeting a celebrity while on active duty.
Now here's another question, off topic. What was it about Rickover? When I was active, I've heard stories about that guy from two senior USAF officers when they were still juniors in the late 70s, early 80s and making their way through various joint service assignments. Is it true Rickover didn't like wearing his uniform? I've heard he would wear a coat and tie to christen a new boat, rather than the uniform of the day. He hated anything pertaining to both USN and USAF flight programs (refits, training, new aircraft designs and weapons, ETC) to include Navy carriers regarding nuclear power and he only cared about how much allocations he could procure for nuclear reactors regarding submarines only. Is all that true? Granted I've got a huge respect for nuclear subs, but how did Rickover get away with spending more than 60 years on active duty and pissing off a lot of other high ranking officers without being thrown to the curb?
I can see how the leadership of surface warfare and USN aviation hated Rickover, but I understand that the majority of the submarine community hated him as well. Even with a solid record of telling congress exactly what they want to hear on a regular basis, I don't see how such a hateful little bitter bastard like Rickover lasted as long as he did.
This may not be the right thread for such questions and thoughts of the past, but my curiosity got the better of me.
Thanks,
SSGT J.Casey
11/03/2008 2:51 PM
Bubblehead,
Can I suggest starting a "What I thought of Rickover" thread rather than bogging down this one?
Jerry
11/03/2008 3:27 PM
We had sundry foreign admirals (Thai and ChiCom, at least) visit the Oly.
On Prov we had actor Gary Sinise and country singer Chad Brock.
11/03/2008 4:08 PM
Mr. Bubblehead,
I must concur with Jerry.
A new thread regarding one's personal and professional perceptions about Rickover might be in order here. Hell, I can even contrast and compare Rickover to our General Curtis LeMay. Except LeMay actually gave a damn (and actively showed it) about the run of the mill junior officer and enlisted men during his time.
Thanks, J.
11/03/2008 4:25 PM
Tony Dorsett. I met him and when seeing that he really was a pretty small guy I told him that now I understood why he always stepped out of bounds instead of taking the hit.
11/03/2008 4:50 PM
We had that guy Ty from Extreme Home Makeover tour the Nebraska in November 04'. It was pretty uneventful. I was in part of the footage that they showed on TV but the whole thing was so fake and staged it wasn't even funny. They were not even remotely interested in the tour of the boat, they just wanted footage for their show.
11/03/2008 5:00 PM
When I was on the Louisville in Pearl, we had Jimmy Buffet aboard. The funny part is that the Nav was a huge Buffet fan, but was too busy to get a picture with him (even though Jimmy Buffet played Matt's guitar). The funnier part was that the RMC who didn't really care about Jimmy Buffet was in about 10 pictures with him (including in the base paper). We also had Desmond Howard aboard (Desmond who? Superbowl 31 MVP).
11/03/2008 5:22 PM
Jimmy and Roasalyn Carter did an overnight run on SSN 23 around August 2005. They both toured the whole boat, including the Engineroom. During a small STS on Crews Mess, Jimmy was telling us how he and Rosalyn had been in Groton and then Pearl Harbor just like many of us. He then talked about being young and having duty on his boat in PH and his young bride coming to have dinner with him just like many of us had. He then said, "Let's just say that last night was not the first time Rosalyn had laid in a submarine rack." Rosalyn's face turned blood red and Jimmy got a big old grin on his face.
11/03/2008 5:43 PM
CHARO!!!!!!
11/03/2008 5:48 PM
Yeah, and then JIMMY CARTER , former Governor of GEORGIA, got off the SSN 23 at Kings Bay GEORGIA,
and less than 48 hrs later signed a petition encouraging BRAC to not shut-down Groton (CT) and to not send a squadron of SSNs to Kings Bay GEORGIA.
Atlanta-Journal had a field day with that.
The irony is that Groton was safe even without the Jimmy Carter seal of approval. He just threw himself under the bus in his home state.
I love old Jimmy, but he never did understand politics...
11/03/2008 6:05 PM
Domernuc,
You forgot when Carol Alt, SI supermodel, came onboard and the guys were not following her around but her younger and much hotter friend. Matt still has that guitar and the Desmond Howard thing sucked because we had to start up and get underway so he could re-enlist a friend of his who was a CT that never served on the Louisville.
11/03/2008 8:48 PM
Who's Rickover?
