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Senior Crew
Posts: 102
| Subject: Gary/Cowboy/Bash-at-the-Ranch
While on a busy trip in SoCal right now, I want to take a moment toremember and remind you all that four years ago today, at the entirelytoo young age of 59, Gary "Cowboy" McLaughlin received his final orders.
Probably best remembered as the prime-mover and host of Bash-at-the-Ranch" in June, 2001, Gary was one helluva guy! 
It is a rare day that passes that I don't fondly recall the Cowpoke at least once. I miss you, Pard! 
Bill |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 561
| Subject: RE: Gary/Cowboy/Bash-at-the-Ranch
After being a Pampanito Docent with Cowboy and Gary Walker for 3 or 4 years there isn't a day that goes by that I don't fondly remember those carefree days aboard.
I know Cowboy is up there with the biggest smile when he sees my grand daughter Briana operating the cameras on one of the Predators over Iraq or Afghanistan.
He got the biggest kick when, at the Bash, the "Sons" introduced her right before they sang "Charlie and the Boys". Charlie Goodnight was her Great-5-Grand Uncle.
T.Spoon, DBF |
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Plankowner
Posts: 9165
Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: RE: Gary/Cowboy/Bash-at-the-Ranch
I have the tape right here and will watch it soon. Was magic for sure.
RIP shipmate.
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1814
Location: Boydton, Virginia | Subject: RE: Gary/Cowboy/Bash-at-the-Ranch
What impressed me was to watch Cowboy watching US having fun. He made a concerted effort to speak to all 250-300 of us old Pharts and to make us feel welcome. He was one of the most generous men I have ever known. "Only the good die young" certainly applies to Gary McLaughlin.
BTW, Has anyone heard an update on Sue?
Steamboat sends |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1814
Location: Boydton, Virginia | Subject: RE: Gary/Cowboy/Bash-at-the-Ranch
What impressed me was to watch Cowboy watching US having fun. He made a concerted effort to speak to all 250-300 of us old Pharts and to make us feel welcome. He was one of the most generous men I have ever known. "Only the good die young" certainly applies to Gary McLaughlin.
BTW, Has anyone heard an update on Sue?
Steamboat sends |
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Old Salt
Posts: 251
Location: Beavercreek, Oregon | Subject: RE: Gary/Cowboy/Bash-at-the-Ranch
In August the Blueback base had their picnic at a park in Oregon City, Oregon and Sue made the trip from her new home in washington. She looked good and seemed to be doing well! |
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Crew
Posts: 57
Location: Cherokee, CA | Subject: RE: Gary/Cowboy/Bash-at-the-Ranch
Great post Bill.
I'd never even heard of USSVI before the Bash. What a difference Cowboy made in MY life! There hasn't been a week go by in the last 4 years that I haven't thought of Gary and the Bash.
Phil |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1323
Location: Oxnard, CA | Subject: RE: Gary/Cowboy/Bash-at-the-Ranch
Sue and I e-mail each other a couple times a week. She's alive and well, and living in Washougal Washington, just north of the Columbia river. She just bought a riding lawn mower, and is learning how to mow the 1-1/2 acres of weeds around her house. |
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 566
Location: Inyokern, Ca. | Subject: RE: Gary/Cowboy/Bash-at-the-Ranch
Thanks Bill, true words.
As for Sue, someone recently posted a great letter from her over on Ron's board. She related her experience with buying and learning to operate some lawn equipment. (I don't want to give away the story  )
edit: I see that it was Jon, perhaps he'll post the letter here.
BB
Edited by BlackBeard 2009-09-17 11:48 AM
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Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 560
Location: Minot, Maine | Subject: Sue's Saga
Topic: Adventures of Sue McLaughlin...
Posted: 12 Sep 2009 at 12:29 - IP: 71.254.96.61
Well, as y'all probably know, when I sold the ranch, I sold the big tractor with all its implements and the riding mower, the lawn mower and....the list is endless. The Washougal house comes with 2 acres, I estimate 1/2 acre behind the house is totally inaccessible, since it is the forest primeval and wet lands (2 unnamed creeks run through it). Two of the property corners are down there somewhere but since I fell down the hill, giving myself painful tendonitis in one wrist, I have no intention of going down there again. Some of the ferns were almost 5' in diameter and the trees were so thick you cannot walk between them. For all I know, there might be woman eating plants down there........that leaves me with 1 1/2 acres (excluding the house and driveway) that I have to deal with.
I did attempt to use the big tractor and riding mower several times at the ranch, but after each effort, Gary strongly suggested I not touch those machines again, due to certain errors on my part, which necessitated certain repair efforts on his part.
