Back in the early days of World War 2, dad was assigned to guard the Brooklyn docks. When he graduated from OCS and they handed out the assignments, some got sent off to the war in the Pacific, some to the North Atlantic and some to guard the docks. The Brooklyn docks was not a difficult job. March the troops out to their posts, then check up on them occasionally to see that they were awake and then march them back to the barracks after they were relieved from duty.
When the Queen Mary was in town, if you were careful, you could enjoy its amenities. One evening while lounging on a bed in a luxurious cabin, dad was interrupted when one of the crew discovered him and appalled said: "Sir, get up. Don't your realize that's Winston Churchill's bed." To which dad replied, "If it's good enough for Churchill, it's good enough for me." Dad was never invited back aboard the Queen Mary.
On the other side of Brooklyn's planet, one day, a couple of cops made the mistake of driving onto the docks and trying to break up the lunchtime craps game. The Italian dock workers did not take kindly to this and instead of breaking up the game they decided they'd teach the cops a lesson. The cops retreated to their patrol car, but were surrounded by the Italian dock workers. Then the crowd picked up the patrol car like it was the massive statue of San Gennaro, then, shaking the uplifted patrol car, the procession started for the water... instead of the Church of the Most Precious Blood in Little Italy It was about this time my dad arrived with a fresh detachment of armed troops ready to be dropped off at their posts guarding the docks. Seeing that the police were in trouble, he ordered the troops to fix bayonets, port arms and advance on the crowd. The Italians dropped the patrol car, scurried off back to work and the police collected themselves and drove off never to return. 