Former Local 98 President Brian Burrows Sentenced To Four Years In Prison For Embezzlement Of Union Funds, Filing False Government Reports, And Tax Fraud

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia released the below information this past Wednesday:

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Brian Burrows, 64, of Mount Laurel, NJ, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl to 48 months’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release, forfeiture of $135,689.11, an $1,800 special assessment, and restitution to be determined later, for crimes arising from his embezzlement of funds belonging to Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (“Local 98”).

Burrows had served as the President of Local 98 since 2008. The only person who held a higher office in the union was his codefendant, Business Manager John Dougherty. In January 2019, a federal grand jury indicted Dougherty, Burrows, and other union officers and employees with conspiracy and embezzlement arising from their theft and improper use of approximately $600,000 in Local 98 funds from April of 2010 through August of 2016. The indictment also charged Dougherty and Burrows with concealing the embezzlement of Local 98’s funds by causing false labor management reports, known as LM-2s, to be filed with the U.S. Department of Labor, and with filing false federal income tax returns by failing to report the funds they stole on their tax returns.

In December 2023, a federal jury convicted Dougherty and Burrows of conspiracy to embezzle the funds of Local 98. Burrows was also convicted of 13 counts of embezzlement of funds from Local 98, two counts of causing false statements to be made on the form LM-2 that Local 98 was required to file annually with the Department of Labor for 2015 and 2016, two counts of causing false information to be reflected in the books and records of Local 98 for those years, and three counts of filing false federal income tax returns. The charges of which Burrows was convicted included the illegal use of approximately $391,000 in union funds to improve and repair his home, the homes of codefendants Dougherty and Michael Neill, commercial properties owned by him and his codefendants, and the homes of Dougherty’s relatives.

Dougherty was convicted of 33 counts of embezzlement of funds from Local 98, 24 counts of wire fraud by participating in a scheme to defraud Local 98 of its money, two counts of causing false statements to be made on the form LM-2 that Local 98 was required to file annually with the Department of Labor for 2015 and 2016, two counts of causing false information to be reflected in the books and records of Local 98 for those years, and three counts of filing false federal income tax returns.

The other officers and employees of Local 98 charged in the indictment pleaded guilty in 2022 to charges related to their embezzlement of Local 98’s funds and were sentenced earlier this year. They are Michael Neill, former Director of Local 98’s Apprentice Training Fund; Marita Crawford, former Political Director of Local 98; Niko Rodriguez, an employee of the Apprentice Training Fund and Local 98; and Brian Fiocca, an employee of Local 98.

Dougherty is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11.

“The members of a union should be able to trust their leadership,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “They have every right to expect that their officers will act in their best interests and that their dues will be used for their benefit. That wasn’t the case at Local 98, where Brian Burrows violated his duty to his members for his own benefit and allowed his codefendants to do the same. Burrows stole from the hardworking electricians whose dues paid his salary, took deliberate steps to conceal it, and is now being held appropriately accountable.”

“In serving himself over the members of Local 98, Brian Burrows abused his position as the president of the Union and breached the trust of those whom he was elected to serve. Today's sentence makes it clear that this kind of self-dealing at the expense of others will not be tolerated,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners remain unwavering in our commitment to upholding the integrity of labor unions for the members who rely on them, and bringing to justice those who exploit them.”

“Anyone contemplating cheating on their taxes should know that IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agents work tirelessly, year-round, to investigate tax and financial crimes,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Acting Special Agent in Charge Denise Leuenberger. “The outcome today is due to the dedicated efforts of IRS Criminal Investigation special agents and our law enforcement partners.”

"When a union official embezzles union funds, not only are they violating the law, they are also betraying the trust of the union membership who rightfully expect their officials to protect and safeguard their union’s funds and assets," said U.S. Department of Labor Office of Labor-Management Standards Acting District Director Nicole Spallino. "There are consequences for union officials who breach their fiduciary responsibilities to the members they represent. The Office of Labor-Management Standards remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners to protect the financial integrity of labor unions."

“The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to protecting employee benefits for America's workers,” said Cristina O’Brien, Philadelphia Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration. “EBSA appreciates the collaborative work with our law enforcement partners to hold Brian Burrows criminally accountable for violating the law.”