I do not have lawn, I have weeds and let me tell you, these weeds are spectacular in their persistent growth. Of course, in fairness, I have to admit that it does rain a lot in Washougal and that rain seems to encourage the weeds, although from what I can tell, they sure don't need much encouragement. For that reason, I took myself off to Lowe's some months ago and bought a weed eater. Other than not being able to put the 2 pieces of my weed eater together correctly and having to call my dear salesman Mario for phone assistance, I have been fighting the good fight and keeping the weeds under control. You might be incredulous that I have managed to weed eat 1 1/2 acres with my trusty weed eater. I certainly am. It is very tiring and eventually I came to the notion that there might be an easier way. I pondered lawn motors but rejected that idea----a lawn mower would be way too wussy to deal with my weeds. I pondered one of those mowers that turns on a dime but it has no ability to have attachments. Aha! A riding mower.......
Naturally, given my propensity for causing any machine to misbehave, I sensibly thought about who would repair this critter. Could I change fuel filters and spark plugs? Maybe......but let's get real.......probably that's a no.
Sears, here I come. Sears sell those handy dandy 'you wreck it, we fix it' programs. I bought one good for 3 yrs. That oughtta do me for a while.
I was so lucky in my saleslady at Sears. She listened to me for 60 seconds, as I explained the level of my non-expertise and the kind of hill I have to overcome and the description of my weeds. Aha! she said, she had just the riding mower for me. She sold me a Sears Craftsman Lawn Tractor, 24.0 HP, 42" Mower, Electric Start, Automatic Transmission. She also told me there was quite a list of attachments I could buy. One attachment she strongly suggested I buy was a bumper, explaining it would be cheaper to replace a $40 bumper if I hit something, vis-a-vis the repair to the front end of my mower without a bumper. I really liked the looks of the most expensive bumper but you have to take the engine cover off to put it on, so that eliminated that bumper from my consideration. My saleslady told me the delivery people would install the bumper for me and give me instructions on starting the mower, all I needed was to have 2 gallons of gas on hand.
The street I live on is fairly new so not yet on GPS. I explained this to the delivery guy and gave him directions. Naturally he ignored those directions, got lost and had to call for assistance. Finally a huge Sears truck came lumbering down the driveway with my new girl toy. Two large guys came with the truck. They seemed surprised that they were expected to put the bumper onto the riding mower. Said they were delivery guys and didn't do that kind of thing, that the warehouse guys did that. I very politely suggested they load the lawn mower up and take it back to the warehouse guys. They called their supervisor who told them to put the bumper on for me. Wow---watching them raised my self confidence to a new level. Guess I'm not the dumbest person on the planet!!!!!!! Yee haw! Good thing I have a lot of tools, even if I don't know what a tool is used for------we needed them. After a considerable struggle, the bumper is now attached to the riding mower (at least I hope it is).
Asked them to fill the mower with the gas I bought, the guy couldn't figure out how to get the gas outta the can; just pretended like he was doing something. I hadn't been able to figure it out either and hoped by watching him, I'd know what to do in the future. No such luck! Those gas cans are tough to figure out. Naturally this causes me some discomfort---if I can't figure out my gas can, how am I gonna be able to figure out my riding mower, given my less than wonderful performance with machines?
One thing the delivery guys are required to do is start the engine and make sure it runs. After watching them for a few, I mentioned that this mower has a riding feature, you actually have to be sitting in the seat. Oh........The biggest of the two (both were large, did I mention that?) crammed himself in, with his belly hanging over the wheel and said he would never buy one of these things, as he didn't fit very well. (no kidding?) I did not mention to him that the seat is adjustable and I could clearly see it was as far forward as it could go. They got the engine started. I didn't ask for driving assistance, as obviously I was better off on my own, wasn't I? They successfully negotiated their truck up the hill and were gone, hi ho Silver.
It rained and rained, the weeds were growing, I could literally see that. Finally the sun came out, the weeds dried and it was RM Day (riding mower day to y'all who can't figure these little abbreviations out, bless your hearts). I had successfully identified the brake, the parking brake, how to lower the deck, how to turn on the blades, I have no gas pedal but a hand control which moves the speed slower or faster, reverse and neutral. I figured out how to use the gas can and gassed my beautiful Riding Mower up. I even figured out the ignition key, off position, start position, run position and a position that allows you to mow in reverse (Cool!) Rolled my baby out into the driveway, started it up with absolutely no problem, put it into chicken speed and nothing. Just nothing. No go forward, no go reverse. I spent over an hour pondering this problem. I googled and lordy, the amount of things that could be wrong is absolutely staggering and so far above my pay grade. I absolutely refused to call Sears for a repair call. You can understand that!
Obviously I needed some testosterone. I have 2 neighbors. Both are married, one has a teenage daughter and 2 elementary school kids. I see him spending a lot of time looking at the string end of his weed whacker so I eliminated calling him for assistance---obviously he's not doing much better than I am. The other guy has all the guy toys a guy could want---it looks like a sheet metal factory down at his house, Class C Rv, 3 trucks, his wife's car, a large trailer to haul goodies, ATV, and I think I saw 2 jet skis. The perfect choice. Ryan came down and looked and looked and looked. He didn't do any better than I did at forward/reverse and actually moving. He said it's gotta be a safety feature that we don't know about. Naturally the operator's manual is perfectly useless. We discovered a pin sticking out of the bottomside of the riding mower; aha---it engages and disengages the transmission. SUCCESS! Ryan has now replaced Mario as My New Best Friend.
