Go Hug Yourself......You Jack Wagon!

Captain Owen Honors was relived from his post on the USS Enterprise because of lewd videos he participated in back in 2007. They were a series of videos shown to the crew aboard the USS Enterprise in what was called "XO Movie Night". As in Executive Officer, for the non military types. I myself served six months aboard a naval ship back in 1997 and can appreciate the humor behind the videos.

Being out at sea for six months you tend to form a certain type of comradery. A bond that those who never served on Naval ship will never understand.You are in confined spaces for a long period of time away from your family and really away from the rest of the world. You tend to open up more to the people around you and forget your inhibitions completely. You have no choice. Naval ships are so confined that there is literally no room for inhibitions. I had the third rack from the deck, I know what I'm talking about. Once again for the non military types, that means third bed from the floor up. It was known as the....the.....rooster and donkey rack, yeah that's it.Think about it. What is another word for rooster and donkey? I cleaned it up just in case my mother decides to read this.  

I was aboard the USS Peleliu as a Marine back in 1997. Our ship's Captain did not allow us to participate in normal Naval traditions like becoming a shell back. In Naval tradition inexperienced Sailors and Marines are called "polliwogs" and once they sail across the Equator for the first time they are welcomed with a coming of age ceremony, a full day of merciful hazing and earn the right to be called "shell backs". The same Captain had cancelled our trip to Australia yet another Naval tradition. The ship's moral dropped so low that the crew was talking about having him relived of his duties. The Captain was forced to reroute the ship and we landed in Darwin, Australia. The northern most point in Australia. We landed their just to say we stopped in Australia. The experience was far from the stories we had heard from landing in Perth or Sydney. We had no welcome parties waiting for us, no music or fireworks, no women banging on the ship's hull waiting for liberty to be sounded so they could catch themselves an American Sailor or Marine.

Troop morale is very important. I always used to tell my Marines that a happy Marine was a good Marine. It's always easier for you to expect someone to do something for you when they like you, like jump in front of a bullet for you. You think that someone who dislikes you would do that for you? According to reports Captain Honors was liked very much by his crew. Some have even come out publicly in his defense. I know if he was my Captain I would have done the same. I wish he would have been the XO on our ship when I was out at sea. All we had to watch was movies that were about ten years old or other "alternatives" to mainstream movies. That gets old after the first month out at sea.

Thanks to YouTube you can enjoy more of Captain Honors' "lewd" videos. Yes they were a little raunchy but there was nothing illegal or unethical shown on the videos. For those who complain about how his videos insult one group or another, I can honestly say he offended groups from the port and starboard side. So stop complaining about it. Do what the video told you to do and go hug yourself. Or do me a favor, volunteer to go on a Naval ship for six months then tell me what you think about the videos.

But for now, I think this video addresses the issue best. Another Naval tradition., a Marine stepping up and defending a Sailor when he needs it.