“Congratulations, Skipper,” he said.
“Thanks, March,” Gray said. “Some of the crew on shore liberty must’ve run into it up at headquarters somehow. They don’t miss a thing.”
They not only missed nothing, but they did not miss a chance to do something about it. After mess a delegation from the crew appeared and asked for an audience with the Skipper. He sensed what was coming and met them in the control room.
Pete Kalinsky, Chief Petty Officer in the torpedo room, was the spokesman.
“Lieutenant Commander Gray, sir,” he said. “Your crew is very happy to see you gettin’ up where you belong, though they’ve got to come through a few more times before it’s okay with us. We knew you wouldn’t bother about such things, but the Kamongo’s captain ought to do himself proud, so on behalf of the crew I give you these.”
He coughed, acted as if he were about to add something else, then said “Sir,” lamely, and backed up.
Larry took the small packages Pete had handed him and undid them with fingers that shook slightly. First came a set of three gold stripes, two wide and one narrow, for his blue uniform. Then the same in black for his work uniform. Then shoulder insignia and finally two gold oak-leaves for pinning on his shirt collars.
March, who stood behind Larry, felt a lump in his throat. He knew how Larry must be feeling and wondered how he could keep the tears out of his eyes. There was a long silence, and March knew that Larry was waiting for his voice to get under control before he spoke. Everyone was looking at him as he fingered the marks of his new rank which had been presented to him by his crew. Not only had they got the news almost as soon as it had happened, but somebody had taken up a collection and rushed downtown, during his last hours of shore leave, to buy these things for him.
“You know, men,” Larry spoke quietly, “it’s naturally very pleasant to get a promotion. But when you’re about to set out in a pigboat to sink as many Jap ships as possible, it doesn’t seem very important. And certainly gold braid and pretty gold leaves aren’t important at all. But I’ll tell you what really is important, what really does count for a lot when you’re about to get under way for enemy waters. That is the knowledge that I have a crew like mine! I’ve got a crew that is proud of its boat, proud of its Skipper, proud of itself. A crew that’ll do something—like this—like what you’ve just done—well, it just can’t be licked, that’s all.”