USS MULLINNIX DD-944
Frank Wood Reports On Board - 1970
1970 - Unknown Location, Unknown Date
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Excerpt from "The Last Gun Ship - History of USS Mullinnix DD-944"
A Historical Novel By Frank A. Wood
At 19, I was still a kid when I joined the Navy. The ocean and its waves raised me and I was mosty better for it. My friends of 1973 helped shape me into who I am today. My life on Mullinnix I remember in terms of images, smells, and sounds rather than historical events - Gun mounts and the smell of spent powder, bug juice, salt air, low rumble and steady vibration of the turning screws, smell of JP5 jet fuel - that had obviously been created as a cinematic tribute to my youth.
I was nothing but a smudge of excrement on a tissue surging out to sea with a ton of sewage. We fought the bureaucracy, the lifers, the Navy constantly and with zeal. Sometimes however you’d have a passing feeling not to fight and make the intolerable tolerable…
Now however, I’ve begun a yet another season of my life. Love is like a good piece of wood, it just gets stronger and stronger as the years go by. Take it from someone who had it, and lost it when the Lord decided it was time. It sounds corny, I know, but it’s really the only thing that works between two people. I'm so blessed to have found it a second time. I wonder some times, is history like the falling tree in the forest? If nobody remembers did it really happen?
After graduating from FT "A" school on 9 October, 1970, I was assigned to USS Mullinnix DD944 as an E3 --- Seaman striking for Fire Control Technician - Guns. Unfortunately, I had to wait for the Mux to get back from the Med. Hence, I was assigned mess-cooking at the Norfolk Naval base for ~6 weeks. If I'd been assigned a couple weeks earlier, the Navy would have flown me over to the Med to meet the ship. The only good thing about mess-cooking was that beer was available from the vending machines in the barracks for 25 cents a can courtesy of Admiral Zumalt. I stayed home (in the barracks) a lot during this waiting period.
I'll never forget my first day on the Mullinnix. FTGSN Don Boettcher met me on the quarterdeck and showed me to my sleeping quarters below Mount 52's carrier-room. As I walked down the ladder and looked to my left - there sat FTGSA Greg "Birdman" Berry - who turned out to be my best friend in the Navy. “Birdman” and I had met up at Great Lakes and then kind of lost track of each other after he convinced the Navy he didn’t want to be in school (LOL). Was I surprised (and relieved) to see The Birdman! Maybe this assignment wasn't going to be that bad.
Then came Vietnam.
The Mullinnix was the only ship I served on. Some days, I look back on those events with fondness. At the time however, I hated everyday. I remember the good times but as I age, the good times are being replaced by PTSD symptoms. I pray for peace...
…a long time ago we knew each other for a short time…
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20 November (Friday), 1970 (Norfolk, VA – D&S Piers)
Dear Mom, Dad, Sue
It was good to hear you on the telephone! (excuse the writing but I’m awfully tired). I’m going to put in a chit tomorrow to see if I can get Christmas leave. As soon as I get it back, I’ll call you again. I’m going to ask for the 22nd to the 30th.
I have duty today. We had a fire drill today and I was in it. I had to carry the ‘red devil blower’, it de-smokes the compartment. I can’t wait to go to the Caribbean. It rained all day today – hard! I’ll finish tomorrow I’m really tired.
Well, its Saturday, I feel better know. I have to wait until Monday to turn in my chit, it will take a couple of days to get it back, so I’ll call you Wed. or Thurs. to tell you the news, either way.
It’s windy today, but the ship is solid as a rock (almost anyway). My address is:
FTGSA F. A. Wood
USS Mullinnix DD944
Gun Division
Fleet Post Office (F.P.O.)
New York, NY 09501
Things are OK here. I’m learning my way around and adjusting to this knew kind of life. Well, that’s about if for now, I’ll call when my chit comes back. Write Soon! Love, Frank PS: What does everybody want for Christmas?
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On 10 December, I went to sea for the fist time aboard USS Mullinnix DD-944. However, no night, as the ship returned to D&S Piers later that same day.
26 Dec 1970 (Norfolk, VA – D&S Piers)
Dear Mom, Dad, Sue
I’m really sorry I couldn’t call Christmas Day. I had duty, which includes a fire billet – so I couldn’t leave the ship. Because if they had a drill or real fire, I’d be in deep trouble if I wasn’t here. I couldn’t phone from the ship either. I hope you had a fun time. Did everybody have fun? How is Dado & Gemm and everybody? What did you guys get for Christmas? I wish I had been there.
Christmas Eve I was duty FT and had a 4-hour watch. Duty FT signs 8 o’clock reports and signs for parts if they come in. Christmas, I didn’t have a watch, but I had a fire billet. Today I have a fire billet and duty FT. Christmas was my duty day. I stood by for Murray on Christmas Eve and Hoddinaut today. I’m making $15.
Christmas Eve, I took a whole roll of pictures from the ship. I’ll take them over Monday to get them developed. I send them to you if they turn out. I’ll explain what they are on the back.
Today is rough weather; we’re rolling in port. About 2 or 3-degree rolls, I think. Just enough so you can feel it. Christmas dinner wasn’t too bad. I had turkey, dressing, potatoes, corn, rolls, pickles, radishes, and a strawberry sundae with everything. But I know it wasn’t as good as yours. Well, that’s about it except I got the picture of dad and Sue’s card. Thank you! Write Soon! Love, Frank PS: I’m sorry I couldn’t call, really.
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1970 was a relatively quite year from the Mullinnix – a 6 month cruise in the Med with a lot of exercises and practices – and numerous liberty stops. Little did the crew know that ½ way around the world a situation was developing in SE Asia that would require the Mighty Mux to once again make an appearance in 1972.
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