SGT. GREIGO'S FLAK JACKET

Subject: Stormin Norman, was SGT. GREIGO'S FLAK JACKET
From: nt (Krztalizer)
Date: 3/3/04 12:34 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

I've thought about this since Art posted it, and guys have been popping him
for
not correcting Griego's behavior. Flying is full of superstitious people and
we had our share - some folks always wore the same gross/filthy/threadbare
flightdeck jerseys when they flew, others tied their boots a particular way
or
refused to ever wear new equipment on a flight, etc. My inflight
indescretion
was to unstrap 90% of the time - our radar station seat was positioned in a
way
that even a mild impact would cleave off my legs because even at full
retract,
I was too tall to get out from under the rack. Periodically, pilots would
see
me digging around in back and ask or demand that I put on at least the
hurricane strap - while still "illegal", it would at least keep a large
portion
of my body within the confines of a wreck, were it to happen. I would
sullenly
strap in and wait for the GUF to turn back around and then :::clunk::: I'd
drop
it back onto the floor. Most pilots I flew with would "order" me to strap
in,
but understood I had my own reasons for not doing so; we got into one short
argument (that I won, btw) and other than that, they felt they were doing
their
jobs by telling me to do it, whether I did or not. I never had a problem
with
the pilots in this regard, primarily because I obeyed the other 99.99% of
their
orders/suggestions - and I did a great job.

I didn't come up with that 'unstrap' idea on my own - we had a crusty old AW1
NATOPS Evaluator in my shop when I first arrived in H-2s and he wore a nasty
scar across his forehead - from not wearing his straps and impacting the
radar
with a fair amount of force. As he was one of my initial instructors, I
listened to every point he wanted to make about my new ride - the H-2 had
such
a horrible reputation among crews (and the Navy in general), that any extra
bit
of help was something I thought could bale me out when the little red
"Extremis" light came on. I saw photos of his accident and if he had been
strapped in upon impact, that dude would be dead, no question. So, I got to
thinking about how much I liked running and swimming on my only pair of legs
and I decided I would follow every other order, but not -that- one.

When the drivers occasionally got stupid (115 knots at 20' above the sea), I
made it a point to climb up and gingerly sit on the radio panel between the
pilots - that got LCDR F____ into a tizzyfit, but I stood my ground and said
something to the effect, "If you're going to kill me doing something this
dangerous, I at least want to see it coming." After a few zingers back and
forth, he slowly brought us up out of the ocean spray and slowed down to a
more
sane speed - at which point I went back and turned the radar back on: its not
like I could see anything on the scope when the nose was 45-degrees down and
we
were screaming along within the wave troughs. Radar horizon was about as far
as the blade tips in that flight attitude anyway!

I think when your job is inherently dangerous, beyond the 'normal danger' of
flight, some decisions are more personal and the pilots/Ohs were human enough
to understand, if not agree. I think that is the situation for the officers
and the tailgunner on "Willie The Wolf".

v/r
Gordon
====(A+C====
USN SAR

Donate your memories - write a note on the back and send your old photos to a
reputable museum, don't take them with you when you're gone.


Thank you for that touching story. I guess these habits, superstions and
personal prefferences mean a lot more to those who have flown in harms way than
to those who haven't.



Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer