Fleet Week is here! Sailors (along with Marines and Coast Guardsmen) stepped ashore to see the sights and show New Yorkers the might of the American military.
Despite returning from deployments in far-flung lands, these boys say New York City seems like a foreign country to them. “There’s so much diversity here,” says Corey Flores.
But, the enlisted men insist, New Yorkers take care of them, buying them drinks and food, and offering them rides, handshakes and hugs. Sometimes, if they’re lucky, New York ladies get particularly patriotic, they add. We asked these Navy men what they think of New York women, and how they are spending their days ashore.
Chris Welch, 28
“I’ve gotten a bunch of high-fives and hugs and photo-ops, and people just passing us pitchers of beer,” he says. And with the ladies, “the white uniform doesn’t hurt.”
*Moorestown, NJ, coxswain and operation specialist on the Riverine Squadron One
Dave Klopfer, 32
Buffalo, NY
Klopfer says he ended an earlier Fleet Week night with nothing but his pants on. “I lost my shoes, my ribbons, both warfare pins, my top and my neckerchief [to deserving ladies]. We’ll see what happens this time.”
*Boatswain mate, 1st Class
Corey flores, 24
Aurora, NEB.
“Being in New York City makes me feel like I’m in the movies. The fire escapes on the buildings — they remind me of ‘Pretty Woman.’ Everything I’m looking at [in Times Square] I’ve seen before in a movie.”
* Aviation boatswain mate handler, 3rd Class
Brandon McMillan, 22
Wichita Falls, TEXAS
“Last night a guy handed me a $100 bill and said, ‘Go out and have dinner on me,’ ’’ says McMillan. After an Applebee’s Times Square meal, he hit a pub where people treated him to drinks. “I didn’t spend $20 all night.”
*Aviation boatswain mate handler, 3rd Class
Clayton Miller, 21
clearwater, fLA.
“New York women know they’re never going to see us again after tonight, so they go crazy! I had some female jump on me randomly, wrap her legs around my waist and just give me a big kiss. It was pretty awesome.”
*Intelligence specialist, 3rd Class