Navy Story #4
Robbed in Brooklyn
I suppose this isn't technically a "Navy" story. But I was in the Navy when it happened, and my being in the Navy did enter into the conversation I had with the robber.
But I get ahead of myself....
The Pensacola was in dry-dock in the Brooklyn shipyard, in 1976. It was springtime. For what it's worth, here are some pictures of the ship, in the dry-dock:
One Sunday I took a bus to the nearest subway station, and took the subway to Manhattan so I could go to church with some friends whom I had known before the Navy, who now lived in Manhattan.
In the afternoon, I took the subway back to Brooklyn. When I got off the subway, I needed to catch a bus to the shipyard, so I looked around and found a bus stop nearby. There was no one else around. It was very quiet.
I waited a long time. Eventually a young man (younger than I was at the time, and I was 26) walked up to me, stood beside me as if he also were waiting for a bus, and asked if I was in the Navy. I guess he could tell from
my short hair, or from the fact that he knew the shipyard was nearby, or a combination of factors. Anyway, I said yes, and then he asked if I had my military ID card in my wallet. It was an odd question, but I again answered
yes. Then he asked if I had a $10 bill in my wallet. ($10 used to be worth a lot more!) I said something about maybe I did, and why did want to know? He told me he wanted some money. I asked him what he would do if I
didn't give it to him. He opened up his pocket and showed me a knife with a very long blade. So I took out my wallet and found that I had a $20 bill. I asked him -- and these are the very words I used -- "Will
you take a 20?" He looked at me like I was from another planet. But he eventually recovered from the shock or disbelief or whatever it was, and said to just give him the money, which I did. Then he walked off.
I was a bit shaken, but not harmed. I walked around the block looking for some help, and discovered that the bus stop where my bus came to was around the block, away from the subway
station. I had been standing at the wrong bus stop, at the wrong side of the block. Oh, well. I eventually did get the bus back to the shipyard.
I called the police, went down to the station, looked at loads of mug shots, and decided that all young men look alike. I couldn't identify anyone who looked like the guy who robbed
me. But at least I had filed a report, and became a vital statistic. Ha.