Mark Miller
Former crewmember
CDR Playdon was an Acacdemy grad. I recall reading of his death early during my time aboard STORIS. It caught my attention because we had just had a visitor in Nome (during tours) who gave birth to a son in sick bay while he was CO.
She and her midwife were aboard for dental care during one of the old village visits, and she went into labor unexpectedly. She named her son for the ship and the CO, ie Playdon Storis (last name, which I've forgotten), and the crew manned the rail for her when she departed with her baby. The son died from an accident in his 20s I think.
Sick bay at the time was in the fantail where the armory is now. Shawn Decker, who was 1LT at the time, heard her story first hand, and I believe a Nome radio station did a segment on it. Shawn was XO of SPAR last I knew, but probably has moved on by now. Great sea story in any case, maybe something for the archives you guys are gathering.
I just signed up as an honorary corpsman for the USCG LA- Long Beach, as I like ships and I grew up behind the Navy locker club on Ocean and Maine across the street from Cost Liquor Store and the PLAZA HOTEL.As no one else in any of the military services wants me I felt like Willaim Shantner when he as Denny Craine for Boston Legal joined the US Coast Guard Reserve when he found he was to old and did not meet the physical requirment s for active duty as well.Now I do not know much about the history of the US Coast Guard as such but if the sick bay and sick calls are anything like the doctor on the ship in the movie " Mr. Robert's," then I want to sign up and be an honorary corpsman so the next time I go to Long Beach and paddle up the LA River on my surf board I won't get kicked out of LA like the Army Corps of Engineers did when they tried it with a CANOE. Has ever in the entire history of the LA River and the Coast Guard has anyone ever seen a TURD swim upstream ? If so could you please let me know as I wish to break the record ?
Posted by: Cloid L. Dokich | November 16, 2009 at 10:07 PM
The last name of the family is Milligrock, so the baby was named Playdon Storis Milligrock. The mother's name is Emily Milligrock. Her husband was Lincoln James Milligrock; he died July 12, 2010. There's a picture of Lincoln wearing a USCGC Storis baseball cap along with his obituary: http://www.nomenugget.net/20100722/20100722.pdf (Page 13)
Posted by: John Smith | July 23, 2010 at 06:16 PM
storis playdon miligruk was born on the storis because we were underway looking for a phantom plane that someone on shore said they say crash at sea. the storis was conducting pyrotechnic drills at the time off of unalakleet. the next day most of the villagers came out to the ship to escort the mother and baby home. we were ordered to conduct an all night seach for a plane that we knew wasn't there. no plane was found
and we terminated the search.
Posted by: george wein rm2 '53 to '55 | January 22, 2012 at 02:54 PM