Now and then I search the web for videos of the USS Blue Ridge, on which I served with the 7th Fleet Band.
And I find them: sailors climbing down ladders, joking in the passageways, streaming down the gangplank for liberty call.
The old tub looks just like she did two decades ago, with one exception: a lot of those sailors are women.
I don't object; whatever makes the Navy better and stronger is good. Women have come a long way since my day, when most bands had only a few junior women. Those of us who enjoyed the Navy Band's performance in Memphis this year noted that many of the senior sailors, the MU1s, were women. If the Navy has decided that including women on ships at sea makes for a better fighting force, I'm all for it.
Still, I've always got a kick out of Martin Mull's viewpoint on ships and gender. Here's his psuedo sea chanty "Men," dubbed over some movie footage.
Frank Mullen's very unofficial source of poop, skinny and bitching for present and former U.S. Navy Musicians.
