Diamond or Hitler?

I arrived on board the USS Bunker Hill CG 52 in Oct 1993. Five months ago I was in boot camp in Great Lakes IL, and now I'm in Yokosuka Japan. I was told that this ship was the best one on base, and that Caption Diamond would be the coolest, most laid back Commanding Officer I would know.

As I settled in, guys would tell stories about Diamond. In one he was walking along the railing and said how it was such a nice day for a man overboard drill. So he jumped off, right into the ocean. Usually a dummy doll is used, but not this time. He must be really confident that his crew would be able to get him. Another story is that he and the commanding officer of the aircrafte carrier USS Independence CV 62 were talking. The idependence CO asked Diamond why the bunker hill guys never get in trouble while in port? Diamond says "When they go out I tell them to wear Independence ball caps." Moral was high onboard with Caption Diamond as the CO.

Caption Diamond's time onboard was over, and he was replaced with Captain Schnurrpusch. His claim to fame was that one of the ships he commanded was used in the movie The Hunt for Red October. While Diamond was a tall John Wayne type, Schnurrpusch had dark hair, was short and had a narrow musctache. He looked just like Adolph Hitler.

It wasn't long after he got there, that I wen't on 30 days vaction. When I got back I was told that Schnurrpusch had them doing drills for 27 days straight. They weren't at sea, but in a 10x10 mile box in the harbor. One guy joked that he could jump off and swim back to base. Two guys went crazy and had to be helicoptered off. Thank God I wasnt't there for that. During those 27 days Schnurrpusch's temper came out. It was so bad that the Navy Chaplain onboard considered retiring. While guys loved being onboard before, now they wanted to get the hell off. I had got in a fight with a guy onboard. He got me in a choke hold and wouldn't let go. It took two guys to get him off. A couple weeks later we got into another fight where I punched him and he started bleeding. Everybody onboard said he was a punk and deserved it. So now I have to go see Captain Schnurrpush. He stood inches from my face screaming while nothing happened to the other guy.

Who would you like as your CO, Caption Diamond or Adolph Hitler? I choose Hitler. NOT