“Brian Burrows, the former President of IBEW Local 98, conspired with other former union officials to enrich himself at the expense of the union’s dues-paying members by embezzling union funds. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards and Employee Benefits Security Administration to safeguard union assets,” said Syreeta Scott, Special Agent in Charge, Mid-Atlantic Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation; the U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration; the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Labor Management Standards; the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General; and the Pennsylvania State Police, with assistance from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Frank Costello, Chief of the Corruption & Civil Rights Unit; Bea Witzleben, Co-Chief of Trials; Jason Grenell, and Anthony Carissimi.

Theodore Roosevelt's Historic Pocket Watch Recovered: 126-Year-Old Watch Was Missing Almost 40 Years

 The FBI released the below information:

When a Florida auctioneer was asked to auction off a pocket watch from the late 1800s, his research led him to believe that he may be holding a piece of U.S. presidential history.

The auctioneer realized that the watch may have belonged to Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States. He contacted two historic sites closely associated with Roosevelt—Sagamore Hill National Historic Site and Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site—who confirmed the authenticity of the watch.

Roosevelt’s watch had been in possession of Sagamore Hill National Historic Site since he died in 1919. They loaned the watch to the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in 1971 for a six-year term to be shown in an exhibition. The loan was extended, but, unfortunately, the watch was reported stolen from the site in Buffalo, New York, on July 21,1987, and wouldn’t be identified again until 2023 at the Florida auction house.

Since Sagamore Hill National Historic Site and the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site fall under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service (NPS), they reached out to NPS to recover the stolen artifact. NPS, the lead investigative agency, contacted the FBI Art Crime team for additional assistance. Both the NPS and FBI confirmed that this was the watch stolen almost 40 years earlier.

"This watch was a fairly pedestrian Waltham 17 jewel watch with an inexpensive coin silver case. It's a 'Riverside' grade and model '1888' with a hunter-style case, meaning it has a lid on either side which fold and encase the dial and the movement," said Special Agent Robert Giczy, a member of the FBI Art Crime Team who investigated the provenance of the watch in this case.

Roosevelt had many pocket watches during his life, but this one is unique due to its sentimental value. Roosevelt received this watch from his youngest sister, Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, and his brother-in-law, Douglas Robinson, Jr., prior to Roosevelt’s departure to Cuba during the Spanish-American War. The inscription, which includes Corinne and Douglas' initials, reads: "THEODORE ROOSEVELT FROM D.R. & C.R.R."

After NPS recovered the watch, they coordinated with the FBI to navigate the asset forfeiture process. As Paralegal Specialist Kellie Dodd from the FBI Tampa Field Office explained, this "allowed the FBI to begin the process to return the watch back to the rightful owner, the Sagamore Hills National Historic Site."

Roosevelt’s watch was returned to Sagamore Hills National Historic Site during a repatriation ceremony in New York on June 27, 2024. Representatives from the NPS and the FBI—to include our New York, Miami, and Tampa field offices and members of the Art Crime team—attended.

"NPS does a great job in enforcing and recovering our national property,”] said Special Agent Giczy. "The repatriation of the watch would not have been possible without the close collaboration between the FBI and NPS. This partnership ensured that this historic treasure could be returned safely for future generations to enjoy."

An Old Navy Veteran's Basement Office And Library

I’m an old and proud Navy veteran, having served as a young, enlisted sailor on the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk during the Vietnam War in 1970 and 1971, and later on the USS Saugus, a Navy harbor tugboat at the U.S. nuclear submarine base at Holy Loch, Scotland. 

These days I work as a writer in my basement office and library, surrounded by my knife, sword and gun collection, and my awards, photos and mementos of my time in the U.S. Navy in Southeast Asia, Europe and other places, as well as those of my family, my time as a U.S. Defense Department civilian, and my later career as a writer and journalist. 

My books are mementos. Some of my books are from my childhood, and I recall fondly my dreams of adventure and romance as a sailor in the Navy and as a writer as I read and reread them. 

