USS LSM 45 - Status & Progress Report
Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2007 07:03:15 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
From: lehman
To: Jim Tusing
Subject: U.S.S. LSM-45 UPDATE from Fred Lehman
To The Editor, Alligator Alley-
I had the pleasure of meeting and conversing with another volunteer at the U.S.S. LSM-45 yesterday afternoon; a former U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant by the name of Vernon, whose first words to me were "I love this ship!"
I had stopped at Mile Hammock Bay to check the vessel and there was Vernon, busy as a bee securing his pump and hoses that he had been using to pump out the void spaces on the starboard side. I knew that SgtMaj Joe had found someone to help pump water from the ship after all the heavy rains we had this winter, and I would have liked to help too (of course!) except for the fact that I had undergone yet another orthopedic surgery in January to repair a badly torn rotator cuff in my left shoulder. Doctor's orders were to not lift anything heavier than a sandwich for three to four months after the operation, so I have been idle for awhile once again.
Anyway, it was really great to see someone hard at work aboard your vessel, and I know that Sergeant Major Joe picked a very capable fellow to assist with this important task at hand. Vernon (I didn't get his last name) and I made friends quickly and I certainly look forward to working with him in the near future.
As I mentioned earlier, I have been recovering from surgery since January 11. I've been swinging by the dock on a regular basis to eyeball the ship, but haven't done any of the physical work in a long time.
Last December, I shipped-out on board the M/V R.N.WEEKS which is a Seagoing Hopper Dredge owned by Weeks Marine out of New Orleans. This had been a serious goal for me, to ship-out once again as a merchant seaman again after retiring from the Corps of Engineers 15 months previously. Well, I was assigned as an Able Bodied Seaman on the 300 ft. ship, and was a Watch-Stander on deck during winter dredging operations in the northern Atlantic, off the coast of Long Beach Island New Jersey where we pumped the dredged material ashore every few hours to re-nourish the beaches with offshore sand and shell mixture. For me, the work was interesting, pleasant, and challenging- I dearly wanted this shipboard position even though I was not an officer any more. However, the extreme pain I was experiencing in my shoulder after several days aboard was unbearable for me, and I had no choice but to resign from this new job because I simply couldn't do the work in my condition. I didn't realize at the time that I had a torn rotator cuff, but upon arriving back home and having several tests I had the surgery a few weeks later. The whole event was really disappointing for me, and I felt very humble and almost humiliated to have to quit such a great job after less than a week.
Knowing that my seagoing days are over forever, I made another career choice recently, and have decided to open a small business here in Sneads Ferry North Carolina. I hope to be open to the public by next Friday; my business being called 'Seafarer Tattoo Parlor' located in the Historic District of Old Sneads Ferry near the waterfront. I've never been in business for myself before so this is another great challenge for me too and I am very excited about it! The disappointment of being unsuccessful at going back to sea was somewhat traumatic for me, but I am now used to it and have accepted my fate. I am sure that many of my readers- former Navy men and LSM Sailors can relate to my predicament as I will be 60 years of age in a few months, and you fellows are a generation older than I am now! Having spent my 20th, 30th, 40th, and 50th birthdays on board different ships, I had looked forward to turning 60, and even 70 years of age aboard a ship as a career sailor- but that's not going to happen now. Hence, the Tattoo Studio.
I have discussed all this with Sergeant Major Houle, and have assured The Marine Corps Museum of the Carolinas that I will be back this Spring to continue work on the '45. My plan is to work the Tattoo Shop on weekends, which will leave several weekdays each week for me to go to the ship and make a little noise and slap some paint and sweep some decks! I always feel like such a young man on the ship- just doing the things that young men do- like I did 40 years ago while I was in the Navy myself.
That's how I see things at this point, as the volunteer C.O.B. on your ship. When I met Vernon at the ship yesterday, I realized just how much hard work he has put into keeping the vessel trim; and when Vernon assured me how much he loved the ship, I realized again just how much I feel the same way! I'm truly looking forward to seeing him aboard in the weeks and months ahead, and I can assure the Association that good things will happen-and are happening aboard the future museum ship that you are all so proud of.
All for now- Fred Lehman
"LSMs & The Sands Of Iwo Jima"
Today VOLUNTEERS.... We Have A Peptalk By.....
Thank You Sgt.... VOLUNTEERS, Man Your Paint Brushes
This Webpage also adopts Colonel Bogey as it's theme song.
|
