Don, the Sailor Man! Toot Toot!

In the Navy, as I have mentioned before, I worked in the I & E Office, which was the Information and Education Office. It was a smally staffed office. Me, my friend Don, a higher enlisted man, usually a 1st or 2nd class, and the division officer. The Squadron Commanding Officer was an outgoing friendly, positive guy. I think his first name was Andew, we called him Andy (behind his back). Andy liked to regularly visit all the divisions and make small talk. Whenever Andy entered a work area who ever saw him first should shout “Attention on Deck!” and everybody snap-to. But Andy would quickly say something meaning “Lets not be so formal!” After making small talk with us underlings Andy would toss his hat on the Navy gray metallic hat rack and go in the division officer’s office and shoot the shit with him, making sure he would bellow out a good ole’boy horse laugh from time to time, for our benefit. Unbeknownst to Andy or anybody else but me, Don would slip over to the hat rack and put on Andy’s gold braided officer’s hat. He was daring sometimes. I guess he had good timing or maybe good hearing, when he heard a pause and the sound of the men scooting their chairs to get up, Don would quickly put the hat back and jump to his desk typing. It was not the only time Don played Naval Officer. We were close to Seaside Heights Beach. One time we met a group of New York schoolteacher ladies who just bought a close to the ocean cabin. Don introduced himself as a Navy Officer helicopter pilot. Which was pretty impressive to them. And as time went on one time they introduce us to a man they invited over who said he was also a helicopter. He came and he really was.. In our squadron at that. He had a good sense of humor and went along with Don’s scam. Anyway, going through some old pictures I came across this picture. After the Navy Don went back to work at his old job at the Chicago Tribune. He told people he was a writer and he was, he just did not tell them what department he was a writer in. It was the Want Ad Department. He also returned to college and in the long run became a professor. Also, he went back to the Naval Reserves, and now being a professor, he easily got commissioned as an Naval Officer. So, he got to be what he pretended to be many times. I wonder as a real Naval Officer when he put his hat down some young swabby snatched his hat and put it on and did a dance behind his back?