I was looking through old documents and such yesterday when I found a shipboard news issue from Christmas of 1966. It brought back memories of 50 years ago when we arrived in Yokosuka with two boilers out of commission just before Christmas. With the boilers out there was no heat in the ship. We slept with our uniforms on along with our navy pea coats, trying to stay warm under the one worn wool blanket issued to us. There were no showers available without the boilers running and the outside temps were right at freezing, which translated to the same temp inside that giant steel box called the USS Kitty Hawk. The only time all week long that I was warm was when I went to a bathhouse and spent 20 minutes in a steam cabinet, followed by a hot bath. I was so relaxed I felt like limp wash rag. My legs would barely support me. After a few Asahi Japanese beers I felt pretty good for the first time in several days.
That same Christmas the evangelist Billy Graham came aboard to save our souls on Christmas eve. Of course old Billy waited until we were in the gulf of Tonkin where the weather was toasty warm. It seems that hot sweaty bodies are more easily moved during talks about hell's fires. I think old Billy might have drawn a bigger crowd had he brought a few kegs of that Asahi beer with him.
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