I also recall the books that I read while traveling the world in the Navy, and the books I took with me on travel work assignments and the many vacations I spent with my wife and family over the years. And I recall the books I received as gifts from my wife and children on my birthday, Father’s Day and Christmas. 

Books have always accompanied me on my journey in life, and they have been good companions.

Sikorsky Support Services Inc. And Derco Aerospace Inc. Agree To Pay $70M To Settle False Claims Act Allegations Of Improper Markups On Spare Parts for Navy Trainer Aircraft

The U.S. Justice Department released the below information:

Sikorsky Support Services Inc. (SSSI), a Delaware corporation headquartered in Stratford, Connecticut, and Derco Aerospace Inc. (Derco), a Wisconsin corporation headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, have agreed to pay $70 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations that they overcharged the Navy for spare parts and materials needed to repair and maintain the primary aircraft used to train naval aviators.

In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the Justice Department alleged that SSSI and Derco, which were both wholly-owned subsidiaries of the same parent company, knowingly entered into an improper cost-plus-percentage-of-cost (CPPC) subcontract. Under that contract, SSSI agreed to purchase parts from Derco at the cost that Derco paid other suppliers for those parts, plus a fixed 32% markup. SSSI, in turn, submitted cost vouchers to the Navy for reimbursement of the amounts it paid to Derco. The government alleged that, by failing to disclose that the costs claimed by SSSI were the product of an illegal CPPC subcontract between SSSI and Derco, SSSI and Derco knowingly presented false and fraudulent cost vouchers to the Navy. The district court ruled that Derco’s markup violated a federal statute barring CPPC contracting, which Congress prohibited because it gives suppliers incentive to drive up government costs, as well as the terms of the prime contracts between SSSI and the Navy. 

“Government contractors must ensure their subcontracting arrangements comply with the law and with their contractual obligations,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Today’s settlement demonstrates that the Justice Department will ensure that government contractors do not skirt the law and engage in self-dealing that may artificially inflate their charges at the expense of the American taxpayers.” 

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to preventing fraud and protecting taxpayer money,” said U.S. Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. “Government contractors must put compliance with the law ahead of profits. This settlement makes the United States whole for the inflated costs arising from SSSI’s and Derco’s illegal subcontract deterring future violations of the law.”

“Today’s settlement agreement should serve as a strong deterrent for those who seek to exploit the Department of Defense's procurement process,” said Special Agent in Charge Darrin K. Jones of Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Southeast Field Office. “This investigation is part of an ongoing effort by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and our partners to aggressively investigate defective pricing and cost mischarging schemes that put American taxpayer dollars at risk.”

“Overinflation of parts and material costs for the repair and maintenance of aircraft affected naval air training and is a disservice to the American taxpayer,” said Special Agent in Charge Greg Gross of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Economic Crimes Field Office. “NCIS continues to safeguard the Department of the Navy’s warfighting efforts from economic crimes by upholding the integrity of the defense acquisition process.”

The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed under the qui tam or whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, which permits private parties to file suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and share in a portion of the government’s recovery. The Act permits the United States to intervene and take over responsibility for litigating these cases, as the United States did here. The qui tam case is captioned United States ex rel. Patzer v. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Sikorsky Support Services Inc., and Derco Aerospace Inc., Case No. 11-0560 (E.D. Wis.) and was brought by Mary Patzer, a former employee of Derco.

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, with assistance from DCIS.

Trial Attorneys Alan Gale, Nelson Wagner and Gary Newkirk of the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Carter for the Eastern District of Wisconsin handled the matter.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only. There has been no determination of liability.

Donald Sutherland, M*A*S*H And Hunger Games Actor, Dies at 88

Entertainment Weekly reports that one of my favorite actors, Donald Sutherland, has died.

Donald Sutherland, he Canadian actor whose career spans seven decades and includes revered films as Klute, M*A*S*H, Ordinary People, Pride and Prejudice, and The Hunger Games, has died. He was 88. 

His son, fellow actor Kiefer Sutherland, 57, revealed the news in an emotional Thursday social media post.

"With a heavy heart, I tell you that my father, Donald Sutherland, has passed away,” he wrote on X.  “I personally think one of the most important actors in the history of film. Never daunted by a role, good, bad or ugly. He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more than that. A life well lived.”

