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Retrieved from the below link on 2008-11-01:
Retrieved from here http://hubpages.com/hub/Are_You_a_Turtle on 2008-11-04.
Are You a Turtle? An Ancient order of Fliers That Dates Back to World War II Having been initiated into the Order of the Turtle myself in the stag bar of the officer's club at the, now closed, Mather Air Force Base in Sacramento, California while in air navigation training, I instantly knew the answer. I also knew the uncomfortable position into which the astronaut being asked the question had been put. Once a fellow as been initiated into the Order of the Turtle he is obligated, whenever asked the question Are you a Turtle? to immediately respond loud and clear with You bet your sweet ass I am. Failure to answer promptly and clearly is punishable by having to buy a round of drinks for all the Turtles in the room. Of course, you are not told this when asked if you wish to join. Instead, you are just told it is simple and fun and are then asked three questions. When I became a Turtle, a bunch of us were sitting in the bar and the one who was a Turtle asked if we wanted to join and, when we said yes, we were asked these three questions: 1 What does a woman so sitting down, a man standing up and a dog on three legs? 2 What is long, hard, tubular shaped, and full of sea men? 3 What does a cow have four of and a woman two? With a little coaching, all of us passed and became Turtles. We were then told about our obligation to answer the question Are you a Turtle? or buy a round of drinks. Of course, sitting in a bar with of bunch of other fliers who were Turtles, it was no problem answering the query Are you a Turtle? properly. But, one is rarely asked the question when sitting in a stag bar with fellow fliers. Instead the preferred venue for asking the question involves things like asking the groom, while he is standing in the receiving line outside the church with his new bride, parents and in-laws, or in a similar embarrassing situation like working in space and your conversation is being broadcast to the entire world. My only experience with the Order of the Turtle was in the Air Force and, at that time I guess the Order consisted of mostly American Air Force fliers. I did a quick Google check on the question Are You a Turtle? and found a number of websites, most of which indicated that the Order originated among American pilots during World War II (although a couple claimed it originated in and was common in various Masonic Orders) but it appears to have spread to colleges, fraternities and high schools in recent years. WikiPedia seemed to have the most complete and accurate account of the Order at least as I remembered it. Oh, if you want to know the answers to the three questions I listed above, check out the last text module on my Hub about the death of Astronaut Wally Schirra.
Retrieved from here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Order_of_Turtles on 2008-10-22 Ancient Order of Turtles The Ancient and Honorable Order of Turtles ("Ancient Order of Turtles," "Royal Order of Turtles," "International Turtles Association," "Turtle Club," or any other title that the local branch is affiliated with) is "an honorable drinking fraternity composed of ladies and gentlemen of the highest morals and good character, who are never vulgar" and who have successfully answered four from a list of about twenty-five qualifying questions. Each question suggests a vulgar, lewd, or salacious answer, but the actual correct answer is rather innocuous. It is assumed that all prospective turtles own a diabetic donkey, or one of a sweet and kindly disposition, which is the reason for the password. Once inducted, a member must reply to the question, "Are you a turtle?" with the answer, "You bet your sweet ass I am." If the member is unable or unwilling (perhaps because of the restriction on vulgarity) to provide the correct answer, he or she owes to each other turtle present a drink of the recipient's choice. There are at least twenty different branches of Turtles in America, but
