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Charles W. "Chuck" Bird header
Charles W. "Chuck" Bird, LTJG
SECTION 7.
[Photos and information on this page most graciously contributed by Chuck Bird.]
Charles W. Bird - 1963
"I came on board as a very green, new minted Ensign in January of 1961. I served as M Division Officer.  I met a Nurse at Jim McClendon's Wedding and married her. I left active duty, perhaps foolishly, in 1963 and became the Plant Engineer in a large papermill. I finished my Master's Degree and served as the Plant Manager of that papermill until the company went bankrupt in 1972. With the help of my wonderful wife, I started my own engineering company (SeaBird Engineering, LLC) and took on contracts that sent me scurrying in places both domestic and overseas. By 1984 I began to worry how much longer I could "dodge bullets" so became the Regional Manager for the Masonite Division of International Paper and we settled down in South Carolina, though I kept my business going also. Along the way, we had six children, and now I have 5 Grandchildren. I retired from IP in 1997, when I turned 60 and I sold the business in 1999. We already owned a home here in Arizona, to which we moved. Unhappily, in 2003 I lost my wonderful wife, Mary, to cancer and it took me a while to recover from that blow. With the help of my Children and some very dear friends, like Jim MClendon and Paul Webb (both Savages) I regained my sense of priorities and have gone on with my life. We were very fortunate, we had property in California, which we sold and the sale of my company has allowed me to enjoy a few luxuries,  I travel quite a bit and am able to visit with my Children  and Grandchildren,  who  are  spread  from  Barrow,  Alaska  to  Norfolk,  Virginia."

Chuck's memories from the Savage:

"Life on the Savage was pretty hard, it was not at all unusual to have an 80 day patrol in the North Pacific, come in to Pearl for 5 days and do it all over again!  Those BarPac patrols were pretty brutal, not because of warfare, but weather and drifting on station. Money was so tight, we couldn't even afford new liners for the engines, I would go over to the Sub Base and beg them for used liners just to keep the engines running. We rarely were ably to keep both little boilers operable, so never more than half the ship could be heated at any given time, even in sub-zero weather! Ice would be so bad at times, even the Captain would be out on deck with a fire axe chopping ice so we would not turn turtle!"  

"The name of the Naval Shipyard where The Savage ended her "real" life was Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California (on the upper reaches of San Francisco Bay) I went on board her in December, 1969 and was allowed to roam the ship. It was eerie, I had left the ship in 1963 and most everything was still the same, even the smells and that hideous couch in the wardroom! The correct designator for the main engines is Fairbanks-Morse 38D-81/8-10OP. They were 10 cylinder Opposed Piston Engines that were normally used in submarines. They were vertical engines with an upper and lower crankshafts. In the DER configuration, there were three General Motors  2-68-A 300 KW generators providing electricity and two small "donkey" boilers for heat, the evaporator and other shipboard needs for steam. Again, in the DER configuration, the main armament were two 3" single gun mounts, one forward and one aft, both designated 3"-50's.  (during my time, they could fire about 5 rounds before jamming!)."
Charles W. Bird - 2005
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BACK TO SECTION 6.Charles W. Bird, LTJGRoger B. Christen, EN3
"Admiral"  R. J. CrumleyRaymon J. Crumley, DC3Joseph F. Drouin, QMC
Escort Squadron 5Gailon O. Hall, RM2Gene Hansen, EM3
Fred C. Hochreiter, AG2Don Kazimir, LTJGLt. Bruce Keener, III
Ensign Mel KowalHarold "Hal" Lucas, ETN2Roger Nolan Makin, SN2c
Bobby G. McLeod, A/1cNome Visit 1963Nome Visit (2)
Officers 1962Edward W. Russell, ET3Edward P. Stone, LTJG 
Jesse F. Turner, EN3Jesse F. Turner, EN3 (2)Ron Werner, BMSN

SECTION 7. CONTENTS
HOMENEW ADDITIONSSITE MAPINTRODUCTION
FOREWORDINVOCATION1. WALTER S. SAVAGE, JR.2.  DE-386 (WWII)
3.  DE-386 CREW4.  DE-386 CREW PHOTOS5.  DE-386 SHIP PHOTOS6.  DER-386 (1955)
7.  DER CREW 1955 - 19648.  DER-386 PHOTOS9.  SAVAGE IN VIETNAM10.  VIETNAM CREW
11.  VIETNAM PHOTOS12.  SHIP'S AWARDS13.  ACTIVE SERVICE TERMINATED14.  REUNION ASSOCIATION
15.  DECEASED16.  ROSTER17  REUNION PHOTOS18.  KEEPSAKES
19.  MISCELLANEOUS20.  SITE POLICIES21.  WEBMASTER22   COMMANDING OFFICERS 
23.  MISCELLANEOUS CREW PHOTOS24. SHIPS IN VIETNAM/AGENT ORANGE25. SHIP'S HISTORY

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photograph of Charles W. Bird, Lt. (jg.) - 1963
photograph of Charles W. Bird - 2005
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