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

Donald Sutherland dead: 'Hunger Games' actor was 88 (ew.com)

I first saw Donald Sutherland in one my favorite films, The Dirty Dozen. Sutherland had a minor role as one of the dozen military misfits, but he stood out in one scene when Lee Marvin asked the goofy soldier to impersonate a general. Great scene.

You can watch the scene below:

Bing Videos   

I next saw Sutherland in one of his finest roles as Army Doctor “Hawkeye” Pierce in Robert Altman’s 1969 film MASH.

You can watch a scene from the film via the below link:     

Bing Videos

Sutherland also appeared as the lead in a fine horror film called Don’t Look Now.

You can watch a scene via the below link:

Bing Videos

And Sutherland appeared with another one of my favorite actors, Sean Connery, in The Great Train Robbery.

You can watch a video via the below link:

Bing Videos

Donald Sutherland appeared in many more films and TV shows.

He will be missed.

Attorney General Henry Names Special Prosecutor Assigned To Crimes On Philadelphia Public Transportation Authority (SEPTA)

 HARRISBURG — June 14, 2024. Attorney General Michelle Henry announced the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate and prosecute crimes on the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) public transit system in Philadelphia, as mandated by Pennsylvania Act 40 of 2023.

Act 40 was passed by the legislature and signed into law by the governor in December and required the Office of Attorney General to appoint a special prosecutor to “investigate and institute criminal proceedings” for violations of law occurring within SEPTA.

On Friday, the Commonwealth Court ruled the Act is constitutional. The Office of Attorney General had advised the court on June 11 that it would be making the appointment Friday, and the opinion allows that appointment to proceed.

Michael Untermeyer, Esq., (seen in the above photo) of Philadelphia, has been appointed to fill that role.

Untermeyer most recently worked as an attorney in private practice. He has fifteen years experience as a prosecutor, including serving as special counsel to the Office of Inspector General, Deputy and Senior Deputy Attorney General, and as an Assistant District Attorney. Additionally, he has four years experience as a hearing examiner for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.

Act 40, as written by the legislature, required potential candidates to: reside within Philadelphia County; have at least five years of criminal prosecution experience in Pennsylvania; not have been employed by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office or the Office of Attorney General in the past six years, among other requisites.

“We worked diligently to follow the mandates of Act 40 to fill the position, first by posting the opportunity, then interviewing applicants to ascertain if they fit the specific criteria established by the law,” Attorney General Henry said. “We selected a candidate who expressed a commitment to public safety while possessing the qualifications required by Act 40.” 

Celebrating Flag Day 2024

 When the American Revolution broke out in 1775, the colonists weren’t fighting united under a single flag, notes History.com. 

Instead, most regiments participating in the war for independence against the British fought under their own flags. In June of 1775, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia to create the Continental Army—a unified colonial fighting force—with the hopes of a more organized battle against its colonial oppressors. This led to the creation of what was, essentially, the first “American” flag, the Continental Colors.

For some, this flag, which was comprised of 13 red and white alternating stripes and a Union Jack in the corner, was too similar to that of the British. George Washington soon realized that flying a flag that was even remotely close to the British flag was not a great confidence-builder for the revolutionary effort, so he turned his efforts towards creating a new symbol of freedom for the soon-to-be fledgling nation. 

On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress took a break from writing the Articles of Confederation and passed a resolution stating that "the flag of the Unted States be 13 stripes, alternate red and white," and that "the union be 13 stars, white in blue field, representing a new constellation." 

Over 100 years later, in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson marked the anniversary of that degree by officially establishing June 14 as Flag Day. 

Note: My beautiful and wonderful daughter pleased her patriotic father by being born on June 14^th, Flag Day, in 1987.  

Above is the Jasper John painting Three Flags.  

My Crime Fiction: 'Black Horse Pike'

 The below short story originally appeared in American Crime Magazine.

Black Horse Pike  

By Paul Davis

The bartender in a small dark roadside bar on the Black Horse Pike in South Jersey introduced himself to us as Bob as he served my friend Tony Rocco a beer and a vodka on the rocks for me. 

