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“You are officially the Chief Loon on this boat,” Petty Officer Vera Chu slid out of her upper bunk and did her best to repress a shiver. As fast as possible she stripped out of her sleeping sweats and pulled on “The Blue”—technically the ODU, Operational Dress Uniform, which sounded far too fancy for the standard Coast Guard working uniform. Blue cargo pants (over long johns), topped with a long-sleeved blue t-shirt, and blue overshirt. Her last gesture after pulling on the blue ball cap was to rub her name stitched over her right breast pocket. USCG to the core just like her parents. Dad always insisted that Mom would have been so proud of her and that was enough—almost.
“What took you so long to figure that one? I mean we’ve known each other like two whole weeks already.” PO Hailey
