Ancient Mariner

He lacks a few teeth and his hair is grey, but at 69 George Humble is all set to ship out. Retired from the Navy 20 years ago as chief carpenter's mate, he broke out his old uniform again last week, prepared to work towards another hash mark to add to the swatch of eight that adorn his sleeve already (they represent 32 years' service). Sailor Humble began his career as a blacksmith's apprentice in Ireland, joined the U.S. Navy in 1890, the year he landed in the U.S. He began to hate the Japs back in 1901, when some Jap cops in Yokohama paddled him with the flat of their swords. "I've never forgotten that licking" he says. "It started smarting again when I heard about Pearl Harbor." To a Navy dentist brooding about his lack of teeth, he observed: "We're going to fight and lick the Japs, sir, but we're not going to eat them.'' The Navy took him.

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