Tony told the bartender that I was a writer and he was a photographer as we were offered menus. We ordered meatball sandwiches along with our drinks, and Bob said he was glad we were drinking, as he had been a bartender for forty years and he didn't trust a man who didn't drink.

“No problem here,” Tony told him. 

Coming from South Philadelphia, we were taking the Black Horse Pike to Atlantic City, which was the old way before they built the New Jersey Expressway. The Black Horse Pike was the road to "downashore," as we called it when we were teenagers in the 1960s. We took the Black Horse Pike as Tony wanted to make a stop at the home of one of his relatives.

We were on our way to Atlantic City to cover the trial of a South Philly mob guy later that week. The notorious mobster had been arrested by the Atlantic City Police at a diner as he was pounding away on a gambler who was behind on his payments. 

As the local newspaper's crime columnist, I was going to Atlantic City to cover the trial and Tony, one the local paper’s photographers, accompanied me.  

We ordered a second round of drinks and Bob again told us of his mistrust of non-drinkers.

“You’re a writer," Bob said. "You want to hear a story while you're waiting for your food to come out?”

“Sure,” I replied.

“Well, about fifty years ago a thin man with glasses, a meek-looking guy, kinda shy, came in and sat at one of those tables. Ole Joe, the old bartender then, left the bar and went over to the table to take the man's order. The shy man hardly looked up as he ordered a cheeseburger in a low, hesitant voice.

“The bar was nearly empty except for the shy man and a group of six local boys. Young tough guys and bad boys, you might call ‘em.”

“Want a beer or something to drink with your cheeseburger?” Ole Joe asked the shy man.  
“No,” the shy man said softly. “Just a glass of water.”

“Mister,” Ole Joe said, “This is a bar, you know.” 

“Your sign outside reads Bar and Grill. I’ll just use the grill part if you don't mind.”

“OK,” Ole Joe said. 

The group of young men heard the exchange between the shy man and Ole Joe and they laughed loudly.  

One of them yelled out. “Get him a soda pop,” Another yelled out, “Get him a glass of milk.”

The shy man ignored the insults and taunts.

After the shy man had finished his cheeseburger in silence, he got up from the table and went to the bar. He asked the bartender how much he owed him for the cheeseburger.

“Well, Ole Joe told him $30 dollars.” 

“Why so much?” the shy man asked Ole Joe.

“The boys over there said you was picking up their tab too,” Ole Joe said. 

The shy man turned slowly towards the group of small-town toughs and then turned back to the bartender. “I never agreed to that,” he said softly. 

“Listen,” Ole Joe said quietly, leaning in, “Mister, it might be better to just pay.” 

The shy man told Ole Joe to call the police.

“They won’t get here in time, and I don't want to see you get hurt or my place smashed up, so just pay up, OK.” 

“Do what I said,” the shy man in a soft, calm voice.

“The local boys were all drunk and having fun and they sure was brave in a group of six,” Bob said. “Dummy Number One and Dummy Number Two got up from the table and approached the shy man at the bar. 

"Hey,” Dummy Number One said to the shy man. “Why ain’t you paying for our beers and food?” 

“Pay your own bill,” the shy man said softly without turning to face the two young men.

“Now Ole Joe was in the army in World War II, and he thought he saw everything,” Bob explained. “But when Dummy Number One grabbed the shy man's jacket, Ole Joe saw a blur of arms and as swift as you can imagine, Dummy Number One was on the floor screaming about his broken arm.” 

Bob said the shy man also dropped Dummy Number Two to the floor as the rest of the pack charged him. 

“It was all so quick that most of the bad boys didn't know what hit them,” Bob said. “But they was all on the floor with broken bones or just plain knocked out." 

The shy man then said to Ole Joe, “Didn't I tell you to call the police? 

“Yes, sir,” Ole Joe said as he picked up the phone. 

“Well, it turns out that the man was shy, but not meek. He was some kind of soldier who was in Vietnam, and he sure knew how to fight close up and all.” 

“It goes to show you,” Tony said. “Don't judge a book by its cover.” 

“Yeah,” Bob the bartender replied. “And don't trust a man who don't drink."

Tony and I laughed. 

"I ought to know,” Bob said. 

