Walk on Water

Bob Vollum

As a newly minted LTJG, I was serving on the Power, DD839, in the Med. The DesDiv chaplain, a Southern Baptist LTJG (totally incidental to the story, but that is what the was) was also assigned to the Power. He was one of those doughy, whiney people that stereotype those who can't make it in the world and therefore hide in the clergy. (Don't bother blasting me for the comment, because I've already had it from from the experts, and after four years of grease reports at USNA nothing you could say would faze me. Furthermore, if you don't recognize the type, you haven't spent much time in church.) He just hung around. Anything he was asked to do was an imposition, including conducting Sunday services. He was first in to dinner, first to get paid, first in line for the liberty launch, etc. You get the picture.

On one particular day, we were anchored off the coast of Cannes on the French Riviera. The liberty launch had just pulled away and the chaplain came running up all excited and upset. He had missed the ride. There was a substantial line-up waiting for the launch to return in a half hour, or so, and if he got at the end of the line rather than gouging in, it would be a few trips before he got on. He fussed and fumed along the rail for a while, playing pity-poor-me. No one invited him to jump the line. He finally asked out loud, How am I going to get ashore?" He got the answer from someone toward the back of the line. "If you were worth your salt, you'd walk."