Thanks for sharing, I'll have to look for the monument when I'm in the area.
The Heavy Haul guys are a class unto themselves.
rvgrammy1953 wrote:My Dad was a "Plank owner" on the USS Missouri
That's pretty cool. In the days of wooden sailing ships men often slept on deck and could claim their plank to sleep on. It also carried other perks onboard that ship. Upon the ships decommissioning they sailor was entitled to a piece of the deck as a keep sake. Unfortunately today the decks are made of steel.
Here is a list of other Navy certificates like plank owner. Pilots have a few more. There was normally a ceremony that went with it (think wild frat party) and in 1997 the Secretary of the Navy squashed much of the ceremonies.
Antarctic Circle - Crossing of the Antarctic Circle (66-32 South latitude). Also known as the "Royal Domain of the Penguin" "Frozen Stiff" or "Red Nose."
Arctic Circle - Crossing of the Arctic Circle (66-32 North latitude). Also known as the "Northern Domain of the Polar Bear" or "Blue Nose."
Blue Nose - Crossing of the Arctic Circle (66-32 North latitude). See also "Arctic Circle," and "Northern Domain of the Polar Bear."
Emerald Shellback - Crossing of the Equator at the Greenwich Meridian.
Golden Dragon - Crossing of the 180th Meridian (International Date Line).
Golden Shellback - Crossing of the Equator at the 180th Meridian.
Mossback - Traversing around Cape Horn.
Neutron Owners Certificate - Plank owner certificate issued to crew of USS Nautilus (SSN-571) on 17 Jan. 1955 at latitude 40 20' 46.
Northern Domain of the Polar Bear - Crossing the Arctic Circle (66- 32 North latitude). See also "Arctic Circle" and "Blue Nose"
Order of Magellan - Going around the World.
Order of the Ditch - Transiting the Panama Canal. See also "Panama Canal."
I have Plank Owner, Order of the Ditch, Golden Dragon and Golden Shellback. The Golden Dragon was kind of funny, after we returned to port they gave us these certificates. We were like what's this? They told us we earned them while deployed and when we looked, the dates and location of crossing just said "classified".