Long ago, when sailing ships ruled the waves, a captain and his
crew were in danger of being boarded by a pirate ship. As the crew
became frantic, the captain bellowed to his First Mate, "Bring me
my red shirt!"
The First Mate quickly retrieved the captain's red shirt, which
the captain put on and led the crew to battle the pirate boarding
party.
Although some casualties occurred among the crew, the pirates
were repelled. Later that day, the lookout screamed that there were
two pirate vessels sending boarding parties. The crew cowered in
fear, but the captain, calm as ever, bellowed, "Bring me my red
shirt!"
Once again the battle was on. However, the Captain and his crew
repelled both boarding parties, though this time more casualties
occurred.
Weary from the battles, the men sat around on deck that night
recounting the day's occurrences when an ensign looked to the
Captain and asked, "Sir, why did you call for your red shirt before
the battle?"
The Captain, giving the ensign a look that only a captain can
give, exhorted, "If I am wounded in battle, the red shirt does not
show the wound and thus, you men will continue to fight
unafraid."
The men sat in silence marveling at the courage of such a man.
As dawn came the next morning, the lookout screamed that there were
pirate ships, 10 of them, all with boarding parties on their
way.
The men became silent and looked to the Captain, their leader,
for his usual command. The Captain, calm as ever, bellowed, "Bring
me my brown pants!"