Post Commander Dale Potts entered the United States Navy during the war in
Vietnam.Post Commander
Dale Potts
Post Commander Dale Potts entered the United States Navy during the war in
Vietnam.
Not yet knowing Navy protocol, he sent a personal letter addressed to the ship's Commanding Officer, saying that he although he was a line officer, his talents would be best be used for the Navy in Public Information. After a glorious month in CIC (Combat Information Center) school in sunny San Diego, he reported aboard The Fighting Lady.
Ensign Potts
The first stop for all new officers on the Yorktown, before checking into their Department Office, was a brief ten minute introductory discussion with the XO. To Potts' surprise, that meeting extended into an hour. The XO concluded the meeting by telling him that the ship's PIO was transferring to recruiting duty in a couple of months and although another officer from the COMM (Communications) Dept was being groomed for the job, Potts could have it if he wanted. Potts chose the Public Information assignment.
He reported aboard served as public
affairs officer on "The Fighting Lady" the USS Yorktown from
February 1967 and served in the Gulf
of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam and earned the Vietnam Service Medal.
click here
He also served aboard the USS Yorktown as it was one of the first United States
Navy ships to arrive on station in the Sea of Japan after the North Koreans
captured the USS Pueblo. For that action, Potts was awarded the Armed
Forces Expeditionary Medal.
Read More;
click here
Potts also served as a public information officer on the USS Yorktown when it
recovered the first men to travel to the Moon on the Apollo 8 mission.
click here
Potts assisted the Hollywood production crew as they filmed an episode of the TV show "Get Smart" on board the USS Yorktown.
Don
Adams on the flight deck of the USS Yorktown at Long Beach Calif. harbor.
Read more click here
Potts was involved in the filming by 20th Century Fox of the
movie about the bombing of Pearl Harbor entitled "Tora! Tora! Tora!"
His major impact to Toro, Toro Toro happened after the filming. It
involved a TV network crew that came a
board
after dinner to do a story. It was summer so there were a few hour of daylight
left. The NAVAIRPAC PAO with working with the media crew and had approved the
visit but didn't expect it would be done at 1830. Potts volunteered to handle
it.
Some Japanese Zero's were being loaded by cranes on the flight deck while the
news crew there. The reporter asked why planes were being put aboard the
Yorktown since the flight scenes had already been shot. Potts told him that the
Yorktown was transporting the planes to Hawaii so they could used for the movie
segment dealing with the actual attack on Pearl Harbor. The USS Yorktown was
going there anyway on its way to be a possible recovery ship for the Apollo 8
moon shot.
The next day while giving the Yorktown's Captain a debrief, Potts learned that the transit was supposed to be big secret.
Potts
asked him why no one had told him and he said it was something t
hat
only he and the NAVAIRPAC PAO had discussed. They were both unhappy with Potts
for awhile but Potts could not see where it was a national security issue. Also
every sailor on the ship knew the Yorktown was taking the planes so it was
common knowledge in all the bars and whatever other hangouts the officers and
crew used.
girls, girls girls, Hollywood style?
After arriving in Hawaii, all the Yorktown Senior Officers were treated to an
exclusive dinner party on the top floor of a major building in Honolulu. The
Hollywood studio saved a tremendous amount of money by having the Yorktown
provide the ferry service at no charge. There were rumors that the party
included call girls. Potts can neither confirm nor deny that rumor because he
wasn't on the guest list.
Interestingly enough, Congress initiated a bill about six months later that
required the military to charge fair market value every time it assisted the
movie industry. Previously the military considered the PR enough payment for
providing ships, planes, tanks and personnel for movies. Potts never
learned if his interview had any role in the law but felt it was only fair to
the taxpayers for the movie industry to pay its way.
Click
here to read more about the filming of the movie Tora! Tora! Tora! on the
USS Yorktown.
After his
initial 18 month tour on the YORKTOWN was completed, Potts was given a choice of
being re-
assigned
to another ship going back to Vietnam, or stay aboard The Fighting for good will
cruise around South America (included visiting Rio De
Janeiro, Brazil during Marti Gra) to a new homeport in Norfolk, VA and then a
European North Atlantic cruise. He chose to finish off his active duty
requirements aboard the famous Fighting Lady.
Lt. jg Potts
Potts started his military career in an unusual way. He was drafted into the Army but ended up in the Navy. click here
Potts left active duty in December 1969. He stayed in the US Navy Reserve and attained the rank of Captain (equivalent
to a Marine Corps Colonel) He retired from the United
States Navy Reserve in 1996.
