I spent my 24th birthday crossing the equator on the USS Bon Homme Richard. We were steaming back to Subic Bay after leaving Singapore for R&R. The Captain decided to veer slightly to the South so that we would cross the Equator. He did this after discovering that his Executive Officer had never crossed the Equator and was merely a lowly “Polliwog” and not a “Trusty Shellback”.

I was also a lowly “Polliwog” and summoned to appear before the court of King Neptune for an initiation into the “mysteries of the Deep”.

The King Neptune initiation was a messy affair. We crawled on our hands and knees in single file while having salad dressing, oil and eggs dumped on our heads. Shellbacks spanked us with lengths of fire hose. The culmination was a ceremonial kiss on the greased belly of King Neptune.

We were “anointed” with a variety of food and fluids prepared by the “Trusty Shellbacks”

I owe a debt of gratitude to Chief Hunter. He directed me along a path that avoided being spanked with fire hoses. It helps to have friends who are Shellbacks.

I received an official scroll stating that I was now a son of Neptune. After the ceremony,  we stripped and tossed our clothes over the side, it would have been impossible to launder them.

I’m celebrating another birthday as I write this. Forty eight years have passed. I’m miles away from the Equator, my Navy service is just a memory and my priorities have changed.