War Throphies

[Bob Womack]

In 1946 when my father mustered out of the Navy at the ripe age of twenty, his Naval station was being decommissioned as well. There were many items that simply weren't going to be reclaimed or accounted for. Amongst those were a large number of mechanic's tool kits. So, the station commander did the logical thing: He had the sailors break out the tool kits and put the tools into separate piles in a row and the tool boxes at the end of the row. The names of the sailors who were mustering out were put in a hat, mixed, and drawn. As each sailor's name was drawn he walked down the line and drew one of each tool, a tool box, and his papers and "Ruptured Duck" insignia, until the lot was gone.

By this method and because his name was called early, my father arrived home in his uniform with his sea bag and a complete mechanic's box of tools to start his life. It served him well and I've inherited some of these tools.

Bob