The Pilot's Log
By Bynner Martin

CHOW LINE

How's the chow in the navy? Several folks have asked me this question since my return from a trip to Pearl Harbor as a guest of the navy.

On the cruiser Helena it's good and plentiful. On the voyage home, I ate lunch one day with the crew. "Walkin' the chow line," I got a tray loaded with roast beef, potatoes and gravy, chopped carrots, string beans, dread and butter, blackberry pie, and a fruit juice drink.

Couldn't eat it all. But as I dug into the food I asked a couple of the boys who were eating at the same table with me: "Is this meal something special, or is it fairly typical of your chow?"

They said it was fairly typical. Twice a week, they get the traditional Navy standby, baked beans for breakfast.

What they liked most of all during their eight months tour of Korean war duty was sunday breakfast. Then they got eggs, "sunny side up."

"You know," one of the boys said with admiration in his voice, "one of the guys went through the line seven times one Sunday, ate 14 'sunny-side-up' eggs. He really likes 'em."

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