all adhere to the same sign, passwords, grip and initiation format. * 1 History of the Order [edit] History of the Order The origin of this group supposedly goes back to World War II pilots as a way to amuse themselves while relaxing with a cool drink between missions. The late Captain Hugh P. McGowan, U.S. Army Air Corps/U.S. Air Force Reserve (Ret.), told his son why he and several pilots of the U.S. Army Air Corps 8th Air Force founded the Ancient and Honorable Order of Turtles in an officers' club while stationed in England during the Second World War: "We were flying daytime bombing missions over Hitler's Third Reich. We just wanted a little fun. We had seen a sign showing that the 'Ancient Order of Foresters' and the 'Royal Antedeluvian Order of Buffalos' would meet in the local pub, so I devised the name 'Ancient and Honorable Order of Turtles' for the fun of it. It was not meant to be serious, it had no constitution or by-laws, and was a relief from the horrors and dangers we saw every day on our missions. It spread after the War through the VFW and American Legion posts, and eventually, to colleges and even to the high schools of the U.S.A." [1] [edit] Turtle Creed Turtles are bright eyed, bushy tailed, fearless and unafraid folk with a
fighter pilot attitude. They think clean, have fun a lot, and recognize the
fact that you never get anyplace in life worthwhile unless you stick your
neck out. [2] [edit] Turtle Rank Various offshoots of the original club may vary but the founder established the following: [3] * Candidate - Someone wishing to become a member of the Order. [edit] Popular qualifying questions The answers to the following questions are neither vulgar, lewd, nor salacious. 1. What does a woman do sitting down, that a dog does on three legs, and
a man does standing up? You must speak to a turtle to verify your solutions. [edit] Historical references During the Mercury-Atlas 8 mission (part of the United States space program), astronaut Wally Schirra was asked by a ground controller whether he was a turtle. Not wanting to use vulgar language while his communications were being broadcast worldwide, he temporarily stopped transmitting while he gave the required response. (from "Shirra's Space", p. 91): Deke Slayton, a mere 3 minutes into Sigma 7's flight, came on the radio, which was open for everyone to hear, and asked, "Hey, Wally, are you a turtle?". Shirra switched his mike to from live to record and uttered the appropriate response. On the open line, he said, "Rog." [4] Later, onboard the USS Kearsarge (CV-33), in front of Slayton, Walt Williams and the other astronauts, Walt Williams demanded to know how Schirra replied to Deke's question. Shirra played the recorder. "Hey, Wally, are you a turtle?" "You bet your sweet ass I am." Wally Shirra's membership in the Ancient Order of Turtles came up again during Apollo 7, which was captured by the in-flight recorder). CAPCOM radioed, "Just a minute, Wally. Let's see. Oh, it's a little message to Deke Slayton. A little bit closer Wally. Kind of looks like something about - 'Are you a, are you a --" Schirra acknowledged, "That's right." CAPCOM continued, "Looks like it says, 'Are you a turtle, Deke Slayton?" Schirra confirmed, "That's right." Eisele added, "You get an A for reading today Jack." Swigert continued, "Here comes another one. Walt, oh, that-a-way, that's the way to turn it. It says, 'Paul Haney, are you a turtle?'" Cunningham radioed, "You'll get a gold star. Perfect score!" Swigert reported, "And there is no reply from Paul Haney there." Cunningham asked, "You mean he's speechless?" A short while later, CAPCOM Cernan informed Schirra, "Wally, this is Gene. Deke just called in, and we've got your answer, and we've got it recorded for you return." Schirra acknowledged, "Roger. Real fine." Shortly there after, Schirra asked CAPCOM Swigert, "Have you got Haney's answer yet?" Swigert replied, "No, Haney's isn't talking, Wally." Swigert then added, "Somebody tells me he isn't talking, but just buying." A pleased Schirra responded, "He is buying. Thank you very much. Very good." This exchange about turtles was a reference to the notorious Turtle's Club drinking club of which Wally Schirra held the title of a Grand Potentate. During Schirra's Mercury flight Deke Slayton had radioed up to Schirra asking Schirra if he was a turtle. [5] President Kennedy was allegedly asked if he was a Turtle at a press conference, to which he replied, "I'll buy you your drink later". [6] [edit] References in Pop culture * In the movie "Master of Disguise" starring Dana Carvey, he says in a
scene, "Am I not turtley enough for the turtle club?" [7] References 1. ^ McGowan, Denis; Copyrighted © 1999 - 2007 Phoenixmasonry, Inc..
"Turtle Club Information, Masonic". Retrieved on 2008-09-27.
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