by LCDR Roger Harris, USN(Ret)
..
| Barrett Tillman writes
in his book Warriors the
story of the junior officer in VF-53 who decided to make a suitable
rendition of the creature on the squadron patch. Kirby Wells, then
squadron public information officer, had answered a request for
information on said creature stating, "It is the
griffin, a mythological winged beast, half eagle and half black
panther. It is symbolic of our mission, which is to seek out and
destroy any enemy, day or night." .............Lou Fields had recently come aboard as our new commanding officer as VF-123 became VF-53. With him came the patch. Lou was a dynamic CO who brought with him a whole new attitude that rubbed off on many of the junior officers. We wanted to be part of what we knew was going to become probably the best fighter squadron at NAS Miramar, regardless of the fact that we flew the F3H Demon and not the FJ-4 Fury, the F11F Tiger, The F4D Skyray or the F8U Crusader. Those were, in our eyes, nothing but high speed, one-man transports. We needed something to brag about and protect (with our lives, if necessary) at the mandatory Friday afternoon Happy Hour! ............ENS Jack Harrison and I decided to build that "something." We started with an armature of wire, then began adding layers of strips of newspaper soaked in a mix of water and flour., Voila! Papier-mâché! |
 |
|
............We'd let it dry, then stand back and
view our creation and add more wet paper until it became recognizable.
We added removable stiff cardboard wings and painted it jet black with
glistening white fangs and red tongue. The long tail was another
problem -- it was frequently broken. On display we'd tape it up and
hide the break behind a vase of flowers or an immobile Demon driver.
............And that is the true story of the Pukin'
Dog.
from page 19 of "The Hook" Fall 2001............Needless to say, it became an item in high demand to be stolen. At one of our first squadron functions, one of the wives saw it and loudly said, "It looks like a pukin' dog!" And that name sure stuck! ............And, sure enough, some inferior squadron did steal the Dog. We'd get cards and letters from the Dog from various parts of the world, but we never knew who had stolen him. ............During the WestPac cruise of 1960, we had a new Dog, one we hoped would better stand the rigors of Happy Hour, carved of mahogany in "Po City. It wasn't finished, and we had it sent to us when we return to Miramar. ............By that time, the old Dog had reappeared as mysteriously as he'd gone. Having been all over the world, he was in pretty tough shape, with drooping wings and a crying need for a new paint job. So we decided to give the old Dog an appropriate sendoff to wherever Pukin' Dogs go. ............On a Thursday before the upcoming Happy Hour, we carefully cut open the belly and inserted some raw shrimp. We then repaired the exterior and repainted it. Sure enough, at the Friday "do" some JO was inattentive and the dog was once again stolen. The perps took it to the parking lot and put it in their skipper's car, where it remained until he drove to work on Monday Morning. ............We may not have been the hottest fighter pilots in the air wing, but we sure smelled better! The same story appears on the Pukin Dog's 60th Reunion webpage, including other pages of the same article. |
|
Go To RON'S PAGE