Elmer's Brother

My grandfather Charles M. Nichols Sr. went Home today.

The earliest and some of the fondest memories I have of ‘Pap Pap’ are his visits to our house. He would bring us orange gumdrop candy or a package of peanut shaped marshmallows on payday. He took us swimming to local places like Petersburg and Guilford Lakes and to the amusement park at Adora. He made sure we had a ride to church on Sunday and we always always shared a Fourth of July picnic complete with watermelon. He played the piano by ear and would often sit down and start singing a hymn, The Old Rugged Cross being one of his favorites. We’d wrestle and play box too. He’d pretend to touch his nose with a boxing glove and then start a boxing match with us, often to my grandmothers chagrin and shouts of "Chuck!, don't you get those kids started."

I'll always associate the smell of a Halls mentholyptus throat lozenge and homegrown strawberries with my grandfather.

   He memorized and recited Shakespeare and Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade:

Half a league half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred:
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

By the pace and rhythm of his voice we’d all be there charging with the six hundred.

Can you believe I still get a birthday card with $5.00 in it? So did a host of other relatives, he made out the cards at the end of each month. 

            For my brothers and I the best part of spending time with Pap Pap were the sea stories he would tell. He was part of the Greatest Generation. He fought both in the Atlantic and the Pacific while a member of the US Navy during WWII. What impressed me as a young man hearing these stories is that he used words like …us… our… we. These were shared experiences with men who didn’t know if and when they were going home and he remembered that THEY fought. When I got old enough to even think about the military these sea stories would flash through my mind and I thought the Navy was the only way to go. So after enlisting I called my grandfather to break the good news. I said, “Hey guess what Pap Pap?” Thinking of course that he’d be quite happy with my decision. “What?” he says. “I joined the Navy”.  “You did what!!!???” says he. I repeated what I said to which he replied, “I never thought you’d go and join!”

One particular story involved my grandmother traveling to see him during his training. The trainees were required to jump off a platform that was as high as the deck of an aircraft carrier. If I recall the story correctly Pap Pap wasn’t too keen on making this jump, but Grandma was outside the gate waiting for him. Evidently the fellow training him was well aware of his situation. Knowing both his apprehension at jumping and the fact that my grandmother was outside the gate waiting for him. The trainer told him he couldn’t see her till he jumped. Well he jumped and according to him enjoyed it so much he did it a second time, securing his liberty in the arms of my grandmother.

There were other stories, fist fights with British sailors over a stolen captain’s gig or steering the ship through a hailstorm of lead while he was the Quartermaster (helmsman).

He served in the Pacific on the USS Springfield (CL-66) and the USS Thorn (DD 647). During WWII his ships fought battles we read about in the history books. Epic battles like Leyte Gulf and Luzon Philippines, Okinawa, Iwo Jima, Honshu Japan and in the Admiralties. They were also involved in island hopping at Palau, Eniwetok  and Ulithi. They escorted ship convoys in the Atlantic. Pap Pap escorted Japanese dignitaries to the Missouri for the signing of the surrender in Tokyo Bay. Ironically enough the first ship I was on was in Tokyo Bay the same time Pap Pap was.  I don’t remember my grandfather ever questioning the war nor his involvement in it. He just knew it had to be done. There were times when I was away from my family that I would get to feeling sorry for myself and I would remember his sacrifice and his dedication to seeing the job done. I would think if he could do that for me and my country than I can sacrifice too.

Pap Pap had a great influence on my life and for that I will be grateful to him and to the Lord.

The Navy uses flags to communicate messages between ships. When the commander is particularly pleased with the performance of those under his command he will hoist the ‘B’ and ‘Z’ flag or as we would say in the Navy Bravo Zulu. It means ‘job well done’

Now rest sweet man, BRAVO ZULU, fair winds and following seas.

I'm going to be out for a couple of weeks.