USS Askari ARL-30 Guestbook

Submitted by
Name: Robert Pettit Viet Nam 66-67
From: Gibbstown,New Jersey
E-mail: bobandhelen@snip.net

Comments:
Served aboard the dirty 30 from US to Viet Nam. Was in R1 Division in the welding shop with Chief Johnson and Mr Hamilton, she was a ruff rider.Other names I can think of are Paul Webb and DJ McKinney

Added: May 9, 2003

Submitted by
Name: Mrs Brown
From: MA
E-mail: Springlily@webtv.net

Comments:
Looking for anyone who might of know my late husband WO Brown .He was on the Askari 66-67 ....Thank You ...

Added: Mar 30, 2003

Submitted by
Name: Eric Loerch
From: Vancouver, WA
E-mail: eal@mid-mountain.COM

Comments:
I was on the USS Jason AR-8. The Jason was deployed to Vung Tau in May and June of 1971. The Askari nested against us for few days for stores replenishment and I always wondered what she was and what she did. Now I know.

Added: Mar 17, 2003

Submitted by
Name: James Biddle
From: San Diego
E-mail: dumptruck@cvhsa.com

Comments:
I served aboard Askari as the 1st LT (as a Ltjg) 1966-67. Went aboard in Vung Tau. Spent a lot of time at Dong Tam.

Added: Mar 13, 2003

Submitted by
Name: Steve Nease
From: Washington State
E-mail: chilkat2000@yahoo.com

Comments:
May Scott Francis Wemette rest in peace. I am still saddened to this day by his ultimate sacrifice. I was on board the Satyr watching them attempt to salvage our Mike boat when he drowned. God Bless his family.

Added: May 13, 2003

Submitted by
Name: Jerry Hyde
From: St. Louis, MO
E-mail: hyde@sbcglobal.net

Comments:
I was an ETR2 when I got orders to the shipyard in 1966. Commissioned Askari, then rode her to Vietnam. Lots of memories...climbing the mast to make radar antenna repair while underway in a storm near the Phillipines...shooting craps at night in the middle of the Mekong...painting the ship green...afternoon liberty in Vung Tau drinking 33 and buying Saigon Tea for the ladies...beer parties on the barge alongside...$5 for $7 on payday (I was the loan shark)...borrowing the key to the ice machine in the galley, getting a copy made so I could have ice tea late at night...repairing radios and radars on the ATCs...seeing a B-40 rocket hole in 1-inch steel plate on an ATC...writing a sports column in the ship's newspaper...bunking right over the ordnance locker, wondering if tonight's the night a mine blows the whole thing up...mail call...throwing the ship's "Oscar" dummy overboard at sea one night...45-degree rolls in a storm...colliding with a sailboat in San Francisco bay...accidentally firing the .45 pistol while on OOD midnight watch in the Mekong (and the cover-up afterward)...trading whiskey for fresh milk when another ship had just arrived from U.S....the XO giving the command to "sally the ship" when we lifted a big mother boat (and thinking "what the hell does sally the ship mean?")...Billy Callin, who worked for me in the ET gang...making ET1 when I just knew I had flunked the test...my orders getting screwed up so I had to spend another 3 months on board past my one-year anniversary...the old grouchy XO asking me to extend and re-enlist (why can't I remember his name?)...Capt. Campbell's farewell speech...shooting a shotgun at anything floating down the river toward us just in case a swimmer was hiding in the brush...women in Vung Tau picking lice out of each other's hair...Doug Britton, another ET working for me, with his stunning intellect and equally stunning cynicism and wit...taping an interview for Armed Forces Radio, then going by chopper to Saigon to deliver the tape...R&R in Hawaii, and the horrible feeling I had getting on the plane to go back...marvelling at the craftsmanship displayed by the deck-hands and repair crews as they got the ATCs back in ship-shape...the beard contest on the trip across the Pacific...the gorgeous half-French, half-Vietnamese girls...the stench of the farmer's market in Vung Tau, the tension of Tet...Roger Urce, the ET from NYC...setting up our own totally unauthorized frequency (70 megahertz) for radio checks...how awful the food was (they called that MEAT?)...watching the planes strafe and bomb Charlie on the river banks...the flares at night, how scared I was. Lots of memorie

Added: Dec 3, 2002

Submitted by
Name: Randy Clouse
From: Modesto, CA
E-mail: rummnncoke@yahoo.com

Comments:
I served aboard the Askari from its arrival at Mare Island in 1965 until my discharge while in Vung Tau in June 1967. I feel privileged to have supported the fine men of the riverboats while serving as a storekeeper 2nd class. I truly enjoyed my time and thought we were doing the right thing at the time.<br>I'll never forget the middle of the night typhoon somewhere between Subic Bay and VietNam. Ensign Dockendorf(?) was one gutsy son of a * * * that night. The paint locker, loaded with hundreds of 5 gallon paint cans broke loose and pails were slamming back and forth inside. I was scared to death to go in there to help but it had to be done. Numerous pails broke open and we were knee deep in some kind of chemicals that I know not what they were. I think some were that stuff they used in the electric transformers on power poles. The smell was like that anyway. Was so bad that night that one of the 12" thick welding platforms in the center of the shop broke loose and was sliding around too. Pretty damn scary. Wish I could remember more of you guys I served with. Too many years and too much life lived has deteriorated my memories. Anyway, regards to all and feel free to contact me anytime. Randy Clouse, former storekeeper 2c, 1963 - 1967. p.s.: I forgive you Chief, you had your problems.

Added: Dec 2, 2002

Submitted by
Name: Roderick C. Allen EM2
From: Marietta, GA
E-mail: craigie_lea@yahoo.com

Comments:
I just finished looking at the web page and the photos. Great job guys. I'm still playing with electricity and enjoying it. Construction work in my area is slow right now but will pick soon. I have made it through the apprenticeship program for the IBEW 613 and got a college degree (2 year) in the 34 years since I left the ship. I just a toy (Kawasaki Vulcan 800 Classic 2001) and I'm having a ball with her. She also helps me stay young and alert. I was on board from Easter of 1971 to Sept. 1971 (Guam last port as a US ship) Happy New Year and thank you for the web page; keep up the good work. Rod

Added: Dec 1, 2002

Submitted by
Name: Tanya Jones McGehee
From: Odessa, Texas
E-mail: tanyamcgehee@hotmail.com

Comments:
Re: Roy L Jones, USS Askari 1967-1968, my dad

. How truly wonderful to have found this website! After a few days of sifting through other sites, I am thrilled to have found this. My father was aboard the Askari and has asked me to assist him in locating shipmates, as he does not have a computer, yet! I cannot tell you how excited I was to see photos of the ship and crew that look so much like the ones that I saw as a child, and to learn that Daddy isn't alone in his respect for his ship or her crew. With his permission, I hope he will have me add him to your list of members, so that he may also enjoy and benefit from all you have worked so hard to offer. Thank you sirs, may God bless you all!

Added: Oct 30, 2002

Submitted by
Name: Robert Gray
From: Glenwood iowa
E-mail: buckwheat@mybluelight.com

Comments:
I really enjoyed the pics and the history My father Virgil Gray was a "Ic" aboard in the early 50's I myself was a "IC2" aboard the Uss Buchanan DDG14 in the late 70's Im going to email these pics to him<br>thanks for the information

Added: Oct 1, 2002