BJ Littlefield loved Squoshi...everybody loved her...but she loved BJ. Squoshi means little in Japanese. She was small and pretty and I loved her, too. BJ was a huge North Carolina football player who wound up in the Navy and working for the Chief aboard the Mighty Etai (etai means "ouch" in Japanese...our nickname for the Etlah, AN-79, a worn out old net tender that had been home ported in Yokosuka since the end of the war). A net tender is a pretty small ship with two huge "horns" sticking out over the bow, a singularly ugly boat.
The ship's party in question was cooking along about like they all did...lots of noise and drinking...some swagger...some threat...but mostly just a bunch of sailors whooping it up. The Chief had overdone, he'd gotten an early start checking out the party room that had been reserved, and was passed out in one of the booths. The party was doing just fine without him.
A little drama developed when BJ heard Grover Cleveland Nash, a new guy on the Etai, call Squoshi a whore. About five ship mates were holding BJ back , barely, while Nash sat smugly smirking on his barstool. He strongly resembled one of those kids who will torment a tied up dog knowing they are just out of reach. The scene was getting loud.
The Chief roused himself out, tested several of the glasses on the table, found one with some trace of alcohol in it and asked what all the noise was about. I told him that Nash called Sqoshi a whore. He nodded knowingly and said he needed a new drink. He headed for the bar. The Chief was a 6'9" 300 pound giant stuffed into a 5'9", 155 pound body. BJ ran about 6'4" and thick...Nash was not quite BJ's size, but not too far off. That was the line up. The Chief walked directly to the bar, stood next to Nash and ordered a beer. As the bartender went to fill the order, the Chief got eye to eye contact with Nash...then landed a real crowd pleaser right on Nash's off button. Nash went down as loose as a sack of potatoes. There was instant silence and the room went still. The Chief took his beer back to the table and downed it in two big gulps. He laid down on the booth bench and was sound asleep before anyone moved.
His only comment on this incident ever was that he couldn't stand bad manners at a Ship's Party.
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