Mowing went just fine, although the ground is so uneven that I almost flew off the seat a couple of times. The hood almost popped up so that I couldn't see where I was going (it has no latch). I wondered why safety belts weren't a safety feature, but most folks I see on riding mowers are just zipping back and forth on lovely manicured grass, so no doubt it's only an issue for a very small minority of us. It's nice to know that if I get bucked off my mower, it will stop and wait for me to mount up again!
My dear saleslady at Sears had told me how to pop a wheelie; in the frustration of figuring out how to make my mower actually move, I have forgotten what she said. Maybe that's a good thing?
I am attaching a picture of The Beast. The last thing I would ever buy is a red vehicle, as it makes me feel (somewhat) aggressive. I look at The Beast and I do not like it. We will never be friends, I can already see we are always going to have an adversarial relationship.......
Hugs to all, wish me luck, wish me well in keeping ahead of The Beast.....
S
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1405
Location: Houston, TX (Best state in the US) | Subject: RE: Gary/Cowboy/Bash-at-the-Ranch
I, too, miss Cowboy. A more generous man you will never meet. I think if anyone looks at the bash and wonders who and why someone would do that, you have to see Gary as a man of compassion, friendship, brotherhood, and trust. Gary did things on principle and honesty. He expected those qualities and gave them in return. Gary was not a games player....his word was good....you didn't have to guess where he was coming from. He spoke his mind truthfully and confidently. He did consider all responses to what he said and it is a credit to him that he probably gave more time to consider opinions from folks that irrationally disagreed with him.
I admired Gary's character, his sense of humor, his deep rooted honor and love of country. I miss him too and consider myself fortunate to have known him and Sue, and that wonderful dog Zeke.
It goes without saying the BASH AT THE RANCH was one of the most memorable events in my life to be able to meet fellow submariners from the heroes that manned the diesel boats in WWII to the fellows that manned the reactor powered boats in the cold war.
So, tonight, Gary, I raise my glass in a toast to you and our brothers in the silent service:
Thank you for your service and sacrifices. May we never forget that.
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 6180
Location: Summerville, SC | Subject: RE: Sue's Saga
Thanks, John.
I can picture Gary looking down, smiling and shaking his head as he watches Sue bouncing along on her patch of weeds.  |
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Master and Commander
Posts: 2253
Location: Foothills of the Ozarks | Subject: RE: Sue's Saga
Ralph Luther - 2009-09-17 8:41 PM
Thanks, John.
I can picture Gary looking down, smiling and shaking his head as he watches Sue bouncing along on her patch of weeds.
You better know how to drive that tractor and cut some weeds, Ralph. Sue's place is on the itinerary and she has work to do be done before we get fed. I signed you up for weed patrol
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 6180
Location: Summerville, SC | Subject: RE: Sue's Saga
Hey Doc, I gladly accept the challenge. I'll be heading over to Sears to get their latest repair manual on the tractor. |
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Admin
Posts: 2297
Location: Renton, WA | Subject: RE: Gary/Cowboy/Bash-at-the-Ranch (from Sue)
Sorry folks... took the weekend off from computerdom... here's a followup to this thread from Sue: Thanks to all for remembering Gary and for being such good friends to him. I think he was very lucky to have you, and so I am. I have found out that submariners are very, very good at taking widows to their heart and holding them close. I miss Gary every day of my life, actually with every breath I take. We are all unique, but to me, he was the unique-est of the unique. An incredibly loving and caring man, passionate about so many things, willing always to go the extra mile, honest to a fault. He wasn't perfect though. Being a widow is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. When I start to feel sorry for myself, I can just hear Gary saying "Oh, Sue, quit sniveling and cowboy up!" And so I try to do just that. I am pleased that I have finally figured out it may be easier to mow my weeds, than to weed whack them...... I discovered how lucky I was during my griefshare class, the others were so angry at their spouses for dying but I have never felt that way. I have always known that, if there were any way Gary could have, he would have come home that day. As you will recall, the last day of his life, he went to a subvet meeting, taking a WWII guy with him. I was invited to go, but stayed home, hoping they would have some great guy time together, just the two of them. Gary went out the door and came back, looked at me, and said "I hope you know how much I love you. You and Zeke are the most important people in my life." A hug and a kiss and he was gone, forever. I consider myself lucky to have those final words from him. My griefshare friends complained that once the funeral is over, they are forgotten and so is their spouse. I am lucky that hasn't happened to me. One of you said something to the effect of "as long as we sit around a campfire and tell stories, they will never be forgotten." As Gary's friends, you will carry him in your hearts as long as you live. What more could anyone ask? That makes me a lucky woman. s |
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COMSUBBBS
Posts: 2540
Location: Wappingers Falls, NY | Subject: RE: Gary/Cowboy/Bash-at-the-Ranch (from Sue)
Sue, we are the lucky ones...to know that you are doing well and that ALL OF US we touched by Gary! |
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Gary/Cowboy/Bash-at-the-Ranch