“How so?” I asked.

“I was Dummy Number Four.”

© 2020 Paul Davis

Mexican Cartels Targeting Americans In Timeshare Fraud Scams, FBI Warns

The FBI warns that Mexican drug trafficking cartels are targeting Americans in timeshare fraud scams.

The FBI has seen a rise in scams targeting timeshare owners. In this kind of scam, criminals con these part-time property owners into shelling out hefty sums of cash, all under false pretenses related to their timeshare properties.  

Its primary choice of victim—older Americans—technically makes timeshare fraud a form of elder fraud, or crime that aims to make older Americans part with their money or cryptocurrency. The FBI aggressively investigates such crimes to safeguard a particularly vulnerable population from scams, said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Paul Roberts, who leads FBI New York’s Complex Financial Crimes Branch. 

“Timeshare fraudsters aim to suck their victims dry, with devastating consequences to victims’ financial futures, relationships, and physical and emotional health,” he said. 

You can read the rest of the information via the below link:

Mexican Cartels Targeting Americans in Timeshare Fraud Scams, FBI Warns — FBI 

Missing The Boat

As I’ve noted here before, I grew up in South Philadelphia not far from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, where the USS Kitty Hawk was commissioned in 1961. 

My late father, a former WWII Navy chief and UDT frogman, took me to see the commissioning of the U.S. Navy's new aircraft carrier, the USS Kitty Hawk, when I was a young boy. I recall the grand ceremony that launched the new, majestic warship, with banners flying, bands playing and people cheering.  

I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1970 when I was 17. I reported to the USS Kitty Hawk after two weeks leave after graduating from Boot Camp in 1970.

Prior to shoving off to Southeast Asia for the aircraft carrier’s 5^th Vietnam War cruise and serving on “Yankee Station” in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam, and visiting port of calls in Hawaii, Subic Bay in the Philippines, Sasebo, Japan and Hong Kong, the aircraft carrier was undergoing a major overhaul in Bremerton, Washington.  

With memories of the new carrier that I saw at the commissioning in my head, I was somewhat disappointed as I looked up at the ship and walked along the port side of the ship tied to the pier.

The aircraft carrier looked to be in major disarray. The Kitty Hawk was undergoing an overhaul, and the ship was being taken apart and put back together.  

But things soon looked up. Rather than being assigned to mess cook duties, a rough and dirty job, like other new sailors, a petty officer in personnel who hailed from Philadelphia took pity on me and assigned me to Special Services. I performed a variety of duties there, but my main job was to assist in the running of the shipboard TV and radio cable throughout the ship. The Kitty Hawk was the first warship to have cable TV and radio.

After some weeks aboard the carrier, I took a break one day and left the ship to go for a hot dog and a soda. When I returned to the pier sometime later, I discovered that the aircraft carrier was gone.

I was in shock. I sat down on a shipping crate, looked at the vacant pier and pondered my fate. I heard much talk about the carrier sailing to San Deigo once the overhaul was completed, but I didn’t recall anyone saying that this day was the day.

I thought of what the penalty was for missing ship’s movement, which I knew was a serious offense. I was worried. I was a seaman apprentice, “lower than whale shit,” as the saying goes. Could I be busted in rank? Tossed in the brig? Kicked out the Navy?

But mostly I was embarrassed. I didn’t want to be ridiculed and thought of as a stupid “Boot.”

I thought of myself as a street-smart South Philly kid, and although I had only been in the Navy a few months, I thought I knew a lot about the Navy. I learned a good bit about the Navy from my Navy veteran father, my many conversations with former and active-duty sailors, and from my voracious reading about the Navy.

Yet here I was sitting on the dock of the bay like the Otis Reading song, wondering where my ship had gone.

I was about to turn myself in to the first Navy chief I saw, when I saw the Kitty Hawk coming back.

 I was elated.     

The tugboats helped the carrier return to the pier and backed the aircraft carrier in, stern first. Apparently, the carrier had pulled out to go to wider water so the ship could maneuver and then return to the pier and be tied up on the starboard side.   

As my terror subsided, a joke ran though my head - the ship's captain realized I was not aboard, and he turned the carrier around to come back and get his missing seaman apprentice.  

