No Good Deed Goes Unpunished or We Come a Wassailing

ROK minesweepers were the bootleggers of the fleet. If you could make contact with the one of the minesweeper you could get booze. It may be in a well know brand but what was inside was not always the original contents. The Koreans were ingenious at making the bottles look as if it has not been tampered with.

For Christmas the plan was to anchor out of harms-way and the ship would be on "Holiday Routine." A day before Christmas some of the ROK minesweepers came along side for a meeting. That's all it took for an ample amount liquor to make it abroad for those inclined to celebrate in that manner, I was not. As soon as the anchor dropped on Christmas Eve the corks began to pop. About midnight the Christmas spirit was in a full roll. Five or six of the spirited ones decided to share their merriment with Captain Murphy by caroling under the captains cabin porthole.