A couple of recent events combined to remind me of the summer of 1969: My 57th wedding anniversary on March 23 and reports of classified information being provided to a journalist by incompetent members of the current federal government administration.

BJ and I married on March 23, 1968, and eight days later, on April Fool’s Day, I joined the U.S. Navy. She has claimed it was a joke ever since but I know it was serious because I had orders to report to the Army on April 2.

All of this occurred a mere 57 years ago but the story I want to tell actually happened in the summer of 1969.

The Navy performed all the required background checks on me, even talking to some folks I barely knew in order to qualify me for a “top secret crypto” security clearance because of the work I was to do. After “boot camp” and training in Pensacola, Florida, I was assigned to the USS Belmont, a general technical research (GTR) ship out of Norfolk, Virginia.

GTR was a euphemism for spy ship. The Belmont was built as a merchant ship supporting operations during WWII. It was originally named “Iran Victory.” I doubt you will find many ships in today’s Navy with the name “Iran” included. It was transferred to the Navy in 1963 and renamed the Belmont. The Navy then refitted the ship with electronic monitoring devices and a huge “exotic” antenna called “TRSSCOM” for Technical Research Ship Special Communications, which rode on the rear deck.

“TRSSCOMM” utilized a powerful transmitter, which reflected secure communications off the moon to be received at the National Security Agency at other places. Its capabilities were limited because, well, the moon had to be out with minimal cloud cover.

We left Norfolk in June 1969, having had 18 explosive charges installed on the inside of each side of the ship 3 feet below the waterline. Imminent capture by an enemy would engender blowing out the sides of the ship and sinking it. You see, the USS Pueblo, a similarly missioned ship, had been captured by the North Koreans in January of 1968 and still sits in North Korean hands in the Pothonggang Canal. This wasn’t going to happen again.

Our mission was to head for the Mediterranean Sea and intercept the Russian helicopter carrier/guided missile cruiser, the Moskva. We sat in the Aegean Sea waiting for a few days until we heard the Moskva was transiting the Bosphorus from the Black Sea. This notice came on our radios tuned to the public broadcasts of the Associated Press, not secure Navy communications. And 45 minutes later, we got the news via secure communications. Maybe those folks in the current administration are onto something in terms of using commercial means to communicate instead of secure links? Actually, probably not.

By the middle of July, we and the Russians had become accustomed to following each other around the Mediterranean, mostly avoiding anything dangerous except for a couple of Russian trawlers that sidled up beside us. Other than that, things were quiet except for watching and listening to each other. Then July 20 happened.

On July 20, 1969, U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. Neil stepped on the moon on a Sunday afternoon in the U.S., I suspect timed to maximize the TV audience. However, it was 10 p.m. in the Mediterranean and hence, dark.

We were roughly 10 miles from the Russians so our captain decided we needed to celebrate. We put up the “holiday flag,” a larger than regular version of the U.S. flag, showed spotlights on it, and then shot off some flares. We sent a message over to the Russians informing them that the United States had landed on the moon. We continued to celebrate with no congratulatory response from them. After a while we sent another message over with the same contents in the unlikely event they had not heard us earlier. Yeah, right. We heard their ships communicating and they finally came back to us with the admonition, “Yankees, go to bed.”

These stories happened a long time ago with doubtful “top secret” classifications today. The Belmont was decommissioned in January 1970. As far as I know, “TRSSCOMM” never overcame the moon or cloud cover issues. However, I don’t think we ever felt free to talk about anything we did because “Loose Lips Sink Ships,” a caution apparently forgotten last week.

My apologies and thanks to those who have heard these stories before and still read the whole column.

Love a curmudgeon and have a great week!