I then thought of the expression, “missing the boat.”

For a brief awful time, I thought I did in fact miss the boat.

I would not tell anyone this story for 20 years.

You can read my other sea stories, vignettes, and humor pieces via the below link:    

Paul Davis On Crime: Sea Stories: Vignettes, Short Stories And Humor Pieces About My Time In The U.S. Navy 

Revealed: Ian Fleming’s Orders To D-Day Spies

Jack Blackburn at The Times in London offer a piece that reveals the orders issued to the WWII British intelligence group 30 Assault Unit for the D- Day invasion by Royal Navy Commander Ian Fleming, the future creator of James Bond (seen in the above photo at Royal Naval Intelligence HQ). 

You can read the piece via the below link or the below text:

Revealed: Ian Fleming’s orders to D-Day spies (thetimes.com) 

When troops landed on D-Day, some had an ulterior mission. Most were aimed at liberating nearby settlements but GCHQ has uncovered orders issued by the creator of 007 to a covert commando.

The listening service’s historians have found and released the orders that Ian Fleming — who would go on to write the James Bond thrillers — signed and issued to 30 Assault Unit, the covert unit he established to conduct intelligence operations during the Second World War.

In a highly detailed briefing, Fleming directed the men to go to various locations in France and elsewhere to find “items of immediate operational importance in the prosecution of the war against Germany”. These items included material relating to the Enigma code.

There was also a note about “new weapons or devices” that the Germans might have been developing. The desired intelligence items are listed as sufficiently important that they justified special operations and casualties.

The documents are testament to the thoroughness of British intelligence-gathering. At some points, the men are directed to individual rooms or even objects where the sensitive material was expected to be found.

For instance, one document tells the men: “It is reported that the secret books are kept in a light metal chest in an office in the [U-boat] pens: the door is marked only with the name ‘Oberschreibersmaat Fritz Frank’ without reference to his employment.”

In the Second World War, the role of 30AU (or Number 30 Commando) was to go ahead of the Allied forces and then behind enemy lines. Throughout the conflict, they performed vital work in different theatres of war in securing Nazi codebooks, ciphers and battle orders.

On D-Day, they landed on Juno and Utah beaches and proceeded inland; five were killed and 20 were wounded near Sainte-Mère-Église. It had been known that one of their targets was a radar station at Douvres-la-Délivrande, which held out for 11 days. The commandos were also charged with examining suspected V1 rocket sites. However, it now appears that they may have had many more targets.

The documents, marked “Top Secret” and “Bigot” (British invasion of German occupied territories), say that the men are to gather “All code books, cyphers and documents relating to signals, radar and communications: the ‘spools’ [wheels], junction boxes and indications of settings used in connection with the German ‘ENIGMA’ cyphering machines.”

The targets are listed in numerous French sea and river ports, such as Nantes, Bordeaux, Boulogne and Dunkirk, as well as targets in other countries along the north European coast.  How far they got with this list is not clear. It is known that they took part in the liberation of Cherbourg in June before racing toward the ports at Rennes and Brest in August. They then executed a series of operations in Le Havre and Dieppe. All those places appear on the list, and perhaps yielded vital intelligence for later in the war.

Whether the intelligence was as pinpoint accurate as it appeared remains to be seen, and it seems that Fleming and his colleagues had their doubts. They said the intelligence should be graded no higher than C, making it fairly reliable. The report is dated April 15, 1944, but there was a hope that corroboration would occur during the invasion

“Interrogation of prisoners in the field and up-to-date aerial photographs will probably be the only reliable cross-checks,” it said. 

Note: You can also read my Counterterrorism magazine piece on Ian Fleming and the 30 Assault Unit via the below link: 

Paul Davis On Crime: My Piece On The 30 Assault Unit, The British WWII Commando Group Created By Ian Fleming, The Creator Of James Bond

And you can read my Washington Times On Crime column on the new Ian Fleming biography via the below link:

Paul Davis On Crime: Ian Fleming: The Complete Man: My Washington Times 'On Crime' Column On Nicholas Shakespeare, The Author Of The New Biography Of The Creator Of James Bond