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From: Jerome Scott Larochelle
Date: 30 May 2001
Time: 04:32:34
It sounds to me like this is a certificate of a turtle stationed on the USS West Virginia. When a Sailor (in my case a Marine,) stationed aboard a ship crosses the equator for the first time; they are snatched and put through an old traditional hazing (not complaining...) In my case it included tons of pushups in some foul smelling mess, a reading just such as yours and among other things a ritual 'throwing them over the side, Sir.' You wouldn't want to do this more than once so they sometimes give certificates and have a secret phrase and responce keeping just such an occurance from hapining. (Yes, thanks Navy y'all did it to us Marines twice when you could get away with it...) My guess is that you'll find out more about this Sailor or Marine by researching the property records than looking for that years USS West Virginia crew roster, but I could be wrong on that. Good Luck and God Bless.