Read Bob’s Cookbook

   “What type of rank or work do you want?”  I had just joined the Navy one week before my 20th birthday.  After completing boot camp, I was shipped to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to report for duty aboard the USS St. Paul when she made port.  Being new to the service and having no rank, I stood before the petty officer for assignment.  “I would like to cook,” I replied.  My request was granted and I was ordered to report to the galley.  For the next two weeks I wiped down tables and swabbed floors.  Then I was officially assigned to the galley.  My “battle stations” were to be the galley and, later, the bakeshop.  I was aboard a US gunship as a cook.  I was living the dream.

   Then we sailed for Viet Nam.