11/03/2008 10:43 PM
Russ,
I don't remeber Carol Alt, but I was probably back in the box. Desmond Howard sucked twice as much because a) he really is sort of small and not very impressive in person and b) he made his name, prior to the superbowl, on a catch against the Irish. I never liked him in the first place, but he was (is?) a celebrity. Jimmy Buffet though was cool, I just wished I could have tagged after him like our nameless RMC.
11/03/2008 11:44 PM
Joel, CAPT Scanlon is a great CO on the tender. Very straight forward and not a game playing guy. If you look at the bald quasmo on his right, that's the cmc.....just the opposite of him.
My question, why is the USO parading around a russian tennis star and not a US Olympic gold medalist? Sounds pretty stoopid to this old A'gangr.
11/03/2008 11:57 PM
Charo!? Were you on the HAWKBILL? She toured SSN 666 when I was on board though I didn't get to see her. Pro Bowl always had NFL players touring boats. The nicest one I remember was Darrell Green (Washington Redskins). He was very personable and seemed interested in the boat. He had a brother or other relative in the service, if I recall properly.
11/04/2008 4:19 AM
Lee Greenwood...they kept playing his one song over and over and over. Didn't he have any other hits?
Nice enough guy though, very appreciative of the military.
11/04/2008 3:22 PM
We never had any famous aboard the Philly in the '80s. The only individual of note was that we would occasionally have the squadron commander on board.
He was touring right before we got underway and was down in engineroom forward with us. We got him with the 'old neolube on the reactor compartment periscope' trick. It was funny as hell. We were rolling on the deck plates laughing at him. The Capt with him was trying to get us to stop but we just ignored him. Lets just say he was a happy VIP that day!
11/04/2008 3:31 PM
Back a couple years ago, you posted this: My bottom line: The Republicans currently in power have, through intellectual laziness, greed, and lack of vision, squandered an opportunity to lead the nation, and the world, into the new century. It's time for them to be pushed aside and let someone else try. And if they nominate a screwball for President in 2008 (and the Dems cast aside their recent history and nominate someone who isn't ridiculous) I could even see myself voting for a Democrat for President. I'm not there yet, but I could almost see myself going there is the Republicans don't straighten up.
So, what did you do? Did you, like me, go over to the Blue side this time?
11/04/2008 7:46 PM
I didn't have the most famous, but definitely an unusual guest. Back in the day when a JO had to be observed to get his dolphins, I had the Squadron 22 Chief of Staff come out and ride to observe me for my dolphins while the good ship BOSTON was conducting a VIP cruise out of Toulon, France. Among the mayors and other "distinguished citizens" of southern France was Chuck Barris, the former host of the 1970s TV variety parody "The Gong Show." I was pleased that I made it all the way through the observation without being "gonged."
11/04/2008 8:08 PM
Not sure how it happened but I always seemed to be the 'random enlisted dude' that was selected to host guests. Had a large number of tediously self important people visit the boat in my 5+ years on board, mostly politicians and a few celebrities. The one that broke the mold and sticks in my memory the most is Bob Woodward. He was doing some research for a book he was writing that eventually became 'The Commanders.' I spent several hours touring him around the boat and he seemed very personable and genuine. It was very easy to see how he has gained access to the information he has over the years.
11/05/2008 8:40 AM
SS(N)689 fish - Liz Taylor when she could barely fit through the forward trunk. That would be '78 time frame. Mr. Carter almost rode us the same year but took a ride on the 688 fish instead. We were hoping for Billy.
11/05/2008 5:40 PM
We also had the newly convicted Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). We were doing some testing, and anyone on the 21 class can remember how annoying the cowbell alarm was back in the box. Sen. Stevens was about as close as he could get to the cowbell when it went off. Not every day you get to slightly nudge a senior US Senator to the side to silence an alarm. He chuckled and said something about it being the lunch bell.
I wasn't allowed to participate in V.P. Cheney's visit either. Something about being the 1st S.N.O.B.
11/06/2008 8:46 PM
Anonymous 5 comments up: I ended up voting for Sen. McCain; I've supported him since 2000, and figured I couldn't abandon him now.
11/06/2008 9:46 PM
Danny Kaye visited when I was stationed aboard the USS Proteus (AS-19) in Guam in 1967.
Dave
11/13/2008 10:28 PM
USS Tennessee, we hosted singer Lee Greenwood ("Proud to be an American"), hung out with us in the goat locker for most of the ride, very nice fellow. We had a NASCAR driver once too, I think it was Darrell Waltrip. Colin Powell came on board (but not underway) for the 1,000 patrol ceremony.
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