Captain David Buck

When I was on board the USS LaSalle in the Persian Gulf in early 1984, the commanding officer was Captain David Buck. He was a gray-haired man of close to fifty, and he slightly famous for having written a country song entitled, “The Fadin’ Renegade.” As a lowly Petty Officer 2nd class, I didn’t have much contact with him. I spent my time on the LaSalle working port and starboard shifts, 12 hours on/12 hours off in the signal center in the Signals Intercept Section behind a vault door. I was on the midshift from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. One time, way past midnight and perhaps an hour before dawn, I had occasion to walk down the passageway outside SESS, which was located up in the upper deck officer’s country.

AsI made my way down the passageway, I passed Captain Buck. He was wearing running shorts and a running shirt, and even in the dim light, I could see he had worked up a serious sweat. I didn’t say a word, but the image remains with me more than twenty years later. I was so impressed that he was the type of officer who would be seriously PT-ing when just about everyone else was in their racks.