How some troops ended up in their skivvies

An older gentleman told my husband a funny story from his days in the Korean War. It took place on a troop ship returning from Korea. The ship traveled slowly as it crossed the Pacific Ocean, and the men were dirty and sweaty after weeks and weeks aboard the ship. (Didn't they have laundry onboard? Well, it's not the kind of details men ask about, according to my husband.)

Anyway, the men were fed up. They stripped down to their underwear, washed their clothes and hung the uniforms up on ropes to dry in the sun and wind.

But the commander was not too happy with the uniforms flapping in the wind because it slowed the ship too much. He warned that any clothes left hanging would be cut down and thrown overboard.

Some didn't listen, recalled my husband's friend. They lost their uniforms and spent the rest of the voyage in their skivvies.

True or mostly true, I don't know, but it still made me chuckle.