Christmas in Bahrain     2001

 Quote from Easter Sunday Beach Road run .. Singapore 

  "John Bates is the classiest and kindest man I have ever met."
  A guest from the Blue Ridge Easter Sunday Brunch at Raffles Hotel

One  Great “Sea Story”

 Navy vs. Marines….the ship’s crew loved this one……

  A salty Navy Chief and a crusty Marine First Sergeant are at an Irish pub arguing about who had the tougher career.

"I did 29 years in the Recon," the Marine declared proudly, "and fought in three of my country's wars.  Fresh out of boot camp, I hit the beach at Iwo Jima, clawed my way up the blood-soaked sand, and eventually took out an entire enemy machine gun nest with a single grenade."

"As a sergeant, I fought in Korea alongside General Chesty Puller.  We pushed back the enemy inch by bloody inch all the way up to the Chinese border, always under a barrage of artillery and small arms fire."

"Finally, as a staff sergeant, I did three consecutive combat tours in Vietnam.  We humped through the mud and razor grass for 14 hours a day, plagued by rain and mosquitoes, ducking under sniper fire all day and mortar fire at night.  In a fire fight, we'd shoot until our arms ached and  our guns were empty, then we'd charge the enemy with bayonets!"

Looking straight ahead, the Chief says nothing.

After a deliberately long, slow drink, the Chief says,

"Yeah, it figures...all shore duty."

   Have A Great Navy Day from the U S S  Blue Ridge and now …

    We are “shovin’ right off for home again….”