As you may recall,  The Flag on our '66-67 WestPac deployment was Rear 
Admiral Peter Aurand,  Known as "Peter, the Fox", he was a brilliant naval 
aviator.  He had been the the first to land a jet on a carrier, and he was a 
wizard at anti-submarine warfare.  He had also served as Eisenhower's Naval 
Aide during his second term as President.  It was Pete Aurand who laid out 
and developed Camp David for Ike.  

In '66-67 he was Commander, ASW Group 3,  and embarked on USS BENNINGTON 
during our WestPac cruise.  He had some demanding but fascinating ideas, and 
I would like to share just one story here.  

When Admiral Aurand embarked a month or so before our deployment, he summoned 
CDR Harry Irvine,  the Navigator, and myself,  the Supply Officer, up to his 
cabin and directed us to bring him the lightest weight No. 6 national ensign 
on board.  The "No. 6" was the larger "Sunday ensign" which normally was 
flown from the stern staff when the ship was at anchor or moored and only on 
holidays and Sundays.  

I had the GSK storerooms searched.  Harry Irvine searched the flag bags and 
Nav Dept.  We weighed them all in the Post Office and reported to the Admiral 
with the lightest.   He weiged it on a  small postal scale in his office and 
then said,  "Now,  before we deploy, I want one on board that weighs no more 
than half that much....
Dismissed"

 I knew there would be nothing like that anywhere in the Navy supply system,  
so I immediately contacted a flag store up in Pasadena to see if they could 
find me one.  They advised they could possibly have one custom made of silk 
in Hong Kong, and I gave them an order, specifying that it MUST be delivered 
before our deployment date.  As I remember it cost about $60 which really 
wasn't bad.

The flag arrived in time, and Harry Irvine and I took it up to the Admiral.  
He weighed it and said, "Well done".  Then, handing it to the Navigator, he 
directed,  "This ensign is to be flown ONLY when in foreign ports and when 
the wind is below 8 knots."

I didn't quite get it until we were anchored in Hong Kong on a flat calm day 
a few months later.  Riding across the Kowloon Ferry, I remember viewing that 
great harbor filled with ships from all over the world;  all with their 
colors hanging limp and still and barely distinguishable.  All , that is, but 
the USS BENNINGTON, where the Stars and Stripes floated and fluttered proudly 
on an imperceptable breath of a breeze. 

Pete Aurand loved the flag.  When he was embarked, each day a quartermaster 
was required to bring the ship's ensign to the laundry where it would be 
carefully laundered to remove all soot from the stack gas which was vented 
close to the masthead where it flew.  This, I knew, violated accepted flag 
etiquette which says the American Flag should never be washed,  but RADM 
Aurand had ordered it.  When it became the least bit tattered it was retired. 
  We probably went through more U.S. flags than any ship in the Navy.   An 
woe unto the skipper of any vessel in our task group which was flying a 
soiled or tattered ensign! 
  
	Al Rowley,  CDR, SC, USN (Ret.)  
	Supply Officer,  
	1966-67 



Also,

I can remember Admiral Aurand having the Twidgets rig up up a TV camera in 
a target drone and then having it flown in over North Viet Nam to 
see what he could learn.  That was undoubtedly the forerunner of todays 
unmanned reconnaisance aircraft the CIA has been flying over Afghanistan.

Admiral Aurand also had the ship's Electronics Officer rig up a Zenith "Space 
Command" TV remote so he could use it to summon either his Orderly or his 
Steward.  It never worked really well.    While shopping in Yokosuka, I 
purchased a small Sony wireless microphone designed for use on the stage.  No 
bigger than a cigarette lighter,  it would broadcast the speakers voice on a 
preset FM channel to a nearby receiver/amplifier.  It cost me $25.  Then I 
took a little $30 FM radio from the ship's store up to the Orderly's station 
outside the Admirals cabin and the Flag Mess and tuned it to the matching FM 
frequency.

After dinner, I took the mike into the Flag Mess and handed it to the 
Admiral.  He had never seen one and asked what it was.  I told him it was a 
wireles mike and suggested he speak into and summon his Orderly or his 
Steward.  He looked at me doubtfully, and said, into it, "Steward,  please 
bring us some coffee."   Within seconds the Steward entered with coffee.  

Admiral Aurand was tickled pink, and from that day on I could do no wrong.  
He soon had another another wireless mike connected to the PA sytem in Flag 
Plot for use by the briefing officers.  That cheap tiny mike would broadcast 
up to about 150 feet through steel bulkheads and was the best $25 I ever laid 
out.

Admiral Evan Peter Aurand sometimes drove his staff officers nuts because of  
all his ideas and demands, but I thought he was great!   His final command 
was as Commander, Anti-Submarine Warfare, Pacific Fleet headquarted in 
Hawaii.  He lived in Quarters "K" just a few hundred yards from the Arizona 
Memorial and close to where he had landed an aircraft he had flown in from 
the Carrier Enterprise just minutes after the attack on Pearl Harbor on 
December 7th.  

In addition to developing Camp David during his tour as Naval Aide to 
President Eisenhower 1956-60,  he was also the first to argue that the 
President could safely travel by helicopter.  He also inititiated the 
historic submerged voyage of  USS NAUTILUS  beneath the North Pole.  
 
I recall reading that he had passed away in Hawaii about 10-15 years ago.

           Al Rowley