Author's Note: Prompt suggested by Tiffany
J is for Jolly Wrenches
To say that Dusty was confused, was an understatement, but he had been a racer long enough to be able to roll when he got by unexpected turbulent.
"So…you aren't part of the Jolly Wrenches?" Dusty asked while eyeing the oh-so-familiar symbol painted on the sides of the tugs sitting in front of him.
"Nope." The crew chief replied with a slag-eating grin that would have put even Avalanche to shame.
"Then…?" Dusty let his wings drop in confusion, which caused the group of vehicles to dissolve into hardy laughter. If this hadn't been a slagging veterans' event the racer would have been convinced that someone was trying to play a joke on him. As it was, all he could assume was he was being faced with a piece of military culture that he didn't understand.
"We are from the USS Kidd." One of the younger vehicles finally elaborated when it was clear that Dusty didn't know what to say next.
"Ah…" The aircraft tried to act like that little piece of information had been useful…even though it hadn't been. Even though he was still had no clue what was going on, his line for autographs was getting longer and the event coordinator was starting to give him the stink eye, so it was time to find a way to move things along. With only one path forward, Dusty plastered on a smile and went into customer service mode. "Well, let's get you all autographs."
Dusty would eventually get his answer, though it would take several days and a trip back to Propwash Junction to get it. Had flown back to celebrate Thanksgiving in the relative quiet of home. As he helped Sparky prep for the feast, he finally worked up the courage to ask a question.
"Sparky…are there any other units that use the Jolly Wrenches as their symbol?"
The little tug paused, put down the potatoes he was washing, and looked up at Dusty with the big eyes of his. After an uncomfortable pause, he simply shrugs and said "Yes" then turned back to washing the potatoes.
The reply was so vague that it made Dusty want to scream. But he bit his tongue long enough to finish the task and then went to go find a vehicle might be able to get a straight answer from.
"Skipper, do you have a moment?"
The old plane glanced away from the football game that had been absorbing most of his attention. "Sure Dusty, what do you need?"
"Um…" Dusty chewed on his lip for a moment. "I was wondering if any other military units used the Jolly Wrenches as their symbol?"
This caused the Corsair's full attention to slide away from the game and focus on Dusty. "Why do you ask?"
"I ran into a bunch of tugs at Veteran's Day event that I did a couple of weeks ago and they were wearing Jolley Wrenches, but they said that they weren't Jolley Wrenches, and…and now I am just confused." Dusty practically deflated in front of his mentor.
"Oh." The older plane seemed to perk up a bit in contrast. "Which branch of the service were they?"
"Navy."
"Hm…" Skipper paused for a moment. "American or British."
"American." Dusty replied. "Very, very much American."
"Based on that, I assume that they were probably stationed on the USS Kidd."
"That is what they said." Dusty's eyes got big. "How did you know?"
Skipper blinked in confusion. "Well, the only ship in the US Fleet that officially flies the Jolley Wrenches is the USS Kidd."
"Then…Then who stole the symbol from who?"
"Dusty." A weary smile of amusement ghosted its way across Skipper's lips. "No one stole the Jolley Wrenches symbol from anyone. It is not uncommon for more than one military unit to have symbols in common."
"Then who had it first?" Dusty sputtered as he tried to get to the bottom of things.
"Well," Skipper was thoughtful for a moment, "it all started with the pirates of sword and sail."
"Skipper, you know what I mean." Dusty glared at the older plane. "What was the first military unit used it."
"That would be the British." Skipper smirked back. "Back in WWI, British submarines flew the Jolley Wretches because their hunting style was considered unsporting by the rest of the Navy and the subs decided that if they were going to be looked down upon, they might as well have fun with it."
"Skipper." Dusty said flatly, clearly not impressed by the history lesson he was getting.
"Alright, alright." Skipper chuckled. "The first US Navy fighter squadron to take on the name was mine back in WWII. The VF-17 maintained the title until it was formally dissolved in the 50s."
"But…" Dusty stammered. "But, what about the Jolly Wretches that I met?"
The Corsair moved from a chuckle to a full-on laugh, clearly amused by cropduster's confusion. "The two units do feel deeply connected due to their shared symbol, but they technically have very different lineages. In fact, there was another military unit, the VA-84s that took on the mantle the Jolly Rodgers, before the VFA-103 were able to claim the symbol as their own."
Dusty just blinked at Skipper for a while. The little plane's mouth moved as though he was trying to figure out what to say next, but his brain refused to click into gear. Finally, he managed to stammer out three words. "But the wall?"
"Oh, that." Skipper brushed off Dusty's question with a motion of a wing. "It is not uncommon for units to 'adopt' units that are long gone. It is a way to keep the stories alive and give younger units a bit of history." Skipper allowed his eyes to slide back to the screen. "Now, unless you have another question, I would like to get back to the game."
"No…I am good." Dusty replied, even though he was still as confused as slag. But that couldn't be helped. Military culture was complicated and Dusty suspected that he probably still wouldn't understand the majority of it even if Skipper had spent the rest of the day trying to explain it to him.
End Note: I will admit that this turned out completely different than I thought it would when I started researching this short, but I will admit, I am somewhat entertained by military units happily claiming both disbanded unit's symbols and history if it suits them. Though I suspect it might drive some military historians nuts. But enough about that...what are your prompt suggestions for the letter K?
